One day, one final, our subjective Olympic calendar

PARIS 2024 JO – 10,500 athletes selected, 18 days of competition, more than 200 countries represented and sport practically all day long on a multitude of television channels. While the Paris Olympic Games begin in earnest this Friday, July 26 with the opening ceremony on the Seine, it is difficult to organize yourself so as not to miss anything of the event.

France, which is aiming for a top 5 in the medal standings, has nearly 600 representatives and will be competing in the vast majority of the 329 events on the Olympic programme. And if you add to that the must-see events of the Games, the most spectacular sites where the events will be held (in Paris and elsewhere) and the countless world stars who will try to take home a trinket, choices will have to be made, even for the biggest sports fans.

• Saturday July 27, 7:45 p.m.: Men’s rugby sevens

A spectacular sport with fast-paced matches, rugby sevens kicked off the Paris Olympic Games with the first matches at the Stade de France on Wednesday, July 24. And in a discipline where the Blues were not even qualified for Tokyo, it is the presence of Antoine Dupont and the formidable momentum of the French team that makes this Saturday’s final unmissable.

• Sunday, July 28, 8:30 p.m.: Men’s 400-meter medley in swimming

At just 22 years old, Léon Marchand is already the only Frenchman to be a five-time world swimming champion. And it is perhaps in the 400-meter medley, a race in which he is the world record holder, that he has the best chance of winning his first Olympic gold medal. It is also an opportunity to discover the impressive 50m Olympic pool installed in a few weeks inside La Défense Arena, usually a rugby stadium and giant concert hall in western Paris.

• Monday, July 29, 9:45 p.m.: Women’s individual sabre fencing

The glass roof of the Grand Palais is one of the most unusual places in the French capital, hosting fashion shows as well as equestrian competitions and other exhibitions every year. At the start of the Olympic fortnight, it is the fencers who are invited there, and in particular this Monday the formidable sabre fencers of the French team: Sara Balzer, Manon Apithy-Brunet and Cécilia Berder.

• Tuesday July 30, from 4 p.m.: -63 kg women in judo

And as a wink, it is at Grand ephemeral palacea structure built on the Champ-de-Mars to replace the Grand Palais while some work is being carried out, which is where our next final takes us. In this case, the -63 kg in judo, a category where the Frenchwoman Clarisse Agbégnénou reigns (practically) unchallenged. Who this year will have the opportunity to become the first female triple Olympic champion in her sport.

• Wednesday, July 31, from 3:34 a.m.: surfing

This Wednesday, the final we have selected is for early risers. Or night owls, depending on your point of view. Because it is well before dawn that the finals of the surfing events will begin, on the other side of the world from Paris. On the legendary wave of Teahupo’o, in Tahiti, the best surfers on the planet (including the French Johanne Defay, Vahiné Fierro, Kauli Vaast and Joan Duru) will compete in a breathtaking setting.

• Thursday, August 1, 6:15 p.m.: Women’s all-around competition in artistic gymnastics

At 1.42 metres tall, she is a giant of her sport. American Simone Biles, 23 world and four Olympic titles, is making her big comeback on the world’s most beautiful stage, three years after leaving the Tokyo Games mentally and physically exhausted. To treat herself to a legendary outing at Bercy?

• Friday, August 2, 2 p.m.: Team show jumping in equestrian

After the Eiffel Tower, the Grand Palais and even Tahiti, here is the Palace of Versailles. This is where the various horse riding events will be held, in the gardens designed for Louis XIV in the 17th century. We invite you there for a particularly spectacular event: the team show jumping competition.

• Saturday, August 3, 11 a.m.: Men’s road race in cycling

There is an Olympic title to be won in the streets of Montmartre. This Saturday, August 3, after setting off from Trocadéro, the best cyclists on the planet will explore the Chevreuse Valley before returning to compete, 250 kilometers further, on the Parisian cobblestones. An event that promises to offer some magnificent views of Paris and a Dantesque spectacle.

• Sunday, August 4, 9:50 p.m.: Men’s 100-meter final in athletics

It is one of the must-see events of the Olympic Games, where sport writes its legend every four years. This Sunday evening, on the purple track of the Stade de France, the successor of Jesse Owens, Carl Lewis or Usain Bolt will be crowned. Will it be the American favorite Noah Lyles? Or a surprise like the Italian Marcell Jacobs, who won the title in Tokyo? The answer will be at around 9:50 p.m. and a little less than ten seconds.

• Monday, August 5, 8 a.m.: Mixed triathlon relay

Without necessarily being named, it is perhaps one of the events that has caused the most ink to flow in the run-up to the Games. This Monday morning, in the heat of the Parisian summer, the best triathletes on the planet (including four French) will throw themselves into the water in the Seine to compete for the mixed relay title. At least if health conditions allow it. If that is the case, the images should impress more than one, as had already been proven by the test event from last year.

• Tuesday, August 6, 9:40 p.m.: Women’s 200m in athletics

An open and spectacular race, the 200 meters of the Paris Games should give rise to a new confrontation between Jamaicans and Americans. But it is difficult to predict who will triumph between Shericka Jackson, who came very close to breaking the world record dating back to 1988 last summer, and Gabby Thomas, the American who managed to eliminate her rival Sha’Carri Richardson during the qualifications. Unless the Ivorian Marie-Josée Ta Lou, the Saint Lucian Julien Alfred, or even a European springs a surprise?

• Wednesday, August 7, 5:30 p.m.: Men’s skateboard park

The communication of the Paris Games focused, among other things, on modernity. This is notably the meaning of the “ urban park » created on Place de la Concorde and which will host various events such as 3×3 basketball, BMX freestyle and breakdancing, which will make its debut in Paris. And this Wednesday, August 7, it is skateboarding that will crown its Olympic champion in the discipline of parkeither inside a large bowl lined with ramps and bumps.

• Thursday, August 8, 1:13 p.m.: Women’s kitesurfing in sail

The Olympic Games are Paris. But not only. On the other side of France, in Marseille, we will also vibrate to the rhythm of the Games. And in this case, sailing events, all organized in the ” marina » of the Phocaean city. For this subjective program, we chose the kitesurfing final, a new discipline on the Olympic program in which France has a chance to shine thanks to Lauriane Nolot, double reigning world champion.

• Friday, August 9, 3 p.m.: Men’s table tennis team tournament

They have fallen back into line a bit after a fantastic start to 2024, but could well offer a medal to the French team. This Friday, August 9, brothers Alexis and Félix Lebrun, accompanied by Simon Gauzy, will try to put an end to the overwhelming Chinese domination in table tennis. A colossal challenge, but one that will be worth a look.

• Saturday, August 10, 9:30 p.m.: men’s basketball

It’s been a little over 30 years and the exceptional tournament of the Dream team in Barcelona in 1992 that basketball became the main attraction of the Olympic Games. And it is an understatement to say that the Parisian vintage should not be an exception to the rule, if we are to believe the armada sent by the United States, the quality of a Canadian collective that we imagine capable of beating anyone and the presence of a good part of the best NBA players (Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic… and Victor Wembanyama of course).

• Sunday August 11, 8 a.m.: women’s marathon

Would you like to take a little more Paris to end the fortnight? Before closing these French Olympics, the best marathoners on the planet will take part in a stroll that promises to provide magnificent images and a very arduous course, especially if the heat joins in the fun. Passing by the Hôtel de Ville, the Palais Garnier, the Eiffel Tower, the Château de Versailles and the Esplanade des Invalides, and taking in some particularly hilly passages in the Hauts-de-Seine and Yvelines, the race is presented as the marathon “ the hardest in the history of the Olympics ” Enough to conclude the Games in style.