Paris Olympics 2024: 329 Gold Medals at stake in 32 Sports, India in 16 Events – Meet the Top 10 Contenders| Everything You Need to Know

Paris Olympics 2024: The great sports event Olympic Games is going to start from today. This time the games, which are held once in 4 years, will be held in Paris, the capital of France. Where more than 3,800 hours of live sports are to be held. The opening ceremony will be held at 11 pm tonight, with this the official start of the Olympics will take place.

329 gold medals in 32 sports are at stake in the Paris Olympics. 10,500 athletes from 206 associations and countries will participate in them. India has fielded a team of 117 players in 16 sports.

The main games will start from tomorrow

The opening ceremony will start at 11 pm tonight from the Seine river in Paris. All countries and athletes will participate in it. Every country will participate in the Parade of Nations. The Olympics will officially begin with the opening ceremony, but the main round of the games will start from tomorrow. The closing ceremony is on August 11, with which the Olympics will officially end.

Qualification matches started from 24 July

The opening ceremony is today, but some of the Olympic games have already started two days ago on 24 July. Some games will take a very long time to finish, so they are started before the official date. This time these games include football, rugby, handball and archery. Although these are considered as qualification stage only, the main games will start from 27 July. This has been happening every time in the last few Olympics. The first event of the Paris Olympics took place on 24 July in the form of a football match between Argentina and Morocco.

When will the medal events start?

The opening ceremony is on July 26, so there will be no events on this day. Medal events will start from July 27. On this day medals will be decided for some events in cycling, diving, swimming, fencing, judo, rugby, shooting and skateboarding.

How many gold medals are at stake?

329 gold medals will be at stake in 32 sports. Out of which 39 gold will be decided on August 10, a day before the closing ceremony. The first medal event will be held on July 27 in the mixed air rifle team event of shooting. The gold medal match of the women’s basketball event will be held on August 11 at 7 pm. With this the Olympic Games will end. After this there will be a closing ceremony at 11:30 pm.
(Full List of Sports is at the bottom of this Article)

How many new sports were included this time?

The breakdance event will debut in the Paris Olympics, it is the only new sport included in this year’s games. However, it will not be included in the 2028 Olympics. This sport is a style of dance that started in New York during 1970. Which became a part of the competition after a few years. The women’s event will be held on August 9 and the men’s event on August 10. 16-16 participants will take part in both categories.

The format of sport climbing has been changed and the number of medals in it has been increased. Kayak cross event has been added in canoe slalom, which has been included in the Olympics for the first time. Two new events have also been added in sailing sport. Men’s event in artistic swimming has been included for the first time in Olympic history.

Which sports will not be there this time?

Baseball and karate are not included in the Paris Olympics. Both were included in the Tokyo Olympics.

What will be the timing of the events?

The events will start between 12 noon and 1 pm as per Indian time. Most of the events will end by 1 am, but some events may take till 4 am to finish.

Where can you watch?

In India, you can watch the Olympic matches live on TV Sports-18 and digital platform JioCinema. Apart from this, users can follow live medal tally and match results on Dainik Bhaskar app.

How many athletes from India will participate?

India has fielded a team of 117 athletes in the Paris Olympics, who will participate in 16 different sports. India won 7 medals including one gold in the Tokyo Olympics. According to experts, this time India can win more than 10 medals. Badminton star PV Sindhu and table tennis player Sharath Kamal will be India’s flag bearers in the opening ceremony. Both will lead the Indian team carrying the tricolor.

India has started its campaign from 25th July

Indian players have started their campaign with archery. On 25th July, Deepika Kumari, Ankita Bhakat and Bhajan Kaur from India participated in Women’s Individual Archery. On the 25th itself, Indian archers also participated in Men’s Individual Archery. From here, the rest of India’s events will be played directly from 27th July.

Who was made the mascot of the Olympics?

‘Friz’ is the official mascot of the Olympics. This name was taken from the historical ‘Phrygian hat’. In French history, it is associated with freedom fighters. The motto of the mascot is, ‘Alone we run fast, but together we go much further.’

Will all countries participate in the Olympics?

No, Russia and Belarus have not been given permission to participate in this Olympics. Because their country is involved in the war with Ukraine, the Olympic Committee banned them. However, athletes from both countries will play the Olympics as neutral athletes. They will be added to the Individual Neutral Athletes team.

Who will be the top 10 countries?

