Paris in summer is the place to be. More so this time as elite athletes from all over the world will gather for the Olympic Games.
The last Olympics was played in the shadows of the pandemic. This time there will be no constraints as the Summer Games return to the French capital for the third time after 1900 and 1924.
The Games will comprise 329 events in 32 disciplines. While the 'core' Olympic sports will be held as usual, fans will get a chance to witness some extraordinary newcomers such as breaking – competitive dance sport – and kitesurfing.
That will not be the only unique aspect of these Games. The event, which runs from July 26 to August 11, has mainly been scheduled around existing venues to keep costs down, which routinely runs into billions of dollars and causes the host nation financial pain for many years.
More than 90 per cent of the Olympic venues are facilities that either already exist or have been assembled just for the event and will be dismantled later.
The Olympic Village has been designed to be turned into a new residential neighbourhood, with more than 2,800 apartments. A quarter of these will become public housing, while the rest will become affordable flats for low-income individuals.
Even the Opening Ceremony is unique. About 10,000 athletes are set to be paraded on more than 90 boats on the Seine river for six kilometers in an open-air ceremony to be held during sunset and last nearly four hours.
Here is everything you need to know.
How many venues are there?
The Olympics will be held in at 35 venues across France, mainly in and around Paris.
Apart from the more traditional and existing venues, athletes will get to compete at some unique locales – like beach volleyball beneath the Eiffel Tower and equestrian events at the Palace of Versailles.
The idea of this Olympics is to utilise or redevelop existing infrastructure and make it as accessible as possible; nearly all venues in the Paris area are within 10 kilometres of the city centre.
How to watch the Olympics in UAE?
The Paris Olympics will be shown live on beIN Sports across the Mena region.
Prize money
Another reason that makes this Olympics unique is that track and field will become the first sport to introduce prize money at the Games.
World Athletics announced it will pay $50,000 to gold medalists in Paris – a symbolic break with the amateur past of the Games.
The governing body of athletics said it has set aside $2.4 million to pay the gold medalists across the 48 men’s, women’s and mixed events on the track and field programme. Relay teams will split the winner's cheque. Silver and bronze medalists will receive rewards from the 2028 LA Olympics onwards.
Security concerns
Safety remains a big concern though. Extremists pose an ever-present danger and French President Emmanuel Macron has said the Opening Ceremony could be shifted to a more traditional venue like the Stade de France if the security threat is deemed too high.
However, organisers are moving forward with their open-air ceremony plans. About 45,000 security personnel will be deployed. Also, the airspace and all airports within a 150km radius around Paris will be closed for the ceremony.
Athletes
At the end of the day, the spotlight will be on athletes. American gymnast Simon Biles and track star Sha'Carri Richardson will be some of the biggest names on the field. Tennis greats Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal will be seen together for possibly the last time at Roland Garros, aiming for glory among a vast pool of over 10,000 athletes.
The Arab world will be well represented across various disciplines.
In track and field, three-time high jump world champion and reigning Olympic gold medallist Mutaz Barshim of Qatar will look to continue his reign in the discipline.
Saudi Arabian taekwondo standout Donia Abu Taleb has realistic medal hopes in the women's event, as does Jordan's Julyana Al Sadeq.
In tennis, Egypt's Mayar Sherif and Tunisia's Moez Echargui will be going for glory at Roland Garros.
The UAE will be there at the games as well, having qualified for equestrian showjumping and judo.
Safiya Al Sayegh, 22, sealed a historic qualification for the Paris Games. The 22-year-old is the first Emirati woman, and just the second rider from the country, to qualify for the road race at the Olympics.
