Paris 2024 Olympic Games: 5 things you may or may not know

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games have come to an end following a closing ceremony, which included the handover of the Olympic flag from the Governor of Tokyo, Yuriko Koike, to the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo. The action now shifts to Paris in 2024, with the edition of the Olympics set the witness the debut of a new Olympic sport to a groundbreaking new emblem. Here is a look at five things about the glorious event that you may or may not know:

1) The centenary of the Paris 1924 Olympic Games: Paris will become just the second city to host the Olympic Summer Games three times after London in 2024. London staged the Olympics in 1908, 1984 and 2012. The City of Lights first hosted the Olympic Games in 1900. This was four years after the multi-sport event was resurrected in Athens, after being banned by Roman Emperor Theodosius I some 1,500 years earlier.

Paris further hosted the Summer Olympics again in 1924, becoming the first city to host the Olympics twice. 100 years later, on 26 July 2024, Paris will officially welcome the world to the Olympic Games for a third time. These Olympics will be the sixth held in France having staged the Winter Olympics on three occasions.

2) Olympic debut of breaking: The 2024 Summer Olympic will feature 32 sports encompassing 306 events. Among these sports is breaking, which will make its Olympic debut. Breaking is a competitive form of breakdancing that includes footwork and athletic moves like back or head spins. Athletes are judged on a number of criteria during their routines. The same includes technical skill, creativity, style, speed, strength, rhythm and agility. Breaking was a hugely popular event at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires. In December 2020, the sport was officially added to the programme for Paris 2024 along with surfing, skateboarding and sport climbing.

IOC president Thomas Bach believes the addition of breaking will make the Olympic Games “more gender-balanced, more youthful and more urban.”

“We have had a clear priority, and this is to introduce sports which are particularly popular among the younger generations. And also to take into account the urbanization of sport,” he stated.

3) Olympic surfing in Tahiti: Tahiti will host the surfing competition in Paris 2024. It was chosen as the venue over four potential locations in mainland France (Biarritz, Lacanau, Les Landes and La Torche). When the competition begins in 2024, it will break the record for the farthest Olympic medal event to be held outside of the host city.

At the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games, equestrian events were moved from the Australian city due to quarantine laws. They were instead held five months earlier in Stockholm, Sweden.

4) Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic emblem: The unveiling of the emblem for Paris 2024 in 2019, marked an iconic moment in the history of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. For the first time ever, the same emblem would be used for both competitions. The emblem is a unity of three iconic symbols: the gold medal, the flame, and Marianne, which is a cherished symbol of the revolution and the people of France.

“Firstly, this logo for the first time in history, we wanted it to be the same for the Olympic and Paralympic Games,” said Paris 2024 Olympics bid leader and three-time Olympic canoeing champion Tony Estanguet.

“It’s historic, it’s to say that we have the same ambition for these two events, to put these Olympic and Paralympic athletes on the same level and to celebrate the Games in the same way, whether it be in terms of celebration or heritage,” he added.

5) Marathon for all: A mass participation marathon open to amateur athletes will take place on the same day as the elite event, in another first for the Olympic Games. The ‘public’ marathon wouldn’t start at the same time as the elite competition. However, athletes will run on the same course and in the same conditions as the Olympic event.