The world we live in is full of people with different cultures, languages and customs, spanning across continents. But there is one unique event that has the power to unite us all together, and it takes place every other year: The Olympics. At The Olympics, everyone speaks the same language: the language of athleticism, competition and sport.
For fans at home, we’re here to help make sure you can speak fluently about the upcoming Olympic events taking place in Paris this summer. Keep reading to learn more about each Olympic sport, including its Olympic debut, the types of programming and more.
And for a full guide to the 2024 Paris Olympics, check this out!
How Many Olympic Events are There?
The 2024 Paris Olympics will host thousands of professional athletes across 32 Olympic events determined by the International Olympic Committee. And you can watch them all live from July 26-August 11th on NBCUniversal and its family of networks.
List of Summer Olympic Sports
Here are the sports that will be available to watch during this summer’s 2024 Paris Olympic Games. The events are listed alphabetically, with some sports having multiple events encompassed within it.
1. Aquatics
1.1 Artistic Swimming
- Olympic Debut: 1984
- Current Programming: Women’s Duet, Women’s Team
- Number of Athletes Competing: 96
1.2 Diving
- Olympic Debut: 1904
- Current Programming: Men’s and Women’s 3m Springboard, 10m Platform, Synchronized 3m Springboard, Synchronized 10m Platform
- Number of Athletes Competing: 136
1.3 Marathon Swimming
- Olympic Debut: 2008
- Current Programming: Men’s 10km, Women’s 10km
- Number of Athletes Competing: 50 (25 men, 25 women)
1.4 Swimming
- Olympic Debut: 1896
- Current Programming: Various freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, and medley events for men and women
- Number of Athletes Competing: ~1000
1.5 Water Polo
- Olympic Debut: 1900 (Men), 2000 (Women)
- Current Programming: Men’s Tournament, Women’s Tournament
- Number of Athletes Competing: 264 (132 men, 132 women)
2. Archery
- Olympic Debut: 1900
- Current Programming: Men’s individual, Women’s individual, men’s teams, women’s teams, mixed teams
- Number of Athletes Competing: 18
3. Athletics
- Olympic Debut: 1896
- Current Programming: A variety of track and field events including sprints, middle distance running, long-distance running, hurdles, relays, long jump, high jump, triple jump, shotput, javelin, decathlon, heptathlon and marathon
- Number of Athletes Competing: ~2,000
4. Badminton
- Olympic Debut: 1992
- Current Programming: Men’s Singles, Women’s Singles, Men’s Doubles, Women’s Doubles, Mixed Doubles
- Number of Athletes Competing: 172
5. Basketball
- Olympic Debut: 1936
- Current Programming: Men’s Tournament, Women’s Tournament
- Number of Athletes Competing: 288 (144 men, 144 women)
5.1 Basketball 3×3
- Olympic Debut: 2020
- Current Programming: Men’s Tournament, Women’s Tournament
- Number of Athletes Competing: 64 (32 men, 32 women)
6. Boxing
- Olympic Debut: 1904
- Current Programming: Various weight classes for men and women
- Number of Athletes Competing: 252 (132 men, 120 women)
7. Breaking (NEW at Paris 2024)
- Olympic Debut: 2024
- Current Programming: Men’s Breaking, Women’s Breaking
- Number of Athletes Competing: 32 (16 men, 16 women)
Explore all of the new sports introduced to the Olympics this year.
