10 Fun Facts about the 2024 Paris Olympic Games
With anticipation building for this year's Olympic Games we have a little collection of vintage paintings of Paris in honour of this exciting event.
Kicking off with the opening ceremony on Friday, Paris will be the centre of global sporting attention, as it has been in the art world for centuries. France is the home of some of the world's most important artistic developments, from the ancient cave paintings created on the walls at Lascaux some 17,000 years ago through to the foundation of modern art as we know it today.
Here are 10 fun facts about this year's Olympics, illustrated with some of the affordable and decorative vintage paintings of Paris we currently have in stock.
'Les Bouquinistes' signed Frede Salling (1910-1989), oil on canvas in vintage painted wood frame. Available at Collins & Green Art, click the painting above for more information.
1. Not all of this year's Olympic events will be held in Paris, or even La France Métropolitaine
Most of the events will of course be held in Paris, but some will be held across France and one in an overseas territory. Surfing will be held in the small village of Teahupo'o in the French Polynesian island of Tahiti in the Pacific Ocean. Tahiti is considered an administrative division of France, just like the French Régions, but has a semi-autonomous status. It has its own Président, is represented in the Asemblée Nationale and can even vote in European elections...a uniquely French arrangement. The village has been chosen for its unusually shallow surf breaks and huge waves which have attracted adventurous surfers from all over the globe for decades.
Football is another event which will not be held solely in Paris but across different stadiums in France in the cities of Marseille, Lyon, Saint-Étienne, Bordeaux, Nantes, and Nice. These are all cities which host La Ligue 1 teams, the equivalent of the English Premier league. Other sports held further afield include Shooting, in Châteauroux, and Equestrian events in the Chateau de Versailles.
'The Streets of Paris' signed Bertil Widbrandt (1914-1988). Oil on canvas in vintage gilt frame with linen insert, available at Collins & Green Art. Click the image above for more information.
2. The Olympic Medals will contain a piece of the Eiffel Tower
This year, in the centre of the famous gold, silver, and bronze Olympic medals there will be a piece of iron from the Eiffel Tower. Designed and made by the luxury French jewellery house Chaumet, the medals will contain a hexagon of original iron from the iconic structure with the brown paint of the tower removed to reveal its metallic tone. The Olympic medal ribbons will be red, and the Paralympic medals will be blue; both obvious colour choices from the French flag. The hexagon itself is a symbol of France; the French refer to mainland France as l'Hexagone from its shape.
You may ask where on the Eiffel Tower has the metal come from? According to the Olympic Committee, pieces have been removed and replaced throughout its lifetime during renovations, and this will provide the material for the Olympic Medals. There will be no gaps in the tower or missing struts, so no changes to your postcards, magnets, and tea towels and the Tour itself is in no danger of falling down!
'Champs-Élysées at Night' signed Bernard Lignon (1928-2017), oil on canvas in ornate vintage wood frame. Available at Collins & Green Art, click the painting for more information.
3. Paris 2024 will be the first Olympic Games to feature dance
Breaking, or Breakdancing, is the only new sport at this year's Games. It i
'Paris Rooftops' signed Frans-Michaël Kempe (1911-1978). Oil on canvas in vintage gilt frame with linen insert, available at Collins & Green Art. Click the image for more information.
4. Whilst a new sport has been added, some have been dropped
The International Olympic Committee decides which 28 core sports and 6 additional sports can be selected for the final list of events at each Olympic Games. This year, baseball, softball, and karate, all of which featured in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, have been dropped.
Many sports have been included in the Olympic Games over the years never to be seen again, some more outrageous than others. Sports such as 'plunge for distance', which was only held once, in 1904, involved competitors diving as far as they could in a single dive from a standing position; the gold medal winner William Dickey dived a whopping 62 feet 6 inches. This was unsurprisingly deemed to be too dangerous and was never repeated. Other sports no longer included are equestrian high jump, hot air ballooning, and lacrosse.
5. The first Olympics ever to achieve gender parity.
This year's Games have reached a sporting equality milestone; the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will be the first to achieve full gender parity with 2,250 male athletes and 2,250 female athletes competing. This statistic does not 'solve' the disparity in men's and women's sports, but it is certainly an achievement and a sign that sport is heading in the right direction.
France is a pioneer in gender equality in the Games as female athletes were admitted for the first time in the 1900 Olympic Games held 124 years ago in Paris. I Paris has now been the Summer Olympic Games host city three times, in 1900, 1924, and a hundred years later in 2024. The only other place to host the Games this many times is London in 1908, 1948, and more recently in 2012, excluding Greece of course.
'Le Moulin Rouge' signed Bernard Lignon (1928-2017), oil on canvas in ornate vintage wood frame. Available at Collins & Green Art, click the image above for more information.
6. The Meeting of Art and Sport
The Olympic Games used to include an art competition. Between 1912 and 1948, artists could submit pieces inspired by sport, in one of the five categories of architecture, literature, sculpture, music, and painting. Anyone could submit an artwork, and artists were required to be amateurs rather than professionals. Successful artists received gold, silver, and bronze medals, as in the sporting competition. Famous judges of the art competition included Russian composer Igor Stravinsky and Swedish writer Selma Lagerlöf.
