Paris was the 2024 Summer Olympic Games city. They are officially the XXXIII Olympiad. The opening ceremony took place on 26 July and closed on 11 August 2024. The proceedings included an artistic programme showcasing the culture of the host country and city, the parade of athletes and the lighting of the Olympic cauldron. The Games were formally opened by the President of France, Emmanuel Macron.
The Opening Ceremony was unique because it did not take place in a stadium but held in the heart of the city along its main artery: on the Seine River. Each delegation was on a boat, which was equipped with cameras to allow television and online viewers to see the athletes close up. The parade covered a 6-kilometre route and ended in front of the Trocadero, where the final formalities of Olympic protocol and final shows took place.
Paris 2024 marked the centenary of Paris 1924. It is the second city that has hosted the Summer Olympics three times: 1900, 1924 and now 2024. The other city is London, which hosted the Summer Olympics in 1908, 1948 and 2012. France as a country has hosted three Summer Olympics and three Winter Olympics. Although Paris was the main host city, events were also held in 16 other venues spread across Metropolitan France.
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 the Games. She is a familiar face in French culture and her profile stands out on the official government logo of the country, on French euro coins and on French postage stamps
The Olympic flame symbolises the continuity between ancient and modern games. The Olympic flame is lit at Olympia, Greece, several months before the Olympic Games, starting the Olympic torch relay, which formally ends with the lighting of the Olympic cauldron during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. The flame continues to burn for the duration of the Games, until it is extinguished during the Olympic closing ceremony.
The modern Olympic Games were founded by Baron Pierre de Coubertin in 1894, inspired by the ancient Olympic Games held in Olympia (Greek: Ολυμπία), Greece from the 8th century BC to the 4th century AD. The first President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was a Greek, Dimitrios Vikelas. He was also on the organising committee for the first modern Olympic Games that were held in Athens, Greece, in 1896.
The ancient Olympic Games were a series of athletic competitions among representatives of city-states and were one out of the four Panhellenic Games held every four years: the Olympic Games were held in Olympia in honour of Zeus; the Pythian Games in Delphi and honoured Apollo, the Sun god; the Nemean Games in Nemea, which also honoured Zeus, and the Isthmian Games in Isthmia honouring Poseidon, god of the Sea. Along with the fame of winning in the ancient Games, the athletes earned different crowns of leaves from the different Games. From the Olympics, the victor won an olive wreath, from the Pythian Games a laurel wreath, from the Nemean Games a crown of wild celery leaves, and from the Isthmian Games a crown of pine.
The Games continued even under Roman rule in the 2nd century BC. Their last recorded celebration was in 393 AD under the Byzantine emperor Theodosius I, who banned the Games in order to promote Christianity as he regarded them equivalent to paganism.
The importance of the Games was such that the Olympic truce (Greek: εκεχειρία – ekecheiria) would be announced. All warfare stopped so that athletes and religious pilgrims (the Games were also a religious event), could travel from their cities to the games in safety.
The Games also helped to spread Hellenistic culture throughout the Mediterranean. The participants had to be freeborn Greek men, but this requirement changed so that competitors who could speak Greek were also able to enter. Females could not compete although it is said that maidens could watch the competitions, but not married women.
Unmarried women however, had their own Games at Olympia every four years. They were called the Heraean Games held in honour of the goddess Hera, Zeus’ wife. Young girls competed in footraces on the stadium’s racetrack, which was 177 meters. They competed in the Diaulos (354 meters), the Hippios (708 meters), and the Dolichos (about 3 miles). The winners were awarded a crown of olive leaves and a portion of a cow, which they sacrificed to Hera. The games were considered a rite of passage into adulthood for females as those taking part were adolescents. They were organized by a group of sixteen women, who were also responsible for weaving the peplos (Greek: πέπλος), a body length garment, for Hera and arranging choral dances. The Games are said to have started at around 776 BC, just after the traditional Olympic Games. Both were held in the Stadium at Olympia. The competitor would wear a short chiton, exposing her left breast, and loose hair. This marble statue is probably a Roman copy of a Greek original from c. 460 BC.
