It’s hard to believe that an Olympic year has rolled around yet again. In 2024, the world’s largest sporting event will bring together more than 10,500 athletes (5,250 women and 5,250 men) in a grand spectacle encompassing 329 medal events across 32 sports. Whether you're lucky enough to be travelling to Paris or tuning in from halfway around the world, there are countless ways to get around the green and gold. Here’s everything you need to know about watching the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.
🎇 Everything to know about the Olympic Closing Ceremony
⚽️ How to watch the 2024 Paralympics in Australia
🎾 15 things Aussies need to know about the Paris Olympics
Where are the 2024 Olympics?
The Games will be hosted in Paris, France across 41 venues, with the surfing competition taking place in Teahupo’o, Tahiti.
Arguably France’s most famous stadium, the Stade De France will host the athletics and rugby sevens competitions. The lawns of Champ de Mars, between the Eiffel Tower and the École Militaire, will transform into a pop-up arena for beach volleyball, judo and wrestling, while one of the city's most famous public squares at the eastern end of the Champs-Élyséess, Place De La Concorde, will turn into an urban park for the BMX freestyle, skateboarding, breaking and 3x3 basketball events.
When do the 2024 Olympics end?
The Olympic Games kicked off with a spectacular Opening Ceremony on Friday, July 26 and will continue for 19 days, ending with the Closing Ceremony on Sunday, August 11.
The first events technically began two days before the Opening Ceremony with preliminary handball, archery, football and rugby sevens games commencing on Wednesday, July 24 and Thursday, July 25.
From July 27, you can tune into the artistic gymnastics, badminton, basketball, beach volleyball, boxing and canoe slalom events. You can check out the competition schedule here.
How to watch the Paris 2024 Olympics on TV in Australia?
The 2024 Olympic Games will be broadcast in Australia on more than 40 free-to-air channels under the Nine Network. You can also watch on-demand highlights for free after they’ve happened at your own convenience on its 9Now streaming platform. It can be accessed on your web browser or through your Smart TV, mobile or tablet after downloading the app.
Stan Sport will also broadcast all 329 Olympic events ad-free, live and on-demand in 4K Ultra HD, a first for Olympics overage in Australia. This includes full replays, highlights, daily talk shows hosted by ex-Olympians, and eight international / multi-language live channels. You can access Stan Sport here.
Where to watch the 2024 Olympics in Australia?
Did you miss out on an invite to Paris for the 2024 Olympics? Don't worry, so did we. But that doesn't mean you can't still get behind the Australian squad who have travelled to the City of Love for their chance at Olympic glory. Here are the official live sites in each capital city:
- Brisbane – South Bank
- Canberra – AIS Arena
- Melbourne – Fed Square, plus more venues here
- Perth – Yagan Square and Brookfield Place
- Sydney – Tumbalong Park, plus more venues here
All 37 Westfield destinations across Australia will also be transforming into official Live Sites for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Once the Olympics start, you can rock up to your local Westfield to watch live streams of key matches direct from Paris, and enjoy Olympic- and Paralympic-themed events and live music. And yes, they will be extending their opening times, including into the early hours of the morning so that fans can watch live. Once the Olympics are on, you can find out what’s happening over here.
How many medals did Australia win at the 2024 Olympics?
Australia won 53 medals, including 18 gold, 19 silver and 16 bronze. This placed us fourth on the Olympic medal leaderboard, behind the United States, China and Japan. You can find the Olympic medal tally, along with a full list of medallists here.
How many medals was Australia predicted to win at the 2024 Olympics?
At every Olympics, data specialist Gracenote releases its predicted medal standings for each country. Australia is slated to finish in fifth place on the medal tally with a total of 54 medals, including 15 gold, 23 silver and 16 bronze. However, you can never predict these things – after all, who doesn’t love an underdog?
The USA tops the forecasted medal tally with a predicted 112 medals, followed by China with 86, Great Britain with 63, and France with 60.
How many people are going to the 2024 Olympics from Australia?
Australia will send 460 athletes to this year’s Olympics, competing across 33 sports. This talented team consists of 204 men and 256 women, the highest percentage of females in Australian Olympic team history. Of these Olympians, 229 are multi-game athletes, while 231 will make their Olympic debut.
Four-time Olympian and equestrian competitor Shan Rose (51) is the oldest team member, while skateboarder Arisa Trew (14) is the youngest. You can see the full Australian Olympic team selections here.
Have the Matildas qualified for the 2024 Olympics?
Australia’s women’s football team, the Matildas, secured their spot in the 2024 Olympics after winning the third and final round of the 2024 AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament in February.
The Matilda’s made the semi-final round at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, but just missed out on a medal after losing to the USA by one point.
Meanwhile, Australia’s men’s football team, the Olyroos, failed to qualify for the Paris Olympics.
Olympic Opening Ceremony dazzles/delights/disappoints
The 2024 Olympic Games kicked off on Friday, July 26 with the largest-ever Summer Opening Ceremony and the first to be hosted outside a stadium. During the procession, 94 boats carrying 10,500 athletes sailed down the river Seine, from east to west over six kilometres. Despite the rainy skies, 300,000 spectators lined the riverbanks to cheer on their teams for free.
The first performance of the night was by American pop icon Lady Gaga, who dazzled with a cabaret medley. France's most listened-to singer, Aya Nakamura, sang some of her greatest hits, including ‘Pookie’ and ‘Djadja’, while a group of 80 performers from the Moulin Rouge performed the can-can. Vocal powerhouse Celine Dion closed the Opening Ceremony atop the Eiffel Tower, with a performance of Édith Piaf’s classic ‘Hymne à L’amour.’
When are the 2024 Paralympics?
The 2024 Paralympic Games are set to take place in Paris from Wednesday, August 28 to Sunday, September 8. The games will feature 549 events across 22 sports, including blind football, boccia (a form of precision ball sport), sitting volleyball and wheelchair basketball.
You can check out the competition schedule here.
Where is the next Olympics in Australia?
The 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be hosted in Brisbane, Queensland. This marks Australia’s third time hosting a Summer Olympics.
When was the last Olympics in Australia?
Sydney hosted Australia’s most recent Summer Olympic Games in 2000. Before Sydney, Australia had only hosted the Olympics once before, in Melbourne in 1956.
Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out Australia newsletter for more news, travel inspo and activity ideas, straight to your inbox.