Today's modern Olympics are the brainchild of Pierre de Coubertin, who wanted the Games to develop both physical and artistic talents, and to create an event which united international sportsmen and women, and creatives. Today, art competitions are no longer on the Olympic agenda; there has been much discussion, and many attempts have been made to revive them since 1948. In 1958 the IOC established an Olympic Cultural Programme which in Paris 2024 appears in the shape of a 'Cultural Olympiad', an event which provides funding and engagement to sports clubs, theatres, lectures, and art troupes throughout Paris and elsewhere in France.
Here in the UK Cambridge's Fitzwilliam Museum is hosting a new exhibition entitled: Paris 2024: Sport, Art and the Body, which explores the huge influence of Paris on 20th century art, as well as the philosophy of the modern Olympic Games with its focus on mind and body. The exhibition runs from 19 July - 3 November. Click here for more information.
'Bar on the Corner' signed Bertil Wahlberg (1923-1980), oil on canvas in vintage wood frame. Available at Collins & Green Art, click the image above for more information.
7. What does it all cost?
So how much does hosting the Olympics cost a country? France is projected to have spent around
For an individual to visit the games, ticket range from €90 to €2,700. 8.8 million tickets for the Olympics have so far been sold, with around 4,000 left in the higher price range. There are also some bargains, with football tickets for the group stages starting at just €15. You may be surprised to hear that there are tickets left for the highly anticipated 100m men's final. However, considering the event can last 9.58 seconds if you are watching the likes of Usain Bolt, that's around €31 a second for the cheapest ticket price at €295, and €102.30 a second for the most expensive!
Accommodation has been a hot topic at the games, with some Paris hoteliers tripling their usual prices during the Olympic period, with many having to reduce them last-minute thanks to a 41% in their usual sales rate due to a high room avaliability.
Many Parisians are very unhappy about how the Games have been staged with permits to enter to your own home necsesay for those living close to events and parking suspended. Métro stations and corréspondances are randomly closed, apparently in attempt to foil the plans of any potential terrorists. All this of course gives grumpy Parisians lots to complain about!
[pic]
8. Paris 2024 is the First Olympic Opening Ceremony on Water
With each Opening Ceremony comes a more outrageous, extravagant event every four years. Some remain more in the cultural consciousness than others, from Rocketman William Suitor flying in a jetpack over the Olympic Stadium in Los Angeles 1984, to Her Majesty The Queen launching herself out of a helicopter into the audience alongside James Bond in London 2012. Paris 2024 is no exception, with this year's ceremony being held for the first time on water along the Seine in the centre of the city. The 'Parade of Nations' will begin at the Trocadero, travelling past the Eiffel Tower, Les Invalides and all the other wonderful Parisian monuments.
Few details have been revealed about the ceremony, with many speculating as to which acts will entertain us for a whopping 4 and a half hours. What we do know is that there will be 94 boats and around 7,000 athletes involved in the parade. There will be around 300,000 in-person spectators to the event (reduced from the ambitious 600,000 originally planned) and an estimated 1 billion people around the world watching the televised ceremony.
'On the Banks of the Seine' signed by an Unknown Artist. Oil on canvas in a wood and raffia frame. Available at Collins & Green Art, click the image for more information.
9. Events of the 'Cultural Olympiad'
As mentioned, the 'Cultural Olympiad' includes workshops, events, and theatre productions for the public around Paris and further afield in France, mostly free of charge or at low cost. For instance, the Louvre is hosting a 'yoga and exercise' schedule, where the public can stretch and extend below the treasures on the walls.
Other venues in Paris hosting events includes the Musée Carnavalet with an exhibition of over sixty artworks and artefacts relating to the history sport in Paris, from posters advertising 19th century women's wrestling, to objects relating to the Olympic Games in 2024. Free tours will be available in several languages to visitors during the Games, click here for more information in French or in English.
'Folies-Bergère, Tous les soirs, Luttes de femmes' by an anonymous artist. On show at the Musée Carnavalet-Histoire de Paris / Paris Musées ©.
10. Where do the athletes live?
The athletes of Paris 2024, as for the Olympics over the decades, will be living in a bespoke Olympic Village. The venue will host 4,250 athletes in the Olympics and 8,000 athletes during the Paralympics. Lots of effort has been made to make these Games more sustainable, with no air conditioning installed and recycled cardboard beds. The area has shops, gyms (obviously), and a catering for nearly 15,000 people during the Olympic period. The Olympic Village does not however consist of one 'village', instead being hosted in three areas in the north of Paris: Saint-Ouen, Saint-Denis, and L'Ile-Saint-Denis.
It is projected that around 3,000 to 5,000 new homes will be available to rent or buy in the 53-hectare venue once the Games are over, fulfilling the idea of the Olympics bringing revenue to its host cities. The first idea of the Olympic Village was proposed by Pierre de Coubertin in the late 19th century, which eventually came to fruition in Paris 1924.
Final Thoughts
The Olympic Games is an event we often take for granted, with the anticipation of the event making us think 'how have 4 years gone past already!?'. The Games are an extraordinary institution uniting the world, giving athletes something to aim for, as well as entertaining us at home with the unbelievable feats which the human mind and body is capable of. Since the creation of the Ancient Games in around 776 BC and the Modern Games in 1896, we have always been fascinated by the sporting and physical achievements of humans. This summer the tradition continues, so sit back, relax, and watch medals being won and world records being beaten all in the beautiful surroundings of Paris and La Belle France.
Written by Eloise Saggers, with a few comments from Julia!
Collins & Green Art
