‘Games Wide Open’ unveiled as Paris 2024 slogan
PARIS — With two years to go until the opening ceremony of Paris 2024, organizers on Monday announced “Ouvrons Grand Les Jeux”, meaning “Games Wide Open”, as the shared slogan of the Paris Olympics and Paralympics.
“It is an invitation to the world to come and experience new emotions together. Our Games are the commitments of new experiences and big thrills,” organizers said.
Paris will host the Summer Olympics for the third time in 2024, which also marks the centenary of the last Paris Games in 1924. The French capital was also the host city of the second edition of the modern Olympic Games, in 1900.
The Olympic Games are scheduled to take place from July 26 to Aug 11. Athletes will compete in a total of 32 sports encompassing 329 events. Among these sports, breaking will make its Olympic debut.
A provisional calendar of the Games was also released on Monday. The first competition session starts on July 24, two days before the opening ceremony. Notably, all the swimming and athletics finals will take place in the evening — from 8:30 pm for swimming (with the exception of the last day which is from 6:30 pm), and from 7 pm for athletics.
As Paris 2024 is aiming to be the most gender-balanced Olympic Games in history, the organizers have placed the women’s competitions in the spotlight.
For instance, for the first time since table tennis became an Olympic sport in Seoul 1988, a women’s event (the women’s team final) will
bring the program to a close in Paris on Aug 10.
Over 13 million tickets will be on sale for the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games, with nearly half of those reserved for the public at a cost of 50 euros ($51) or less.
Admission prices for competitions range from 24 euros to 950
euros. The most expensive tickets will account for just 0.5 percent of the total volume of tickets on sale to the general public.
“These prices, which are extremely affordable for an event the size of the Olympic Games, have been made possible thanks to the adoption of a special pricing structure. The high-price tickets, which make up 15 percent of the tickets on sale to the general public, will generate almost 50 percent of Paris 2024 ticketing revenue,” organizers said in a statement.
New repechage round
Athletes competing in individual track events from 200 meters to 1,500m (including hurdles) will have at least two races at the 2024 Paris Olympics, World Athletics announced.
According to the new format, athletes who do not qualify by place in the first-round heats will have a second chance to qualify for the semifinals by participating in repechage heats.
This will replace the system of athletes advancing based on the fastest times (q) in addition to top placings in the first-round heats (Q).
These events will now have four rounds — round one, repechage round, semifinals and the final, with schedules varying according to the specific nature of the event.
As the 100m already has preliminary heats, before round one, the repechage will not be introduced in this event.