2024
Olympics in Paris
2024
Olympics in Paris
SPORTS AND ART
olympic games 2024 in paris
There will be a lot going on in Paris this summer! The Olympics will be the number one topic in Paris from 26 July – 11 August 2024.
If you have a ticket to one of the competitions or are even taking part yourself, we’d like to get you in the mood with this article – without being an expert on sport. We are focussing on the cultural highlights that you could visit before or after a match!
So here you will only find a rough explanation of the sports, the stadiums and the ceremonial opening of the games. But always with a view to the museums, works of art or cultural sites.
So the article will be a combination of sports and art!
Because if you’re ever in Paris, you should visit one or two of the sights đ
LIST OF
CONTENTS
Facts and figures
find out more
The opening
find out more
Mascot and logo
find out more
Venues with an art connection
find out more
Exhibitions with an Olympic focus
find out more
Sustainability
find out more
Buy the
Collector-Pass
THE 2024 OLYMPIC GAMES
FACTS AND FIGURES!
The lot has fallen on Paris! And Paris has come up with some great ideas and big plans!
Date: 26 July – 11 August 2024
10 million tickets are to be sold for the Games! Ticket prices start at 24 euros, but can go up to over 50 euros depending on the sport, rank and importance.
The best way to find out how to get tickets or how to pre-register is on the official website.
A few figures at this point:
40 stadiums and competition venues
19 competition days
10,500 athletes
206 nationalities
28 +4 sports
31,500 volunteers
6,000 accredited journalists
4 trillion television viewers worldwide
9.7 million spectators on site
Plus the Paralympics – 28 August to 8 September:
4400 athletes
19 competition venues
11 competition days
23 sports
THE SPECTACULAR
OPENING CEREMONY
The computer-animated videos and photos show great things!
For the first time in the history of the Olympic Games, the opening ceremony will take place on the water – in the centre of the city: on the Seine!!!
The athletes will sail past the spectators on boats! Each nation and delegation will have a boat, the riverbank and bridges will be filled with seats and the music and light show will also take place on the water!
What a great idea!
The start of the ceremony will be the Pont d’Austerlitz. The boats will sail 6 kilometres past Notre-Dame (which was supposed to be rebuilt by then – but doen’t look like it), past the Louvre, MusĂ©e d’Orsay, Invalides and Grand Palais to the Eiffel Tower. Because this is the finish line – between the Eiffel Tower and the Palais de Challiot/TrocadĂ©ro.
This is where the fire is lit, this is where the show reaches its climax, and this is where the grandstand with all the big names is located.
Just writing this makes you nervous and you can imagine the size of the spectacle!
How can you watch on site?
Access is partly free of charge: You have to buy tickets for the lower quays, from the Pont d’Austerlitz to the Pont d’IĂ©na – so if you want to get up close, it costs something. But the upper stands are free, and you don’t need a ticket: if you arrive early, you’ll get a seat.
But the special thing is that 600,000 people can watch the show live – 10 times more than in a normal stadium! A unique experience!
80 screens and lots of loudspeakers will be positioned so that everyone can hear something đ
The opening ceremony for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris will be the biggest ever in the history of the Games.
THE MASCOTS
AND THE LOGO
I think the logo is chic and successful, the mascots – well, they’re always a bit … exaggerated. BUT: in Paris, both have history and therefore âfleshâ.
The logo
The logo, which at first glance looks like a gold medal with the Olympic flame, has another reference. If you have a closer look, you can recognise a woman’s face: lips and hair falling into her face. It is supposed to represent the French national icon Marianne.
But who was Marianne?
She is the symbol of the French Revolution!
If you are in the Louvre, look for the painting by EugĂšne Delacroix: Liberty Leading the People (La LibertĂ© guidant le peuple). In the centre, âMarianneâ stands with the French flag and climbs over the rubble and fallen fellow fighters.
Just as âMarianneâ became the face of the revolution back then to represent freedom and the republic, she should once again take centre stage today. A face that puts people at the centre of the games.
