PARIS, LONDON, 25 JULY 2023: Nearly six years after the capital of France was awarded the Olympic Games, the journey on the Road to Paris 2024 gathers momentum with new, exclusive and original content premiering on Warner Bros. Discovery’s (WBD) platforms across Europe to mark the ‘One Year To Go’ milestone.

On 26 July 2023, WBD will broadcast an evening of programming across Europe celebrating the countdown to the return of the Olympics to Europe for the first time since London 2012. Underpinning this, a new compelling documentary – Paris, La Vie Sportive – recalling Paris’ historic and unique relationship with sport in the 100 years since it last hosted the Olympic Games in 1924 will premiere. 

SPORTING LEGENDS FEATURE IN PARIS, LA VIE SPORTIVE
The documentary, split into two sixty-minute episodes, features legendary 1998 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2000 winner Thierry Henry as the narrator in French, English and Spanish versions. Viewers in the Nordics and the Netherlands can also enjoy the first broadcast of the film in English on 26 July with local language versions airing elsewhere across Europe.

The film also features interviews exploring the connection of sport to Paris with some of the most distinguished sportsmen and women from different Olympic sports. These include Henry’s World Cup and Euro winning teammates Emmanuel Petit and Marcel Desailly, and tennis legends Mats Wilander, seven-time Grand Slam men’s singles champion, and the last Frenchman to win the Roland-Garros singles title, Yannick Noah plus record five-time Tour de France winner Eddy Merckx.

Speaking about Paris, La Vie Sportive and the Olympic Games, Thierry Henry said: “Whenever you have a big event or tournament in your country, what it brings to people first and foremost is joy, but also the desire of wanting to practise a sport.

“Through sport, Paris has been able to go back up and breathe again and see the light at the end of the tunnel. I think that's very important. That's what the Olympic Games brings; it brings hope. We always associate Paris with style, elegance, fashion, food. Resilience is not always something that comes and it comes through sport also. Hopefully you can see that and it is going to be translated well in the documentary.” 

Scott Young, SVP Content and Production at Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe, said: “This is a momentous occasion for us, and all sports fans, and it’s not just about 17 days next year, it’s about the 12-month journey to summer next year. We’ll start with an amazing slate of content that builds momentum and anticipation between now and when the Olympics kick off in Paris. It’s about taking people on this journey that helps them connect with the Olympic spirit. Then we change focus, leaning into the role of an Olympic storyteller featuring the athletes striving to achieve their dreams.

“If you love the Games, you can see every minute of every sport that is covered in our 20 languages in nearly 50 markets across Europe. A total of 33 sport and 321 medal events will feature live across our channels and platforms. We know that the Games draws in new sports fans every four years and we’re going to be putting on a truly immersive experience like no other. We can’t wait to build excitement right up to the opening ceremony in Paris in just 365 days from now.”

As a precursor to the premiere of Paris, La Vie Sportive on the evening of 26 July, Eurosport host Radzi Chinyanganya will present a special show titled One Year to Dream which visits some of Paris’ iconic landmarks to interview special guests. These include President of Paris 2024 Tony Estanguet, five-time Olympic judo medallist Teddy Riner, nine-time BMX world champion Matthias Dandois and Olympic fencing medallist Ysaora Thibus. The evening of programming on Eurosport, the Eurosport App and discovery+* will be interspersed with profiles of athletes through a new Bridgestone-sponsored series titled The Olympians. 

WBD’s ‘Road to Paris 2024’ will see it release additional short and long-form programming to excite fans as the Greatest Show on Earth draws ever closer. Upcoming content highlights include a multi-episode series titled The Super Six which follows the dreams of six different athletes from diverse backgrounds as they face challenges head on as they go for gold in Paris. More details on the series will be revealed in 2024 along with further information on a brand new 25-episode series of Athletes to Watch.

ONE YEAR TO DREAM CAMPAIGN LAUNCHES
Introducing an authentic Parisian flavour and complementing the on-air programming, a week-long marketing campaign will launch on 26 July alongside WBD’s new art nouveau-inspired Olympic Games Paris 2024 logo. ‘One Year to Dream’ is the campaign that captures the heart of Paris through the eyes of young Parisians associated with local sports clubs who describe their passion for the Games in their home city as part of a series of short films. Directed by Eric Nung and produced by Jordan Santoul, the campaign will be hosted on WBD’s owned linear, digital and social platforms as well as free-to-air channels in France. 

DINA ASHER-SMITH JOINS EUROSPORT IN NEW PARIS 2024 AMBASSADOR ROLE
Team GB’s Dina Asher-Smith already has two Olympic medals to her name and will be going for gold in Paris next year. Britain’s fastest ever woman over 100m and 200m will join Eurosport as an Olympic Ambassador in the build-up to Paris 2024 to generate heightened awareness and excitement of its coverage as well as appearing in new and original programming airing from 2024 in the lead-up to the Games, charting her own journey to Paris 2024.

Dina Asher-Smith said: “My new role will be to let everybody know how incredible Paris is going to be and very much encouraging them to watch via discovery+ and via the various channels. 

“It includes being a positive influence, a good ambassador, somebody who Warner Bros. Discovery would be proud to work with. Also just really bringing that energy and excitement that makes not only the company, but also all the viewers and everybody at home really excited for the Olympics.”

Since delivering its first Olympic Games in 2018, WBD has continued to engage record audiences across Europe across all platforms - a glowing endorsement of its innovative year-long approach to storytelling in the lead-up to each Summer and Winter Olympics.

Most recently, WBD reported an unprecedented one billion minutes streamed across discovery+ and the Eurosport App during Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 with new digital subscribers exceeding that of its previous Winter Games by 50%. For Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, more than 372m people in Europe watched  through WBD’s channel and platforms together with its 45 sublicense partners as part of its strategy to scale coverage of the Olympics to the widest possible audience. 

Notes to editor:

Pan-European programming schedules on Eurosport, the Eurosport App and discovery+ on Wednesday 26 July (check local listings, CEST):

20:00-20:30
One Year to Dream
Eurosport’s purpose-driven weekly magazine show focuses on the Olympic Games and the athletes looking to compete at Paris 2024.

20:30-21:30
Paris, La Vie Sportive (part one)
The premiere of Eurosport’s new two-part documentary recalling Paris’ historic and unique relationship with sport in the 100 years since it last hosted the Olympic Games in 1924 with exclusive interviews with sporting greats. 

21:30-22:00
Paris, La Vie Sportive (part two)

22:30-22:40
The Olympians
Bridgestone-sponsored profile on prominent athletes looking to kickstart their journeys towards Olympic Games Paris 2024. Episode one stars two-time Olympic decathlon medallist athlete, Kevin Mayer.

One Year to Dream credits:
VP Marketing: David Bret
Creative Director: Guillaume Mouillé
Campaign Planning: Regina Grabner
Creative Manager: Jérôme Bonnafoux
Director: Eric Nung
Assistant Director: Emmanuel Olivier
Producer: Jordan Santoul
Director of photography: Illia Turchanik
Sound: Charles Darnaud