FROM THE VERY beginning, the 2024 Paris Olympics looked like they would be one of the best in recent memory. First, the opening ceremony broke away from tradition as the first to be held outside of a stadium. Then there were the feel-good stories of athletes overcoming adversity to inspire us all. And despite the Centre Aquatique Olympique being deemed a ‘slow pool’, a number of world records were broken in other sports. Of course, the memes were also plentiful, from Raygun and Snoop Dogg to a casual Turkish shooter and a well-endowed French pole vaulter.
The Paris Olympics also just happened to be Australia’s best ever, in terms of gold medals. Aussie athletes claimed 18 golds, ahead of every other prior Olympic campaign. This was to go with 53 total medals – the nation’s second most ever – and a fourth placed finish on the medal table – again, the second-best result in the nation’s history.
Evidently, a lot has happened over the last two-and-a-half weeks, as you would expect from an international sporting event that brings together more than 10,000 athletes to compete in over 300 events. Still, in an Olympics filled with spectacular moments, there were a few that stood out – and we’re revisiting them one last time.
The opening ceremony shakes things up
INSTAGRAM | @paris2024
The Paris Olympics made a point of differentiating itself right from the start by becoming the first Games to hold its opening ceremony outside of a stadium. Instead, athletes paraded down the river Seine on boats before arriving at the Trocadero. The ceremony itself featured a number of homages to the city of Paris, with segments dedicated to fashion, love, lights and a peculiar blue man – okay, we’re still a little confused about that last one.
Day 1: The most successful opening day in Australian Olympic history
INSTAGRAM | @ausolympicteam
Australians didn’t have to wait long for the medals to start flooding in. Those waking up on the morning of July 27th were greeted by the news that Australia was on top of the medal table, winning three gold and two silver medals overnight. Grace Brown kicked things off with gold in the women’s road cycling time trial, Ariarne Titmus won the ‘race of the century’ in the women’s 400m freestyle, and the women’s 4×100 freestyle relay team won their fourth consecutive gold medal. All on day one.
Day 3: O’Callaghan trumps Titmus in a race for the ages
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What happens when the swimmers who have recorded the two fastest ever times in an event go head-to-head? We get one of the best races at the Olympics, that’s what. Ultimately, it was Mollie O’Callaghan who emerged victorious over world record holder Ariarne Titmus in the women’s 200m freestyle in a memorable 1-2 finish.
The Matildas complete the comeback
INSTAGRAM | @matildas
The Matildas did not have the tournament they wanted, but the team did pull off one of the greatest comebacks football has ever seen during their group stage match against Zambia. Down 2-5 with less than 30 minutes remaining in the second half, the Matildas clawed their way back to win 6-5 and briefly reignite their medal hopes.
Nada Hafez competes while seven months pregnant
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The African champion in women’s sabre fencing, Nada Hafez competed – and won a duel – in Paris while seven months pregnant. Making it to the Olympics is hard enough when you only need to worry about your own health and fitness, to do so while expecting deserves major kudos.
Day 5: They really swam in the Seine
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We don’t think any Parisians actually ended up emptying their bowels into their city’s most famous body of water, but Games organisers’ much publicised and much criticised plans to hold long distance swimming events in the Seine went ahead anyway. Before the Olympics, it had been illegal to swim in the Seine for 100 years due to the danger it posed to human health. Extensive – and expensive – efforts were made to clean up the river for the Olympics, and events did go ahead eventually, but not without a few athletes contracting E. coli infections.
Day 7: Cam McEvoy defies father time
INSTAGRAM | @cam_mcevoy
Cam McEvoy’s Olympic career looked all but over after Tokyo 2020, where he crashed out of both the 50m and 100m freestyle events in the heat stages. Then, at age 30, he won his first Olympic gold medal while pointing to his stripped-down training regime as the reason why.
Kaylee McKeown does the double-double
INSTAGRAM | @ausolympicteam
By winning gold in the 200m backstroke on day seven, Kaylee McKeown became the first Australian athlete – and first backstroker – to pull-off the double-double. That is, winning gold in the same two individual events in consecutive Olympics. The feat immediately moves McKeown into greatest Australia Olympian discussions, and at just 23 years of age, it’s unlikely that she’s finished winning medals.
