The Olympics begins with a unique opening ceremony on Friday night along the River Seine before the competitive action gets going at Paris 2024 on Saturday and continues for 16 days.
Team GB are taking more than 300 athletes to the Games including Andy Murray, twice an Olympic champion who announced on arrival in Paris on Tuesday that this would be the final tennis tournament of his career – a fitting stage to exit after his success in London and Rio de Janeiro.
But Charlotte Dujardin, a six-time Olympic medallist, has pulled out of all competition while the International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI) investigates a video from four years ago showing her making “an error of judgement” during a coaching session.
“What happened was completely out of character and does not reflect how I train my horses or coach my pupils, however there is no excuse,” she said in a statement. “I am deeply ashamed and should have set a better example in that moment.”
Follow the latest news and build-up to the Paris 2024 Olympics below.
Paris 2024 - Latest Olympic Games news and buildup
- Six-time Olympic medallist Charlotte Dujardin withdraws over leaked video
- Andy Murray announces retirement from tennis after Olympic Games
- Keely Hodgkinson a huge medal hope and athletics could be a goldmine for GB
- Dutch ban volleyball’s convicted rapist Steven van de Velde from media duties
- Snoop Dogg among torchbearers ahead of opening ceremony
- How to watch the Olympics this summer
Charlotte Dujardin provisionally banned over video of alleged horse mistreatment
19:49
Jamie Braidwood
Charlotte Dujardin will take no part in the Olympics and has been provisionally suspended for six months by equestrian’s governing body with immediate effect after she was filmed “engaging in conduct contrary to the principles of horse welfare” four years ago.
The three-time Olympic champion had earlier pulled of Paris 2024 due to a video that shows the dressage rider “making an error of judgement during a coaching session”. She is alleged to have repeatedly hit the legs of a student’s horse with a whip while on the ground.
The International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI) has now confirmed that it has provisionally suspended Dujardin from all competition for a period of six months while it continues its investigation into the footage.
Who is Charlotte Dujardin and what did she do?
17:59
Jamie Braidwood
Charlotte Dujardin was the golden girl of British equestrian who went from sporting unknown to Olympic champion in barely a year.
But six medals and three Olympics into her remarkable journey, Dujardin’s world has fallen apart.
Her withdrawal from the Paris Olympics has come barely a week before she was due to compete after a video emerged from four years ago showing her making what she described as “an error of judgement” during a coaching session.
Australia Olympics chief criticises Dutch team for selecting convicted rapist Steven van de Velde
20:00
Callum Rice-Coates
Australian Olympics chief Anna Meares has said that a convicted rapist would not be picked for the country’s Olympics team, after Steven van de Velde was named in the Netherlands’ beach volleyball squad.
Van de Velde, now aged 29, was sentenced to four years in prison in 2016 after pleading guilty to three counts of rape against a child when he was 19. He met his 12-year-old victim on Facebook, and travelled from Amsterdam to Milton Keynes, where the incident happened in 2014.
Van de Velde, who was allowed to serve his sentence in the Netherlands, was behind bars for just 12 months of the four years and then resumed his career in volleyball, competing in international tournaments since 2018 and eventually being selected for the Netherlands squad for Paris 2024 in June.
There’s life in me yet – Jack Laugher relishing ‘old soul’ role in diving team
19:30
Callum Rice-Coates
He is yet to turn 30 but Jack Laugher insists he is revelling in the role of an “old soul” as prepares to head into his fourth Olympics in Paris.
Having emerged unscathed from a tumultuous Tokyo cycle, the 2016 diving gold medallist hopes a wiser approach will pay dividends alongside his new synchro diving partner Anthony Harding, who will be competing at his first Games in the French capital.
“I feel like I give that fatherly feel to the team,” laughed Laugher, a relative veteran who made his Olympic debut in London 2012 at the age of 17, where he failed to reach the semi-final stage.
Noah Lyles targets new Olympics goal: ‘Not even Bolt did that’
19:00
Callum Rice-Coates
Noah Lyles has revealed that he is bidding to win four gold medals on the track at Paris 2024 and do “something that hasn’t been done”.
The American swept the sprint titles at the World Championships in Budapest last year, taking the individual 100 and 200 metres crowns and featuring in the USA’s victorious sprint relay quartet.
Lyles now wants to add the men’s 4x400m to his programme in Paris having helped his nation to silver at the World Indoors in Glasgow earlier this year.
Olympics 2024: What are the new sports and events for Paris?
18:30
Callum Rice-Coates
Paris is ready for the Olympics with a rich history across many traditional sports.
But many sports have been introduced since the marathon at the first modern Games in Athens in 1896.
Tokyo 2020, which eventually took place in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, welcomed three new sports to the Olympic family.
Paris will provide a first outing for breaking, while other sports will expand the number of events with on show.
