Paris Olympics 2024: Guardian photographers at the Games

After the Covid affected Olympics in Tokyo, Paris 2024 saw the return of packed stadiums, venues and also photographer enclosures. Among the 1,578 accredited photographers were three covering the Games for the Guardian and Observer.

A multiple exposure shot of Italy’s Alice D’Amato performing on the vault during the final of the women’s gymnastics team all-around

How would I describe photographing the Paris Olympics? Quite simply “c’est magnifique, c’est incroyable.” It was a wonderful Games, an intoxicating blend of incredible action taking place in the most stunning venues. I can forgive the Paris metro for its lack of escalators, which meant lugging all my gear around was a very sweaty task, because everywhere there was cat-nip for the photographer. At times it felt almost too much, you wanted to be everywhere at the same time, pushing yourself to extremes to get the pictures on offer. After the last two disappointing summer Games, this was back to the sort of Olympics the IOC wanted and needed. And how they succeeded, the organisers pulling out all the stops to make sure it was such a visual treat. At the end of it all, despite all the amazing athletes on show doing phenomenal things, the real star of the Games was the city itself.

Leon Marchand of France competing in the men’s swimming 400m medley final

Belgium’s Nicky Degrendele (No 96), China’s Yuan Liying (bottom centre) and the Netherlands’ Steffie van der Peet (bottom right) crash during a women’s track cycling keirin quarter-final at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome

Sprinter Kimia Yousofi of Afghanistan displays a message on the back of her name badge saying “Education, Sport, Our Rights” after competing in her 100m preliminary round

The Eiffel Tower is seen during a light display at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Summer Olympic Games

Robin Godel of Switzerland on Grandeur Du Lully reflected in the Menagerie Pond during the Olympics eventing cross-country at the Palace of Versailles

A group of cyclists climbs to the top of Montmartre during the men’s cycling road race

Manon Apithy-Brunet of France celebrates beating Sabine Choi of Korea in the semi-finals in the women’s individual fencing sabre.

Ramiro Mora Romero of the Refugee Team, who lives and trains in Britain, celebrates with the crowd after successfully completing his final lift in the clean and jerk of the weightlifting men’s 102 kg competition

Helen Maroulis of the US (right) with a bloodied mouth during her victory over Alina Hrushyna-Akobiia of Ukraine during the quarter-finals of the women’s 57kg freestyle wrestling

Tom Daley is kissed by his British diving partner Noah Williams after winning silver medals in the diving 10m synchronised event

Gavin Bottger of the US in the preliminaries of the men’s park skateboard competition at La Concorde.

Fermin López of Spain points to the flag on his shirt as his team celebrate their fifth goal in the dying minutes of extra time of the gold medal football match against France.

President Macron wipes the tears away from the face of Romane Dicko of France after she won a bronze medal in the women’s 78kg judo competition

Armand Duplantis of Sweden sprints down the runway on his way to breaking the world record in the final of the men’s pole vault

Imane Khelif of Algeria kisses her gold medal during the presentation ceremony after the final of the women’s 66kg boxing at Roland Garros

Simone Biles performs on the uneven bars during the final of the women’s gymnastics all-around team event

Kieran Reilly of Great Britain performs a trick on his final run during his silver medal winning performance during the men’s BMX freestyle final

Britain’s Anthony Harding (right) and Jack Laugher compete on their way to winning bronze in the men’s synchronised 3m springboard diving final

Novak Djokovic is overcome with emotion when winning an Olympic gold medal after his victory over Carlos Alcaraz in the men’s singles tennis final

Competitors in the women’s kayak cross event splash into the water off the ramp at the start of their in the quarter-final at the Vaires-Sur-Marne Nautical Stadium

The very first fencing matches take place at the Grand Palais

I hardly ever shoot sport but having covered the London Olympics in 2012 I knew roughly what was in store for me in Paris for the next two and a half weeks – a brutal schedule photographing unfamiliar athletes engaging in sports I know little or nothing about, inside strange, complex venues strewn around a city baking in summer heat. Early starts, late finishes, no days off, endless editing, daily double backups, complex logistics and travel planning. Not to mention the constant battles to get my work published in competition with literally the world’s greatest sports photographers … And yet, in the face of all these struggles and challenges (and as I knew it would be), photographing the 2024 Paris Olympic Games was an utterly exhilarating, emotional and life-affirming experience.

Commuter chaos at Montparnasse station in Paris after a series of suspected coordinated arson attacks on the high-speed national rail network and ensuing widespread train cancellations

Tom Pidcock wins gold in the mountain biking event

A couple try to cool down their baby while watching the women’s park cycling BMX freestyle qualifiers

Team GB race to gold in the women’s quad sculls rowing competition at the Vaires-Sur-Marne Nautical Stadium

Italy get silver in the men’s quad sculls final event at at the Vaires-Sur-Marne Nautical Stadium outside Paris

Simone Biles in action during the women’s all-around finals artistic gymnastics.

A competitor in action during the qualifying rounds of the women’s trampoline gymnastics

A multiple exposure shot of Britain’s Bryony Page during the qualifying rounds of the women’s trampoline gymnastics

Britain’s Bryony Page celebrates after winning gold in the women’s trampoline gymnastics

Christian Sandlie Sorum and Anders Berntsen Mol of Norway play against Steven Van de Velde and Matthew Immers of the Netherlands in the preliminary phase of the men’s beach volleyball at the Champ de Mars Arena, photographed from the Eiffel Tower

Katie Ledecky of the United States during the women’s 800m freestyle final

Tommy Fleetwood of Great Britain tees off on the first hole during day four of the men’s individual stroke play

Sky Brown in action at the women’s park skateboarding final

Anna Hall of the United States throws the javelin during the women’s heptathlon

Katarina Johnson-Thompson of Britain throws the javelin during the women’s heptathlon

Taliyah Brooks of the US competes in the long jump during the women’s heptathlon

Great Britain’s Katarina Johnson-Thompson in action during the women’s heptathlon shot put

LeBron James of the United States hangs off the rim after dunking against France during the men’s basketball gold medal game

Britain’s Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix in action during the women’s diving 10m platform final where she finished sixth.

David Bowie once said that, as a creator, “when you can’t feel your feet touching the bottom, then you’re about to do something exciting.” That was how it felt when the Guardian asked if I could cover my first Olympic competition. I’m a portraits and features photographer, so this, for me, was definitely the deep end. I could have panicked, but was reassured by the team, and went on to photograph Team GB’s gold-performance at Versailles, Andy Murray’s swansong at Roland Garros, a first-ever gold medal for Ireland in the gymnastics, plus gravity-defying climbers, divers and breakdancers. I think my most cherished moment was the men’s 10,000m at the Stade de France, hearing the roar from the crowd as they turned into their final lap, and deep down, my own teenage memories of running down that finishing straight. Covering the Olympics was a marathon, and I’m proud to have run alongside so many other talented photographers.