8. Canoe
8.1 Canoe Slalom
- Olympic Debut: 1972
- Current Programming: Men’s Kayak Single (K-1), Women’s Kayak Single (K-1), Men’s Canoe Single (C-1), Women’s Canoe Single (C-1), Men’s Kayak Cross, Women’s Kayak Cross
- Number of Athletes Competing: 82
8.2 Canoe Sprint
- Olympic Debut: 1936
- Current Programming: Various distances in Men’s and Women’s Kayak (K-1, K-2, K-4) and Canoe (C-1, C-2)
- Number of Athletes Competing: 236
9. Cycling
9.1 BMX Freestyle
- Olympic Debut: 2020
- Current Programming: Men’s Freestyle Park, Women’s Freestyle Park
- Number of Athletes Competing: 18
9.2 BMX Racing
- Olympic Debut: 2008
- Current Programming: Men’s BMX Racing, Women’s BMX Racing
- Number of Athletes Competing: 48
9.3 Mountain Bike
- Olympic Debut: 1996
- Current Programming: Men’s Cross-country, Women’s Cross-country
- Number of Athletes Competing: 76
9.4 Cycling Road
- Olympic Debut: 1896
- Current Programming: Men’s Road Race, Women’s Road Race, Men’s Individual Time Trial, Women’s Individual Time Trial
- Number of Athletes Competing: 180
9.5 Cycling Track
- Olympic Debut: 1896
- Current Programming: Men’s and Women’s Sprint, Team Sprint, Keirin, Omnium, Team Pursuit, Madison
- Number of Athletes Competing: 190
10. Equestrian
- Olympic Debut: 1900
- Current Programming: Individual and Team events in Dressage, Eventing, and Jumping
- Number of Athletes Competing: 200
11. Fencing
- Olympic Debut: 1896
- Current Programming: Individual and Team events in Men’s and Women’s Epee, Foil, Sabre
- Number of Athletes Competing: 212
12. Football
- Olympic Debut: 1900
- Current Programming: Men’s Tournament, Women’s Tournament
- Number of Athletes Competing: 384 (16 teams of 23 players each for both men and women)
13. Golf
- Olympic Debut: 1900
- Current Programming: Men’s Individual, Women’s Individual
- Number of Athletes Competing: 120 (60 men, 60 women)
14. Gymnastics
14.1 Artistic Gymnastics
- Olympic Debut: 1896 for men, 1928 for women
- Current Programming:
- Men: Floor Exercise, Pommel Horse, Rings, Vault, Parallel Bars, Horizontal Bar, Individual All-Around, Team All-Around
- Women: Vault, Uneven Bars, Balance Beam, Floor Exercise, Individual All-Around, Team All-Around
- Number of Athletes Competing: 192 (96 men, 96 women)
14.2 Rhythmic Gymnastics
- Olympic Debut: 1984
- Current Programming: Women’s Individual All-Around, Women’s Group All-Around
- Number of Athletes Competing: 96
14.3 Trampoline
- Olympic Debut: 2000
- Current Programming: Men’s Individual, Women’s Individual
- Number of Athletes Competing: 32 (16 men, 16 women)
15. Handball
- Olympic Debut: 1936 (indoor debut in 1972)
- Current Programming: Men’s Tournament, Women’s Tournament
- Number of Athletes Competing: 336 (12 teams of 14 players each for both men and women)
16. Hockey
- Olympic Debut: 1908 (Men), 1980 (Women)
- Current Programming: Men’s Tournament, Women’s Tournament
- Number of Athletes Competing: 384 (192 men, 192 women)
17. Judo
- Olympic Debut: 1964 (Men), 1992 (Women)
- Current Programming:
- Men’s: -60kg, -66kg, -73kg, -81kg, -90kg, -100kg, +100kg
- Women’s: -48kg, -52kg, -57kg, -63kg, -70kg, -78kg, +78kg
- Mixed Team
18. Modern Pentathlon
- Olympic Debut: 1912
- Current Programming: Men’s Individual, Women’s Individual
- Number of Athletes Competing: 72 (36 men, 36 women)
19. Rowing
- Olympic Debut: 1900
- Current Programming: Various boat classes including Singles, Doubles, Fours, Eights for both men and women
- Number of Athletes Competing: 526 (263 men, 263 women)
20. Rugby Sevens
- Olympic Debut: 2016
- Current Programming: Men’s Tournament, Women’s Tournament
- Number of Athletes Competing: 288 (144 men, 144 women)
21. Sailing
- Olympic Debut: 1900
- Current Programming: Various classes including RS, Laser, Finn, 49er, 470, Nacra 17 for both men and women
- Number of Athletes Competing: 330
22. Shooting
- Olympic Debut: 1896
- Current Programming: Various events in Pistol, Rifle, and Shotgun for both men and women