Here’s a look at breaking and what’s new for Paris 2024:
When is Simone Biles competing at Paris Olympics?
18:00
Callum Rice-Coates
The most decorated gymnast of all time, Simone Biles, returns to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris after addressing mental health concerns.
Shane Lowry aiming for gold at Paris Olympics
17:30
Callum Rice-Coates
Team Ireland golfer Shane Lowry has made clear his intention to win a medal at the Olympics this summer.
The 37-year-old finished sixth at the British Open but is aiming high in Paris.
“Onwards and upwards and onto the Olympics and try to win a medal for Ireland and get on from there,” Lowry said.
“I’m playing good golf and I’d love to win a medal. Obviously I’d want it to be gold, but I’d probably take either three. I’m very excited about it.
“Obviously Le Golf National is going to be a great test and a great course and that medal isn’t going to be around your neck until you’re finished on that 18th green at that place.”
Tom Daley jumps on cardboard ‘anti-sex’ athletes’ village bed to test sturdiness
17:00
Callum Rice-Coates
The Olympic sports in Paris with no British athletes competing
16:35
Callum Rice-Coates
Record medal hauls may be mooted for Team GB when the Paris Olympics get underway in the French capital, but there are some Games venues at which the Union flag will be conspicuous by its absence.
The tentacles of sustained podium success, spread liberally by almost £250m of UK Sport funding for the Paris Olympic cycle alone, have yet to reach the wrestling mats of the Champ-de Mars-Arena or the glittering fencing venue at the Grand Palais.
Charlotte Dujardin withdraws from Paris 2024 Olympics
16:15
Callum Rice-Coates
Charlotte Dujardin had previously admitted that becoming the most successful female British Olympian would be “surreal”.
“If I achieve that, it will be incredible,” she told the Telegraph.
“My dream was always just to get to the Olympics. I didn’t think there could be anything more special than that. Then in London, I thought this was not real: first Olympics, home crowd, double gold? Yeah, right.
“Now to think I could be at the very top, how surreal is that? I don’t see it as pressure, though. Like I always do, I just want to go out there and enjoy it. I mean, it’s not like every person gets to go to an Olympics.”
Charlotte Dujardin withdraws from Paris 2024 Olympics
16:00
Callum Rice-Coates
Charlotte Dujardin was one of Britain’s most lauded athletes at the London 2012 Olympics, winning both individual and team gold medals on her horse Valegro.
More medals followed in Rio four years later, before she won two bronzes at the delayed Tokyo 2020 Games on a different horse, Gio.
Had she competed at the Paris Olympics, Dujardin would have needed just one medal to become the most-decorated British female Olympian ahead of now-retired cyclist Dame Laura Kenny.
15:47
Callum Rice-Coates
Charlotte Dujardin withdraws from Paris 2024 Olympics
Dressage rider Charlotte Dujardin has withdrawn from the Olympics.
The Team GB athlete, who could have become Britain’s most successful ever female Olympian this summer, cited the emergence of a video from four years ago which showed her “making an error of judgement during a coaching session”.
Statement from Charlotte Dujardin as she withdraws from #Olympics #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/ZDP0k4VWp9
— Francis Keogh (@HonestFrank) July 23, 2024
15:32
Callum Rice-Coates
Jannik Sinner delays Olympics preperation due to illness
World No.1 Jannik Sinner will not arrive at the Paris Olympics until Thursday after developing a fever, according to a report from ANSA.
While the likes of Carlos Alcaraz, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal are all busy preparing at Roland Garros, Sinner’s focus will be on his recuperation.
The Italian was knocked out of Wimbledon by Daniil Medvedev at the quarter-final stage.
15:14
Callum Rice-Coates
Olympics chiefs play down Covid fears as first athletes test positive
Olympics chiefs have played down fears of a Covid cluster at the Paris Games after the Australia water polo team reported two players had tested positive and were isolating.
The Australian team said the first athlete to test positive for Covid chose not to train with her team-mates on Tuesday afternoon and a second player, who was a close contact, later tested positive as well.
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics were delayed by a year and held largely without spectators but Paris 2024 will be the first post-pandemic summer Olympics. While there is no obligation to wear a mask, anybody with symptoms is being asked to stay at home or at their hotel to avoid spreading the disease.
15:00
Callum Rice-Coates
Comment: Allowing into the Olympics a Dutch athlete convicted of raping a child is a disgrace
14:40
Callum Rice-Coates
Passports, in-flight meals and jet lag: How horses travel to the Olympics
Welcome aboard, hope you are standing comfortably. For the horses on the US eventing team, the journey to France for the Paris Olympics was — quite literally — a four-legged journey.
Their trek began on a farm in Pennsylvania. They were driven to JFK airport last Wednesday to board an eight-hour flight to Luxembourg. The following afternoon the horses went by lorry to their pre-Olympic base camp in Vittel, located about four hours outside of Paris.
