Right, so that’s the football done. But, wait a moment, the sport isn’t over yet is it? I’m sure there was something else to look forward to this summer…
If it is games you would sing of, dear heart,
do not seek for something hotter than the sun,
no other bright star in the lonely sky
nor shall we sing of some greater festival
than Olympia.
Sorry?
As the ancient greek poet Pindar would say – woo hoo! It’s time for the Olympics, the greatest show on earth! From the opening ceremony on Friday 26 July 2024 until Sunday 11 August 2024 around 10,000 god-like athletes and an estimated 10 million mere mortal visitors will converge on Paris for the 33rd Summer Olympic Games, the first time the City of Light has hosted since 1924.
Ooh, trés bon. Have they built a fancy new sporting complex for future generations to later find the plumbing never really worked, and actually there was a reason no one had built on that old sewage works?
Non, pas du tout. The French capital secured the 2024 Olympics eight years ago, after decades of failed bids, including a stinging loss to London 2012. Having seen multiple Games come and go, Team Paris had plenty of opportunity to witness their legacies. After seeing others splurge on fancy new stadiums and arenas, Paris decided to do things a little differently. There is no main stadium built from scratch, no novelty structures – instead events will take place across the city.
The main athletics events will be held at the Stade de France, the country’s largest stadium which hosts its national teams, on the northern outskirts of Paris. But there will be 15 Olympic and 11 Paralympic venues in existing buildings across the city. These include the swimming at the La Defence Arena, gymnastics at the Berov Arena, cycling at the Pont d’Iena and – rather excitingly – “yoof” events in the Parc Urbain at the Place de La Concorde. It will also host 3×3 basketball, street and park skateboarding, BMX freestyle and the newest sport at the Games, breaking.
Paris has done some building though. Around 80% of its relatively modest €7bn (£6.1bn) budget has been spent on its two key construction projects – the Olympic Village and the aquatics centre – in Seine-Saint-Denis.
So is the opening ceremony at the Stade de France then? And are you going to keep inserting random French words into this explainer?
To your second point: bah, oui. And on your first: not on your life mon ami, that would be far too simple. Instead the French – in the wake of its own political earthquake, and with the backdrop of heightened global geopolitical tension – have decided to put on a madly ambitious show which for the first time in Olympic history will take place outside a stadium setting.
The 10,500 athletes will cross through the centre of Paris in a 3.5-mile boat parade along the Seine, culminating in front of the Trocadéro on the opposite side of the Seine from the Eiffel Tower. Originally the plan was to give free tickets to 600,000 members of the public, but now there will be a mere 300,000 invited guests. Impossible? Ce n’est pas français!
comme c’est très gauche. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian
Well, that does sound … audacious. Are there any security concerns?
How long have you got? After Tokyo 2020 – which finally happened in 2021, against the backdrop of protests, with no spectators – Paris hopes to reignite the sense of communion the Games can create. Its theme is “Games Wide Open”, with dozens of venues across Paris and other cities in metropolitan France open to large crowds. But without one main Olympic complex, which can be hermetically sealed, security measures are expected to be cumbersome.
Fears of an attack are high in a city that has experienced large-scale terrorist attacks, such as at the Bataclan in 2015 when Islamist extremists invaded the music hall and shot at cafe terraces, killing 130 people.
Other more recent events have jangled nerves. In October last year a radicalised 20-year-old Chechen, who had sworn allegiance to IS, killed a teacher in the northern French town of Arras.
In May, a man was detained on suspicion of planning an attack on the torch relay in Bordeaux, while later the same month an 18-year-old Chechen was detained on suspension of planning “Islamist-inspired” attack in an Olympic football venue in Saint-Étienne.
But a robust security presence has been put in place in Paris and across France, with 20,000 soldiers deployed, along with around 35,000 police and gendarmes mobilised every day during the games. France will also have support from about 2,000 troops and police officers from other countries, including UK police and sniffer dogs.
Ah, and isn’t this Games being held …
Against the backdrop of the most fraught geopolitical landscape of modern times? Yes. War in Ukraine, ongoing since Russia’s Vladimir Putin’s invasion in February 2022, means that Russian and Belarusian athletes will only be allowed to compete as neutral athletes. Ukraine threatened to boycott the games, but have instead been urged by their Olympic chiefs not to have any contact with their Russian and Belarusian counterparts.
The conflict in Gaza may also be a touchpoint. France is home to Europe’s largest Muslim and Jewish populations. In February, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) ignored calls from a group of 26 French legislators – as well as Palestinian sports clubs and civil society organisations – to exclude Israel, and force athletes to compete under a neutral flag.
Organisers will be keenly aware that the Munich Olympics of 1972 saw 11 Israeli athletes killed by the Palestinian militant organisation Black September on 5 September. Israel says it will put unprecedented security measures around its teams.
But at least France can be relied upon to be calm and good-natured?
France is in the midst of one of the most tumultuous political periods of modern history. At the start of June its centrist President Emmanuel Macron called a surprise election, after suffering a defeat at the hands of Marine Le Pen’s far right National Rally (RN) in European elections. The far-right then won a first round victory, only to be beaten in the second round in a shock defeat by a hastily cobbled together left-wing alliance. As we move into the Games its political future remains uncertain.
Surely, apart from that, and that and that, there is nothing else to worry about?
Well, there is the weather. In June a report warned that the Paris Olympics could be the hottest on record, and leading athletes warned intense heat could be dangerous for competitors. But if there is heavy rain, swimming events that are due to take place in the Seine in central Paris, could be delayed or even cancelled because of concerns about E coli. On a more positive environmental note, organisers have promised the “greenest ever Games”, with half the carbon footprint of London 2012.
J’ai mal à la tête. Can we talk about the sport now please? Who are the athletes to look out for?
It probably is worth noting that once the Games start, concerns, gripes and complaints are likely to fade into the background. There are a dizzying number of medal events – 329, across 32 sports – with the first medal expected in shooting on 27 July and the last for the women’s basketball on 11 August.
There are so many incredible athletes to look out for, some of whom we are unlikely –as yet – to have even heard of. All eyes will be on the US gymnastics superstar Simone Biles, who – at 27, and after a decade at the top of her sport – prepared for Paris by cruising to a ninth US national title. Everyone will be cheering for the Ukrainian fencer Olga Kharlan, and her compatriot Yaroslava Mahuchikh, a high jumper. The home nation will be looking to watching their favourite Léon Marchand in the pool, while 19-year-old Oriane Bertone is one of the world’s top female climbers and will compete in the sport climbing. They also happen to have an all-time basketball great in the making, in the 7ft 4in form of Victor Wembanyama.
In Tokyo Team GB finished fourth with an impressive 64 medals, 22 of which were gold, one fewer than their London 2012 haul: they’ll be hoping to achieve something similar this time. The team is expected to continue to perform well in rowing and cycling, while Katarina Johnson-Thompson, Dina Asher-Smith and Keely Hodgkinson are great hopes on the track.
The BMX star Beth Shriever and modern pentathlete Joe Choong will be defending their individual titles from Tokyo, while strong performances are hoped for from the kayakers Joe Clarke and Kimberley Woods. Look out for Tom Daley and Noah Williams in the men’s 10m platform synchronised diving, and Sky Brown, Team GB’s youngest medallist, with in Tokyo aged 13, in the skateboard park event.