The 2024 Paris Olympic Games kicks off this week! We’ve made your life easy by formulating this guide with everything you need to know to keep up with the Aussies in action.
When are the Olympics?
In Australia, the Olympics begin on July 27, running through to August 12, with Badminton kicking of the events at 4.30pm.
Like in the past, there will also be a handful of events to begin before the Opening Ceremony, including Archery, Football, Handball, and Rugby Sevens.
These events will be played from July 24 to 26.
The Australia – France time difference:
Sleeping will be a thing of the imagination with majority of Olympic action underway when we’re supposed to be getting our shut-eye.
AEST: Queensland, New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria, and Tasmania are eight hour ahead of Paris.
ACST: South Australia, the Northern Territory, and Broken Hill in New South Wales are seven and a half hours ahead of Paris.
AWST: Western Australia is six hours ahead of Paris.
The Opening and Closing Ceremonies:
You can watch the Opening Ceremony in Australia on July 27, starting at 4.24am AEST,
The Closing Ceremony will take place on August 12, televised from 4am.
Where can I watch the Olympics?
The Nine Entertainment Company hold the rights to broadcast the Olympic Games.
Channel 9 will broadcast Olympic coverage 22 hours of each day. 11am and 6pm will then broadcast two one-hour news bulletins.
Gem will broadcast Olympics action 24 hours a day, with 15 live hours of sport and nine hours of hosted replays.
9Now will have 40 streams, screenline live every event featuring an Australian athlete, as well as replays, highlights, and behind the scenes.
If you’re looking to watch events not featured on Channel 9, in an Olympic coverage first in Australia, Stan will deliver all 329 events at Paris 2024. This is available to those with a Stan Sport subscription.
How makes up the Australian team?
There are 460 Australian athletes hoping to bring home Olympic gold this year. It is the third largest team to compete, being Tokyo, 486 athletes, and Athens, 482.
A much more experienced team will compete this year, with 50 per cent of the athletes making their Olympic debut, compared to the 62 per cent at Tokyo.
Women make up 55.6 per cent of the team – a complete turn around to the zero who competed at Paris 100 years ago at the 1924 Olympics.
Australia’s best medal chances
All eyes will be on the Dolphins during week one of the Olympics, with no doubt medals will be added to the tally. One third of Australia’s expected medal tally is predicted to come from the pool. Individually, Cameron McEvoy, Kaylee McKeown, Sam Short, Ariarne Titmus, and Elijah Winnington should medal, while the relay teams rarely miss a podium finish.
The Matildas will also be the talk of the nation, as we see if they can go one better after their World Cup semi-final loss. Australia is considered one of the top teams going into the Games, despite having to face Germany and the United States in the Group Stage. The Matildas will also have to do it all with Sam Kerr.
On the courts, both the Boomers and Opals are expected to finish with a medal – although what colour that will be will completely depend. For the Boomers, it looks like they’ll come second in the Group Stage to Canada, before then having to eventually face a NBA-sported USA side.
Jess Fox will compete in the C1 and K1 disciplines as well as the Kayak cross event in Canoe Slalom. Having secured gold at Tokyo, Fox will do whatever to defend her title – in the country she was born and raised in.