With Paris Olympics one year out, Minnesotans take aim
Let the countdown begin. One year from now, Paris will join London as the second city to host three Olympics, staging the 2024 Summer Games from July 26 to Aug. 11.
A hundred years after its last Olympics, the City of Light promises a Games full of Parisian glamour and history. Many venues are being constructed at world-famous landmarks — the Eiffel Tower, Versailles, the Grand Palais — and the Opening Ceremony will float down the River Seine. There will be touches of modernity, too, including the debut of break dancing as an Olympic sport.
If it seems like these Olympics are coming up fast, you're right. The 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo were postponed to 2021 because of the pandemic, cutting the countdown to Paris to three years instead of the usual four. The shorter wait has many Tokyo Olympians eyeing another shot at the Games, including Minnesota medalists Suni Lee, Gable Steveson and Regan Smith.
With the pandemic in decline, these Games also are expected to mark a return to normal Olympic fanfare and frivolity. For the first time since 2018, international visitors will be allowed to attend — giving even more cause for celebration.
JUST THE FACTS
Dates: July 26-Aug. 11, 2024
Athletes: 10,500, from more than 200 national Olympic committees
Sports: 32, with 139 total events
Time difference: Seven hours ahead of Central Daylight Time
What's new, and what's out: Break dancing — officially called "breaking'' — will join the program for the Paris Games, with divisions for men and women. Skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing, added for the Tokyo Games, will stick around. Karate, baseball and softball were dropped.
THE ROAD TO PARIS