Saya Sakakibara wins gold for her brother
INSTAGRAM | @sayasakakibara
Kai Sakakibara was one of BMX racing’s brightest young stars before a mid-race crash resulted in a brain injury that prematurely ended his sporting career. His sister, Saya, took the reins by becoming one the world’s best BMX racers. After crashing out in the semi finals of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Saya held her nerve to take gold in Paris. Winning all seven of her races along the way, she celebrated with her brother after the final in one of the best feel-good stories of the Games.
Simone Biles makes a triumphant return
INSTAGRAM | @simonebiles
After famously pulling out of Tokyo 2020 with a case of the twisties, Simone Biles returned to gold medal-winning form in Paris. The American gymnast took home four medals from this year’s Games, re-establishing her claim to being the USA’s – and perhaps the world’s – greatest ever gymnast.
Day 8: Léon Marchand looks like the second coming of Michael Phelps
INSTAGRAM | @leon.marchand31
Apart from the great Michael Phelps and Russian gymnast Vitaly Scherbo, no athlete has won more gold medals in individual events at a single Olympics than Léon Marchand. The Frenchmen took gold in the 200m breaststroke, 200m butterfly, 200m individual medley and 400m individual medley, all in front of his home crowd. Assuming he stays the course and wins a few more medals at future Olympics, he could end up with the second most gold medals of all time – Phelps is untouchable with 23, but second place only has a comparatively meagre nine.
Day 9: Novak Djokovic completes tennis
INSTAGRAM | @djokernole
Before Paris 2024, the only accolade that had eluded Novak Djokovic throughout his career was an Olympic gold medal. But no longer. Djokovic defeated Carlos Alcaraz in the men’s singles final to complete his ‘golden slam’ (winning all four grand slams and a gold medal) and he was visibly emotional after doing so – a rarity for the typically composed legend.
Day 10: Noemie Fox makes it a Fox trifecta in canoe slalom
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Heading into Paris, Jess Fox was the favourite to win gold in both the C1 and K1 slalom, so it wasn’t too shocking when she did in fact win both. What was surprising was that she was eliminated in the first knockout round of the kayak cross, only for her younger sister Noemie – competing at her first Olympics – to assume the mantle and win a gold medal of her own. Jess was, as you’d expect, ecstatic. The elder Fox jumped into the slalom course to celebrate with her sister, all while their father commentated the event.
Noah Lyles backs up his talk
INSTAGRAM | @nojo18
Noah Lyles had a target on his back throughout the Paris Olympics after making an enemy of NBA fans by – rightfully, mind you – pointing out that NBA champions do not have the right to proclaim themselves ‘world champions’ after winning what is ostensibly a North American title. It’s rare that an athlete’s own country will root against them, but that’s what Lyles was faced with. Rather than succumb to the pressure, he backed up his talk by winning the 100m sprint by a margin of just 0.005 seconds.
Day 11: Arisa Trew becomes Australia’s youngest ever gold medallist
INSTAGRAM | @ausolympicteam
In an accomplishment that will make anyone feel old, 14-year-old Arisa Trew won gold in the women’s skateboarding park. The victory made Trew Australia’s youngest ever gold medallist, prompting news outlets and overbearing parents around the country to ask ‘what were you doing at 14?’
Teahupo’o makes an impression, 16,000km from Paris
Getty Images | Jerome Brouillet
Not every event at the Paris Olympics took place in Paris. Sailing events were held in Marseille, football and basketball games took place in various cities across metropolitan France, and the cycling road races had to start in the countryside before finishing in the city. None were further away from Paris than surfing though. Held at the iconic Teahupo’o reef break in Tahiti – which is nominally a self-governing French overseas territory, albeit almost 16,000km from Paris – Olympic surfing events gave viewers a glimpse into a hidden gem on the other side of the world. It also provided the scene for one of the Games’ most memorable photos, with a high-flying Gabriel Medina dismount earning him the nickname ‘the flying surfer’.
Armand Duplantis breaks a world record for fun
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Mondo Duplantis had already secured a gold medal by clearing 6 metres on his first attempt in the men’s pole vault final. Then seemingly for fun, he decided to raise the bar to 6.10 metres, cleared it, and then raised it again to 6.25 metres for a shot at breaking his own world record. Putting on a show for the crowd, Duplantis cleared the height on his third attempt, once again pushing the boundaries of human athleticism and etching his name into history.
