It is one of the most anticipated events in the world and comes around just once every four years.
But fans eager to catch a glimpse of each and every sporting hero competing for gold could miss out on key medal moments this year as the BBC does not have the full broadcast rights for the Olympic Games.
The Paris 2024 hype kicked off this week with celebrities from Serena Williams to Mick Jagger and Zendaya popping up at pre-Olympic events across the city, while Snoop Dogg helped kick off proceedings on Friday by carrying the Olympic torch.
On Friday night the opening ceremony on the River Seine – the first to be staged outside a stadium – featured Lady Gaga and Celine Dion as part of the star-studded lineup.
But once the competition begins in earnest, the coverage of all 329 events across 32 different sports could look different to previous Games as viewers will not be able to follow every moment live on the BBC as they did with London 2012 or Rio 2016.
The television rights for the Olympics were sold to Warner Brothers Discovery (WBD) before the 2020 Tokyo Games, which means the BBC no longer has complete coverage on the Red Button feeds it had before.
The corporation has promised it will show the two “most exciting or important events” happening at any moment live at the same time, with scheduled programming on BBC1, BBC2 and its Olympics Extra channel on iPlayer throughout the 19-day run. But for the full-scale service, sporting fans need to sign up to Discovery Plus for a special rate of £3.99.
There are 14 golds up for grabs on Saturday but the BBC’s terrestrial coverage will not be able to showcase all the events.
Fans hoping to see Team GB’s champion Adam Peaty in the men’s breaststroke semi-finals should not be disappointed as the swimming and diving events are well catered for in the day’s coverage.
However, sports lovers could miss out on some of the more unlikely spectacles which often make the Games so special.
Viewers could miss out on smaller events such as Max Whitlock, a Team GB double gold medallist, performing in the qualifying event for the men’s artistic gymnastics. They may also miss out on the chance to watch the horse team eventing, or the 10m air rifle mixed team final for the shooting, which finishes before 11am and will be one of the first medals of the day.
It means a surprise medal moment in sports such as badminton or boxing, where British athletes hope to bring home a title, could potentially be missed.
Despite this, the broadcaster is understood to have promised to remain “nimble” as medal stories evolve, affording the channel flexibility to swap between Games events as necessary.
The BBC insisted there would “almost never be a big medal moment or race or tearful interview we can’t bring you” on one of its Sports blogs.
It added: “We will have over 250 hours of live coverage, while Olympics Extra – a second curated live stream on BBC iPlayer – will ensure none of the breathtaking moments are missed.”
And while this system was already in place for the Tokyo Olympics, the time difference would have tempered the issue somewhat, but as Paris is only one hour ahead, this year it will be hard to miss.
Instead, the BBC has encouraged its viewers to sign up to Discovery Plus for full coverage, writing: “We will still update you on all the stories of the day, but if it’s wall-to-wall Greco-Roman Wrestling you’re looking for, then Discovery+ will be the place to watch it.”
On Friday, Andrew Georgiou, president and managing director of WBD UK and Ireland, was asked if he thought his company risked “pricing people out” of the Games.
He said: “The BBC, just like us, is trying to provide value to their customers and we are doing the same.
“The BBC’s proposition is good value for the BBC licence fee payer and for us, the proposition of £3.99 a month for all the Olympic Games and all the great features that we have on our streaming platform … we think is really good value.”