Olympic Games 2024: Everything you need to know about Paris 2024 (2024)

Ignore what the catchy song says, THIS is the Greatest Show ... it's the Olympic Games.

This year, the world's greatest athletes will come together in France's capital city Paris to run, jump, swim, twist, twirl, kick, punch and climb their way to the top of the Olympic podium.

These Games are, for many athletes, the pinnacle of their sport - there is no greater achievement than earning an Olympic gold medal.

But with more than 10,000 athletes competing and only 300 gold medals up for grabs, only the best will be able to call themselves Olympic champions when the Games end.

So, here is everything you need to know about the 2024 Olympics.

The opening ceremony will take place on Friday 26 July 2024.

There will be a total of 19 days of competition but some preliminary events take place before the opening ceremony, such as archery qualifying and early rounds of rugby sevens, football and handball.

The first gold medal will be won on Saturday 27 July and will likely come from the shooting ranges, with rifle and pistol shooting competitions kicking things off.

This will be followed by 16 days of world class sport, and Newsround will be in Paris to make sure you don't miss a moment.

The closing ceremony takes place on Sunday 11 August.

Some of the world's most famous landmarks will be the backdrop to the Games in Paris.

We could just let these mocked-up images of the venues speak for themselves, but let us take you through some of them.

Check out the beach volleyball arena, located in front of the world famous Eiffel Tower.

Just below the iconic structure will also be a huge fan park where members of the public can watch events on big screens and even meet some of the athletes after they have competed.

Check out the start line of the triathlon, which is located under the spectacular 19th century Alexandre III bridge and its golden statues across the River Seine.

Team GB are defending Olympic champions in the mixed team relay event, so will this be a spot of interest?

The bridge will also be the setting of the finish line for the cycling time trials and the marathon swims.

To the south west of the city, you will find the spectacularly majestic Palace of Versailles, where some of the most talented four-legged Olympians will compete.

Yes, the equestrian events will take place in the grounds of the stunning royal palace where more than 15 million people visit every year.

For the sailing competition, athletes will be heading south to the Mediterranean city of Marseille.

The port in the south of France has hosted plenty of sailing events in its time as it is known for its great weather and windy conditions.

France's second largest arena, the Stade Vélodrome, also in Marseille, will play host to some of the men's and women's Olympic football tournament.

Despite France's multitude of beaches, the Olympic surfing competition will not be taking part within the country.

It won't even be taking place within the continent of Europe - or even in the northern hemisphere.

The Olympic surfers will be 9,500 miles from Paris, on the remote Pacific island of Tahiti, which is part of French Polynesia - a territory of France.

Unlike the last Summer Olympics in Tokyo, most of the events will be taking place at a TV-friendly time for viewers in the UK.

Paris is just one hour ahead of the UK, so any event that takes place at 6pm in Paris will be on TV at 5pm here in the UK.

Plus, the Games will be taking place during the summer holidays for most schools, so you may even be able to negotiate a slightly later bedtime to watch the biggest moments, including the 100m finals in the athletics.

Don't worry though, the BBC will be broadcasting hundreds of hours of Olympics coverage on television and online.

There will be plenty of the traditional Olympic sports such as athletics, swimming, rowing and cycling as well as gymnastics, badminton, tennis and boxing.

This year, surfing, skateboarding, BMX freestyle and sport climbing will also return after their success in Tokyo.

There will also be the brand new addition of breaking at this year's Games, which is a form of acrobatic dance where competitors combine power moves and freezes to impress judges and earn themselves the Olympic gold medal.

We can also expect to see combat sports such as taekwondo, judo and wrestling.

The Olympics is often a great opportunity to see sports you don't get the chance to watch very often, for example water polo, artistic swimming, fencing, handball and basketball.

New events in the sailing competitions will also include a form of windsurfing called iQFoil and kiteboarding.

Well at the moment, there are only a handful of athletes who have been officially named in Team GB's Olympic squads, but let's look at who is aiming to be in the French capital this summer.

Experts are predicting big things from skateboarder Sky Brown, who took bronze in Tokyo.

She won the world park championships in February last year, and is also hoping to become the first British athlete to compete in two sports at the same Olympic Games as she hopes to qualify for both the skateboarding AND surfing events.

Britain's artistic gymnasts are also ones to watch, with high hopes for medals from both the men's and women's teams.

Jessica Gadirova, world floor champion in 2022, admits she has a tough journey ahead of her if she is to make it to Paris. The 19-year-old suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury just days before the 2023 World Championships in Antwerp last October.

But will twin sister Jennifer join her? She has also been recovering from surgery after an ankle injury last year.

Veteran bars expert Becky Downie is hoping to reach her third Olympics, while Georgia-Mae Fenton, Alice Kinsella and Ondine Achampong, who were in the team that won gold at the 2023 European Championships, are hoping to all make their mark on the Olympic stage.

Jake Jarman will also want to prove himself on an Olympic stage after he took an historic world gold on the vault last year.

In athletics, Keeley Hodgkinson will no doubt want to go one better than her breakout performance in Tokyo, where she took home the silver medal in the 800m.

Plus world champion Katerina Johnson-Thompson will want to complete her major medal collection in the heptathlon.

In the pool, Adam Peaty will hope to add to his medal tally, and Tom Dean, who also took home two golds from the last Olympics, says he is aiming to pick up five more in Paris.

Triathletes Alex Yee and Beth Potter are two of the athletes confirmed to be heading to Paris and will both have big goals for the year ahead.

Beth is a current world champion and Alex won a gold and a silver in Tokyo, so will he add to his haul?

One of the biggest stars you will not want to miss in Paris is of course US pocket powerhouse Simone Biles.

The most decorated gymnast of all time is hoping to add to her already impressive medal tally of four golds, one silver and two bronzes.

But she will have to beat another breakout gymnastics star in Brazilian Rebecca Andrede, who took the all-around title in Tokyo after Biles withdrew from the event citing mental health struggles.

It won't just be about Sky Brown at the skatepark in 2024.

Canadian teenager Fay DeFazio Ebert has burst onto the scene in recent months after her incredible win at the 2023 Pan Am Games (where athletes from the Americas - North, Central and South America, compete for intercontinental glory) in Chile.

Not only that, but Fay, who is 14, is a talented singer, so watch out for her in the charts as well as the medal tables.