2024 Summer Olympics begin in France with rugby, football matches

The 2024 Summer Olympics have officially begun in Paris, France.

Initial events include men's rugby sevens and football matches, with ongoing games between Uzbekistan and Spain, and Argentina and Morocco, Caliber.Az reports citing the Russian media.

The official opening ceremony is scheduled for July 26, and the Games will run through August 11.

The 2024 Summer Olympics will take place in Paris, the first time the Games have been held in western Europe since 2012, when London was the host. These also will be the first Olympics with fans fully in attendance since the 2018 Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea. The past two Games, held in Tokyo and Beijing, were conducted under a variety of pandemic restrictions.

Several Paris 2024 events will be held in parks and squares around the city. The Opening Ceremonies will be on the Seine.

The Opening Ceremonies will be July 26. Competitions, though, start July 24, when the first men’s soccer and rugby sevens matches will be played. The initial medal events take place July 27. The Closing Ceremonies will be held after the final events August 11.

Breaking, the competitive form of break dancing, is the only new sport that has been added by Paris organizers. There will be two breaking events, one each for men and women, with 16 dancers in each event The competition will run over two days.

Four of the sports added to the Tokyo Olympics — skateboarding, sport climbing, surfing and 3x3 basketball — were received enthusiastically and return this year.