When do the Paris 2024 Olympics really start? Tuning in on the official start date means you will miss the beginning of four sporting events

According to Google, some of the most reliable sources and even the International Olympic Committee (IOC) themselves the official start date for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games is Friday, July 26.

There is truth to this statement as the Opening Ceremony which commemorates the start of the Summer Games is scheduled to take place on Friday.

However since the Olympic schedule is jam-packed, it is quite difficult to come up with a timetable which squeezes all 32 sporting events into the tight 16-day schedule, so the Olympics have come up with a solution. 

The IOC and Paris 2024 curated a schedule to help spread out the events, meaning four out of the 32 sports actually get underway a few days before the Olympic cauldron is actually lit ablaze during the Opening Ceremony.

Here is when the Olympic Games sports events actually begin.

When do the Olympics start? 

This edition of the Summer Olympic Games are being held in the French capital. This will be the first time in 100 years that Paris have been chosen as the host city.

As previously mentioned the Opening Ceremony which symbolises the start of the Games takes place on Friday, July 26.

The ceremony will go down in history since it will mark the first time it will not be staged inside a stadium. Instead it will take place on the River Seine at 7:30pm local time (6:30pm UK time). 

However some of the Games' events will have already got up and running at that stage.  

The football and rugby group games will begin on Wednesday, July 24, while archery and handball events are set to begin on Thursday, July 25. 

The opening event of the tournament is a curtain raiser.

Action from the Olympics gets underway with the rugby sevens. 

France led by Antoine Dupont clash with the US in the opening game of the competition.

The French who didn't take part in the men's sevens in Tokyo will be eager to impress and are one of the favourites to claim gold in the event.

In the football, the French men's team coached by Arsenal and French legend Thierry Henry also take on Team USA in their group opener in Marseille.

Team GB will not feature in the both the men's football or rugby, whilst the women will only be present in the rugby sevens and not the football.

Both the men's rugby team and women's football team failed to qualify for the games, whilst the men's football team has not featured at the sporting event since London 2012 as the home nations have been unable to agree on their participation.