Editor in chief at IamExpat Media
Europe’s exciting summer of sport continues this week, as the Olympic Games 2024 kick off in Paris. If you’re not lucky enough to have a ticket for one of the events, here’s what you need to know about watching the Olympics in Germany.
The Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the 33rd Summer Olympic Games, will take place from July 26 to August 11, 2024. The Paralympic Games will follow between August 28 and September 8.
The first qualifying games will begin already on July 24 and 25, in advance of the opening ceremony.
The grand opening ceremony will begin at 7.30pm on July 26, 2024. And this one is going to be quite unusual: for the first time in the history of the Olympic Summer Games, the opening ceremony will not take place in a stadium; instead, the ceremony will be held along the Seine River, which runs through the heart of the French city.
Instead of walking around a stadium track, the 10.500 athletes taking part in the 2024 Olympics will travel on a fleet of 160 boats down a six-kilometre stretch of the Seine, past some of the official Games venues, before finishing in front of the Trocadéro, where the ceremony will reach its crescendo. Expect fireworks and spectacular performances.
The opening ceremony promises to be a grand affair, and it’s not just limited to ticket holders. In an attempt to make it open to as many people as possible, 80 screens and speakers will be placed across the French capital, allowing everyone to watch along.
The Olympic Games will be available to watch for free in Germany, with broadcasters ARD and ZDF cooperating to share coverage lasting from the morning until midnight each day. ARD will broadcast the opening ceremony on Friday, July 26.
In general, coverage will then swap between the two on a daily basis, so ARD will broadcast on July 27, then ZDF will broadcast on July 28, and so on - although this is subject to last-minute changes. ARD and ZDF will both also offer live streams via the internet, as will Sportschau and Sportstudio.
Anyone with access to the channel Eurosport 1 can tune in for live coverage, while Discovery+ also has rights to all competitions and medal ceremonies, but this is a paid-for subscription, costing 3,99 euros per month with advertising. The Paris 2024 website also offers its own library of video content.
Germany is taking a total of around 430 athletes to the Olympic Games in Paris. They will represent the federal republic in more than 29 disciplines, including badminton, basketball, boxing, football, handball, athletics, cycling, rowing, swimming, sailing, tennis, gymnastics and volleyball.
At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Germany brought home 37 medals in total, including 10 gold, 11 silver and 16 bronze. It will be looking to beat that result at the 2024 Games.
Some names to look out for include dressage rider Isabell Werth, who has already represented Germany at the Olympics six times, and will be looking to add to her haul of seven gold and five silver medals. If she wins another gold medal, she will replace canoeist Birgit Fischer as the most successful German Olympian of all time. Table tennis player Timo Boll will also be looking to add to his stash of two silver and two bronze medals.
The men’s basketball team looks in good shape to take home a medal after recently winning the World Cup title, while the women’s football team will be looking to repeat their success at Rio 2016, where they won gold.
Both the women’s and the men’s hockey teams, and the men’s handball team, are also looking strong going into the games. The men’s rowing eight will also be looking to build on the silver medal they won in Tokyo 2021 and Rio 2016, and the gold medal from London 2012.
Thumb image credit: Hethers / Shutterstock.com