Having rested, shaken off jet lag and done some gentle trotting, they are scheduled to reach the Palace of Versailles for their Olympic check-in on Wednesday.
14:24
Callum Rice-Coates
The best photos from the Olympics today
Paris 2024 is just days away now and many of the athletes set to compete in the Games are busy preparing for their first events.
Here are a selection of the best photos from Tuesday in the French capital...
Andy Murray trains at Roland Garros before Olympic Games
13:49
Lawrence Ostlere
Andy Murray has been training at Roland Garros today ahead of the start of the Olympic Games, with the tennis to be played July 27 to August 4, with the draw for the first round on Thursday July 25.
He announced this morning that this would be the last tournament in his career.
World Rugby CEO says Sevens set to come of age at Paris Games
13:38
Lawrence Ostlere
The rugby competition is among a handful of events beginning tomorrow, ahead of Friday’s Olympic opening ceremony, and International Olympic Committee (IOC) Associate Director David Luckes urged the sport to make the most of its early start.
“Tomorrow is the most important day, because competition begins,” Luckes added.
“It’s a very, very important moment, for the organising committee to switch from the planning mode to the delivery mode. That’s where we create the excitement and the buzz for the spectators.”
France’s Antoine Dupont has been in the headlines ahead of the Games, displaying his versatility by moving between the XVs and Sevens on a number of occasions in recent months.
The scrumhalf helped his club Toulouse win the European Champions Cup final in May and then drove France to victory in the season-ending Grand Final in Sevens a week later.
Former France player Vincent Clerc said the game owed much to his compatriot, adding: “Sevens rugby will take advantage of Antoine’s image.
“He has a desire to promote Sevens rugby and to show that an Olympic medal in rugby is as important as a World Cup or a European Cup.
“Antoine carries this message well.”
World Rugby CEO says Sevens set to come of age at Paris Games
13:26
Lawrence Ostlere
Rugby Sevens is hoping to finally seize the spotlight in Paris after making its Olympic debut in Rio in 2016 and having its sophomore showing at the COVID-19 affected Tokyo Games, World Rugby CEO Alan Gilpin said on Tuesday.
The Olympic rugby Sevens competition will take place at the Stade de France, the venue of last year’s men’s Rugby World Cup final and France’s largest stadium.
“This is the coming of age moment really for Sevens and we’ve always known the Olympic platform can be incredible,” Gilpin told reporters.
“We know that Sevens is a form of the game that excites new audiences, it’s easier to understand, it brings people into the game and this next week is going to shine a light on it that we’ve never had before.
“It’s a huge opportunity for us... We’ve seen it in previous Games. In places where rugby is not watched traditionally, we’ll get some great audiences and we’ve got to work hard then as a sport to keep those people excited.”
13:01
Callum Rice-Coates
Andy Murray – fiercely proud Scot who showed British players can be winners
Andy Murray poured blood, sweat and tears into a brilliant career that showed British tennis players could be winners.
Driven by a desire to triumph that at times appeared too strong, Murray held his own in arguably the greatest era of men’s tennis and achieved feats not seen from a British man for three quarters of a century.
Having doubted that a grand slam title would come after falling agonisingly short on a succession of occasions, Murray broke his duck at the US Open in 2012 and, the following year, achieved his career-defining feat by winning Wimbledon 77 years on from Fred Perry’s final victory.
12:44
Callum Rice-Coates
When is Andy Murray playing at the Paris Olympics?
Andy Murray may have played his final match at Wimbledon this month but he will be back in action at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The two-time Wimbledon winner was scheduled to play in a mixed-doubles match alongside Emma Raducanu, but the latter pulled out after sustaining a wrist injury.
That meant Murray’s Wimbledon farewell was somewhat anticlimactic, although the Brit will have aspirations of success at the Olympics, his final tournament before he retires.
12:28
Callum Rice-Coates
Andy Murray to retire after Olympics – 10 standout matches from his career
Andy Murray has announced he will retire at the age of 37 following the Paris Olympics.
The Scot can look back on a career full of highlights, including three grand slam titles and two Olympic gold medals so far.
12:15
Callum Rice-Coates
Snoop Dogg among Olympics torchbearers at Paris 2024
American rapper Snoop Dogg will be one of the torchbearers carrying the Olympic flame before the opening ceremony of Paris 2024 on Friday.
The American rapper, who will also be a part of NBC’s Olympics coverage, will carry the torch through the streets of Paris.
French actress Laetitia Casta and French rapper MC Solaar will also carry the torch.
12:05
Callum Rice-Coates
Andy Murray’s career in pictures as British tennis great announces retirement
Andy Murray’s career is coming to an end after he announced his decision to retire after the Paris Olympics at the age of 37.
Relive some of the best moments of his career with the gallery below...