A beautiful train of thought.
Marianne should symbolise ambition, equality, and generosity during the games.
The mascots
Marianne is the face of the French Revolution & the Olympic Games. She wears – if you look closely at the Delacroix painting – a red cap: the âPhrygian capâ, which has its origins in Ancient Greece.
Fun fact: it was originally made from a tanned bull’s scrotum ;). The Greeks had the idea that this would transfer the animal’s abilities to them.
Later, the cap came to symbolise freedom. It was worn by freed slaves in ancient times, by sailors and finally by the revolutionaries in France.
And this cap becomes the mascot of the Games! And the two call themselves the âOlympic Phrygians and Paralympic Phrygiansâ or, more quickly, âthe Phrygiansâ.
The President of the Paris 2024 Games Tony Estanguet explained the choice thus:
âWe opted for an ideal and not an animal (…), âWe chose the Phrygian cap because it is a very strong symbol of the French Republic. For the French, the Phrygian cap is a very well-known object, a symbol of freedom, an object that will represent the mascots all over the world. The fact that the Paralympic mascot has a visible disability also sends a strong message: the promotion of inclusion.â Quote seen on olympics.com
The colours are very clear: bleu, blanc et rouge! Of course, they also proudly wear the Games logo on their chest.
Another fun fact: the Phrygian cap was also worn during the construction of Notre-Dame in 1163, the construction of the Eiffel Tower in 1888 and during the 1924 Olympic Games – exactly 100 years ago!
PLANNED COMPETITION VENUES
WITH AN ART CONNECTION
There are several in the centre of Paris – even in and around museums! As well as on the outskirts of the city.
Here are a few fine examples of sport and art:
- Stade Tour Eiffel on the Champ de Mars for beach volleyball.
-> As the name suggests: right next to the Eiffel Tower! - Arena Champs-de-Mars on the Champ de Mars for judo and wrestling. Probably in the Grand Palais ĂphĂ©mĂšre, where we can admire immersive exhibitions today.
- Grand Palais for fencing and taekwondo. The Grand Palais was closed for several years and will reopen in July 2024.
- Esplanade des Invalides for archery. The green areas where sheep usually graze are also being used for the Olympic Games! Next to the Dome of Les Invalides.
- Place de la Concorde for skateboarding, 3Ă3 basketball, breakdancing and BMX freestyle. These modern sports take place in the heart of the city, right next to the MusĂ©e de l’Orangerie, the Hotel de la Marine and within sight of the Louvre.
- Arena Bercy for basketball, artistic gymnastics and trampolining. The arena is a little further away from the centre, but close to the zoo and the Bois de Vincennes!
The CinémathÚque française and the Jardin des Plantes are also just around the corner. - Stade de France in Saint Denis for athletics and 7s rugby
- Paris La DĂ©fense Arena in Nanterre for swimming and water polo. But I don’t know if you can see the Grande Arche from here.
- And even the Palace of Versailles is used for the Games! Show jumping and dressage are shown here!
EXHIBITIONS WITH AN OLYMPIC CONNECTION
THE FRAMING PROGRAMME
Paris is preparing for the Olympic Games. And so are the museums. During our monthly exhibition research, more and more exhibitions have caught our eye that have a very clear sporting-Olympic approach.
We’d like to list them all here – so that you can check everything at a glance for your visit shortly before or during the Games.