Day 12: Gold rush
INSTAGRAM | @worldathletics
By this point in the Olympics, Australia was already sitting pretty towards the top of the medal table with 14 golds. Then came the single most successful day in Australian Olympic history. August 7th featured four gold medals for Australia. Matt Wearn in the men’s dinghy sailing, Keegan Palmer in men’s skateboarding park, the men’s track cyclists in team pursuit and Nina Kennedy in women’s pole vault all won gold within a three-hour period, while the mixed race walk relay team and Matt Denny added some bronze medals. Will there ever be another day like it for Australia?
Day 13: Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone makes it look easy
INSTAGRAM | @sydneymclaughlin16
Besides Mondo Duplantis, no one at Paris 2024 made breaking a world record look easier than Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. The 400-metre hurdler improved her previous world record in the event by a full 0.28 seconds, beating the silver medallist by a whopping 1.50 seconds. This race was never in doubt.
Cindy Ngamba wins first ever medal for the refugee team
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Founded in 2016, the Refugee Olympic Team was created to accommodate athletes who are either without a nation or are unable to compete for the nation of their citizenship. Their numbers have steadily grown since the team’s introduction at Rio 2016, but until Paris 2024, no refugee athlete had won an Olympic Medal. That was, until Cindy Ngamba claimed bronze in women’s boxing.
Born in Cameroon, Ngamba moved to the UK at the age of 11, but her immigration paperwork was later lost, making it difficult for her to gain UK citizenship. Openly homosexual, Ngamba has also chosen not to return to her native Cameroon, where homosexuality is illegal. As a result, competing for the refugee team was Ngamba’s only opportunity to go to the Olympics, and she made the most of it.
Mijaín López solidifies his legacy
INSTAGRAM | @paris2024
It’s extremely difficult for athletes who only compete in a single event to rack up a medal tally that can compare with the greatest Olympians of all time. Swimmers routinely win five or more medals at just a single Games, but for an athlete with only one event, that same achievement would take 16 years and five Olympics to match.
That’s exactly what Mijaín López has done though. The Cuban wrestler has won gold in wrestling at every Olympics since Beijing 2008 and claimed his fifth gold medal at the age of 41 in Paris.
Day 14: Imane Khelif wins gold, despite controversy
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After one of Imane Khelif’s opponents forfeited a match in less than one minute, confusion surrounding the Algerian boxer’s gender became the story of Paris 2024. Most of it was conjecture based on unfounded assumptions and misinformation, but it didn’t matter. Eventually, Khelif proved to be able to push through the controversy, winning gold in her event.
Day 15: Raygun causes a stir
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In an unfortunate series of events that will forever live in infamy, Australia has found its next ‘lay down Sally’ in B-Girl Rachael Gunn – otherwise known as Raygun. The breaker qualified for the Olympics fair and square, but her performance was visibly not up to the standard set by her competitors, resulting in a handful of viral moments.
Steph Curry says ‘nuit, nuit’
INSTAGRAM | @stephencurry30
The first four games of Steph Curry’s Olympic debut made for a quiet tournament by the legendary shooter’s standards. Such is the strength of the USA basketball team that superstars like Curry often need to settle into smaller roles where their output is tempered for the sake of the team. Curry played his role well, but he hadn’t quite delivered a performance that would tell the untrained observer that he’s the greatest shooter of all time. He then scored 36 points in the semifinals and 24 in the gold medal match, providing the critical scoring burst the USA needed to win both games.
Curry left his mark on team USA in his first and likely only Olympic campaign, capping it off by wearing a shirt with the words ‘nuit nuit’ – French for night night – embossed on the front, emblematic of his signature celebration.
Day 16: Sifan Hassan finishes her packed schedule with gold
INSTAGRAM | @sifanhassan
At Tokyo 2020, Sifan Hassan won medals in the 1,500m, 5,000m and 10,000 events and planned to keep all three on her Paris 2024 schedule while adding the marathon – something no other athlete had ever even attempted. Ultimately, Hassan dropped out of the 1,500m, but she still claimed bronze in both the 5,000m and 10,000m. Then, she embarked on her first attempt at the Olympic marathon, moving into first place down the home stretch and winning gold. With the combined distances of her three events in Paris, Hassan covered 62km in the space of just eight days, winning a medal on every occasion.
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