7 things you need to know about the Paris Olympics

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. 

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

Team USA has a litany of podium appearances throughout the history of the Olympic Games. Several American athletes who will be in Paris this summer are poised to bring home more than just medals; they could be the faces behind record-breaking moments. Here are just a few of the big names who could further cement their names as all-time Olympic greats:

• Simone Biles, already the most decorated Olympic gymnast of all time, could raise her gold medal tally to 12 in Paris.
• NBA standout and Phoenix Suns power forward Kevin Durant could become the first male athlete to garner four gold medals in any team sport if the U.S. men’s basketball team secures its fifth consecutive gold medal.
• Seven-time gold medalist and swimming phenom Katie Ledecky could become the all-time women’s leader in Olympic swimming medals. Ledecky is heavily favored to win the 1500m freestyle, in which she holds the current Olympic and world record.
• Sha’Carri Richardson was barred from competing in Tokyo over a positive marijuana test. Now, the dynamo 100-meter runner — who clinched a victory at the World Championships in Budapest last August — poses a serious threat to her Jamaican opponents. With a personal best of 10.71 seconds, Richardson could be the first American woman to win a gold medal in the 100m since Gail Devers was crowned champion in the 1996 Games in Atlanta, Georgia.