A view of the Eiffel Tower with the Olympic rings. picture alliance

Did you know Olympic events start days before the opening ceremony?

By Austen Bundy | Last updated Jul 22, 2024 6:25 PM ET

The Paris Olympics are set to officially begin on Friday with the opening ceremony and the lighting of the Olympic cauldron.

But few realize there are events beginning as early as Wednesday.

The Olympics host a variety of team tournaments and while the formats are streamlined to fit the roughly two week period the Games occur in, additional time is needed to complete all the matches.

Wednesday will see the men's and women's soccer tournaments kick off, including both squads for Team USA taking on their first group stage opponents.

3️⃣ DAYS
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3️⃣ DAYS#OlyMNT | @Visa pic.twitter.com/0AQymG0O54
— U.S. Soccer YNT (@USYNT) July 21, 2024

The start of the handball tournaments, the shooting and archery events as well as the first men's rugby matches will also happen on Wednesday.

Those same events will continue through Thursday and ahead of the opening ceremonies on Friday too.

This is why most delegations arrive in the host nation about a week before the Games so that athletes can get acclimated and prepare ahead of their events.

News organizations caught the moments when the first delegations arrived at the athlete village in Paris.

VIDEO: First delegations arrive at Paris Olympics athletes' village.

The athletes' village for the Paris Olympics and Paralympics officially opened and welcomed its first residents on Thursday. The village to the north of Paris will house nearly 14,500 people, including 9,000… pic.twitter.com/5nLWjegT4s
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) July 19, 2024