According to BBC data experts, America will once again top the medal tally by winning the most gold medals. China is likely to be second and France third. The Netherlands can be fourth by winning 18 gold medals. After them, Great Britain, Australia, Japan and Italy are expected to win 12 to 13 gold medals.

Germany and South Korea could be the other countries in the top-10. Experts’ predictions may prove to be wrong, but according to recent records, these will be the top-10 countries in the medal tally. If Russia had been there, then their claim would have definitely been in the top-10.

List of all Olympic sports in Paris 2024

1. Archery: A test of precision and concentration, archery has been a staple in the Olympics since 1900. Athletes compete individually and in teams, aiming for the target from a distance of 70 meters.
2. Aquatics (including swimming, diving, open-water, synchronized swimming, and water polo): Aquatics refers to a category of sports involving activities in or on water
3. Badminton: A fast-paced racket sport, badminton has singles and doubles events. Players use lightweight rackets to hit a shuttlecock over a net, aiming to out manoeuvre their opponents.
4. Basketball: A team sport where two teams of five players each aim to score points by shooting a ball through the opponent’s hoop. The Olympics also feature 3×3 basketball, a faster-paced variation played on a half-court with three players per team.
5. Boxing: Olympic boxing includes weight categories for men and women, where competitors aim to score points through punches while adhering to strict rules of conduct.
6. Breaking: Making its Olympic debut in 2024, breaking, also known as breakdancing, is a style of street dance that incorporates athleticism, creativity, and dance moves.
7. Canoe Slalom and Sprint: In slalom, athletes navigate a white water course, while in sprint, they race over calm water distances of 200m, 500m, or 1000m.
8. Cycling: The Olympics feature several cycling disciplines including BMX freestyle and racing, mountain biking, road cycling, and track cycling, each testing different skills and endurance..
9. Equestrian: This sport includes dressage, eventing, and jumping. It’s unique as it involves a human-animal partnership, requiring harmony between horse and rider.
10. Fencing: A sport of combat with three disciplines—foil, épée, and sabre—each with its own rules and target areas.
11. Football: Football is is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players where the objective is to score goals by getting the ball into the opposing team’s net . It is also one of the few sports at the Games where the tournament starts before the opening ceremony due to the number of matches;
12. Golf: Returning to the Olympics in 2016 after a long hiatus, golf involves players competing over 72 holes in a stroke play format.
13. Gymnastics (Artistic, Rhythmic and Trampolining) : Gymnastics is a sport that involves performing exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, balance, and grace.
14. Handball: A team sport where players aim to throw a ball into the opponent’s goal, combining elements of soccer and basketball.
15. Hockey: Field hockey features teams of eleven players each, aiming to score by hitting a ball into the opposing team’s goal with curved sticks.
16. Judo: A martial art focused on throws and grappling, judo emphasizes technique and leverage.
17. Modern Pentathlon: A multi-discipline event that includes fencing, swimming, equestrian show jumping, pistol shooting, and cross-country running.
18. Rowing: Athletes race boats on water, using oars to propel themselves over various distances, in singles, doubles, and team events.
19. Rugby Sevens: A faster-paced variant of rugby union with seven players per team, known for its speed and high scoring.
20. Sailing: This sport tests sailors’ skills in manoeuvring boats using wind power across various classes and formats.
21. Shooting: Competitors use rifles and pistols to hit targets at set distances, testing precision and control.
22. Skateboarding: A street sport that involves tricks and jumps, judged on difficulty and execution.
23. Sport Climbing: This new addition involves climbing a fixed route on a vertical wall, testing speed, strength, and strategy.
24. Surfing: Athletes ride waves on surfboards, judged on their skill, style, and manoeuvre execution.
25. Table Tennis: A fast-paced sport where players use paddles to hit a lightweight ball across a table divided by a net.
26. Taekwondo: A Korean martial art focusing on head-height kicks, jumping and spinning kicks, and fast kicking techniques.
27. Tennis: A racket sport with singles and doubles events, played on different surfaces like clay, grass, and hard courts.
28. Track & Field: Also known as athletics, encompasses a variety of sports events involving running, jumping, throwing, and walking
29. Triathlon: A multi-discipline event that includes swimming, cycling, and running, testing endurance and versatility.
30. Volleyball: A team sport where players aim to ground the ball on the opponent’s court, played both indoors and on the beach.
31. Weightlifting: Athletes compete in lifting the heaviest weights in two styles: snatch, and clean and jerk.
32. Wrestling: A combat sport with two disciplines—freestyle and Greco-Roman—where athletes aim to pin their opponents or score points through holds and maneuvers.