Let there be heaps of sporting spirit
The long-awaited quadrennial sports extravaganza is here at last. From the opening ceremony—set to start today at 11:30 pm (Bangladesh time)—to its conclusion on August 11, around 10,000 elite athletes and an estimated 10 million visitors will gather in Paris for the 33rd Summer Olympic Games, marking the first time in 100 years that the City of Light has hosted the world's grandest spectacle.
The primary athletics events will take place at the Stade de France, the nation's largest stadium, located on the northern outskirts of Paris. Additionally, there will be 15 Olympic and 11 Paralympic venues scattered throughout the city in existing buildings.
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In a historic first, the opening ceremony will be held outside the stadium, with the River Seine also hosting the marathon swimming event and the swimming leg of the triathlon, a century after it held events during the first Paris Games in 1900. Swimming had been banned in the Seine from 1923 until recently due to water-quality issues, but Paris organizers assure that the water will be clean enough for Olympic events.
KEY FIXTURES
There are a dizzying number of medal events—329 in total—with 49 and 48 medals reserved for aquatics and athletics, respectively. The first medal is expected in shooting on July 27, and the last in women's basketball on August 11. The following are the fixtures for 14 of the 32 disciplines likely to capture the interest of Bangladesh audiences:
Archery: July 25 to August 4; Athletics: August 1-11 (The men's 100m sprint final is slated for August 4, a day after the women's event lights up Paris.); Badminton: July 27 to August 5; Basketball: July 27 to August 11; Boxing: July 27 to August 10; Football: July 24 to August 10; Handball: July 25 to August 11; Hockey: July 27 to August 9; Shooting: July 27 to August 5; Swimming: July 27 to August 4; Table Tennis: July 27 to August 10; Tennis: July 27 to August 4; Volleyball: July 27 to August 11; Weightlifting: August 7-11.
RECORDS WAITING TO BE BROKEN
Athletics: All eyes are on Jamaican sprinter Shericka Jackson, who has the potential to break the women's 200 meters world record set 36 years ago by American legend Florence Griffith Joyner.
Swimming: Backstroke queen Kaylee McKeown shattered all three backstroke world records in 2023, but the Aussie will be wary of USA's three-time Olympic medalist Regan Smith, who claimed the 100-meter backstroke record this year.
Weightlifting: Hampton Morris broke the world record in the clean and jerk in the 61kg weight class by lifting 176 kilograms at a World Cup in Thailand. The 20-year-old American, coached by his father, is primed for further milestones.
Pole Vault: Swedish pole vaulter Armand Duplantis has broken the world record eight times, and Paris might witness the ninth instance.
Climbing: Sam Watson, only 18, made his mark by breaking the speed climbing world record twice in a single tournament this year. The American teenager is poised to set new benchmarks in this newly added Olympic sport.
TRANSCENDING TRADITIONS
The 2024 Olympics will be the first in history to feature an equal number of male and female athletes, with 5,250 men and as many women participating in the same number of sports and events.
Paris will showcase 32 sports disciplines, including four non-traditional sports: surfing, climbing, skateboarding, and breaking, a competitive form of breakdancing which originated in New York in the 1970s, with the latter set to make its Olympic debut, while the other three will make a second appearance after the Tokyo edition.
In addition to the participating countries, there will be an IOC (International Olympic Committee) Refugee Olympic Team, also continuing the trend from the 2020 installment.
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