7 things you need to know about the Paris Olympics

After months of anticipation, the 2024 Summer Olympics Games are nearly underway. Beginning on Friday, July 26 in Paris, France, this year’s Olympics mark a return to normalcy. Postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics were framed by stringent public health guidelines that barred spectators from attending. The 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing took place under similar restrictions.

Now, Paris has become the second city ever (after London) to host the Olympics three times, having previously served as the venue in 1900 and 1924. The last century has seen notable changes. In 1924, only 3,089 athletes (and only 135 women) participated in the Games, compared to this year’s sizeable roster of 10,500 competitors evenly split among the sexes participating in 32 different sports.

If you’re based in the U.S., you can tune in to the Olympics on cable TV networks (NBC, USA, Golf Channel, CNBC, and E!) or streaming services like Peacock, NBCOlympics.com, NBC.com, the NBC App or the NBC Olympics App.

From varied venues in and around Paris to key Team USA athletes to follow, check out Salon’s list of everything you should know about this summer's Olympic Games before you tune in.

01

The opening ceremony will be held in the Seine River

Boats cross the Seine River during the Paris 2024 Olympics opening ceremony rehearsals, which is to be held on July 26, in Paris, France on July 23, 2024. (Mustafa Ciftci/Anadolu via Getty Images)

For the first time in the history of the Olympic Summer Games, the Opening Ceremony will take place outside of a stadium. Instead, the ceremony will be waterborne across nearly four miles of Paris’ famous Seine River, ushering in athletes on a parade of boats designated to reflect each respective country. According to the Olympics' official website, the boats will be fitted with cameras to provide fans watching online and via television with a close-up view of the athletes.

Starting at 7:30 p.m. CET (10:30 a.m. PST and 1:30 p.m. EST), the procession will depart from the Austerlitz Bridge near the Jardin des Plantes and will end in front of the Trocadéro Gardens, where the remaining elements of the ceremony will unfold.

Superstars Celine Dion and Lady Gaga are reportedly slated to perform a duet rendition of Édith Piaf’s "La Vie en Rose" at the opening ceremony, marking Dion's first public performance since she was forced to stop touring after revealing to the world that she had been diagnosed with Stiff Person Syndrome (SPS), a rare autoimmune neurological disorder.

The Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony will be the largest in Olympic history, as noted by the official site. With 80 super-sized screens and “strategically placed speakers,” it will also be accessible.

02

The freedom-loving Phryge mascot

The mascots for the Paris 2024 Olympic (R) and Paralympic (L) Games 'Les Phryges' in Saint-Denis, north of Paris. (FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images)

This year’s Olympic mascots are the Phryge and the Paralympic Phryge, small creatures that resemble a Phrygian cap, a slightly drooping, cone-shaped hat typically associated with themes of liberty in European and colonial cultures. Per the Olympic website, Phrygian caps “are a common reference for French people, including in the world of art (as a metaphor for freedom) and as a symbol of the Republic in French institutions . . . They are also an international symbol of liberty worn by freed slaves in Roman times and appearing on different emblems in North and South America.

“As Paris 2024’s vision is to demonstrate that sport can change lives, the mascots will be playing a major role by leading a revelation through sport,” the site adds.

The Phryges are red, white and blue to reflect France’s tri-colored flag and wear the gold Paris 2024 logo — including the Olympic symbol of five interlaced rings — on their chests. The motto of the Olympic Phryges is “Alone we go faster, but together we go further,” echoing a sense of global solidarity.

03

Breaking makes its Olympic debut

B-Boy Mounir of France poses in front of the Arc de Triomphe during a portrait session on May 16, 2023 in Paris, France. (Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

Breaking, otherwise known as breakdancing, will make its inaugural entrance to the Olympic stage in Paris. With roots in New York’s Bronx borough during the 1980s, breaking is the only new sport to be added to the rotation of events. As reported by The Washington Post, there will be two breaking events — one for men and one for women — over two days with 16 dancers (known as B-Boys and B-Girls) taking part in each session.

Per NBC, a panel of nine judges will evaluate the dancers based on creativity, personality, technique, variety, performativity and musicality. The dancers are unaware of what music will be played during their routine and must improvise their performance. Breaking made its debut at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires before being selected for Paris. It will not return for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, according to NBC. Four of the sports that were introduced during the Tokyo Olympics – including 3x3 basketball, surfing, sport climbing and skateboarding – will make a reappearance this summer.

04

The Games will take place at 35 different venues overall

General view of the Lyon stadium on July 23, 2024 in Lyon, France. (Photo by (Claudio Villa/Getty Images)

While the height of the Olympic action — and some of the most popular events, like swimming and gymnastics — will transpire in central Paris, many other sports will take further afield. The Roucas-Blanc Marina in the coastal city of Marseille, located in the south of France, will serve as a home base for the sailing competition. According to the Olympic website, “the quality of the water conditions off the coast of Marseille, with relatively constant winds and a coastal configuration that is correctly oriented in relation to the dominant winds, without any currents or tides, will ensure ideal tactical and strategic conditions for the competitors.”

Soccer matches will also be held in Marseille at the Stade Vélodrome arena and at various stadiums in Bordeaux, Saint-Étienne, Lyon, Nantes and Nice, as noted by CNN

05

Surfing will take place in Teahupo'o, Tahiti

Caroline Marks of Team United States rides a wave during a Surfing Training Session ahead of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on July 24, 2024 in Teahupo'o, French Polynesia. (Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

The surfing competition won't even take place in the same hemisphere. Instead surf's up in Teahupo’o, a village off the southeastern coast of Tahiti in French Polynesia in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. At 9,800 miles away from Paris, Teahupo’o is the most distant venue from a host city in Games’ history, according to Washington Post.

Known as “The End of the Road,” Teahupo’o is infamous for its idyllic surfing conditions, notoriously heavy waves and shallow shelf of coral, making it a deeply challenging surf venue.

06

Russian and Belarusian athletes are barred from participating

Russia's Anzhela Bladtceva performs during the senior individual springboard final women competition of the 5th ALBA Games at the Jose Maria Vargas Sports Center in La Guaira, Venezuela on April 29, 2023. (YURI CORTEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) elected to keep the majority of Russian and Belarusian athletes off the Paris ticket, a decision stemming from the Kremlin’s ongoing war in Ukraine.

Eligible — and formally invited — Russian and Belarusian athletes will be permitted to compete as Individual Neutral Athletes, or AINs. Per USA Today, the “AIN classification means that Russian and Belarusian flags, national anthems and uniforms will be absent from the Paris Games.”

Instead, these athletes will compete under a designated green flag. Ahead of appearing in Paris, they were mandated to prove that they do not support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and had never served in the Russian or Belarusian armed forces. According to the IOC, "Participation in the Olympic Games Paris 2024 is subject to the athlete’s acceptance of the individual invitation and signature of the Conditions of Participation applicable to all participants. The form contains a commitment to respect the Olympic Charter, including 'the peace mission of the Olympic Movement.'"

"The Olympic Movement is united in its sense of fairness not to punish athletes for the decisions of their government if they are not actively participating in them," the IOC said in February of 2022, around the time Russia launched its invasion. "We are committed to fair competitions for everybody without any discrimination."

There are 15 athletes from Russia and 18 from Belarus set to compete in the 2024 Summer Games.