The 2024 Paris Olympics, by Steve Kaffen (Russia 1994-96; HQ staff 2003-11)

About the book

The 2024 Olympic Games in Paris had everything: a stunning setting, precise planning and execution, welcoming hospitality and goodwill by the residents and the 45,000 volunteers, camaraderie among the visitors, and the Games themselves. It was an Olympics of fun, joy, and spirited energy for the millions, including many families, that came from Europe and throughout the world for an Olympic vacation and to support their countries’ participants.

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The individual and team performances of the 10,500 athletes representing over 200 countries captivated those in attendance and the billions watching at home, and gave everyone a rest and refocus from the political, social, and economic issues gripping the planet. Author Steve Kaffen arrived two months before the opening ceremony to observe the preparations and returned for the Games. Using descriptive text and hundreds of original photos, he takes us to the unique opening ceremony, 12 different sports, the Fan Zones, the activities around town, and Paris at its best.

• Independently published May 2025
• E-book: 220 pages
• The 2024 Paris Olympics available on Amazon
• Author page on Amazon

About the Author

With an explorer’s curiosity and a knack for being in the right place at the right time, Steve Kaffen travels the world. What started as a group tour to China became an around-the-world adventure through Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Steve crossed borders by bus and on foot and bridged continents by ship—the Queen Elizabeth 2 from Cape Town to Rio, and almost a year later, the Rancagua into Antarctica with the Chilean Navy. Steve journeyed across the Middle East just months before the 2011 “Arab Spring,” and using trains and buses, he experienced Europe, Australia and America’s vast beauty.

Steve has met fascinating people along the way. While climbing in Nepal’s Himalayas, for example, he encountered the region’s two most famous mountaineers, with memorable results. Tenzing Norgay invited Steve to stay in his Darjeeling, India, home and help lead a trek in nearby Sikkim. Sir Edmund Hillary gave Steve a tour of his Kunde hospital for Sherpas and sponsored Steve for membership in the Explorers Club.

In the mid-1990s, Steve served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Russia. A decade later, he was appointed the Assistant Inspector General for Auditing and, over an 8-year period, reviewed the Peace Corps’ operations in some 35 countries and got to know hundreds of dedicated Volunteers. Shorter-term, he has monitored elections for the UN, reviewed UNICEF and USAID programs, and wrote the operating procedures for soccer’s World Cup when it was held in the U.S.

A New York native, Steve Kaffen has also lived in Paris, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and now Washington, D.C. He dedicates his books “To you, my fellow traveler, on the road and in life.”