All You Need To Know About Paris 2024 Olympics

Here is all the info one needs about the Paris 2024 Olympics: the dates, the venues, the opening ceremony, new sports and security issues.

When are the Olympic and Paralympic Games?

The Paris 2024 Olympics will run from July 26-Aug. 11, while the Paris 2024 Paralympics will be held from Aug. 28-Sept. 8.

When is the Olympic opening ceremony? What's unique about it?

The Paris 2024 Olympics opening ceremony will start at 7:30 p.m. (1730 GMT; 2300 IST) on July 26.

Instead of a traditional opening ceremony in a stadium, France has planned a river parade along 6 km (4 miles) of the River Seine, ending at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.

Some 300,000 spectators will watch from the banks of the Seine as a global audience tunes in on television.

Where will the Games take place?

In September 2017, the International Olympic Committee awarded Paris the 2024 Games when its only remaining rival, Los Angeles, agreed to wait another four years to be the host city.

Paris has hosted two Olympics and will stage the event 100 years after its last Games in 1924.

What are the security risks and how could they impact the opening ceremony?

Conflict in the Middle East and Ukraine, as well as the threat of an attack, have led the French government to raise its security alert to its highest level this year.

Around 45,000 French police and security forces will secure Paris during the Games, with additional help from a few thousand foreign security officials.

France will deploy 35,000 security agents and the military to secure the opening ceremony from security threats, including drone strikes, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said in May.

France has prepared alternatives to holding the Olympics ceremony on the Seine should security reasons require it, President Emmanuel Macron said in April.

One option, Macron said, would be to restrict the ceremony to the Paris Trocadero square facing the Eiffel Tower, while another would be to move it to the Stade de France stadium.

The Kremlin has rejected assertions that Russia would malevolently target the Olympics, calling them absolutely unfounded.

Is Russia taking part in the Paris 2024 Olympics?

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the IOC initially recommended a ban from international competitions of athletes from Russia and its ally Belarus, but it has since allowed them to qualify as neutrals.

Each qualified athlete is undergoing a vetting process by a three-member panel appointed by the IOC to ensure they meet certain eligibility criteria. Not having actively supported the war in Ukraine and not having been contracted to any military or security agency are among the criteria.

Russian and Belarusian athletes cannot take part in team competitions but are allowed to participate as neutrals - without flags or anthems being played and will be excluded from taking part in the opening parade.

Russia has denounced the restrictions as discriminatory and accused the IOC of taking part in a "conspiracy" with Ukraine.

Following are the Paris 2024 venues:

AQUATICS CENTRE - Artistic swimming, diving, water polo

BERCY ARENA - Artistic gymnastics, basketball, trampoline

BORDEAUX STADIUM - Football

CHAMP DE MARS ARENA - Judo, wrestling

CHATEAU DE VERSAILLES - Equestrian, modern pentathlon

CHATEAUROUX SHOOTING CENTRE - Shooting

EIFFEL TOWER STADIUM - Beach volleyball

ELANCOURT HILL - Cycling mountain bike

GEOFFROY-GUICHARD STADIUM - Soccer

GRAND PALAIS - Fencing, taekwondo

HOTEL DE VILLE - Athletics

INVALIDES - Archery, athletics, cycling road

LA BEAUJOIRE STADIUM - Soccer

LA CONCORDE - Basketball 3x3, breaking, cycling BMX freestyle, skateboarding

LE BOURGET SPORT CLIMBING VENUE - Sport climbing

GOLF NATIONAL - Golf

LYON STADIUM - Soccer

MARSEILLE MARINA - Sailing

MARSEILLE STADIUM - Soccer

NICE STADIUM - Soccer

NORTH PARIS ARENA - Boxing, modern pentathlon

PARC DES PRINCES - Soccer

PARIS LA DEFENSE ARENA - Swimming, water polo

PIERRE MAUROY STADIUM - Basketball, handball

PONT ALEXANDRE III - Cycling road, marathon swimming, triathlon

PORTE DE LA CHAPELLE ARENA - Badminton, rhythmic gymnastics

STADE ROLAND-GARROS - Boxing, tennis

SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES BMX STADIUM - Cycling BMX racing

SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES VELODROME - Cycling track

SOUTH PARIS ARENA - Handball, table tennis, volleyball, weightlifting

STADE DE FRANCE - Athletics, rugby sevens

TEAHUPO'O, Tahiti - Surfing

TROCADERO - Athletics, cycling road

VAIRES-SUR-MARNE NAUTICAL STADIUM - Canoe slalom, canoe sprint, rowing

YVES-DU-MANOIR STADIUM - Hockey

Which new sports will debut in the Paris 2024 Olympics?

BREAKING: A competitive form of breakdancing that blends artistry and dance with acrobatic moves, will debut at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Having made its Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020, karate was absent from the four sports organisers recommended for the 2024 Summer Games. Baseball-softball has also been dropped as a sport for Paris 2024 but will return at Los Angeles 2028.