The Olympics: a globally appreciated event returns this year with the 2024 Summer Games in Paris. As many know, the Summer Olympics take place every four years, or every Leap Year, while the Winter Olympics are conducted in alternating seasons. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the Tokyo Games were pushed back and instead held in 2021. Now, just three years since the most recent Summer Games, the Paris Olympics are set to take place from July 26 through August 11.
According to Athletics Weekly, the five most popular sports featured in the Olympics are soccer, track and field, gymnastics, swimming and water polo, and basketball. One sport in particular that has grown in media attention over the years is gymnastics. Simone Biles, the top-scoring gymnast up until the 2021 games, had gotten a severe mental block known as “the twisties,” and pulled herself from the remainder of the competition. Although many expressed disappointment over this, Biles told AP News in 2023 that “[she’s] fine, [she’s] twisting again. No worries. All is good.” While the gymnastic Olympic trials take place between June 27 and June 30, Biles told Today that she hopes “to compete at the 2024 Summer Olympics.”
One athlete confirmed to perform in the Olympics this year is US swimmer Katie Grimes. Despite being only 18, this is not her first rodeo, and she competed in her first Olympics at age 15 in Tokyo. She placed fourth, just a hair away from a bronze medal, while still finishing next to athletes half a decade older than her. Later, she competed in the 2023 World Championships, and beat out two gold medalists, securing a bronze medal. While Grimes has certainly accomplished plenty for her age, she reminds people she is far from done. As she told The Athletic, she mentions, “I’ve gone faster and I’ve gotten better in practice and am working really hard, so there’s no reason for me to be nervous. Just trust in your training and trust that I’ve progressed and I’m smarter and am able to handle things better.”
As for prospective athletes to look out for, the Olympic Organization has released their top competitors to anticipate in July. They begin with Sha’Carri Richardson, a track and field competitor who has shown great promise, with a record time of 10.65 seconds at the August World Championships this past year. Another swimmer, Hunter Armstrong, also known as “The Magician,” for his love of magic tricks, won bronze and gold at the Aquatics Championships this year. Shilese Jones, a gymnast, won gold at the World Championships in October and took bronze in the all-around and bars. She failed to make the 2020 Olympic team due to a car accident she was in that year. Jones was recovering from a fractured foot and back, and this affected her training.
Gabby Douglas announced her return to gymnastics in July 2023 via an Instagram post. The post explained how she recently took time to herself, amid her break from the sport in 2017. After the 2016 Rio Olympics, Douglas was struggling mentally and had lost her passion for gymnastics. While she has recently turned 28, she is a two-time Olympian, performing in 2012 and 2016, where her group dubbed the names “Fierce Five” in 2012 and “Final Five” in 2016.
While it is still uncertain if Gabby will qualify for the games, there will certainly be strong competitors throughout the 2024 Olympics in every arena. The Olympics will be streamed on a multitude of channels for spectators to enjoy and stay informed.
