During the spectacular closing ceremony of the Olympic games in Paris, Thomas Bach, the International Olympic Committee chairman in accordance with tradition, called upon the youth of the world to assemble 4 years from now in Los Angeles, the USA, to celebrate the 34th Olympiad. It drew the curtain over the 33rd Olympic games, Paris 2024. The Paris games was beautiful, great, delightful. The over 10000 athletes that competed in the games showed why the Olympics is such an exceptional event.
Which athletes stood out in the just concluded Olympiad? But then one may ask, how do you pick out a few out of the thousands, when just competing in the Olympic Games is an outstanding achievement on its own, requiring years of hard work, discipline, perseverance, dedication and oftentimes overcoming adversity.
Here are a few of our picks for outstanding performances, and embodying the Olympic Spirit.
In no particular order,
Sifan Hassan. Who does that? Who runs the 5000m heat, 5000m final, 10000m final and a 42.195km marathon just days apart? Who else but Sifan Hassan. The Dutch athlete who, as an asylum seeker, left her native Ethiopia at age 15 to escape the turmoil of conflict and arrived in the Netherlands. Her endurance is out of this world. She did not just compete; she took bronze in the 5000m and 10000m races and won the marathon in an Olympic record of 2hr. 22min 55ecs. Fending off long – distance powerhouses, Tigst Assefa of Ethiopia, the world record holder who took the silver and Helen Obiri of Kenya, who took bronze. Quite a remarkable feat. The sixth Olympic medal of her career and the first ever Olympic gold in the marathon for the Netherlands.
After winning gold in the 5000m, 10000m and bronze in 1500m races in Tokyo Olympics, the first person to win 3 medals in those races, she set herself a challenge, to compete in the marathon in the next Olympics. This she did, and in stunning fashion setting a new Olympics record.
Faith Kipyegon. The commentary said it all, “it’s official. Faith Kipyegon is the greatest 1500m athlete who has ever lived…’’ as she crossed the line to finish tops, breaking her Olympic record in the process thus, becoming the first person to win gold in the 1500m in 3 consecutive Olympic games and cementing her place in Olympics history. She also took the silver in the 5000m. The 30-year-old mum from Kenya, over the past decade has dominated women’s middle-distance running and is the 1500m world recorder holder.
Simone Biles. When she pulled out during Tokyo Olympics to prioritize her mental health, fans and the Olympic world waited and hoped to see her perform in Paris. She not just performed, she delivered. Unarguably the greatest gymnast ever, Biles won 3 gold and a silver in Paris to bring her haul of Olympic medals to 11 and 30 world championship medals.
4) Leon Marchand. The Frenchman’s Olympic debut was insane! In front of home crowds, he captivated the country, putting up spectacular performances in the four individual races he featured in. Leon Marchand won four gold medals. Each with an Olympic record! His performance has sparked comparisms between him and the most decorated Olympian of all time-Michel Phelps. Even the great man himself could not hold his admiration for the 22-year-old swimmer as he bounced up and down watching Marchand break his records.
5)Letslie Tebogo. The Botswanan made history by becoming the first athlete to win an Olympic medal in any sport for his country. He did so with an African record of 19.46 in the 200m, a time that puts him fifth on the world all- time list. The 21-year-old also becomes the first African to ever win an Olympic gold in the 200m. An emotional Tebogo dedicated his victory to his mother who passed away in May. “… She’s watching up there, and she’s really really happy…she believed in me, and I had so much doubt for myself”. Tebogo also powered the country’s 4x400m men’s relay team to the podium, coming a close second behind the USA by just a tenth of a second, the third fastest time in history, in an African record.
6) Gabby Thomas; this Harvard graduate took the Paris Olympics by storm, winning gold in the 200meters in blistering form, gold also in the women’s 4x100m and 4x4oom relay, up from the silver and gold she won in Tokyo. Her impressive performance made her the only woman to run both relays at the Olympic finals. Not only that, no athlete in Paris garnered 3 gold medals in the track and field as Gabby Thomas. Aside her first degree in neurobiology and global health from Harvard, she also has a master’s degree in epidemiology from the university of Texas health science centre at Houston.
Julien Alfred. On race day, the 23-year-old sprinter from the Caribbean Island of St. Lucia woke up early and put her thoughts in her diary “I wrote down, Julien Alfred; the Olympic champion”. From humble beginnings who started out running barefooted against boys, lost her father when she was 12 and gave up running for some time. Her coach convinced her to return to the sport. The rest, they say, is history. She ran the race of her life, brushing off favourite Sha’carri Richardson of the United States to win the coveted 100m Olympic title, making her the first Olympic medalist from her country.
Armand ‘mondo’ Duplantis. The 24-year-old Swedish pole vaulter did what he knows best, at Paris 2024, breaking his own records! The ninth time he has broken the world record at a height of 6.25m beating the mark of 6.24m m he set at the Xiamen diamond league in April this year. His victory at Paris 2024 is a successful defence of the title he won at the Tokyo Olympics.
Noah Lyles. The showman did put up a show by winning the blue riband event at the Olympics; the 100m final by just 5000th of a second! It was his first Olympic gold medal having won bronze in the previous games. He has said that coming third in Tokyo spurred him to work harder for gold in Paris. His quest for 3 gold medals did not materialize as he dropped out of the 4x100m race due to covid and coming 3rd in the 200m.
Mijian Lopez: After the final bout, against Yasmani Acosta of Chile which he won, the Cuban wrestler took off his shoes, left them on the mat and walked away. It was the end of an illustrious era. An era that saw him dominate men’s Greco roman wrestling. The 41-year-old became the first and only athlete to win five consecutive Olympic gold medals in the same individual event.
The above are just some of our top picks. You really can’t exhaust the outstanding athletes at the just concluded Paris 2024 Olympic games, can you? Special mention must be made of Nafissatou Thiam, the Belgian who took her 3rd successive gold medal in the heptathlon, Katie Ledecky the American swimmer who extended her run of medals to 14 medals in 4 Olympics. Sydney Mclaughlin-Levrone from the USA who won and set a new world record in the 400m women’s hurdles. Thomas Daley, the British diver with 5 medals in 3 Olympics, the 4×400 mixed American relay team that set a new world record in the heats, Femkal Bol, the phenomenal Dutch 400m hurdler who ran a blistering race, pushing the Dutch 4x400m mixed relay team to Olympic gold, and a silver n the 4x400m women. Yusuf Dikec the Turkish pistol shooter, who without any special equipment took the silver, Arshad Nadeem the Pakistani athlete who won the men’s javelin in an Olympic record. Harrie Lavreiysen of Netherlands with 3 gold in sprint and team sprints in cycling. Tamirat Tola the Ethiopian marathon winner. And of course the United States men and women’s basketball teams who established their dominance in the sport.
All Olympians of the 33rd Olympic games have indeed inspired humanity to be at our best.
