Paris 2024 Olympics: Everything you need to know about the Games as they approach | Olympics News

The countdown to the 2024 Paris Olympics is on – here is a guide to everything you need to know ahead of the Games.

When are the Olympics?

The Olympics will take place from 26 July to 11 August and the Paralympics will run from 28 August to 8 September.

When will the opening ceremony be held?

The Opening Ceremony of the Games will take place on Friday, 26 July. The event will start at 6.30pm and is expected to last more than three hours.

It is set to be the first Olympic opening ceremony held outside a stadium setting.

What is the route of the parade?

Around 10,000 athletes will travel on boats along a 6km route sailing along the River Seine which will go past iconic landmarks in Paris, including Notre Dame and the Louvre.

The parade will end at the Trocadero square, facing the Eiffel Tower, where the Olympic cauldron will be lit, and the Paris Games officially declared open by French president Emmanuel Macron.

It is expected that fans will gather around the streets and the Seine to watch the parade through the capital city.

What Team GB athletes should I look out for?

Around 327 athletes – 155 men and 172 women – will represent Great Britain at the Paris Olympics. Team GB made history at Tokyo 2020, featuring more female athletes than male athletes in a summer Olympic Games for the first time ever, and it will be the same case again.

It is forecasted that Team GB will win 63 medals, one fewer than the total from Tokyo 2020, including 13 gold medals.

Some of the athletes competing are 15-year-old skateboarder Sky Brown, 1500m world champion Josh Kerr – who could be the first British athlete to collect the controversial $50,000 prize money for track and field gold medallists – and sprint star Dina Asher-Smith, who is on the hunt for her first Olympic gold.

Tom Daley will also be returning to the pool in Paris after a two-year absence with double Tokyo gold medallist Tom Dean in swimming.

Can Russian and Belarusian athletes complete?

Russian and Belarusian athletes will be allowed to compete despite the ongoing war in Ukraine, but only as neutral athletes.

The athletes had initially been banned from competing internationally following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year but have gradually been allowed back into most sports as neutrals.

Those wishing to compete will have to do so without flags, emblems or anthems and must not support the ongoing war.

Support staff must follow the same guidelines.

What about Israeli athletes?

Some Palestinian activists and a group of 26 French politicians called for Israel to be banned from the Games over the war in Gaza, but the IOC said it had no plans to sanction Israel.

Where do the athletes stay?

During the two weeks of the Games, the athletes live in the Olympic Village. This is a residential complex, generally located close to the Olympic stadium, where the world’s athletes in all the Olympic sports live together.

The Village includes the athletes’ accommodation, together with an international zone that includes shops, various services and leisure facilities.

Is the River Seine clean?

Open water swimming and triathlon events are due to take place in the Seine, more than 100 years after swimming in the river was banned.

France’s president Emmanuel Macron and Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo said they would swim in the river to show their citizens and visiting athletes that it is safe but an online campaign threatened to defecate in the river so they postponed the dip.

Earlier this month, France’s sports minister swam in the River Seine alongside Paralympic triathlon champion Alexis Hanquinquant, who won gold in the men’s PTS4 event at Tokyo 2020, to show people it was clean enough for the Olympic swimming events.

Are there any new sports?

Yes, there are.

Breaking – also known as breakdancing – will make its debut as an Olympic sport in Paris.

Sixteen athletes will be in each event, where they will go head-to-head on solo battles. Competitors will have to keep up with the beat of the DJ’s track, improvising against their opponent and using a combination of power moves including windmills, the 6-step and freezes.

The judges will score the moves and whoever has the highest score will progress to the next round and the final will decide who wins gold and becomes the first breaking Olympic champion.

Breaking joins other recently established “urban” sports including skateboarding, surfing and sport climbing which return from Tokyo 2020.

Ad content | Stream Sky Sports on NOW

Stream Sky Sports live with no contract on a Month or Day membership on NOW. Instant access to live action from football, darts, cricket, F1, tennis, golf, rugby league, rugby union and more.