The Olympic games date back to the ancient Greeks, who all gathered to compete in sports every four years at Mt. Olympia. In 2021, the summer Olympics were held in Tokyo, starting on Friday, July 26 and ending on Sunday, August 11, the summer Olympics will take place in Paris in the year 2024. The winter Olympics and the summer Olympics alternate every two years, meaning that every four years athletes gather together at a set location and compete in friendly competitions; in 2026, the Olympic winter games will take place in Milano Cortina. The goal of the Olympics as stated by their website says, “The goal of the Olympic Movement is to contribute to building a peaceful and better world by educating youth through sport practiced without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play.”
In an article from Oct. 2023, the Olympics addressed whether or not Russian athletes are able to participate in the games. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) came to the decision that, “Athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport must compete only as Individual Neutral Athletes; teams of athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport cannot be considered; Athletes who actively support the war cannot compete. Support personnel who actively support the war cannot be entered; Athletes who are contracted to the Russian or Belarusian military or national security agences cannot compete. Support personnel who are contracted to the Russian or Belarusian military or national security agencies cannot be entered.” The IOC’s position on the war was against it from the beginning, according to the website. There is a Solidarity Fund for Ukraine where “3,000 athletes have already benefited from the help the IOC Solidarity Fund is offering,” the Olympics website states. The point of the fund is to help Ukrainian athletes to continue to compete by “providing travel support, training facilities, accommodation, equipment and uniforms, amongst other things.”
The events listed in this summer’s Olympics go as follows: 3×3 basketball, archery, artistic gymnastics, artistic swimming, athletics, badminton, basketball, beach volleyball, boxing, breaking, canoe flatwater, canoe slalom, cycling BMX freestyle, cycling BMX racing, cycling mountain bike, cycling road, cycling track, diving, equestrian, fencing, football, golf, handball, hockey, Judo, marathon swimming, modern pentathlon, rhythmic gymnastics, rowing, rugby sevens, sailing, shooting, skateboarding, sport climbing, surfing, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, trampoline, triathlon, volleyball, water polo, weightlifting and wrestling.
Breaking or breakdancing, sport climbing, skateboarding and surfing are new sports that will be held during the Paris 2024 Olympics with the idea that, “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 sport,” according to the Paris 2024 Olympics website.
One of the goals of the Paris 2024 Olympics is for them to host a more sustainable Olympics than years prior. This is being done by using 95% older venues that have already been built rather than building new ones. Also the transportation system for the games will either consist of biking, walking, public transportation or a zero-emission bus fleet service, according to the website. The Olympics website also says, “The Paris 2024 Olympic Village will be a showcase of sustainable development with low carbon and eco-designed buildings, using 100 percent renewable energy and having a zero waste policy strategy.”
Molly Lu McKellar can be contacted
at mmckellar@kscequinox.com
