The Summer Olympics are a worldwide phenomenon that captures the hearts and attention of people all over the world every four years. The Summer Olympics takes years to curate, from deciding where it will be held, to picking which events qualify and even building new stadiums to hold these events. This year’s 2024 Summer Olympics was held in Paris, France, making Paris the second city to be a three-time host. The main work and heavy lifting of the games though, comes from the top athletes and their competitive nature that keeps the games going. Just to make the games, the athletes have to be the best of the best and go through multiple stages of qualifications before they can even compete.
From the final statistics and medal counts of this year’s Olympic games, it’s evident that the countries with the strongest athletes were the United States, China, and Great Britain. The medal count at the closing ceremony had the United States in the lead with 40 gold medals and 126 medals total, followed by China with 40 gold medals and 91 metals total, then in third place with 14 gold medals and 65 medals total was Great Britain.
Even among the outstanding athletes who competed in all the events, there were certain athletes whose accomplishments this year made them stand out from the rest. American swimmer Katie Ledecky dominated this year in the swimming events, earning herself two gold medals, one silver medal and one bronze. Ledecky also finished her races with impressive leads on the athletes in other lanes and led many of her relay teams to victory. Meanwhile, in Track and Field, the American sprinter Noah Lyles made headlines with his remarkable performance in the men’s 100m race. Lyles won an extremely tight race in the finals of the men’s 100m, winning gold with a time of 9.79 seconds. What really set Lyles apart from his fellow track athletes and got the media attention though, were his emotional comments after his race. After competing, Lyles shared that he was dedicating his work to his high school track coach who had recently passed away.
Moments like these and more are what make the Olympics unique year after year. The Olympics bring people together and stir up a sense of national pride that is often forgotten about. After the end of a successful Summer Olympics held in Paris, viewers and athletes alike are now looking optimistically forward to the 2028 LA Olympics.
