The 2024 Olympics are here.
The Olympics are being held in Paris for the third time ever and first time in a full century. Instead of the usual four-year wait between Summer Olympics, the Paris Games are commencing just three years after the Tokyo Games, which were pushed back from 2020 to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2024 Olympics will feature events at Paris landmarks, competitions between the world’s greatest athletes and around-the-clock coverage on NBC and Peacock.
As the clock counts down to the Opening Ceremony, here is a full guide to get you prepared for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Get top local stories in San Diego delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC San Diego's News Headlines newsletter.
How to watch the 2024 Olympics in Paris
The 2024 Paris Olympics will go from July 26 to Aug. 11, 2024.
The Games will officially kick off with the Opening Ceremony on July 26, but several events begin before that. Handball, rugby and soccer matches were scheduled for July 24 and 25, and archery will also get going on July 25. Here's how to watch.
NBC and Peacock will present live Olympic events each morning and afternoon. Coverage will include the finals in highly anticipated events in track and field, swimming, gymnastics and more.
NBC will air at least nine hours of daytime coverage each day during the games. It will also deliver an enhanced, three-hour primetime show each night with behind-the-scenes access, new technology and insight from marquee athletes.
Peacock will stream every sport and event live throughout the Games, a first for the streaming service when it comes to the Summer Olympics.
USA Network, Golf Channel, CNBC, E!, Telemundo and Universo will also air event coverage throughout the Olympics.
What is the time difference between Paris and the U.S.?
With Paris six hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time, American fans can expect the competition to begin around 3 a.m. ET and end around 6 p.m. ET each day.
Team USA medal count
Team USA may be red, white and blue, but at the Olympics, it takes home plenty of gold, silver and bronze.
The U.S. has won 2,629 Summer Olympics medals in its history: 1,061 gold, 830 silver and 738 bronze. It owns more gold medals than any other country has total medals.
Team USA has led the medal count at each Summer Olympics dating back to the 1996 Atlanta Games. Its dominance continued in Tokyo, as it led the pack in golds (39), silvers (41), bronzes (33) and total medals (113).
American athletes medaled in 25 sports and won gold in 14 of them. Swimming was Team USA’s top sport, as it won 30 medals in the pool. Athletics (26), wrestling (9), gymnastics (6) and shooting (6) were next on the list.
The U.S. women have been especially dominant. They won 58% of the country’s medals in Tokyo, marking the third straight Olympics in which U.S. women won more than half of Team USA’s medals.
Team USA Olympians in 2024 Olympics
Team USA is once again bringing a loaded group of nearly 600 athletes to the Olympics that includes gold medalists, up-and-comers and sporting icons.
Beginning in the pool, swimmer Caeleb Dressel won five gold medals — three individual and two relays — giving him the most medals of any U.S. competitor at the Tokyo Games. Katie Ledecky wasn’t far behind, earning two swimming golds, an individual silver and a relay silver. Ryan Murphy, Lilly King and Regan Smith each won three swimming medals and eight more swimmers won two medals in Tokyo.
In 2024, Dressel will compete in his third Olympics and Ledecky will continue to swim for history. Katie Grimes and Nic Fink are chasing their first Olympic medals, while Gretchen Walsh could make a splash as an Olympic newcomer.
Simone Biles entered the Tokyo Olympics as a four-time defending gold medalist for her performance at the 2016 Rio Games. Her time in Tokyo took a dramatic turn as she experienced the “twisties.” She later made a triumphant return and wound up earning two medals (one silver and one bronze).
Suni Lee stepped up for Team USA gymnastics in Tokyo en route to individual all-around gold. Her three medals (one gold, one silver and one bronze) were the most of any non-swimmer on Team USA.
Several Americans ran onto the scene on the track. Sydney McLaughlin took home two gold medals, Rai Benjamin got a gold and a silver, Fred Kerley landed silver in the men’s 100m, Kenny Bednarek got silver in the men’s 200m and Noah Lyles got his first taste of Olympic glory with bronze in the 200m. Lyles, Kerley and Bednarek will be among those competing for the title of “the world’s fastest man” in Paris.
The stars will also be out for Team USA on the court. The men’s basketball team has earned four straight Olympic golds, and it is getting a legendary boost in Paris. LeBron James, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant and more future Hall of Famers are teaming up this summer. The women’s basketball team, meanwhile, is chasing its eighth straight gold at the Olympics with WNBA champions A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart leading the way.
2024 Olympics sports
The 2024 Paris Olympics will feature 329 medal events across 32 sports.
The Games will include one brand new sport: breaking. It is an urban dance style originated in New York City and was added for the Paris Olympics in December 2020.
