Paris 2024 Olympic Games: Dates, tickets, new sports & venues - all you need to know two years out

Updated 04/08/2022 at 16:03 GMT

The Paris 2024 Olympic Games are exactly two years away from starting. The build-up to the biggest show on earth starts now. Find out the dates of Paris 2024, how to watch the Olympics, when Paris 2024 tickets go on sale and how to buy them, which new sports have been added to the Olympic programme, and information on the unique opening ceremony and all the venues right here.

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The Games of the XXXIII Olympiad - known as the Paris 2024 Olympic Games - will be the first time in a century and the third time ever that France has hosted the Olympics. The Games were first held in the French capital in 1900 and then again in 1924, with Paris set to become the second city - after London in 1908, 1948 and 2012 - to host the event for a third time.

The Games officially open on July 26, 2024 with a tradition-breaking, "bold, original and unique" opening ceremony that will see the parade of athletes take place on a 6km route along the Seine. From there, "the remaining elements of the Olympic protocol and final shows will take place" in front of the Trocadero.

The Olympic programme will contain 32 sports, with breaking - break dancing to you and me - making its bow. Sport climbing, skateboarding and surfing return again after their successful showings in Tokyo.

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The action will take place mainly in and around Paris, with handball, football, sailing and surfing taking place further afield. The surfing competition will be hosted in Teahupoʻo, a village on the southwestern coast of the island of Tahiti, French Polynesia.

What are the dates of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games?

The Paris 2024 Olympic Games run from July 26 to August 11, 2024.

How to watch the Paris 2024 Olympic Games?

The Olympic Games will return with Paris 2024, live on Eurosport and discovery+.

What is the schedule for the Paris 2024 Games?

The schedule for the Paris 2024 Games can be accessed here.

Competition begins on July 24 – with football and handball – which is two days before the opening ceremony.

There will be 19 days of competition.

July 27 will see the award of the first medals. There will be eight finals that day in cycling - women's and men's time trial - judo, fencing, diving, rugby, shooting, swimming and skateboarding.

The last gold will be awarded on Sunday August 11, for women’s basketball.

When and where will Paris 2024 tickets be on sale & how can I buy them?

There will be almost 10 million tickets on sale for Paris 2024 and there will be three main phases of sales to the general public, as per the official Paris 2024 website, these will be:

February 2023: launch of package sales
May 2023: launch of single ticket sales
Late 2023: tickets available for purchase in real time - re-sale tickets will be available regularly in this period

To be eligible to buy tickets, fans must register for a draw in late 2022. This is to give all fans equal opportunity of getting a ticket. If fans are selected from the draw, they will then be given a window to buy tickets - while a maximum amount of tickets that can be bought per fan, per window, is set to be announced.

Tickets will be sold online only, and via a sole official online ticket platform. Prices start at €24 for all Olympic sports, and nearly half the tickets will cost €50 or less. The following website - Le Club Paris 2024 - will have all up-to-date news on ticketing.

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What new sports will there be at Paris 2024?

To be included in an Olympics, each sport must be represented by an international federation. Each Olympic sport can be divided into disciplines and events. So, swimming is a discipline of aquatics and the 100m freestyle is an event whereby athletes can win medals.

Here, as per the programme of the Games of the Olympiad fact sheet, is the process for the finalisation of the Olympic programme.

The Executive Board (EB) of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) submits an initial sports programme to the IOC Session for a vote - this usually happens seven years before the Games
The host submits its list of additional sports for consideration to be voted on - this usually happens four to six years before the Games

Paris 2024 submitted four sports to be included: breaking, sport climbing, skateboarding and surfing. The latter three were also included in the Tokyo programme and thus breaking is the only sport that makes its debut at Paris 2024. Karate and baseball/softball have been cut from the programme.

Breaking (a competitive form of breakdancing) has already had Olympic exposure - it had an outing at the 2018 Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires. At Paris 2024, there will be two breaking gold medals on offer.

Here is the full list of all the sports for Paris 2024.

Aquatics: artistic swimming, diving, marathon swimming, swimming, water polo
Archery
Athletics
Badminton
Basketball: 3x3 basketball, basketball
Breaking
Boxing
Canoe: slalom, sprint
Cycling: BMX freestyle, BMX racing, mountain biking, road, track,
Equestrian: dressage, eventing, jumping
Fencing
Football
Golf
Gymnastics: artistic, rhythmic and trampolining
Handball
Hockey
Judo
Modern Pentathlon
Rowing
Rugby 7s
Sailing
Shooting
Skateboarding
Sport Climbing
Surfing
Table Tennis
Taekwondo
Tennis
Triathlon
Volleyball: beach, volleyball (indoor)
Weightlifting
Wrestling: Greco-Roman, freestyle

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What are the venues for Paris 2024?

The lion's share of the venues are in and around Paris, with football, sailing, handball and surfing taking place outside of the capital.