CitĂ© de lâarchitecture et du patrimoine
Once upon a time there were stadiums (In the course of the Olympic Games)
until 16 September 2024
Les Invalides/ MusĂ©e de lâArmĂ©e
Duels. The art of fighting (In the course of the Olympic Games)
until 18 August 2024
Military and athletes. That goes together! (In the course of the Olympic Games)
14 July 2024 to 31 May 2025
Sport and culture at the 1968 Games: the work of Jean Dewasne. (In the course of the Olympic Games)
14 July 2024 to 20 October 2024
La Monnaie de Paris
Gold, Silver, Bronze. A history of the Olympic medal (In the course of the Olympic Games)
until 22 September 2024
Louvre
Olympism: A modern invention, an ancient legacy (In the course of the Olympic Games)
until 16 September 2024
Maison de Victor Hugo
Victor Hugo fences (In the course of the Olympic Games)
until 15 September 2024
MAM
Cultural Olympics (In the course of the Olympic Games)
until 25 August 2024
MusĂ©e dâart et dâhistoire du Judaisme
André Steiner. The body between desire and overcoming (in the course of the Olympic Games)
until 22 September 2024
Marmottan Monet Museum
En Jeu! The artists and sport (1870-1930)Â (in the course of the Olympic Games)
until 1 September 2024
Palais Galliera
Fashion in motion #2 (in the course of the Olympic Games)
until January 5, 2025
Pantheon Paris
Paralympic stories. From sporting integration to social inclusion (1948-2024) (in the course of the Olympic Games)
until 29 September 2024
Petit Palais
The body in motion (in the permanent collection) (in the course of the Olympic Games)
until 17 November 2024
TIP
THE COLLECTOR PASS
This newly created pass combines visits to various municipal museums. The permanent collections of the participating museums are generally free of charge, but some of the exhibitions are not.
This summer, the exhibitions at the participating museums are centred around the theme of sport, the Olympics and combat in a sporting sense. These can be viewed without having to wait.
However, other exhibitions are unaffected by the theme of sport, which can also be a nice change. đ
Here are the participating museums:
- Archaeological crypt on the Ile de la Cité (admission always 9 EUR)
- Museum of Modern Art in Paris (MAM) (collection free, exhibitions around 15 EUR)
- Carnavalet Museum (collection free, exhibitions around 13 EUR)
- Cognacq-Jay Museum (collection free, exhibitions around 9 EUR)
- Museum of Liberties in Paris (collection free, exhibitions around 9 EUR)
- Museum of Romantic Life (collection free, exhibitions around 10 EUR)
- Galliera Palace (admission always 12 EUR)
- Petit Palais (collection free, exhibitions currently also free)
- Cernuschi Museum (collection free, exhibitions around 10 EUR)
- Zadkine Museum (collection free, exhibitions currently also free)
- The House of Balzac (collection free, exhibitions currently also free)
- The House of Victor Hugo (collection free, exhibitions currently cost, but price cannot be found)
The ticket gives you unlimited access to the museums for 2 weeks. Simply exchange the online ticket at a museum and you’re ready to go!
Price: 24 EUR
Buy the
Collector-Pass
OLYMPIC GAMES &
SUSTAINABILITY
Sustainability is an important topic these days. And it is also important for Paris. But how do the organisers intend to ensure sustainability?
The plan:
- Use existing venues – and 95% of them!
- Short distances – public transport: The sporting festivities will take place along the Seine, and the Olympic Village is also only 15 minutes away from the city centre. The Olympic Stadium is only 5 minutes from the village!
This means that the use of public transport will be prioritised. The car should stay at home. With an Olympic ticket, you can use public transport for free. Paris is also easily accessible by train from Germany, Spain and England.
There are 35 venues, 14 of which are within 10 kilometres of the Olympic Village. - The Olympic Village is located in Saint-Denis / Saint-Ouen and on the Ăle-Saint-Denis. The houses are to be low-carbon & ecological and use 100 per cent renewable energy.
CURRENT PHOTOS
PARIS IS GETTING READY
Anne was travelling in Paris at the end of June/beginning of July and sent us a few pictures to show us a little of the Olympic fever in Paris. There are adverts everywhere, building sites and the signs in the metro are already up đ
TO BE CONTINUED...
We will continue to update this article. Probably a bit more as soon as the games get closer.
We will then keep you up to date on the various art-sport events!
Yours
CĂ©line
Text- and Image rights: © CĂ©line MĂŒlich, 2024
AI-Image rights: Official website of the Olympics
