How many athletes are in the Olympics? Inside the 2024 total compared to past years

David Suggs

How many athletes are in the Olympics? Inside the 2024 total compared to past years image

The world's stage belongs to sportsmen for the next 16 days. Make arrangements if you can.

Thousands of the world's greatest athletes are headed to Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics, a showcase that promises to captivate long after medals are handed out.

Some have cultivated mammoth followings, like LeBron James and Simone Biles. Others lurk beneath the shadows, establishing themselves away from the spotlight. All have a part to play, however, making up the mosaic of culture that makes the Olympics one of sport's most cherished competitions.

How many athletes are in the 2024 Paris Olympics?

Around 10,500 athletes will take part in the Olympics, according to the tournament's official website. Those competitors will represent 206 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) as they attempt to compete for individual and national glory.

No country is sending more athletes to the Games than the United States. The red, white, and blue will bring 592 sports stars to the French capital city, 19 more than hosts France, who sit in second place. Australia is a distant third, gearing up to take 460 athletes with them, followed by Germany and Japan.

Here's a look at the 20 most prolific countries by way of competing at this year's Games.

RankingNOCAthletes
1United States592
2France573
3Australia460
4Germany427
5Japan404
6China388
7Spain382
8Italy360
9Great Britain327
10Canada316
11Brazil276
12Netherlands258
13Poland213
14New Zealand195
15Hungary170
16Belgium165
17South Africa149
18Egypt147
19South Korea144
20Ukraine140

With a projected 10,500 people set to compete at this year's Olympics, the city of Paris will have its work cut out for it. Still, this year's figures are smaller than those of recent memory.

The 2020 Olympic Games, held in Tokyo in 2021, featured more than 11,000 athletes, as did the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. When assessing the most populous Olympic Games in recent memory, it seems this year's iteration of the Summer Games is more comparable to that of London 2012 (10,518) and Beijing 2008 (10,899).

Here's a window into the most populated Summer Olympics (in terms of competitors) since the turn of the century.

RankingOlympicsAthletes
1Tokyo 202011,319
2Rio 201611,180
3Beijing 200810,899
4Paris 202410,714
5Sydney 200010,647
6Athens 200410,557
7London 201210,518

David Suggs

David Suggs Photo

David Suggs is a content producer at The Sporting News. A long-suffering Everton, Wizards and Commanders fan, he has learned to get used to losing over the years. In his free time, he enjoys skateboarding (poorly), listening to the likes of Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and D’Angelo, and penning short journal entries.