Venues Most of the Olympic events were held in the city of Paris and
its metropolitan region, including the neighbouring cities of
Saint-Denis,
Le Bourget,
Nanterre,
Versailles, and
Vaires-sur-Marne. The basketball preliminaries and handball finals were held in
Lille, from the host city, Paris; the sailing and some of the football games were held in the Mediterranean city of
Marseille, which is from Paris; meanwhile, the surfing events were held in
Teahupo'o village in the overseas territory of
Tahiti,
French Polynesia, which is from Paris. Football was also hosted in an additional five cities:
Bordeaux,
Décines-Charpieu (
Lyon),
Nantes,
Nice and
Saint-Étienne, some of which are home to clubs.
Grand Paris zone Paris Centre zone Versailles zone Outlying venues Non-competitive Medals The president of the Paris 2024 Olympic Organizing Committee, Tony Estanguet, unveiled the
Olympic and Paralympic medals for the Games in February 2024, which on the obverse featured embedded hexagon-shaped tokens of scrap iron that had been taken from the original construction of the
Eiffel Tower, with the logo of the Games engraved into it. Approximately 5,084 medals would be produced by the French
mint Monnaie de Paris, and were designed by
Chaumet, a luxury jewellery firm based in Paris. The reverse of the medals features
Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, inside the
Panathenaic Stadium which hosted the
first modern Olympics in 1896. Parthenon and the Eiffel Tower can also be seen in the background on both sides of the medal. Each medal weighs , has a diameter of and is thick. The gold medals are made with 98.8 percent silver and 1.13 percent gold, while the bronze medals are made up with copper, zinc, and tin.
Security France reached an agreement with
Europol and the
UK Home Office to help strengthen security and "facilitate operational information exchange and international law enforcement cooperation" during the Games. The agreement included a plan to deploy more drones and sea barriers to prevent small boats from crossing
the Channel illegally. The
British Army would also provide support by deploying
Starstreak surface-to-air missile units for air security. To prepare for the Games, the Paris police held inspections and rehearsals in their bomb disposal unit, similar to their preparations for the
2023 Rugby World Cup at the
Stade de France. As part of a visit to France by
Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, several agreements were signed between
the two nations to enhance security for the Summer Olympics. In preparation for the significant security demands and
counterterrorism measures,
Poland pledged to contribute security troops, including sniffer dog handlers, to support international efforts aimed at ensuring the safety of the Games. The
Qatari Minister of Interior and Commander of
Lekhwiya (the Qatari security forces) convened a meeting on 3 April 2024 to discuss security operations ahead of the Olympics, with officials and security leaders in attendance, including
Nasser Al-Khelaifi and Sheikh Jassim bin Mansour Al Thani. A week before the opening ceremony, the Lekhwiya were reported to have been deployed in Paris on 16 July 2024. In the weeks running up to the opening of the Olympics, it was reported that police officers would be deployed from
Belgium,
Brazil,
Canada (through the
RCMP/
OPS/
CPS/
SQ),
Cyprus, the
Czech Republic,
Denmark,
Estonia,
Finland,
Germany (through
Bundespolizei/NRW Police),
India,
Ireland,
Italy,
Luxembourg,
Morocco,
Netherlands,
Norway,
Portugal,
Slovakia,
South Korea,
Spain (through the
CNP/
GC),
Sweden, the
UAE, the
UK,
LASD,
NYPD, and the
Fairfax County (Virginia) Police Department), with more than 40 countries providing police assistance to their French counterparts. Security concerns impacted the plans that had been announced for the opening ceremony, which was to take place as a public event along the
Seine; the expected attendance was reduced by half from an estimated 600,000 to 300,000, with plans for free viewing locations now being by invitation only. In April 2024, after
Islamic State claimed responsibility for the
Crocus City Hall attack in Russia and made several threats against the
UEFA Champions League quarter-finals, French president
Emmanuel Macron indicated that the opening ceremony could be scaled back or re-located if necessary. French authorities had placed roughly 75,000 police and military officials on the streets of Paris in the lead-up to the Games. Following the end of the Games, the national counterterrorism prosecutor, Olivier Christen, revealed that French authorities foiled three terror plots meant to attack the Olympic and Paralympic Games, resulting in the arrest of five suspects.
Food To reduce the environmental impact and climate footprint of the Games,
Vegan chicken nuggets and
vegan hot dogs were served in place of the meat-based varieties. Venues for spectators served on average two-thirds plant-based meals. The
Place de la Concorde, the venue that hosted the skateboarding, breakdancing and BMX events, only served plant-based food. The football stadiums served 40% plant-based food. About 30% of the meals served to athletes in the
Olympic Village were plant-based. A prior estimate of 13 million meals were served during the Games, with around 40,000 meals served each day, 1,200 of which would be
Michelin-starred. A 3,500-seat restaurant was constructed for the Games to highlight global cuisine. Great Britain's team asked for
porridge to be added to the menu, and South Korea's team asked for
kimchi. Some countries also reportedly complained about raw meat being served, and the food issues led many of them to begin to avoid the Olympic Village dining facilities and to feed their athletes elsewhere; for example, the
British Olympic Association flew in designated chefs to take care of the nourishment of British athletes at a location outside the Olympic Village.
Air conditioning In the lead-up to the Games, it was announced that the Olympic Village would lack
air conditioning; as an environmental measure, the buildings would instead use a
geothermal natural cooling system to keep the inside temperature cooler than outside. On learning this, many teams opted to supply their own air-conditioning units to the Games, including Canada, Great Britain, Italy, Germany, Greece, Denmark, Japan, and the US. Olympic delegations from poorer countries, such as Uganda, complained that they could not afford to provide air conditioning for their athletes.
Transportation Over €500 million was invested in transport improvements for the Games, with extensions to the
Paris Metro and of new cycle lanes. Visitors to Paris paid higher public transport fares during the Games, €4 instead of the previous €2.15 price. This paid for the increased frequency and hours of service for public transport during the Games, with an average increase of 15% in services. As with previous Games, of reserved traffic lanes was used to ensure reliable journey times for athletes, officials and the media.
Volunteers The Paris 2024 volunteer platform for the Olympic and Paralympic Games was opened to the public in March 2023. There were expected to be 45,000 volunteers recruited worldwide for the Games. Following the end of registration on 3 May 2023, over 300,000 applications had been submitted to the Paris Organising Committee, exceeding the number of applicants for the previous two Olympics. Applicants were notified of the outcome of their application between September and December 2023. Over 800 applicants were excluded over security fears, among which 15 were flagged with
Fiche S.
Torch relay The
Olympic torch relay began with the lighting of the
Olympic flame on 16 April in
Olympia, Greece, 100 days before the start of the Games. Greek rower
Stefanos Douskos was the first torchbearer and swimmer
Laure Manaudou served as the first French torchbearer. The latter was selected to be one of four captains of the torch relay, alongside swimmer
Florent Manaudou (her brother), paratriathlete
Mona Francis, and para-athlete
Dimitri Pavadé. The torch relay was expected to have 10,000 torchbearers and visit over 400 settlements in 65 French territories, including six
overseas.
Tickets 9.5 million of the 10 million tickets available for the games were sold, breaking the record held by the
1996 Atlanta Olympics. Several sports reported record attendance. ==The Games==