- Number of Athletes Competing: 340
23. Skateboarding
- Olympic Debut: 2020
- Current Programming: Men’s Street, Women’s Street, Men’s Park, Women’s Park
- Number of Athletes Competing: 88
24. Sport Climbing
- Olympic Debut: 2020
- Current Programming: Men’s Combined, Women’s Combined
- Number of Athletes Competing: 68 (34 men, 34 women)
25. Surfing
- Olympic Debut: 2020
- Current Programming: Men’s Shortboard, Women’s Shortboard
- Number of Athletes Competing: 48 (24 men, 24 women)
26. Table Tennis
- Olympic Debut: 1988
- Current Programming: Men’s Singles, Women’s Singles, Men’s Doubles, Women’s Doubles, Mixed Doubles
- Number of Athletes Competing: 172
27. Taekwondo
- Olympic Debut: 2000
- Current Programming: Various weight classes for men and women
- Number of Athletes Competing: 128 (64 men, 64 women)
28. Tennis
- Olympic Debut: 1896
- Current Programming: Men’s Singles, Women’s Singles, Men’s Doubles, Women’s Doubles, Mixed Doubles
- Number of Athletes Competing: 172
29. Triathlon
- Olympic Debut: 2000
- Current Programming: Men’s Individual, Women’s Individual, Mixed Relay
- Number of Athletes Competing: 110
30. Volleyball
- Olympic Debut: 1964
- Current Programming: Men’s Tournament, Women’s Tournament
- Number of Athletes Competing: 288 (144 men, 144 women)
30.1 Beach Volleyball
- Olympic Debut: 1996
- Current Programming: Men’s Tournament, Women’s Tournament
- Number of Athletes Competing: 96 (48 men, 48 women)
31. Weightlifting
- Olympic Debut: 1896
- Current Programming: Various weight classes for men and women
- Number of Athletes Competing: 120 (60 men, 60 women)
32. Wrestling
- Olympic Debut: 1896
- Current Programming: Various weight classes in Freestyle and Greco-Roman for men, and Freestyle for women
- Number of Athletes Competing: 288 (192 men, 96 women)
Which Olympic Event is the Most Popular?
Curious which Olympic event is the most popular among US viewers? While there is no sure-fire way for us to determine that, the International Olympic Committee is here to help!
For the 2024 Paris Olympics the IOC grouped events into six different categories according to the following criteria:
- TV Viewership (40%)
- Internet Popularity (20%)
- Public Surveys (15%)
- Ticket Requests (10%)
- Press Coverage (10%)
- # of National Federations (5%)
Based on the above criteria and weights, sports have been split into groups A-F. See them listed out below.
| Category | Event |
| A | Athletics; Aquatics; Gymnastics |
| B | Basketball; Cycling; Football; Tennis; Volleyball |
| C | Archery; Badminton; Boxing; Judo; Rowing; Shooting; Table Tennis; Weightlifting |
| D | Canoe; Equestrian; Fencing; Handball; Hockey; Sailing; Taekwondo; Triathlon; Wrestling |
| E | Modern Pentathlon; Golf; Rugby |
| F | Skateboarding; Sport Climbing; Surfing |
Watch Olympic Events on NBC Universal Networks with DIRECTV
Don’t miss one second of the on-air action during the 2024 Paris Olympics from Friday July 26th to August 11th. Not only does DIRECTV have the coverage you need to watch it all, but DIRECTV Insider has all the key information you need to know about this year’s monumental event.
Check out our DIRECTV Insider Olympic Hub.
Don’t have DIRECTV? Let’s change that.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many sports are there at the 2024 Paris Olympics?
There will be a total of 32 different Olympic sports, some of which have multiple categories of competition (e.g., Aquatics accounts for artistic swimming, diving, swimming & water polo).
When are the 2024 Paris Olympics?
The Paris Olympics will take place from Friday, July 26 to Sunday, August 11.
What are the most popular Olympic events?
The IOC grouped Olympic events into tiers based on TV viewership, internet popularity, public surveys, ticket requests, press coverage and the number of national federations. Using this weighting, the most popular Olympic sports are Athletics (track and field), Aquatics and Gymnastics.
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