The Paris Olympics starts this week with New Zealand sending a team of 195 athletes as they try to improve on the 20 medals won in 2021.
Here’s all you need to know about the Paris Olympics.
The Paris Olympics will run from Saturday July 27 to Monday August 12 NZT, but the first action begins on July 25 with Archery, Football, Handball and Rugby Sevens all starting early.
The opening ceremony starts from 5.30am July 27 NZT.
New Zealand Olympic Committee have finalised their full team and have named athletes in the following sports:
Artistic swimming, Athletics, Canoeing, Cycling, Diving, Equestrian, Field hockey, Football, Golf, Gymnastics, Judo, Rowing, Rugby sevens, Sailing, Shooting, Sport climbing, Surfing, Swimming, Tennis, Triathlon, Weightlifting and Wrestling
The official Paris 2024 website is the place to go for a full rundown of what events are taking place and when. Click here to check it out. Closer to the event, the Herald will have a schedule for Kiwis in action.
Sky New Zealand has the broadcasting rights to the 2024 Olympics and will have 12 channels dedicated to the 32 sports, including coverage on free-to-air Sky Open.
Sky New Zealand will have all the coverage of the opening ceremony.
Newstalk ZB and GOLD SPORT are the Official Radio Broadcast Partner of the Olympic Games Paris 2024
Listen to live commentary of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on GOLD SPORT and iHeartRadio.
Coverage of selected events will also be live on Newstalk ZB.
No flag, anthem, colours or any other identifications whatsoever of Russia or Belarus will be displayed at the Paris Olympics, according to the IOC. Individual Neutral Athletes (AINs), athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport, can compete under strict conditions.
Teams of athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport will not be considered while athletes who actively support the war will not be eligible.
Look out Minions! The Paris Olympics mascots are the Phryges - red characters based on the famous Phrygian cap - a symbol of freedom.
The logo for Paris 2024 combines three separate symbols – the gold medal, the flame and Marianne, the personification of the French Republic.
“Marianne is the personification of the bold spirit of creativity that inspires our Games,” the official site says. “Marianne, symbol of the French Republic, represents the same values we find in sport, the Olympics and the Paralympics – humanism, fraternity, generosity and sharing. Marianne is a familiar face in French culture that is omnipresent in day-to-day life, appearing on stamps and outside every town hall for example. She reflects our desire to organise the Games for the people, in close collaboration with the people.”
Breaking (breakdancing) is the only sport appearing at the Olympics for the first time. There will be two events, one each for men and women. There will be 16 “b-boys” and “b-girls” competing.
An Olympic medal inlaid with a piece of the Eiffel Tower. How’s that for a monumental prize? Games organisers revealed their revolutionary design in February.
A hexagonal, polished chunk of iron taken from the iconic landmark is being embedded in each gold, silver and bronze medal that will be hung around athletes’ necks at the July 26-Aug. 11 Paris Games and Paralympics that follow.
The Paris Mint is manufacturing 5,084 medals — about 2,600 for the Olympics and 2,400 for the Paralympics. That is likely more than will be required. Some will be stored in case that medals need to reassigned after the Games, which can happen when medal-winners are subsequently stripped of the prizes for doping. Some go to museums. Any other spares could be destroyed.
The gold medals weigh 529 grams and are not pure gold. They are made of silver and plated with 6 grams of gold.
The silvers weigh 525 grams.
The bronzes weigh 455 grams and are a copper, tin and zinc alloy.
The medals are 85 millimeters across and 9.2 millimeters thick.
They’ll come in a dark-blue box from Chaumet and a certificate from the Eiffel Tower Operating Co. that the iron pieces came from the monument. Paris organisers didn’t give a monetary value for the medals.
Paris will feature 329 events in 33 sports, including the 28 “core” Olympic sports contested in 2016 and 2020. There will also be four optional sports that were proposed by the Paris Organising Committee: breaking will make its Olympic debut as an optional sport, while skateboarding, sport climbing, and surfing will return from 2020.
Aquatics (Artistic swimming, Diving, Marathon swimming, Swimming, Water polo), Archery, Athletics, Badminton, Basketball, 3×3 basketball, Boxing, Breaking, Canoeing (Slalom and Sprint), Cycling (BMX freestyle, BMX racing, Mountain biking, Road, Track), Equestrian (Dressage, Eventing, Jumping), Fencing, Field hockey, Football, Golf, Gymnastics (Artistic, Rhythmic, Trampoline), Handball, Judo, Modern pentathlon, Rowing, Rugby sevens, Sailing, Shooting, Skateboarding, Sport climbing, Surfing, Table tennis, Taekwondo, Tennis, Triathlon, Volleyball, Beach volleyball, Weightlifting, Wrestling (Freestyle, Greco-Roman)
The 2028 Olympics will be hosted by Los Angeles. Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and SoFi Stadium will be the main stadiums as LA plays host for the third time following the 1932 and 1984 Games.
The Aussie breakdancer on why she decided to call it a day.