Who, where and when: All you need to know about the Paris Olympics

The Games of the 33rd Olympiad will be hosted by France over the next few weeks, as athletes converge from around the world to compete for international glory.

Here’s all you need to know about the latest edition of the quadrennial multi-sport showpiece.

Where and when

The Games will officially open on Friday, 26 July and will close on 11 August.

Some sports, however, will get underway before the opening ceremony. The football and rugby sevens tournaments will start on Wednesday, while the archery and handball competitions will begin on Thursday.

Various venues around France will be used for the Games, but most sports will be contested in Paris. The opening ceremony will be held at the Jardins du Trocadéro (Gardens of the Trocadero) and the closing ceremony is at the Stade de France.

In order to ensure favourable conditions for the athletes, the surfing competition will be held in Tahiti.

Sports and athletes

While South Africa will not compete in all of them, a total of 32 sports will be contested at the Games, and more than 10,000 athletes from 206 countries will take part in what is the most inclusive sporting event in the world.

The country with the largest team will be the United States, with 592 athletes.

Despite Russia and Belarus having been suspended by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), due to the invasion of Ukraine, some athletes from these countries will compete as individuals under a neutral flag.

Breakdancing is the only sport in Paris that will make its Olympic debut.

Team South Africa

The SA team consists of 147 athletes who will compete in 19 sports.

This is smaller than the record team of 185 individuals who participated at the Tokyo Games a few years ago. But the national squad (which includes former Olympic medallists Tatjana Smith, Chad le Clos, Wayde van Niekerk, John Smith and Henri Schoeman) will be confident of improving on the three medals achieved by South Africa at the last edition of the showpiece.

The country will be represented in athletics, archery, badminton, canoeing, cycling, diving, equestrian, fencing, golf, gymnastics, hockey, rowing, rugby sevens, skateboarding, sport climbing, surfing, swimming, triathlon and wrestling.