New Paris 2024 slogan “Games wide open” welcomed by IOC President
International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach has welcomed the new slogan for the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024: “Games wide open” [French: “Ouvrons grand les jeux”], which was revealed by the Organising Committee earlier today.
Speaking about this announcement, President Bach said: “Paris 2024’s ambition to innovate the Games model in line with Olympic Agenda 2020 by opening up participation to as many people as possible is clear in this new slogan. The Opening Ceremony along the River Seine, competitions held in iconic locations across the city and Paris 2024’s far-reaching engagement activities will bring people together, both within and outside the venues, in person and online.”
He continued: “This approach and narrative will be key to inspiring the next generation, allowing many more people in France and around the world to experience the Olympic spirit and values. This will help leave a lasting legacy beyond the Games in 2024.”
The slogan highlights Paris 2024’s vision to open up the Games to create a new, more immersive experience, illustrated through various activities and initiatives.
In addition to the Opening Ceremony in the centre of Paris, these include: Olympic and Paralympic events organised in spectacular heritage venues; a young and urban sports programme; gender parity in athlete participation; public sports participation events during the Games; and various other engagement programmes that are getting the French population involved and active. Terre de Jeux 2024, for example, is being supported by nearly 3,000 local authorities, while the Paris 2024 Club is now approaching half-a-million members.
The “Games wide open” concept is also evident in a number of other projects already underway.
An initiative launched by Paris 2024 with the French Ministry of Education has helped more than 1.3 million children take part in 30 minutes of daily physical activity. Paris 2024 endowment funds (Le Fonds de dotation Paris 2024) have also opened up the Games to nearly two million beneficiaries, through more than 600 projects focused on sports and cultural activities.
In addition, despite the fact that 95 per cent of the venues are existing or temporary, the new Aquatics Centre being built for the Games will open up sports opportunities for the local population, particularly in Seine St Denis, where many of the Games competitions will be held.
Sustainability is another component that will be key to delivering the vision of “Games wide open”. Paris 2024 aims to halve the carbon footprint in comparison to previous Olympic Games, compensate more than its residual emissions and use the Games’ influence to develop long-term carbon compensation projects.
In the area of employment and business, the Games will be open to more than 150,000 people, who are expected to work on the organisation of the events. This is on top of the 40,000 volunteers Paris 2024 plans to recruit within the next two years.
Paris 2024 is also opening up the Games to small businesses and companies through the social economy ESS2024 and Enterprise 2024 programmes. More than 200 ESS2024 organisations have already been allocated a Games contract, while two-thirds of Games providers are very-small or small-medium-sized enterprises.
Throughout all these initiatives, Paris 2024 is including a Paralympic dimension, helping to change society's views on disability and increasing inclusion, with a particular focus on encouraging parasports participation.
The Olympic Games Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony will take place on 26 July, with the Games ending on 11 August. The Paralympic Games Paris 2024 will then be held from 28 August until 8 September.