Five Paris Olympics storylines to know from security to Simone Biles
The Paris Olympics are fast approaching. Here’s what you need to know about the first post-pandemic Games.
It’s a tradition like no other: Welcome to the Olympic Games.
Every four years, more than 10,000 of the world’s greatest athletes — such as the United States’ Katie Ledecky and Simone Biles — travel to a different part of the world to compete on their sports’ grandest stage against the crème de la crème while representing their native countries and territories.
And like previous Summer Games, the 2024 Paris Olympics will surely have sports fans on the edge of their seats as they watch weeks of competition in Paris, which will feature sports that they are passionate about; have heard of in passing; or have no ounce of knowledge about.
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The program of sports at the 2024 Paris Olympics in Paris will also feature several new Olympic sports, such as breaking, which is making its Olympic debut. And so, in the lead-up to the Summer Games in Paris, curiosity has risen on how many events are at the Olympics, which sports are new and which were axed from Olympics.
With that, here’s what you need to know about the events and sports at the 2024 Paris Olympics, including which ones are new for Paris, which ones were removed and more:
How many sports are at the 2024 Paris Olympics?
As displayed on the Paris Olympics website, the 2024 Paris Olympics will consist of 329 medal events across 45 sports. Per ESPN, the 2024 Paris Olympics will have the second-most events in the history of the Summer Olympics, only behind the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which had 339 events.
Here’s a complete look at the 45 sports that will be taking place at the 2024 Paris Olympics, in alphabetical order:
- Archery
- Artistic Gymnastics
- Artistic Swimming
- Athletics
- Badminton
- Basketball
- Basketball 3×3
- Beach Volleyball
- Boxing
- Breaking
- Canoe Slalom
- Canoe Spring
- Cycling BMX Freestyle
- Cycling BMX Racing
- Cycling Mountain Bike
- Cycling Road
- Cycling Track
- Diving
- Equestrian
- Fencing
- Football
- Golf
- Handball
- Hockey
- Judo
- Marathon Swimming
- Modern Pentathlon
- Rhythmic Gymnastics
- Rowing
- Rugby Sevens
- Sailing
- Shooting
- Skateboarding
- Sport Climbing
- Surfing
- Swimming
- Table Tennis
- Taekwondo
- Tennis
- Trampoline
- Triathlon
- Volleyball
- Water Polo
- Weightlifting
- Wrestling
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What new events are at the 2024 Paris Olympics?
One sport and one event will make their Olympics debut in Paris this year: breaking (i.e. break dancing) and kayak cross, which doesn’t have its own designation and instead is categorized under canoe slalom.
“Everything is spontaneous. The DJ sets the mood, and the dancers have to react to it,” said Zack Slusser, vice president of Breaking DanceSport for USA Dance (via the Olympics). “That is probably the most crucial thing when it comes to judging—how much a dancer can resonate their arsenal of moves with the music and how the music is being played in that moment, and creating a moment that captures everybody.”
Here are the rules for breaking in Paris, per the Olympics website:
“The breaking competition at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games comprises two events—one for men and one for women—where 16 B-Boys and 16 B-Girls will face off in spectacular solo battles. Athletes will use a combination of power moves—including windmills, the 6-step, and freezes—as they adapt their style and improvise to the beat of the DJ’s tracks in a bid to secure the judges’ votes and take home the first Olympic breaking medals.”
Per the Olympics site, kayak cross is “a combination of all of canoeing’s whitewater disciplines, contested by four competitors simultaneously”.
However, there are a handful of other sports that are still “new” to the Olympics after making their debuts at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. These include:
- Skateboarding
- Sports Climbing
- Surfing
- Cycling BMX Freestyle
- 3×3 Basketball
What events at the Summer Olympics were removed for Paris 2024?
Several events were removed from the 2024 Paris Olympics after the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
One of those is karate, which according to reports was removed from the 2024 Olympics program due to a lack of interest in the sport in Paris and “lacked entertainment value and the ability to attract a younger audience,” per NBC.
The other two are baseball and softball, which made their return to the 2020 Olympics for the first time since 2008 and 2016, respectively. According to several reports, baseball was removed from the slate of sports for Paris due to scheduling conflicts with MLB. Both sports will make their return to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Rules for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) — the governing body of the Olympics — now allows the host city for an Olympics to have the right to add sports to the list of sports at that Olympics, as previously reported by USA TODAY. Being allowed to add a sport — based on that sports interest in their respective country — results in removing other sports from the program, like softball and baseball.
What events were postponed from the Summer Olympics?
Baseball and softball were postponed from the Summer Olympics to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics — despite both being removed from the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Cricket and lacrosse will also make their return to the Summer Olympic program in Los Angeles in 2028, for the first time since the 1900 Paris Olympics and 1908 London Olympics, respectively.
Lastly, and to much anticipation, flag football and squash will make their Olympic debut in 2028 in Los Angeles.
“The choice of these five new sports is in line with the American sports culture and will showcase iconic American sports to the world, while bringing international sports to the United States. These sports will make the Olympic Games LA28 unique,” IOC President Thomas Bach said. “Their inclusion will allow the Olympic Movement to engage with new athlete and fan communities in the US and globally.”