From July 26 to August 11, athletes gathered in Paris for the 2024 Olympics. This year was the 33rd edition of the Summer Olympic games.

The games began with the Opening Ceremony. This was historic because it was the first ceremony in history held outside of the stadium. Even though it was pouring rain, thousands of spectators gathered to attend. This included around 10,500 athletes, and the parade traveled around four miles.

Junior Julia Dominick said, “The [Opening] Ceremony was very irrelevant and long. It felt like it went on forever and had nothing to do with the actual Olympics.”

College Counselor Darrion Siler said, “I felt it was a really wonderfully done production.”

With 32 overall sports and a total of 329 events, there was something for everyone. A few examples of the sports included water polo, wrestling, sailing, diving, and archery.

With so many sports, viewers often find a favorite when watching the games.

Sophomore Sydney Heister said her favorite sport to watch was gymnastics because it was “really interesting.”

Junior Kieran Hensley said his favorite sports to watch were biking and sprints. “I like watching these sports because of the suspense of the close races.”

“Breaking,” also known as breakdancing, made its debut in this year’s Olympics. Like other competitions, there were group, quarterfinal, semifinal, and final stages. In each group stage, there were two rounds, and a breaker would perform for 45 seconds before the other breaker responded.

This year 592 athletes from America competed in Paris. With 40 gold, 44 silver, and 42 bronze, America won 126 medals. The USA won gold in gymnastics, women’s and men’s athletics, soccer, both women’s and men’s basketball, and cycling among other sports.

Olympic athletes are idols for many young athletes. Julia Dominick swims for JC, making her favorite athlete Katie Ledecky. “I find her very inspirational. Not just as a swimmer, but I also find her to be a very inspirational figure for young women as well.”

Mr. Siler has a deep connection to one of the athletes. Mr. Siler’s wife is Brazilian, so Brazilian gymnast Rebecca Andrade caught his and his wife’s attention. “She was extremely talented and interesting to watch.”

Overall, the games appealed to all audiences. In the upcoming years, though, some want even more games added to spice up the competition. Kieran Hensley would like to see bowling, Sydney Heister would like to watch cheerleading, Julia Dominick would like to observe competitive eating, and Mr. Siler would like to see baseball.