Every four years, the world pauses to witness the glory of the Olympic Games. From inspiring stories, record-breaking performances, and national pride, the Olympics brings people together to celebrate one thing; sport.
For over 2,000 years, nations across the globe have participated in the largest sporting celebration in the world. The origins of the Games date back to ancient Greece where they were first held in Olympia, in honor of the god Zeus.
The modern-day Games were revived in Athens, Greece in 1896. Since then, the Olympics have grown to become the world’s leading sports competition, featuring both summer and winter sports. Every two years, athletes from around the globe compete in a wide range of competitions in hopes of returning home with a medal around their neck.
This year’s summer Olympic Games took place in Paris, France, for the first time since 1924 and hosted over 10,000 athletes from 200 countries. The Games this year started on July 26, and ended on August 11, resulting in a total of 19 days of competition.
The Olympics featured iconic French locations like the Eiffel Tower Stadium, the Palace of Versailles, the Seine River, and the Stade de France.
Paris also had the chance to debut new sports such as kayak cross and breaking, which took the internet by storm as viewers were amused by Australian breaker Raygun who broke on the floors of Paris.
Freshman Lexi Wainman says, “I thought the breakdancing was pretty interesting because I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
The internet had many other viral moments that engaged the world including sightings of Snoop Dogg at nearly every single event, Turkish shooter Yusel Dikec’s shooting stance with his hand tucked into his pocket, “The Muffin Man”, Henrik Christiansen’s Olympic village muffin reviews, and Team USA’s Men’s gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik’s pommel horse routine which earned a medal for the team for the first time in 16 years.
Like every summer Olympic Games, some of the most watched sports are gymnastics, swimming, and the track and field events.
Freshman Anna Piskura says, “I like watching the amazing talent and all of the hard work the athletes put into their sports. I especially liked to watch the swimming and my favorites to watch were Katie Ledecky, Gretchen Walsh, and Summer McIntosh.”
Following the Olympics, the Paralympics opened on August 28 and closed out on September 8, totaling in 11 days of competition.
Piskura says, “I liked sitting volleyball because you had less time to react so it was very impressive to see how people learn how to adapt and still be really good at their sport.”
Located in the French Department of the Seine-Saint-Denis, in the three municipalities of Saint-Denis, Saint-Ouen and L’Ile-Saint-Denis, was the Olympic Village. The Olympic Village houses all of the athletes, coaches and teams. In addition, the village has around 2,800 apartments, all equipped with bedrooms and communal bathrooms and living areas.
Junior Shea Pangu who visited Paris during the closing of the Olympics, says, “Seeing the Olympic Village was surreal, it was crazy to walk the same path many gold medalists from all over the world walked.”
With the Olympics and Paralympics being over, Los Angeles is looking forward to 2028, where they will be hosting the world for the next summer games.