Additionally, skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing are back after debuting at the Tokyo Olympics.
Here is a breakdown of each sport’s competition schedule, medal events and rules:
Aquatics
- Competition schedule: July 27-Aug. 11
- Medal events: 49 (35 swimming, 8 diving, 2 artistic swimming, 2 marathon swimming, 2 water polo)
- Swimming rules, diving rules, artistic swimming rules, marathon swimming rules, water polo rules
Archery
- Competition schedule: July 25-Aug. 4
- Medal events: 5
- Archery rules
Athletics
- Competition schedule: Aug. 1-Aug. 11
- Medal events: 48
- Track and field rules
Badminton
- Competition schedule: July 27-Aug. 5
- Medal events: 5
- Badminton rules
Basketball
- Competition schedule: July 27-Aug. 11
- Medal events: 4
- Basketball rules, Basketball 3x3 rules
Boxing
- Competition schedule: July 27-Aug. 4, Aug. 6-10
- Medal events: 13
- Boxing rules
Breaking
- Competition schedule: Aug. 9-10
- Medal events: 2
- Breaking rules
Canoeing
- Competition schedule: July 27-Aug. 1, Aug. 3-10
- Medal events: 16 (10 sprint, 6 slalom)
- Canoeing rules
Cycling
- Competition schedule: July 27-Aug. 11
- Medal events: 22 (12 track, 4 road, 2 BMX freestyle, 2 BMX racing, 2 mountain biking)
- Track cycling rules, road cycling rules, BMX freestyle rules, BMX racing rules, mountain biking rules
Equestrian
- Competition schedule: July 27-Aug. 6
- Medal events: 6 (2 dressage, 2 eventing, 2 jumping)
- Equestrian rules
Fencing
- Competition schedule: July 27-Aug. 4
- Medal events: 12
- Fencing rules
Field hockey
- Competition schedule: July 27-Aug. 9
- Medal events: 2
- Field hockey rules
Golf
- Competition schedule: Aug. 1-4, Aug.7-10
- Medal events: 2
- Golf rules
Gymnastics
- Competition schedule: July 27-Aug. 5, Aug. 8-10
- Medal events: 18 (14 artistic gymnastics, 2 rhythmic gymnastics, 2 trampoline)
- Artistic gymnastics rules, rhythmic gymnastics rules, trampoline rules
Handball
- Competition schedule: July 24-25, July 27-Aug. 4, Aug. 6-11
- Medal events: 2
- Handball rules
Judo
- Competition schedule: July 27-Aug. 3
- Medal events: 15
- Judo rules
Modern pentathlon
- Competition schedule: Aug. 8-11
- Medal events: 2
- Modern pentathlon rules
Rowing
- Competition schedule: July 27-Aug. 3
- Medal events: 14
- Rowing rules
Rugby
- Competition schedule: July 24-25, July 27-30
- Medal events: 2
- Rugby rules
Sailing
- Competition schedule: July 28-Aug. 8
- Medal events: 10
- Sailing rules
Shooting
- Competition schedule: July 27-Aug. 5
- Medal events: 15
- Shooting rules
Skateboarding
- Competition schedule: July 27-28, Aug. 6-7
- Medal events: 4
- Skateboarding rules
Soccer
- Competition schedule: July 24-25, July 27-28, July 30-31, Aug. 2-3, Aug. 5-6, Aug. 8-10
- Medal events: 2
- Soccer rules
Sport climbing
- Competition schedule: Aug. 5-10
- Medal events: 4
- Sport climbing rules
Surfing
- Competition schedule: July 27-30
- Medal events: 2
- Surfing rules
Table tennis
- Competition schedule: July 27-Aug. 10
- Medal events: 5
- Table tennis rules
Taekwondo
- Competition schedule: Aug. 7-10
- Medal events: 8
- Taekwondo rules
Tennis
- Competition schedule: July 27-Aug. 4
- Medal events: 5
- Tennis rules
Triathlon
- Competition schedule: July 30-31, Aug. 5
- Medal events: 3
- Triathlon rules
Volleyball
- Competition schedule: July 27-Aug. 11
- Medal events: 4 (2 volleyball, 2 beach volleyball)
- Volleyball rules, beach volleyball rules
Weightlifting
- Competition schedule: Aug. 7-11
- Medal events: 10
- Weightlifting rules
Wrestling
- Competition schedule: Aug. 5-11
- Medal events: 18 (12 freestyle wrestling, 6 Greco Roman)
- Freestyle wrestling rules, Greco Roman wrestling rules