PARIS — With the conclusion of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics all eyes are now on Paris, as it continues to lay the groundwork to host the 2024 Olympics and Paralympic Games.
Set to take place 100 years after France’s last summer Games, Paris 2024 will be the largest event ever organized in the country, running from July 26 – Aug. 11, 2024.
Paris 2024 has already secured €600 million in income from national partnerships, with the goal of securing two thirds of its total budget by the end of 2021. The Olympic mascot will be revealed in the autumn of 2022, with 13.5 million tickets going on public sale in 2023.
The heads up from Atout France about Paris 2024 includes the following additional highlights …
- Paris 2024 promises to be an inclusive, interactive and sustainable celebration of sport: the first fully gender-balanced and carbon-neutral Olympics, featuring the first-ever Olympic events open to general public participation.
- The number of Olympic sports to 32 at Paris 2024, with the addition of breaking, a competitive form of breakdancing. New sports at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics include skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing.
- Paris 2024 will also be the first event in Olympic history to include a public version of the marathon and road cycling events, where members of the public can apply to follow in the athletes’ footsteps on the same day and course as the medal races.
- Paris 2024 will also demonstrate creativity and inclusivity in terms of venues, favouring not only the capital’s traditional sports venues but also its beautiful landmarks, as well as cities in other parts of France and the Overseas Territories. Sport and heritage will be brought together with beach volleyball at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, archery against Les Invalides, BMX freestyle on Place de la Concorde, taekwondo at the Grand Palais and equestrian disciplines at the Chateau de Versailles.
- The cities of Nantes, Bordeaux, Lyon, Nice and Marseille will host football matches – the latter also hosting sailing – and the island of Tahiti in French Polynesia will see surfing make its Olympic début.
- These will be environmentally responsible Games, maximizing the use of existing infrastructure for 95% of needs and only building facilities that are needed by the local population – meaning that the carbon footprint of Paris 2024 will be half that of previous Games in France, say organizers.
Atout France’s site is France.fr.
