The 2024 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad, commonly known as Paris 2024, is a major international multi-sport event held every four years. With more than 200 national teams representing sovereign states and territories, the Games are regarded as the world's premier and most prestigious sporting event. Athletes from all over the globe compete against one another in a range of sport disciplines.
The history of the Games goes back around 3,000 years, to the Peloponnese of Ancient Greece. Sport contests organised at Olympia took place every four years and acquired the name Olympic Games. The Games were resumed in the late 19th century by a Frenchman named Pierre de Coubertin who in 1896 launched the first Games of the modern era that were held in the city of Athens.
The 2024 Summer Olympics will be held from 26 July to 11 August 2024 in France, with Paris as the main host city. Having previously hosted the Games in 1900 and 1924, Paris will become the second city, after London, to host the Olympic Games three times. The programme will feature 329 events in 32 sport disciplines with a total of 10,500 athletes - the first time ever, with an identical number of men and women participants.
Malta has competed in 17 editions of the Summer Olympics, the first time in Amsterdam in 1928, when a men's water polo team scored a first-round victory against Luxembourg before losing to France in the following round. Unfortunately, due to a limited talent pool, no Maltese athlete has ever won an Olympic medal. Shooter William Chetcuti came the closest when he narrowly missed the double trap shooting final in 2004, 2008 and 2012.
To celebrate the 2024 Games, MaltaPost shall issue a new set of stamps showing 3 of the most popular sporting events throughout the Games, with each stamp also including an iconic Paris monument. The 0.20 stamp portrays an athlete competing in the track-with hurdles event flanked by the world-famous Eiffel Tower, built in 1889 by engineer Gustave Eiffel. The 1.00 stamp depicts a runner next to the Arc de Triomphe, while the third one bearing a denomination of 5.00, displays a swimmer and the Notre-Dame Cathedral.
