New Sports Make Waves at the 2024 Olympics
While the 2024 Paris Games retained the core Olympic sports, new and unconventional additions, like breaking, skateboarding, sport climbing, and kayak cross, grabbed the attention of sports fans worldwide. Here's a look at some of the sports making waves at the Games.
Breaking
Breaking, commonly known as break dancing, made its Olympic debut at the 2024 Paris Games, bringing the street dance culture to a global stage.
Location: Held at the iconic Place de La Concorde, alongside skateboarding, cycling BMX freestyle, and 3x3 basketball.
Format: Breaking featured solo battles, judged based on five criteria: vocabulary (range of moves), technique (athleticism), execution (smoothness), originality, and musicality (ability to adapt to the beat).
Winners:Phil Wizard from Canada took gold for the men, and Ami Yuasa from Japan won gold for the women.
Skateboarding
After debuting at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, skateboarding returned in Paris with a more refined scoring system.
Location: Also hosted at Place de La Concorde.
Format: Skateboarding included two events: street and park. Competitors had 45-second runs and attempts at tricks, scored on speed, difficulty, and execution. Unlike Tokyo, the 2024 Games used a 0-300 scoring range, adding more complexity.
Winners: Keegan Palmer from Australia won gold for the men, while fellow Australian Arisa Trew secured gold for the women.
Sport Climbing
Sport climbing, which made its first appearance in Tokyo, evolved in Paris with the introduction of separate competitions for speed and a combined boulder-lead event.
Location: Held at the custom-built Le Bourget venue.
Format: Athletes competed in three categories—bouldering, speed, and lead—with the combined winner crowned based on performance in the boulder and lead events. Speed had its own set of medals.
Winners: Toby Roberts of Great Britain won the men's combined event, while Janja Garnbret from Slovenia claimed the women's combined gold. Indonesia's Veddriq Leonardo won men’s gold while Poland’s Aleksandra Miroslaw won women’s gold in the Olympics inaugural speed climbing event.
Surfing
After debuting at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, surfing returned to the Paris 2024 Olympics in Tahiti, French Polynesia.
Location: Teahupo'o known for its consistent 2-7 meter waves and is the center of many surfing competitions.
Format: Surfing included one event: shortboard. Competitors have 20-35 minutes depending on the conditions to catch waves, and there is no limit to the number of waves they can catch. They are scored on a 0.0-10.0 scale for each wave.Â
Winners: Kauli Vaast from French Polynesia, the hometown favorite won the men’s gold for mens, while Caroline Marks from the US won the women’s gold womens
Kayak Cross
Kayak cross made its Olympic debut in Paris, bringing a new edge to canoe slalom.
Format: Athletes race head-to-head across a course with six downstream gates and two upstream gates, adding a layer of strategy to the fast-paced race.
Favorites: Noémie Fox of Australia and Finn Butcher of New Zealand won women’s and men’s gold respectively
Other Sports and Changes
3x3 Basketball: After its successful introduction in Tokyo, 3x3 basketball returned with both men’s and women’s teams battling it out at La Concorde.
Artistic Swimming: For the first time, men were included in artistic swimming, adding a fresh dynamic to this event.
Track and Field: The marathon race walk mixed relay replaced the men’s 50km event, introducing a new format to the sport.
Sailing and Shooting: Additional events, such as mixed kite events in sailing and mixed skeet in shooting, brought diversity to their respective disciplines.
With these sports joining the lineup, the Paris 2024 Olympics reflected a broader appeal, blending traditional and modern athletic feats while capturing the imagination of younger and diverse audiences.