Team Canada is set to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games that are just a week away from kicking off in the French capital.
More than 300 Canadian athletes across 32 sports will be vying for medals in Paris over the fortnight.
Interest in this year’s Summer Games, which take place once every four years, is up, according to recent Ipsos polling exclusive to Global News.
Nearly six in 10 of respondents said they’re interested in the Paris Olympics, well above previous surveys that showed 32 per cent interest in the 2022 Beijing games and 33 per cent for the 2020 Tokyo games.
As excitement builds, here are some of the most popular questions people in Canada have been asking on Google about the Paris Olympics.
When do the Olympics start?
The Games will officially start on July 26 with the opening ceremony, but some competitions will start on July 24.
Breaking away from tradition, the opening ceremony, starting at 2 p.m. ET on Friday, will be held outside of a stadium and on the River Seine.
The ceremony parade will see more than 10,000 athletes cruising on boats through the Seine.
The Olympics will end on Aug. 11 with the closing ceremony.
Meanwhile, the Paralympic Games will run later from Aug. 28 till Sept. 8.
What is the Paris 2024 schedule?
Canada’s Olympic bid will start on July 25 with the Canadian women’s soccer team taking on New Zealand in a group A match.
Swimming events will take place between July 27 and Aug. 4.
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The athletics events will start on Aug. 1 and run till the last day of the Games, which is Aug. 11.
The Canadian Olympic Committee has published the full schedule on its olympic.ca website, including when Canadians are competing at the 2024 Paris Games.
Breakdancing or breaking, which is an urban dance style with its roots in hip-hop culture, will make its Olympic debut in Paris.
Skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing will also make a return as optional sports after debuting at the last Olympics in Tokyo.
B-Boy Nebz competes during the Breaking for Gold Big Apple breakdancing regional competition Saturday, April 22, 2023, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. The hip-hop dance form makes its official debut at the Paris Games in 2024.
AP Photo/Frank Franklin II
Are Simone Biles and Brittney Griner competing?
Yes.
American gymnast and Olympic champion Simone Biles will be back at the summer Games after pulling out of multiple finals in Tokyo in 2021 to protect her mental health and safety.
The 27-year-old leads a U.S. women’s gymnastics team filled with familiar faces and looking for redemption in Paris.
Meanwhile, WNBA star Brittney Griner, who spent 10 months in a Russian jail for possession of vape cartridges containing cannabis oil, will also be one of the players to watch out for.
Griner will be playing in her first international game since her release in a prisoner exchange.
What are the Olympic medal prospects?
The United States and China have topped the medal tally at the previous two Olympics in Tokyo and Rio de Janeiro.
Team Canada will be hoping to better its 11th-place performance from the last summer Games.
The U.S. took home 113 medals, China won 89 and Canada had 24 in Tokyo.
— with files from Global News’ Craig Lord and The Associated Press
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