With exactly one year remaining until the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) officially extended invitations on Wednesday to the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and their athletes to participate in the event, scheduled to take place from July 26 to August 11, 2024.

After an entire century, the Olympic Games are set to return to the capital of France, a city that previously hosted the second edition of the modern Olympic Games in 1900 and another Olympics in 1924. Paris is also the hometown of Pierre de Coubertin, widely recognized as the father of the modern Olympic Games.

IOC President Thomas Bach expressed his enthusiasm for the upcoming event during the ceremony, stating, "With the Olympic Games Paris 2024, we can truly look forward to the advent of a new era of Olympic Games. These Olympic Games will be more inclusive, geared towards a younger audience, and will prioritize urban sustainability."

An important milestone for gender equality in the Olympics, Paris 2024 will be the first-ever Olympic Games to achieve gender parity, as the IOC has allocated an equal number of quota places for female and male athletes.

The torch design for the Paris 2024 was unveiled by the organizing committee on Tuesday, and the competitions are slated to take place at iconic locations in the heart of Paris, including the Eiffel Tower and the Place de la Concorde. 

An unprecedented move, the Olympic opening ceremony will be hosted in the heart of the city, with the River Seine serving as the stage for a grand welcome to the world's finest athletes, greeted by hundreds of thousands of spectators along the river bank.

During the ceremony, invitations were handed out on-site to representatives from China and seven other NOCs, along with the IOC's Refugee Olympic Team.

Additionally, 203 eligible NOCs have received invitations from the IOC and Paris 2024, except for the NOC of Guatemala, which is currently under suspension, as well as the NOCs of Russia and Belarus.

The IOC has indicated that decisions regarding the participation of individual, neutral athletes with Russian or Belarusian passports will be made in accordance with the recommendations for International Federations and international sports event organizers on the inclusion of such athletes in international competitions, at the appropriate time.

Bach emphasized the unifying mission of the Olympic Games. "In our fragile world, with conflicts, divisions, and wars on the rise, we need this unifying power more than ever. The Olympic Games must continue to build bridges of understanding and friendship across nations."