Inexorably, the countdown takes us to July 26, 2024 and the kick-off of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris. An event during which the French capital will receive the sports planet for nearly a month of competition. Until then, the road to Paris will be punctuated by several stages to mark with a white stone.
23 June 2023: Reveal of the Olympic torch route
On 23 June 1893, in the heart of the Sorbonne University, Baron Pierre de Coubertin brought together the players in world sport with the firm intention of reviving the Olympic Games. As a nod to history, 130 years later, the Paris 2024 Organising Committee (OCOG) will unveil, on the occasion of Olympic Day, the path of the flame in France.
For the moment, only its point of arrival is known: after being lit in Greece in the ancient site of Olympia, the flame will arrive in Marseille on May 8, 2024. The symbol of the Olympic Games should then cross more than 60 French departments, then reach Paris on the evening of July 14 before lighting the cauldron on the evening of the opening ceremony.
See you on May 8, 2024 for the arrival of the Olympic flame in Marseille 🔥
A great popular party will be organized on the Old Port to celebrate together the biggest sports competition in the world and the millennial history of the foundation of our city! pic.twitter.com/fVHqEq8ZbI
— Benoît Payan (@BenoitPayan) April 30, 2023
From 9 to 16 July 2023: test event for sailing in Marseille
The sailing "Test Event", organized by Paris 2024, will test the infrastructure and race areas in preparation for the Olympic Games.
July 26, 2023: D-365 before the Olympic Games
The wait for the Olympic Games is (almost) coming to an end. This 26 July 2023 marks the countdown to the remaining 365 days before the official start of the Paris Games, 100 years after the last passage of the Summer Games on French soil.
On this occasion, France 24 will offer a special day on its antenna and digital environments.
From 17 to 20 August 2023: triathlon test event in Paris
Paris and the Pont Alexandre III will host a "Test Event" of the Olympic and Paralympic Games from 17 to 20 August. Individual races will be held on Thursday and Friday, para-triathlon races on Saturday and the mixed relay on Sunday.
July 26 and 27, 2023: Golf Youth France Championship
The Olympic configuration of the Golf National de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines will be tested on July 26 and 27 during the Youth France Championship.
August 2-6, 2023: U19 Rowing World Championships
The tests will multiply at the nautical stadium of Vaires-sur-Marne which will host the canoe sprint, canoe slalom and rowing events. It is this last discipline that will have the honors of the first test event for Paris-2024 on the occasion of the U19 World Championships.
August 5 and 6, 2023: 4th stage in the Open Water World Cup
Swimming in the Seine, an old promise of Jacques Chirac soon reality? Paris-2024 will test its site at the Pont Alexandre III in Paris during an open water swimming World Cup round.
From 11 to 20 August 2023: stage of the World Surfing league in Tahiti
The overseas territories will also have the right to a part of the Olympic Games. The surfing events will take place in Tahiti, French Polynesia, on the mythical wave of Teahupo'o. The WSL 2023 will stop there and will test the Olympic configuration of the venue in coordination with Paris-2024.
August 19 and 20, 2023: 4th stage of the Archery World Cup
Archery in the shadow of a monument to the history of France. The 4th stage of the 2023 World Cup will take place in Paris, at Les Invalides, the opportunity to offer a glimpse of the configuration that the venue will take for archery events.
Archery at Les Invalides? 🏹
It's not ordinary, it's exceptional đź’«
Entries in the draw for individual tickets close in 6 days 🚨
It's up to you 👉 https://t.co/PsknLSlbtu pic.twitter.com/ypqe4VXX6l
— Paris 2024 (@Paris2024) April 13, 2023
August 28, 2023: D-365 before the Paralympic Games
Since their first appearance in 1960 in Rome, the Paralympic Games have become increasingly important. The first global event for parasport, these Games are a wealth and a unique event for athletes with disabilities.
One year before the Opening Ceremony of the Paralympic Games, France 24 will dedicate a special edition to the event.
August 30 to September 1, 2023: Canoe and Para Canoe World Cup
After rowing, it is the turn of canoe sprint and para-canoe to test the Olympic site of Vaires-sur-Marne on the occasion of the World Cup organized at the nautical center.
