Written By: Lila Nunez, Staff Writer
RARE: The much awaited Olympics Games are coming this summer to Paris, France.
There are several theories on when the Olympic games originated from. One is when a cook won a race about 192 meters, and after this, every four years this race was held. Some believe that years before, these games came from the Greek god, Hercules, and a mortal woman named Alcmene, who created this famous Greek sporting festival. The name is based on the location it was held, Olympia. Olympia is located near the western coast of the Peloponnese peninsula of southern Greece. It was held here every four years during a religious festival of Zeus, the god of the sky based in Greek mythology. The impact of this event was so great that time was measured by four years named Olympiads. After thirteen Olympiads, meaning fiftytwo, two more events were added, a sprinting event roughly 400 meters, and a long distance event around 5000 meters. Through the centuries more and more events were added and altered. There were several instances when the Olympic games were banned or canceled due to world disasters or changes in views based on society at the time. At first, the games were limited to men until women were allowed to participate in certain events in the 1900s. The original sports women were allowed to participate in were tennis, sailing, croquet, equestrianism and golf. Some noteworthy women in Olympic history are Helene de Pourtales, the first female Olympian and first woman to win an Olympic medal, as well as Alice Coachman,the first black woman to win gold at the Olympics. Coachman won titles in the 50m, 4x100m and 2x400m relay. Her most recognized achievement was her performance in the high jump where she won gold and became the first African American woman to do so.
The Olympic guidelines have recently been altered. The committee has focused on amending its human rights and equality policies. To summarize the new policies, freedom of speech is encouraged for competitors. They are largely against discrimination towards any participants as well. Amendments state, that more than 90 percent of profit is given to athletes and sport organizations around the world. This means that 4.2 million dollars every day goes to this cause.
This will be the first year that breaking, sport climbing, skateboarding, and surfing will be added to the Olympics. Breaking is a dance competition where 16 women and 16 men will be competing in 1v1 battles. They will dance to a random song played by a DJ and the one with the best improv dance performance will win. For skateboarding, there will be two styles which are park and street. There will be two rounds for both: prelims and finals. The park style course will have a series of bowls and bends.
Due to recent controversy, a minority group has been banned from certain sports this year. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has decided to allow sport federations to make the choice of whether transgender athletes can participate in their sport. A light has been shined on this topic. One specific concern is that trans women specifically will have an unfair advantage over biological women due to genetics. Studies have been made but many have opposing conclusions. The international federations for rugby and swimming banned transgender women from taking place in their competitions in 2023. Several accommodations and rules have been set for these athletes in an assortment of Olympic games.
In addition to there being revisions to the Olympic rules, there are new safety precautions implemented in 2024. Paris is having a large amount of security added, especially during the opening event. French security has created an elaborate security plan. Thousands of visitors are expected to come to the games. Around 600,000 spectators are expected to arrive at the opening ceremony on the river Seine. 160 boats will go through central paris carrying athletes through the center of paris. In this specific ceremony, there will be about 40,000 security guards. As an additional precaution, the ceremony is prepared to move to a different location incase of any safety issues. France’s security is especially heightened due to casualties involving armed threats toward citizens in the past months.
One of the most awaited athletes for the 2024 Olympics is Sha’Carri Richardson, a track and field sprinter. She specializes in the 100m and the 4x100m. She has won several medals which includes a gold medal in the 4×100 meter relay. She was thought to be the best American contender for a gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. She was suspended for a month for using an illegal substance which meant she could not participate in the games. This fact has made her even more expected because she is the fastest american woman sprinter with a record time of 10.65 seconds in the 100 meter dash.
Another American athlete expected to excel in this year’s Games is Hunter Armstrong or best known as “The Magician”. In addition to holding the world record for the 50 backstroke, he has won gold in the 50m and 4x100m medley. This incredible athlete is only 28 years old and stands at a height of 6’8. He also went to college locally at UC Berkeley.
Amazing athletes from around the world will come together in Paris for the world’s foremost sports competition. It will certainly be a worthwhile event.