Paris Olympic 2024 was the latest iteration of the Olympic Games. The modern Olympic Games are the world’s leading international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes worldwide participate in various competitions. The Olympic Games are considered the world’s foremost sports competition, with more than 200 teams, representing sovereign states and territories, participating. The Olympic Games are held every four years. Since 1994, they have alternated between the Summer and Winter Olympics every two years during the four-year Olympiad.

An important tradition linking sport and culture, the Olympic Games boasts a history dating back well over 2,000 years. The history of the Olympic Games may be disjointed in places, but the Games have well and truly made a comeback. Even the early festivals organized by the Ancient Greeks demonstrated the values that still form the core of the Olympic Spirit today.

Moreover, in Antiquity, warring states observed a truce throughout the sporting competitions – a tradition that controversially continues today, with the United Nations General Assembly adopting the Olympic Truce ahead of each edition of the Games but still showing double standards when it comes to other nations. The history of the Games is incredibly and remarkably rich, and entertaining, spanning over millennials.

The History Of The Olympic Games

Their creation was inspired by the ancient Olympic Games, which were originally held in Olympia, Greece from the 8th century BC to the 4th century AD. The first written evidence of the official Games dates from 776 BC, when the Greeks began measuring time in Olympiads, or the duration between each edition of the Olympic Games. The first Olympic Games were held every four years in honor of the Greek mythology god Zeus. From then on, several artistic activities such as music, singing, poetry, and theater were organized at the Pythian or Delphic Games (a separate event to the Games held in Olympia), linking culture and sport right from the beginning of the Games.

In 393 AD, the Roman Emperor Theodosius I, who ruled from 379 to 395 AD, was a devout Christian who took steps to promote Christianity while suppressing other religious practices that were seen as pagan. He also banned the Olympic Games for the same religious reasons; claiming that they encouraged paganism. They were not revived until the modern era.

Modern-Day Revival and Continuance of the Olympic Games

Baron Pierre de Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1894, leading to the first modern Games in Athens in 1896. The IOC is now the governing body of the Olympic Movement, which encompasses all entities and individuals involved in the Olympic Games, and the Olympic Charter defines their structure and authority.

The evolution of the Olympic Movement during the 20th and 21st centuries has resulted in numerous changes to the Olympic Games. Some of these adjustments include the creation of the Winter Olympic Games for snow and ice sports, the Paralympic Games for athletes with disabilities, the Youth Olympic Games for athletes aged 14 to 18, the five Continental Games (Pan American, African, Asian, European, and Pacific), and the World Games for sports that are *not* contested in the Olympic Games.

The IOC has needed to adapt to a variety of economic, political, and technological advancements. The abuse of amateur rules by the Eastern Bloc nations prompted the IOC to shift away from pure amateurism, as envisioned by Coubertin in 1894, and move towards the acceptance of professional athletes participating at the Games. The growing importance of mass media has created the issue of corporate sponsorship and general commercialization of the Games.

Cancelled Olympics

Although there is a treaty known as the ‘Olympic truce’ enforced by the United Nations General Assembly that warring states would observe a truce throughout the sporting competitions – a tradition that continues today, ahead of each edition of the Games, still, however, due to World Wars I and II 1916, 1940, and 1944 Olympics were canceled; large-scale boycotts during the Cold War also limited participation in the 1980 and 1984 Olympics; and the 2020 Olympics were postponed until 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 restrictions. Many people were also injured in the Olympics but luckily, they were covered, and you can too by reading this article here

Paris Olympic 2024: A competition vibe in the city of love, light, art, and culture

This year’s Olympic Games were nothing short of spectacular and extraordinary, with athletes coming to participate from all over the world, controversial additions to the quadrennial games, and records being broken, we had it all. The games kicked off on July 26 and commenced on 11th August. We had quite a roster of sports—32 to be exact—with 329 events to entertain us at this year’s Summer Olympics. They were as follows:

Some of the key sports included:

• Aquatics: This includes swimming, diving, water polo, and artistic swimming.
• Athletics: Featuring track and field events.
• Basketball: Both traditional 5-on-5 and 3×3 formats.
• Gymnastics: Including artistic, rhythmic, and trampolining disciplines.
• Cycling: Covering road, track, BMX, and mountain biking.
• Boxing, Judo, Taekwondo, and Wrestling: Representing various combat sports.
• Skateboarding and Sport Climbing: Two of the newer additions, continuing their presence from Tokyo 2020.
• Surfing and Breaking: Surfing made its Olympic debut in Tokyo, while breaking (breakdancing) debuted in Paris in 2024.
• Equestrian, Fencing, Rugby Sevens, Sailing, Shooting, and Tennis: Classic Olympic sports that continued in 2024.

Broken Olympic and World Records At Paris Olympics, 2024:

The broken, Olympic and World records, at this year’s games were quite a few, they are as follows:-

All in all…

The Olympic Games have become a significant global event, fostering international cooperation and cultural exchange. At the same time, hosting the Olympic Games can also bring significant economic benefits and challenges to the host city, affecting infrastructure, tourism, and local communities.