All about the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris!

On Friday, 26 July, Paris becomes the sports epicenter of the sports world. That’s right, it’s time for the 2024 Summer Olympics! The French capital (along with satellite venues all over France) is set to host 10,672 athletes from 196 nations. Each of these will compete in 329 events in 32 sports disciplines with a single goal in mind: get a medal-worthy performance in their field. Of course, each event only has 3 medals… The Olympic battle is on!

What (and who) should you look out for?

The prestigious opening ceremony takes place on Friday, July 26 marks the official start of the Olympics. With only the best in the world up against each other in the ultimate competition, every single event is worth watching. There’s plenty of room for history here, too. Eliud Kipchoge (Kenya), for example, has a unique opportunity to win his third consecutive gold medal in the marathon.

After Wimbledon, Novak Djokovic (Serbia) is moving straight on to Paris for the Olympic tennis tournament. He may have plenty of Grand Slam titles, but an Olympic gold medal has as yet eluded him. On his way, he’s likely to meet Carlos Alcaraz (Spain) along the way… In the basketball tournament, there’s no way around the squad led by James LeBron and Kevin Durant (USA).

Their compatriot Simone Biles (USA) is favourite to win the gold medal in gymnastics. In athletics, the whole world is looking forward to the exploits of pole-vault world-record holder Mondo Duplantis (Sweden). Paris 2024 will see the debut of breakdancing as an Olympic sports discipline, and world champion India Sardjoe (the Netherlands) is definitely “one to watch”, here.

What about the Belgians?

For this 2024 edition in Paris, Belgium sends its biggest delegation since 1928. No less than 165 Belgian athletes will compete in 21 disciplines. Plenty of our athletes are world-famous and have a great shot at a medal. In the athletics discipline, Nafi Thiam is our medal hope for the heptathlon, while all of Belgium will keep its fingers crossed for Bashir Abdi in the marathon. Nina Derwael, meanwhile, is a strong contender for a medal in gymnastics.

It’s impossible to ignore the fact that Belgium’s strongest medal aspirations lie in the field of cycling, though. With Lotte Kopecky, Remco Evenepoel and Wout Van Aert, there are at least 3 athletes that can get a podium place any given day. Our men’s field hockey team, too, is a serious title candidate. After all, they won the gold in 2020: why not win back-to-back?

Other Belgian participants to keep in mind include Sarah Chaâri (taekwondo), Zizou Bergs (tennis), Neisser Loyola (fencing), and Lianne Tan (badminton). Of course, all of our athletes deserve all of our support. We strongly encourage you to take some time to follow any event that involves our compatriots. As you cheer on our athletes, you might discover a passion for a sports discipline you didn’t even know!