September 2023: volunteers will receive their awards
The 45,000 volunteers selected by the organization for the Olympics will be notified between September and the end of the year. But some could be called during the summer to participate in test events, such as sailing in Marseille or triathlon in Paris.
See also Paris-2024 is full of volunteer candidates, but beware of saboteurs
23 and 24 September 2023: mountain bike test event
It will be a dress rehearsal before the Olympics. A preparation race for the Paris 2024 mountain bike event will be held on September 23 and 24 on the hill of Elancourt, the highest point of the ĂŽle-de-France, located in the Yvelines.
October 5-8, 2023: Canoe Slalom World Cup Finals
Last test event organized at the nautical center of Vaires-sur-Marnes, that of canoe slalom.
October 9, 2023: Paralympic Games tickets
The official box office for the Paralympic Games, which will be held from August 28 to September 8, 2024, will open in the fall. Half of the tickets on sale will be at a price less than or equal to 25 €.
Ready for the paratroopers? ⚡️
To be part of history and take part in the first Paralympic Summer Games organized in France, see you on October 9 for the Paralympic ✨ ticket office pic.twitter.com/oiJOhMaPkT
— Paris 2024 (@Paris2024) May 24, 2023
From 8 to 14 April 2024: event at the National Shooting Center of Châteauroux
The National Shooting Center in Châteauroux (Indre) will be the setting for test competitions scheduled from 8 to 14 April 2024
April 29, 2024: D-100 before the Olympic Games
From 29 April to 8 May 2024: test event at the Olympic Aquatics Centre
This is the ultimate infrastructure that will be delivered. The Saint-Denis Olympic Aquatic Centre will be tested at events focused on artistic swimming, diving, and water polo from April 29 to May 8, 2024.
May 4 and 5, 2024: field hockey test event
In the Hauts-de-Seine department, the Yves-du-Manoir stadium in Colombes will be put to the test of an international field hockey tournament on 04 and 5 May 2024. The venue has changed a lot since the 1924 Olympics but it remains a direct legacy of the last Olympiad in the French capital.
8 May 2024: arrival of the Olympic flame in Marseille
The flame, symbol of the Games, will land in France from the Belém, one of the oldest three-masted ships in Europe to still sail, after a ten-day crossing from Greece, where, as in every edition of the Games, it will have been lit during a ceremony in Olympia.
The mayor of Marseille, Benoît Payan, recalled that the Phocaean city has a strong link with Greece. "Marseille was founded by Greeks who came from Phocaea 2,600 years ago: by asking to welcome the flame on our shores, we wanted to reconnect with this great history of sharing, fraternity, diversity and solidarity," he said in February 2023.
14 July 2024: arrival of the Olympic flame in Paris
After a journey through more than 60 French departments, the Olympic flame will arrive in Paris on July 14, a national holiday. According to information from the Reuters news agency, it could also be installed on the Eiffel Tower.
24 July 2024: the start of the tests
Before the Olympics, it's already the Olympics! Indeed, team sports begin even before the opening ceremony. From 24 July, rugby 7s and football matches will kick off while the following day, handball will enter the dance.
26 July 2024: Opening ceremony of the Olympic Games
D-Day: the date of July 26, 2024 will symbolize the entry of Paris into its Olympic dream with an opening ceremony that promises to be spectacular. Organized for the very first time outside a stadium, it will begin at 20:24 when a hundred boats carrying delegations of athletes will descend the Seine, from the Pont d'Austerlitz to the Eiffel Tower.
August 11, 2024: Closing ceremony of the Olympic Games
The closing of the Paris Olympics will take place at the Stade de France but it will not be the end of the Olympic sequence since 17 days later, para-sport will take over.
28 August 2024: Opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games
One competition ends, another begins. The first French Paralympic Games in history will open on August 28 for 11 days of competition in an open-air ceremony between the bottom of the Champs-Élysées and Place de la Concorde.
8 September 2024: Closing ceremony of the Paralympic Games
End clap for Paris-2024. The Paralympic Games will close and with them all the sporting sequence that will have shaken the Parisian city during the summer. See you in 2124 for the next ones?
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