2024 Paralympics and Summer Olympics Paris France

This week will be the start of the Olympic Paralympic Games, which will be held 28 August to 8 September 2024. Also, this month the Olympic Games took place in Paris, France from 26 July to 11 August 2024.

It has been a busy sporting month, and I have enjoyed watching the competitors from traditional swimming, track and field, gymnastics, and rowing. But I also enjoyed a few new sports from speed climbing, those amazing people who can climb walls, plus the BMX competitions and skateboard with so many young competitors and Australian skateboarding Arisa Trew, aged 14 years, winning gold, the youngest every gold medal Olympic winner for Australia.

The medal table results:

Australia finished 4th on the medal table behind Japan and ahead of France.

New Zealand finished 11th behind Germany and ahead of Canada

Medal Count - Paris 2024 Olympic Medal Table (olympics.com)

https://olympics.com/en/paris-2024/medals

This was the summer edition of the Olympic Games which are normally held every four years. The inaugural Olympic Games started in Athens, Greece in 1896. The last Olympic Games were held in Tokyo, Japan 2020 and next games will be held in Los Angeles, USA in July 2028, followed by Brisbane, Australia, hosting the games in 2032.

The Olympic Games 2024 mascot is Olympic Phryge. The mascot is based on the traditional small Phrygian hats for which they are shaped after.

2024 Olympic Medal design:

Paris 2024 medals reveal: A look back at some of the most memorable medals in Olympic history (olympics.com)

Each medal is adorned with a hexagonal piece of iron from the most iconic symbol of France: the Eiffel Tower. And whether an athlete wins gold, silver or bronze in Paris, they will walk away with a bonafide piece of history.

The Paris 2024 medals are only the latest in a long line of groundbreaking designs that have made each Olympic Games unique.

This year in Paris there were about 10,500 athletes gather from 206 nations to compete in 45 sports at the games. The Olympic Channel will give access to the sports up close, with sports events and interviews and inside and outside the stadiums. I expect the Paralympics will also have sports broadcast cover.

To find out the broadcast schedule, please follow this link https://olympics.com/en/sport-events/

To watch the Original series, please follow this link https://olympics.com/en/original-series/

The Olympic Games Opening was on Friday 26 July 2024 and Closing 11 August 2024. I enjoyed watching both the opening and closing ceremonies. So many hours goes into the planning and Paris can be congratulated for some an amazing 2024 international sporting event.

I look forward to watching the Paralympic Games and enjoy the skills of the competitors and the many years of dedication to their sports to reach the Olympic Games.

I can only imagine what it must have felt like for Malcolm Champion, Norfolk Islander, when he won a Gold Medal was a member of the Australian and New Zealand swimming relay team in Stockholm in 1912.

Here are a few images of the Olympic Games logo mascot and medals from the Olympic Games online internet sites.

Betty Matthews

23 August 2024