The Enormous Scale Of The Olympics In Numbers

The Olympics in Paris marks a milestone in the history of the Games by moving the opening ceremony out of a stadium. This is the first time this has been attempted and promises to be a spectacular affair. Here we try to summarise the scale of the event by highlighting some of the numbers involved.

4(hours) - the total duration of the opening ceremony, directed by Thomas Jolly.

5The flag bearer alongside Florent Manaudou, Mélina Robert-Michon will be the fifth Frenchwoman to have this privilege in the history of the Olympic Games. She follows in the footsteps of Christine Caron (1968), Marie-José Perec (1996), Laura Flessel (2012) and Clarisse Agbegnenou (2021).

5The number of delegations with a single representative: Belize, Liechtenstein, Nauru, Somalia and Tuvalu.

6The length in kilometres of the parade and the live show orchestrated by Thomas Jolly and his teams. It's a huge challenge that Paris 2024 will take up brilliantly after many months of preparation. Unprecedented!

12The number of artistic displays throughout the show, highlighting French and Parisian heritage. To be discovered during the ceremony!

54.1By deciding to move the Opening Ceremony away from a sports arena, the IOC had to amend Article 54.1 of its Olympic Charter. The reference to the ‘Olympic stadium’ for the first evening of the Games has been removed in favour of the less restricted notion of ‘site of the opening ceremony’. It now remains to be seen whether the future Organising Committees will make the bold choice of holding a ceremony outside a stadium or not.

80The number of giant screens will be set up along the Seine for the occasion.

85The number of boats that will be mobilised to transport all the delegations along the 6 kilometres of the Seine.

100A century has passed since the last Olympic Games were held in Paris. Back then, it was the Stade Yves-du-Manoir that hosted the opening ceremony.

110There will be 110 Heads of State who will be meeting in Paris for the occasion.

120Cameras used to record the ceremony by Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS), three times as many as in Tokyo in 2021.

140The number of 2024 Clubs that will be broadcasting the opening ceremony throughout France. Make the most of it, the Games are coming to you!

206The number of delegations coming to the opening of the 33rd Olympiad of the modern era (a total of 10,500 athletes, including 571 from France).

400The number of Outside Broadcast Staff deployed. ‘It's the biggest production ever in terms of equipment and broadcast resources,’ explains the audiovisual subsidiary of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). 200 smartphones will also be installed on the boats to provide viewers with an ‘inside’ perspective. OBS will also be using eight drones, three helicopters and four stabilised boats.

1,500The number of suits designed for the French athletes. This midnight blue smoking suit (with long sleeves for the men, sleeveless for the women) will be the last visible suit of the evening, as Les Bleus will be the last to parade. They have been made by Berluti, a brand belonging to the LVMH group, premium partner of the Paris 2024 Games.

3,000The number of artists involved. Under the direction of Maud Le Pladec, 3,000 artists (including 400 dancers) will perform in the show. 200 dressers and nearly 300 hairdressers and make-up artists will be on hand along the Seine to prepare these artists.

26,000The number of spectators expected on the banks of the Seine. That's 222,000 free ticket holders on the raised quays of the Seine, and 104,000 paying ticket holders on the lower quays.