11:59
Callum Rice-Coates
Three years after civil war, Steve Redgrave backs Team GB rowers to top Olympic medal table
Sir Steve Redgrave expects Team GB to top rowing’s medal table at the Olympic Games in Paris.
The five-time Olympic rowing champion believes Great Britain will banish the disappointment of Tokyo three years ago when there was no rowing gold for the first time since 1980.
11:40
Callum Rice-Coates
Why are Russia and Belarus banned from the Paris Olympics?
Russian and Belarusian athletes will again be in the spotlight at Paris 2024 with their particpation at the Olympics controversial.
This is the fourth Games in a row that entrants from Russia have not been allowed to compete under their own flag, though their ban for widespread doping violations has now ended.
The absence of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) from this Olympics instead comes because of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
11:20
Callum Rice-Coates
How Roy Keane is inspiring Team GB to end 36 years of Olympic men’s hockey hurt
It’s not quite 58 years of hurt, but Team GB’s men’s hockey team have got the feeling that what was then could be again.
Hockey was front page, back page, and top of the hour 36 years ago in 1988 when Sean Kerly, Imran Sherwani, and keeper Ian Taylor made themselves household names at the Seoul Olympics.
They even inspired one of Barry Davies’ most famous commentaries: “Where, oh where, were the Germans? And frankly, who cares?” said the man from Auntie, losing all sense of objectivity as Sherwani scored to seal a 3-1 triumph and Olympic gold in style.
Hockey came home after Seoul but Great Britain’s men have had just one sniff of a medal since, losing to Australia in the bronze medal match at London 2012. By contrast, the women’s team have made the podium at the last three Games – two bronzes sandwiching their famous penalty shootout gold in Rio.
But whisper it quietly, there is confidence as the men prepare to start their Paris 2024 campaign against Spain at the Stade Yves-du-Manoir this weekend.
11:03
Callum Rice-Coates
Travel ‘chaos’ could disrupt Paris Olympics
Airport workers in Paris have threatened strike actions which could significantly disrupt travel plans for spectators at the Olympics, according to the Mirror.
Staff at Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle, Orly and Beauvais airports are demanding better wages.
Flights are planned to go ahead as normal but fewer workers at airports could cause problems, with a daily influx of 350,000 passengers set to descend on the French capital.
10:45
Callum Rice-Coates
Paris Olympics will be ‘spectacular’, says IOC president
International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach has promised this summer’s Olympic Games will be among the most memorable.
“Like billions of people around the world we are awaiting with impatience the youngest, most inclusive, most urban and most sustainable Games,” Bach said, as quoted by Reuters.
“We are convinced that together with the entire world we will experience spectacular Olympic Games.”
10:31
Callum Rice-Coates
Murray confirms retirement after 2024 Olympics
Andy Murray has confirmed he will retire from tennis following the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The 37-year-old made his final appearance at Wimbledon earlier this month and will bow out at his fifth Olympic Games.
Arrived in Paris for my last ever tennis tournament @Olympics
— Andy Murray (@andy_murray) July 23, 2024
Competing for have been by far the most memorable weeks of my career and I’m extremely proud to get do it one final time! pic.twitter.com/keqnpvSEE1
10:15
Callum Rice-Coates
How to watch Tom Daley at Paris 2024 Olympics
Big Tom Daley fan? We’ve got all the info you need on how to watch the Team GB diver in action at the Olympics.
10:02
Callum Rice-Coates
Bryan Habana expects ‘box office’ Antoine Dupont to light up sevens at Olympics
Bryan Habana expects “box office” Antoine Dupont to take rugby sevens at the Paris Olympics to new heights.
France captain Dupont was the poster boy at last year’s World Cup held on French soil, but the 27-year-old skipped the 2024 Six Nations Championship to focus on Olympic glory.
The Toulouse scrum-half made an instant impact in the shortened version of the game by helping Les Bleus lift the inaugural World Rugby SVNS series crown with victory over regular-season league winners Argentina in the grand final.
“Antoine is a guy that is absolutely box office in every way possible,” former South Africa wing great Habana, 41, told the PA news agency.
“It was a massive call to miss the Six Nations, but the seamlessness which he has made the transition has been absolutely brilliant. We don’t know what a ceiling looks like for him yet because he continues to break through it.”
09:51
Callum Rice-Coates
Dutch athlete convicted of rape banned from media duty at 2024 Olympics
The Dutch Olympic committee have banned a convicted rapist included in their 2024 Olympics team from speaking to the media, report the Daily Mail.
Volleyball player Steven van de Velde was sentenced to four years in prison in 2016 for the rape of a 12-year-old girl two years before.
Dutch chef de mission Pieter van den Hoogenband said: “He’s not going to downplay it (his conviction). We have to respect that and help him as a member of the team to be able to perform.”
