Now that the Tokyo 2020 Olympics has wrapped up, the Land of the Rising Sun has passed the torch to La France! The City of Love is set to host the next summer Olympics in what will be called Paris 2024.
But with the hype came a lot of talks about which sports competitions are going to stay and leave. Granted, most sports in the Olympics are mainstays anyway. But did you know that certain participating sports also depend on the host country?
In Tokyo 2020, the sports karate, baseball, and softball were included because these three are big in Japan and therefore attracted many Japanese viewers. However, they will be removed in Paris 2024 for the exact opposite reason: The French aren’t really interested in them.
Also read: Did You See Evgeny Rylov Wear His Cat Mask in the Olympics?
Paris 2024 added new sports events
However, Olympics fans will be happy to know that skateboarding, which was newly included in Tokyo 2020, is here to stay for Paris 2024. Aside from skateboarding, Paris 2024 will add breakdancing [yes, it’s a sport], surfing, and sports climbing [also included in Tokyo 2020]!
According to the official Paris 2024 website, “Paris 2024 submitted its proposal to the IOC to integrate four new sports that are closely associated with youth and reward creativity and athletic performance. These sports are breaking, sport climbing, skateboarding, surfing. All four are easy to take up and participants form communities that are very active on social media. Over the next five years, the inclusion of these events in the Olympic Games will help inspire millions of children to take up a sport.”
It’s about time the Olympics included sports competitions that easily inspire the youth to tap their own potential in sports events that speak to their generation. We definitely welcome this new change and look forward to more sports games included in the future!
Also read: Japan Created a Kimono for Every Nation at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics!
Paris 2024 is set to begin on 26 Jul 2024 and end on 11 Aug 2024. To see the complete list of participating sports events, check out the official Paris 2024 website.
All images credit to #Tokyo 2020 | Official Twitter Page
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Therese Sta. Maria
Therese's close friends know that if they haven’t seen her around recently, then she’s probably having an adventure with her luggage and camera in hand. Though she loves staying at home and spending lazy afternoons with friends, there are times when she has to be "away from home to feel at home," — that’s when she’s bitten by the travel bug. See her travels on Instagram @reesstamaria.
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Sports at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games
In December 2020, the sports of breakdancing, sport climbing, skateboarding and surfing were confirmed as additional sports on the Paris Olympic Games program, making a total of 32 sports encompassing 329 events. Breakdancing will be the only sport making its debut, while there are new events such as
kiteboarding which will be part of sailing in 2024. Compared to the 2021 Tokyo Olympic sports, karate, baseball & softball have been dropped.
List of Sports
- Aquatics [including swimming, diving, open-water, synchronized swimming, and water polo]
- Archery
- Badminton
- Basketball
- Breakdancing
- Boxing
- Canoe / Kayak
- Cycling — including Track, Road, Mountain Bike and BMX
- Equestrian
- Fencing
- Football [soccer]
- Golf
- Gymnastics [Artistic, Rhythmic and Trampolining]
- Handball
- Hockey
- Judo
- Modern Pentathlon
- Rowing
- Rugby 7s
- Sailing
- Shooting
- Skateboarding — men and women's street and park skateboarding events
- Sport Climbing — bouldering, lead and speed combined climbing
- Surfing — men's and women's shortboard surfing
- Table Tennis
- Taekwondo
- Tennis
- Track & Field
- Triathlon
- Volleyball — indoor and beach volleyball
- Weightlifting
- Wrestling [Greco-Roman and Freestyle]
Overall there has been a reduction in the total number of events [mostly through reducing boxing and weightlifting weight categories] and consequently a reduction in the number of athletes, compared to the Tokyo Olympics. Also, for the first time there will be 100% gender equality [in athlete quotas].
Related Pages
- List of sports for each Olympiad
- Changes to sports for each Olympiad
- Number of Olympic medals available to be won
- How sports are selected for the Olympics
- About the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games
- Complete list of Olympic host cities