The 2024 Paris Olympics: Follow all the major action and talking points

We are just hours away from the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics and French infrastructure appears to be in total meltdown.

Basel-Mulhouse airport on the France-Switzerland border has been evacuated due to a ‘bomb threat’ further continuing the nation after organised attacks on its railways over night.

The airport has since been reopened, however will have left the nation on even higher alert in the lead up to Olympic opening ceremony with all eyes around the world on Paris.

The scare comes just hours on from what is thought to be an organised attack on the French railways which has impacted over 800,000 people in France as well as Eurostar links.

Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency reports that a source close to the investigation said the arson attacks were acts of “sabotage”. Their source added that the attacks were “evidently co-ordinated.”

World-famous American rapper Snoop Dogg carried the Olympic torch in Saint-Denis, Paris, this morning on its final leg before the opening ceremony tonight.

In keeping with the artist’s persona, Snoop did not disappoint, attracting huge crowds with his dancing and wide smile as he characteristically strutted his way in a relaxed demeanour past the Stade de France.

Snoop explained his love of the Olympics as he said “I grew up watching the Olympics and am thrilled to see the incredible athletes bring their A-game to Paris.

“It’s a celebration of skill, dedication, and the pursuit of greatness. We’re going to have some amazing competitions and, of course, I will be bringing that Snoop style to the mix.”It’s going to be the most epic Olympics ever, so stay tuned, and keep it locked. Let’s elevate, celebrate, and make these games unforgettable, smoke the competition, and may the best shine like gold. Peace and Olympic LOVE, ya dig?”

The American rapper from Los Angeles is also serving as a bridge between the Paris Olympics and the 2028 edition which will be taking place in his home city.

A cup of GB Tips anyone?

Team GB have taken an incredible food order to Paris for the Olympic games which includes some 50,000 tea bags.

A total of 327 athletes will compete for Team GB in Paris and high performance competitors need fuelling as official supermarket sponsor Aldi bring the goods to GB’s bases on the outskirts of Paris and in the centre in Clichy.

The sizeable shopping list notes almost 50,000 teabags, 200 XL boxes of cornflakes, 22,000 cereal bars, over 1,000 boxes of muesli, 700 jars of peanut butter and just under 1,000 bags of dried mango.

Would you like a plastic bag with that?

Meanwhile athletes don’t only need to be fed, but clothed too as 85,000 pieces of clothing and footwear was dished out in Birmingham over a five week period for Team GB members which is, in other words, a lot.

Meanwhile meals in the Olympic village will be cooked up by Michelin star chefs after the Olympics ended their partnership with McDonald’s much to the disappointment of the now retired Usain Bolt who claimed to be a huge fan.

Despite the fancy food, Team GB added their own twist to the menu requesting porridge for breakfast.

Forty-eight athletes competing at the 2024 Paris Olympics will be going home before the opening ceremony has even taken place.

The unfortunate situation comes in the men’s rugby sevens event where play commenced yesterday.

The tournament sees 12 teams of 12 players split into three pools where the bottom team in each group will play for ranked places of 12th to 9th.

These games are set to be played tonight meaning the players for these nations will have finished their Olympics before the games have even begun, making for a strange feeling when they walk out in the country parade on Friday.

The scheduling has been forced to be done this way because of the lack of venue availability.

The French organisers wanted the rugby sevens and the athletics in the iconic Stade de France, but in order to allow for both the men’s and women’s rugby tournaments as well as enough time to ready the stadium for the track and field events, matches had to be played early.

The women’s rugby sevens finish 30 July while the athletics start on 1 August.

So spare a thought for the 48 rugby players who will be enjoying a rather peculiar Olympic experience.

We’ve not even had the opening ceremony yet and world records are already tumbling!

The world record has come in the Archery which has kicked off today a day before the opening ceremony.

Lim Si-hyeon from South Korea hit a massive 694 points out of 720 to beat the previous world record by two points set by fellow Korean archer Kang Chae-young in 2019.

In archery competitors aim to hit a target with points per arrow increasing the closer to the centre a shot lands with 10 points being the maximum score per round.Lim hit 69 maximums with 21 hitting the X, the most centre point of the target.

Here’s hoping the rest of the games will follow in similar sporting fashion!