It would be an understatement to say that the Olympics is a monumental event that touches the hearts of everyone around the world. To some, the Olympics is a sporting event that happens every 4 years. To others, the event is the moment that they have been dreaming of since they watched the Olympic Games at a young age. Nevertheless, the Olympics means something to everyone in the world. This article will explore the impact of the 2024 Paris Olympics on people around the world including event highlights, new records broken, and new Olympic sports.

Highlights:

  • Celine Dion closed the Olympic opening ceremony with a beautiful performance of L’hymne à l’amour (The Hymn to Love) on the Eiffel Tower.
  • This was the third Olympics in which a Refugee Team—which was established in 2015—competed in the Olympic Games. Twenty-five-year-old Cameroonian boxer Cindy Ngamba became the first athlete competing as a refugee to win an Olympic medal after securing a Bronze medal by advancing as far as the semifinals.
    • She told reporters: “It means a lot to me to be the first refugee to win a medal. I want to say to all refugees around the world: keep working hard, keep believing in yourself.” – Africa News
  • Four non-traditional sports were incorporated into the Paris 2024 Games after making their debut in the Tokyo 2020 Games: skateboarding, sport climbing, and surfing. Additionally, breaking, also known as break dancing, is making its Olympic debut after becoming an official sport qualified for the Olympics on Dec. 7, 2021.
  • Simone Biles, a USA Gymnast who earned 3 gold medals at the Paris Olympics and holds 7 gold medals in her entire Olympic career, responded to questions about her retirement saying “Never say never. The next Olympics is on home turf. So you just never know. I’m just going to relax and see where life takes me.” – Today

Athletes from countries all around the world come together to share their unique talents and skills with the support of their homelands behind them. Here are some of the World Records broken during the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Notable Records Broken

  • Mondo Duplantis (Sweden) broke his own world record after clearing a height of 6.25 meters and winning his second pole vaulting gold medal.
  • Gabriel Medina (Brazil) achieved the highest Olympic score ever given for surfing a single wave earning a 9.90 from judges.
  • Thea LaFond (Dominica) earned her country’s inaugural gold medal in triple jump by achieving a distance of 15.02 meters.
  • Adriana Ruano Oliva’s (Guatemala) won her country’s first gold medal in women’s trap shooting while also setting the new Olympic record by scoring a 45 out of 50, higher than the previous 43 out of 50 at Tokyo 2020.
  • Kaylee McKeown (Australia) broke a 12-year-old record first created by Missy Franklin (USA) in London 2012 by earning a swim of 2:03.73 in the 200 meter backstroke.
  • Julien Alfred (Saint Lucia) earned her country its first ever gold medal after beating Sha’Carri Richardson (USA) in the 100-meter race with a time of 10.72s.
  • Sheng Lihao (China) broke William Shaner’s (USA) Olympic sport shooter record, from the 2020 games, of 251.6 by earning a 252.2 in the 10-meter air rifle.
  • Oh Ye-jin (South Korea) set the record for the women’s 10-meter air pistol by earning a whopping 243.2, surpassing Vitalina Batsarashkina’s (Russia) record of 240.3 from Tokyo 2020.
  • Katie Ledecky (USA) earned her second gold medal after beating her own time in the 2020 Games with a 15:30.02 in the 1500m freestyle. Ledecky came out of the competition as the second female Olympian with the most gold medals tied alongside former Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina.

Citations

AfricaNews. “Paris 2024 Olympics: Cindy Ngamba Wins First Refugee Medal.” AfricaNews, Africanews, 5 Aug. 2024, www.africanews.com/2024/08/05/paris-2024-olympics-cindy-ngamba-wins-first-refugee-medal/. 

Gharib, Anthony. “What Are New Sports at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games?” ESPN, ESPN Internet Ventures, 11 Aug. 2024, www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/40537496/2024-paris-olympic-games-new-sports-breaking-climbing-skateboarding. 

Le, Brendan. “Every Record Broken at the 2024 Summer Olympics.” People Magazine, 12 Aug. 2024, https://people.com/every-record-broken-at-the-2024-summer-olympics-8687091. 

TodayShow. “Is Simone Biles Going to the 2028 Olympics? What She Told Hoda Kotb.” TODAY.Com, TODAY, 6 Aug. 2024, www.today.com/news/simone-biles-olympics-2028-los-angeles-rcna165066. 

Written by Special Projects Intern, Amanda Nguyen