5 Things You Need To Know About The 2024 Paris Olympics

2024 Paris Olympics (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - The Tokyo 2020 Olympics officially ended on Sunday evening through a closing ceremony in which there was a session of handing over the Olympic flag from the Governor of Tokyo, Yuriko Koike, to the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo.

The 2024 Paris Olympics are still a few years away. There is nothing wrong with being excited about the 33rd Olympics.

The following are five key things to know about the 2024 Paris Olympics, including the debut of the new sport and the design of the emblem.

1. The centenary of the 1924 Paris Olympics

In 2024, Paris will become the second city to host the Summer Olympics three times after London, which hosted the 1908, 1984, and 2012 Olympics.

Paris first hosted the Olympics in 1900, four years after the multi-event sporting event was restarted in Athens after being banned by Roman Emperor Theodosius I some 1.500 years earlier.

No opening or closing ceremonies were held at the 1900, which featured female competitors for the first time in Olympic history, including some of the new sports of underwater swimming and cricket.

Paris hosted the Summer Olympics again in 1924, becoming the first city to host the Olympics twice.

While the opening ceremony of the 1924 Olympics was held on July 5, some competitions began on May 4, with the closing ceremony being held on July 27.

One hundred years later, on July 26, 2024, Paris will officially welcome the world to the Olympics for the third time.

However, the 2024 Olympics will be the sixth to be held in France -- in addition to the three Summer Olympics mentioned above, France has also hosted the Winter Olympics on three occasions, namely Chamonix 1924, Grenoble 1968, and Albertville 1992.

2. Sports debut

The 2024 Summer Olympics are scheduled to feature 32 sports covering 306 events, among which the sports are breaking, which make their Olympic debut.

Breaking is a competitive form of breakdancing that includes footwork and athletic movements such as back or head spinning.

Athletes (known as b-boys and b-girls) are judged on a number of criteria during their performance, including technical skill, creativity, style, speed, strength, rhythm, and agility.

Breaking became a hugely popular event at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, and in December 2020 it was officially added to the new sport for Paris 2024 along with surf surfing, skateboarding, and rock climbing making their Olympic debut in Tokyo 2020.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach said the addition of the sport would make the Olympics "more gender-balanced, younger and more urban".

"We have clear priorities, and this is to introduce a sport that is very popular among the younger generation. And also to consider the urbanization of sports", said Bach.

3. Tahiti is the location for surfing waves for the Olympics

Tahiti - the largest island in French Polynesia - will host a wave-surfing competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Tahiti was chosen as the competition location from four potential locations in mainland France (Biarritz, Lacanau, Les Landes and La Torche).

Later, when wave surfing begins in 2024 at 15.700 kilometers from Paris, the competition will break the record for the furthest Olympic medal races held outside the host city.

At the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, the equestrian event was moved from the Australian city due to quarantine laws and was instead held five months earlier in Stockholm, Sweden.

The International Surfing Association (ISA) backed the decision. ISA President Fernando Aguerre said that the choice of Tahiti as the venue for the Olympics "is a testament to the spirit of creativity and innovation of Paris 2024".

4. Coat of arms of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games

When the Paris 2024 coat of arms was unveiled in 2019, it marked an iconic moment in Olympic and Paralympic history. For the first time, the same emblem will be used for both competitions.

Described as the "face" of the Olympics, the emblem is a union of three iconic symbols: the gold medal, fire, and Marianne -- a symbol of revolution and a cherished figure of freedom for the French people.

"Firstly, this logo is for the first time in history, we want the same for the Olympics and Paralympics", said Paris 2024 Olympic leader and three-time Olympic canoe champion Tony Estanguet.

"It's historic, to say that we have the same ambition for these two events, to put these Olympic and Paralympic athletes on the same level and to celebrate the Olympics in the same way, whether it's in terms of celebration or legacy".

5. Marathon for everyone

For the first time at the Olympics, mass marathon participation open to amateur athletes will take place on the same day as events for professional athletes.

The "public" marathon will not start at the same time as the elite competition, but athletes will run on the same track and under the same conditions as the Olympic event, according to Estanguet.

"With this event (mass participation marathon), Paris 2024 invites people across France to be inspired by the athletic mindset and Olympic values, and integrate it into their daily lives", said a statement on the Paris 2024 website.

"To allow as many people as possible to share this amazing experience, several different formats will be offered so that everyone, whether they are experienced athletes or beginners, able-bodied or disabled, young or not, can enjoy this truly extraordinary moment".