For most cities it is a dream come true to host the Summer Olympics selected and become the center of the sports world. Some even manage to repeat this event a second time. Take Tokyo, which hosted the last Games and the 1964 Olympics. However, Paris has now entered an even more exclusive club: the club of cities that have already hosted the Olympics three times. . Beside French The only capitals of this illustrious group are Los Angeles and London.

Olympia 1900: the first games in Paris

The first modern Olympic Games were held in 1896; The Paris Games of 1900 were only the second such event. The fact that the Olympic Games at that time did not yet have the current meaning is already clear from the name. of the sporting event. The official name of the games at that time was not “Olympia”, but “Concours Internationaux d'Exercices Physiques et de Sports”. This means, quite soberly, “International Fitness and Sports Competitions.”

At that time it was less about the Olympic Games and more about the World's Fair, which was taking place at the same time in Paris. Sports competitions were more of a kind of appendage to this and were hardly advertised. Since there was no big fuss about the competitions and they were held under a different name, not all athletes knew about their participation in the Olympic Games. Since there was no opening or closing ceremony, the Olympic Games were perceived as simply an ordinary sports competition. Some athletes only discovered years later that they had once been Olympic athletes.

1924 Olympics: Paris at its best

24 years after the first Olympic Games in Paris, the games have returned to the city. Although in 1900 they still received little attention, now the entire cultural life of the metropolis was based on them. For example, on the occasion of the competitions, an Olympic mass was celebrated in the most famous church in France, the Notre-Dame cathedral. The IOC (International Olympic Committee) was also recognized this time and honored with a gala at the Palais Garnier, one of the two opera houses in Paris.

The fact that circumstances had changed is also demonstrated by the reuse of the Grand Palais. This time, the building built for the 1900 World Exhibition did not serve as a magnet for visitors, but instead hosted Olympic competitions. At that time, these were not necessarily sporting in nature: the disciplines of literature, sculpture, architecture, painting and music were measured at the Grand Palais.

Paris 2024: The most climate-friendly Games of all time

They returned to the city on the banks of the Seine exactly 100 years after the last summer Olympic Games in Paris. The fact that the world has changed drastically since then is also reflected in the way Paris hosts the Olympic Games this time. On the one hand, some traditional elements like that Mascot of the Olympic Games or the Olympic pictograms completely revised. On the other hand, one of the main objectives this time is to significantly limit the CO² footprint of the event. Because the Olympic Games, which are intended to help promote international understanding, should not become a climate killer. For this reason, the organizers have set the goal of producing less than half the CO² of the Olympic Games. in London (2012).

This goal is possible, among other things, because hardly any new sports facilities have been built for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Existing stadiums such as the Paris St. Germain stadium are used instead. The energy for the mega-event also comes largely from clean energy such as wind or solar.

By the way, you can find all the information about the Paris Olympic Games in our news ticker.