This past summer, the world witnessed its 33rd Summer Olympic Games in Paris. 10,500 athletes participated across 32 sports making it the biggest sporting event of the year. We saw the return of many fan-favorite sports along with the introduction of break dancing as a sport for the first time in Olympic history. Following Is a brief recap of the Paris Olympics 2024 highlighting some of the most memorable moments.
This year, the United States saw great success, topping the medal count with 126 total medals, including 40 gold. This was 35 more than the runner-up, China, who won 91 total medals, also with 40 gold, throughout the games. Noah Lyles, an American athlete who went viral about a year ago for his comments challenging the “world champion” label given to NBA title winners, actually won the gold medal in the Men’s Final 100-meter race making him a “true” world champion. Ironically, many NBA and WNBA players did end up becoming world champions when both the men’s and women’s basketball teams won gold for the United States.
The host country, France, was ranked 4th in total medals, obtaining 16 gold medals during the competition. Four of these came from the swimming events, where phenom Leon Marchand won gold in the Men’s 200m Breaststroke, the Men’s 200m Butterfly, the Men’s 200m Individual Medley, and the Men’s 400m Individual Medley. French athlete Cassandre Beaugrand also won gold for France by placing first in the Women’s Individual Triathlon competition.
The internet had their own favorites for the Olympics this year. Swedish pole vaulter Armand Duplantis won gold for his country and, while he was at it, broke the world record. Turkish sharpshooter Yusuf Dikeç also surprised the internet with his silver medal performance. The clip of his performance on NBC Sports’ YouTube page has amassed almost 7 million views. It shows him casually hitting the bullseye multiple times while wearing sweats and a t-shirt, whereas his competition is wearing all sorts of gear, including sound-protecting headphones, and special glasses that look straight out of a spy movie.
Aside from being entertaining, the Olympic games are also working to create a better world. The Paris Olympics marked a historic win for female athletes, as women made up exactly 50% of the participants for the first time in history. The environment was also of concern, and organizers cut carbon emissions by using existing infrastructure and prioritizing renewable energy to power stadiums.
Paris’s environmental efforts did not go without their fair share of controversy. As part of their efforts, they went forward with a $1.4 billion initiative to clean up the Seine River for both the Olympic games and the betterment of Paris. However, people were still skeptical about the water quality as the Seine had historically been dirty, and e-coli bacteria from heavy rainfall posed a large threat to swimmers. After the races, some athletes even reported getting sick, but these illnesses were not traced back to the river water. All in all, it did not have much of an effect on the games, and people were able to enjoy the events.
The Paris Olympics 2024 were wildly successful with new athletes, sports, and initiatives all coming to the competition. The Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo Olympics 2026 will definitely have high expectations to meet.