Hare the venues that are within close proximity of the Olympic village. They are:

Porte de La Chapelle Arena: A multi-sports complex in the Paris’ 18th arrondissement that opens in 2023. It will host badminton and rhythmic gymnastics.
Grand Palais: It was built for the 1900 Universal Exhibition, and is currently under renovation, which will be completed in 2023. It will host fencing and taekwondo.
La Concorde: The largest square in Paris will be transformed into an open arena to host BMX freestyle, skateboarding, breaking and 3×3 basketball.
Pont d’Iena: Located near the foot of the Eiffel Tower, one of the capital's 37 bridges on the Seine, it will be used as a viewing platform for road cycling and athletics.
Pont Alexandre III: This iconic bridge - which is 45 metres wide and 107 metres long - will provide the backdrop for road cycling, triathlon and marathon swimming.
The Hotel de Ville: Its square has housed Paris’ City Hall since 1357, and will be the starting point for the marathon.
Eiffel Tower Stadium/Champ de Mars Arena: The Champ-de-Mars, the park at the base of the Eiffel Tower, will be partially transformed into a temporary outdoor arena and will play host to the beach volleyball; while the Champ de Mars Arena - a temporary 10,000sqm timber structure, constructed in 2021 and in place while works on the Grand Palais were completed - will host judo, wrestling and breaking
Les Invalides: The Esplanade des Invalides is located across from the Hotel des Invalides, which was built in 1687, and houses the tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte. It will host archery, athletics and road cycling.
Roland-Garros Stadium: Built in 1928, and named after the French aviator Roland Garros, it is the iconic home of the French Open. It will host tennis and boxing.
Bercy Arena: This pyramid-structured, multi-sports facility in Paris’ 12th arrondissement will host basketball and artistic gymnastics.
Parc des Princes: The home of PSG - and France’s largest stadium until the construction of the Stade de France - will host football.
South Paris Arena 1, 4 and 6: These count as three separate venues but are all part of the Paris Expo and were built in 1923 as host of the Foire de Paris. Arena 1 will host volleyball, Arena 4 the table tennis and Arena 6 the weightlifting

There are the sites that are set in the Ile-de-France region:

Stade Yves-du-Manoir: This stadium was the main stadium and hosted the opening ceremony and the athletics for the 1924 Games and will host the hockey in 2024.
Stade de France: Built for the 1998 World Cup - it has since hosted elements of the World Athletics Championships in 2003, the Rugby World Cup in 2007 and Euro 2016, with the 2023 Rugby World Cup set to come before the stadium hosts the athletics and rugby at Paris 2024.
Le Bourget Climbing Centre: This facility is one of two - along with the Olympic Aquatics Centre - to be built specifically for Paris 2024. It will host sport climbing.
Olympic Aquatics Centre: It is located opposite the Stade de France, it will host artistic swimming, diving and water polo.
La Defense Arena: This multi-use domed arena is home of Racing 92. and will be transformed into an Olympic swimming pool to host swimming and water polo.
Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium: One of three sites in the world - alongside Beijing and Sydney - with the facilities to host Olympic and Paralympic canoe-kayak and rowing events. Unsurprisingly, it will host rowing and canoeing.
Chateau de Versailles: The former royal residence will open up its grounds to be converted to host equestrian and modern pentathlon.
Elancourt Hill: At 231m - and located on old sandstone quarries - the artificial Elancourt Hill is the highest point in the Paris Region, and will be used to host the mountain biking.
Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome: The French Cycling Federation are headquartered at this arena built in 2014. It will host track cycling.
The Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines BMX Stadium: This is located within the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome and will be a purpose built track for BMX racing at Paris 2024.
Le Golf National: Hosts the Open de France each year and has hosted the Ryder Cup. It will host the Olympic golf tournament.

Eight other venues are dotted around the rest of France. They are:

Stade Pierre Mauroy: This multi-sports arena, home to LOSC Lille, will host handball.
Stade de la Beaujoire: Home of FC Nantes, redeveloped for the 1998 World Cup, will host football.
Parc Olympique Lyonnais: The home of Olympique Lyonnais has 100% renewable energy sources, hosted the Europa League final in 2018, and will be one of the stadia that hosts football.
Stade Geoffroy-Guichard: One of France's more storied stadiums - the home of Saint-Etienne - it has hosted Euro 1984, World Cup 1998, the 2007 Rugby World Cup and Euro 2016. It will host football.
The Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux: The stadium of Ligue 2 side FC Girondins de Bordeaux, it was built in 2015 and will host football.
Nice Stadium: Another multi-use stadium, home to OGC Nice and occasionally rugby union club Toulon, will host football.
Stade Velodrome: It first opened in 1937 and has been a World Cup venue in 1938 and 1998, and for the Euros in 1984 and 2016, and it will again be used for football.
Marseille Marina: The Roucas-Blanc Marina will be adapted to stage the sailing.

One event will take place in Tahiti:

Teahupoʻo: A village on the southwestern coast of the island of Tahiti, French Polynesia. This area is renowned for its offshore waves - with some hitting up to seven metres - and will host the second running of surfing after its debut at the Tokyo Games.

What is different about the opening ceremony?

In December 2021, Paris 2024 announced its intention to host the "most accessible" opening ceremony - a 6km procession along the River Seine. In doing so, they are set to break the tradition of a stadium procession of athletes and officials.

The parade of athletes will take place on the Seine, with a separate boat for every national delegation. It will run between Pont d’Austerlitz and Pont d’Iena and end in front of the Trocadero.

600,000 spectators are expected to attend the opening ceremony, with paid-for seating on the lower banks of the River Seine and on some bridges too. The upper banks of the Seine will be open to the public to enjoy the ceremony free of charge and there will also be 80 giant screens along the route.

"For the first time in the history of the Summer Olympic Games, the ceremony will not be taking place in a stadium. Paris 2024 is breaking new ground in sports competition by bringing sports out into the city and the same will be true for the opening ceremony, which will be held in the heart of the city, along its main artery, the Seine," read a statement on the Paris 2024 website.

Details on obtaining tickets for the Opening Ceremony will follow in due course.