Paris is set to host the 2024 Summer Olympics, and the world’s best athletes are preparing for their journey to France in hopes of winning gold medals.
Sports like basketball, swimming, track and field and soccer are the most popular, but several new sports will be added to this year’s Olympics.
Some features introduced at the Tokyo Olympics will also be making a comeback.
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The Paris 2024 Olympic flag is raised on the south facade of the Palais Bourbon in Paris on June 4, 2024. (Riccardo Milani/Hans Lukas/AFP via Getty Images)
Find out what new sports fans can expect to see when the Olympics kick off on July 26.
The return of sports
skateboard
Skateboarding park and street competitions have been popular since their introduction in Tokyo, with some of the world’s best skaters showing off their creativity on their boards.
Each event will consist of two rounds, a qualification round and a final round, and will take place in a skatepark designed to give competitors everything they need to impress the judges with their moves.
Skaters are judged on their ability to utilize the entire skatepark surface as well as the height of the track and speed during jumps.
This year’s skating competition will take place at Paris’ famous Place de la Concorde.
Team USA: TBA
Nyjah Huston of the U.S. team reacts during the men’s street skateboarding qualifying on the second day of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics at Ariake Urban Sports Park in Tokyo on July 25, 2021. (Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
surfing
The sport that inspired skateboarding will also return to the Olympics, and Tahiti will welcome the world’s best surfers to compete on its waves.
Surfing will be one of the first sports to open the Olympics, with competition taking place over four of the 10 days from July 27 to August 5.
A panel of five judges will award scores based on skill on the wave, speed, power and flow (how the surfer links their moves while riding the wave).
Team USA: Griffin Colapinto, John John Florence, Caroline Marks, Carissa Moore
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Sport climbing
It may not be a very well-known sport, but it is becoming more and more popular around the world every year, and will even be featured in the 2020 Olympics.
Sport climbing is split into three different disciplines: speed, bouldering and lead. In speed, athletes try to scale a 15-metre wall faster than their opponents in intense one-on-one rounds.
Bouldering is even more intense, with competitors climbing a 4.5 metre wall without a rope, while lead sees climbers attempt to scale a 15 metre wall in under six minutes without looking beforehand, which requires both mental and physical strength.
Team USA: Sam Watson, Collin Duffy, Jesse Grupper, Emma Hunt, Piper Kelly, Natalia Grossman
New Sports
Breakdancer Sunny Choi poses during a portrait session for Paris 2024 Olympic Team USA at NBCUniversal Studios Stage 16 on November 18, 2023 in Los Angeles. (Harry Howe/Getty Images)
breaking news
A dance form that began in the 1970s and has gotten more and more complex over time is now making its way to the Olympics.
Breaking competitions have been held all over the world for many years, with amazing men and women showing off their incredible skills that amaze us all.
Two events will be held, split between men and women, with 16 contestants each competing in solo battles.
Simone Biles’ dominance continues with record-breaking win at the 2024 Paris Olympics
Representing the Stars and Stripes from the USA will be 2023 Pan American Games Women’s Champion Sunny Choi (B-Girl Sunny) and 2023 WDSF World Breaking Championship Winner Victor Montalvo (B-Boy Victor).
Men’s Artistic Swimming
Although artistic swimming has typically been thought of as a women’s sport, it is rapidly gaining popularity among male swimmers as well.
Artistic swimming is a form of underwater acrobatics set to music, and in the Olympics it is divided into free and technical routines, with duet and team competitions also featuring both routines throughout the performance.
This is a fairly difficult event, considering the pool is three metres deep and the swimmers have to jump out of the water to perform their routines. Judges will grade the routine on speed, synchronization and difficulty throughout.
Vivienne Santana of Brazil crosses the finish line in third place during the marathon and race walk mixed relay final at the Pan American Games Santiago 2023 at Campo de Marte Esplanade in Santiago on November 4, 2023. (RAUL ARBOLEDA/AFP via Getty Images)
Marathon Race Walk Mixed Relay
This is a revised format compared to when they had never competed in the Olympics.
In the race walk, a mixed-gender team relay will replace the 50km individual event for the first time. 25 teams will compete, each with one man and one woman, alternating every 10km.
World Athletics CEO John Ridgeon said the race format, which starts at the base of the Eiffel Tower, is “designed to be innovative, dynamic and unpredictable,” and he believes it will be easy for fans to pick up and quickly build excitement for the event.
Kayak Cross
Kayaking has long been an Olympic sport, with men’s and women’s singles kayaking and canoeing events.
But kayakcross is a completely different sport. Four riders race simultaneously, but they’re not racing alone and relying only on the clock. There are four downstream gates and two upstream gates, and if you miss any of them you’re automatically disqualified.
Additionally, each competitor must perform a “kayak roll,” which means rotating 360 degrees in their kayak and putting their head underwater in the process.
Despite the postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics due to the coronavirus, Team USA kayaker Joshua Joseph trains on the Potomac River in Brookmont, Maryland, on March 26, 2020. (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
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The format starts with a time trial to determine the qualifiers and tournament brackets, after which the real competition begins.
Team USA: Nevin Harrison, Evi Leibfurth, Casey Eichfeldt, Jonas Ecker, Aaron Small
