BREAK THE RECORD!
For the first time in exactly a century, the Summer Olympics will take place in the French capital Paris, from Friday (Jul 26) to Aug 11. The last time the City of Love hosted the quadrennial event was back in 1924, when there were 22 sports. There are 32 sports this year, including the debut of breaking (or breakdancing). Ahead of the opening ceremony on Friday night, The Business Times gives you a snapshot of what you need to know about Paris 2024.
Shanthi Pereira is competing in her second Olympics, and in Paris she will race in the women’ 100m and 200m events.
35
Total number of venues
Total number of athletes in Team Singapore, competing in 11 sports.
23
Total number of nations represented. The participations
are counted by the number of National Olympic Committees.
206
The youngest athlete is
Zheng Haohao, an 11-year-old skateboarder from China.
Total number of events
329
45,000
Total number of volunteers
Estimated cost of hosting the Games
US$10b
Estimated total number of
athletes competing in Paris
10,500
What's next?
The Summer Paralympics will run from Aug 28 to Sep 8 in Paris. The Winter Olympics will take place in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo in Italy in Feb 2026. Los Angeles will host the next Summer Olympics in 2028.
The Paris 2024 mascot is an unusual one - an anthropomorphised Phyrgian cap called Phryge
(pronounced "freege"). It represents freedom and showcases important historical figures of the French Republic.
9m to 10m
spectators
More than
5,000
medals have been produced. Interestingly, they are made partly with iron from the original Eiffel Tower.
Full gender parity
The Paris Games is the first to achieve numerical gender parity, with an equal number of male and female athletes (5,250 each)
BT GRAPHICS: SIMON ANG, HYRIE RAHMAT
For the first time, the opening ceremony will not be held in a stadium. Instead, it will be held along the Seine, the river that crosses the centre of Paris.
Ten venues are outside the host metro area in cities like Nice, Bordeaux and Marseille. The surfing competition will be held some 16,000 km away on the French Polynesian island of Tahiti.
The youngest athlete is
Zheng Haohao, an 11-year-old skateboarder from China.
