The Paris Olympics technically begin July 24 for men’s Football (Soccer) and Rugby but won’t formally begin until the opening ceremonies on the 26th and they will end August 11. It’s a historic one as Paris is set to host the Olympics for the first time in 100 years. France as the host country are predicted by Gracenote to come 4th in the overall medal count but 3rd in the gold medal count only behind the US and China. The US came into the Olympics expected to dominate with them being projected to win the most medals overall at 123. If Team USA were to top the medal count in Paris it would be the eighth consecutive time they did so at the Summer Games. Team USA are especially expected to dominate in Basketball with a star-studded roster ready to redeem the US after not being able to win gold, silver, or bronze at the FIBA World Cup last summer.
Team USA head into the Olympics stacked specifically on the Basketball front. A roster that includes the likes of Lebron James, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, etc are expected to win the US a fifth consecutive Olympic gold medal. Grant Hill, former NBA player and the team’s managing director, was quoted as saying “It’s an honor to introduce the 2024 USA Basketball Men’s National Team, I’m grateful to these 12 men for their commitment to represent USA Basketball. The United States is home to some of the best basketball players in the world and I appreciate the vast interest in being part of this roster.” Big name players like Curry who has played on two World Cup teams and won gold twice, but has yet to play in the Olympics, and Kawhi Leonard as well as Joel Embiid have never played in an international competition. Lebron, Steph, and KD have long viewed their potential partnership on Team USA for the Paris Games as a “last dance” in their USA careers and especially as they only have at most a few years left in their NBA careers. Training Camp doesn’t start until July 5, in Las Vegas and their first game isn’t until July 28 but there will be 4 friendlies (exhibition games) in between that period.
Breaking, commonly known as breakdancing, is set to make its Olympic debut this summer. The Paris Games will include one men’s and women’s event “where 16 B-Boys and 16 B-Girls will go face to face in spectacular solo battles,” according to the official Olympics website. Kayak cross is also set to make its debut. Karate has been dropped after making an historic debut at the Tokyo Games. Baseball and Softball are also out but they’ll likely be back unlike Karate.
Athletes to Watch include American sprinters Christian Coleman and Noah Lyles who are expected to win the men’s 100 and 200 meter races respectively, according to Gracenote. Swimmer Katie Ledecky has been predicted to win gold in the 1,500 and 800 meter freestyle events. Simone Biles, who returned to Gymnastics last year after an extended break from the sport, is forecast to claim silvers in the beam, floor exercise and individual all-round events. Kylian Mbappe, French Superstar, who if he makes his expected move to Real Madrid in the summer will likely not be able to participate in the Paris Games due to Florentino Perez (Madrid President) and majority of La Liga’s presidents not intending to release any of their first-team players for the Olympics.
