The curtains fell on Paris Olympics with a dazzling closing ceremony and a thrilling women's basketball final before that. The gold medal match, in which the United States beat France by the skin of their teeth, was representative of a keenly contested 2024 Games with hitherto unseen achievements and surprises galore. (Medal Table | Full Coverage | More Sports News)
Let us take a look at the top five hits, and as many big misses from Paris 2024.
Hits
1. Arshad Nadeem Puts Pakistan On Olympic Athletics Map
It takes some doing to dethrone Neeraj Chopra on a day the Indian has come up with a season-best effort. Arshad Nadeem comfortably did that with an astonishing 92.97m throw that lit up the Parisian sky and shattered the Olympic javelin throw record. Nadeem's gold is Pakistan's first-ever athletics medal, and the nation's only first-place finish at the Summer Games apart from the ones in hockey.
2. South Korea's Clean Sweep Of Archery Gold Medals
South Korea's stranglehold in Olympic recurve archery is well established. The nation again asserted its supremacy at the biggest stage of them all, sweeping all five gold medals on offer in the sport. Kim Woo-jin's individual men's title added to the women's individual triumph and the three team golds in men's, women's and mixed events.
3. China's Utter Dominance In Diving And Table Tennis
Going one better than its feat in Tokyo (seven out of eight gold), China ran away with all eight diving gold medals in Paris 2024. The sweep was historic and unprecedented. As for table tennis, the Asian powerhouse merely underlined just how invincible it is at the global arena, winning all five gold on offer and marking the sixth time it has collected the full set.
4. Success Stories From Northern Ireland, Caribbean Nations
In addition to Pakistan, several other small sporting countries produced big returns at Paris 2024. Ireland tallied four gold and three bronze to cap off one of the greatest weeks in its sporting history. Then there were the track-and-field medals of non-Jamaican Caribbean athletes. The crowning glory was Julien Alfred of St. Lucia upsetting American favorite Sha’carri Richardson in the 100 metres final to earn St. Lucia’s first Olympic medal.
5. India's Charge In Hockey And Shooting
It did not end up with the gold medal it fought so hard for, but the Indian men's hockey team gave a sterling account of its rising prowess with a third-place finish. The semi-final loss to Germany was really narrow, and the team was left wondering what could have been. Elsewhere, the shooting contingent ended the two-edition medal drought and returned with three podium finishes, two of which involved the history-making Manu Bhaker.
Misses
1. Jamaican Men, Women Come Up Short In Sprint Events
The Paris Games were largely one to forget for most Jamaican sprint athletes. The men's 4x100m relay team failed to reach the final for the first time in two decades, while their women counterparts did not medal for the first time since 2008. The women had a torrid time in individual events too, as they did not claim a medal in the 200m for the first time since 1976, and in the 100 for the first time since 1998.
2. USA Men's Swimming Squad Underwhelms
For a team that always enters the Olympics as a powerhouse, winning just one gold medal in 14 men’s individual swimming races is something that will hurt them for at least the next four years. Had Bobby Finke not won in the 1,500m freestyle, it would have been the first nil-gold edition for the American men since 1900. Caeleb Dressel being unable to replicate the magic from Tokyo was a major disappointment too.
3. Indian Boxers, Archers Disappoint
The Indian archers and boxers flattered to deceive at the Paris Olympics, coming in with strong billings and credentials but returning with no medals to their name. The mixed archery team of Ankita Bhakat and Dhiraj Bommadevara was the only one that came close to medalling, while everyone else, including world champions Nikhat Zareen and Lovlina Borgohain, fell well short.
4. Canada Men's Basketball Team Flops Again
Despite the abundance of basketball talent at its disposal, Canada continues to draw a blank at the Olympics. The nation has nothing to show for in the medals column, ever since a silver medal in 1936. This time too, despite a squad teeming with NBA players, Canada surrendered meekly with an 82-73 quarter-final defeat to France.
5. USA Women's Water Polo Team Fails To Medal For First Time Ever
The American women's water polo team, which is arguably the most dominant team in the sport, left Paris without a medal. It was the first time that the team did not finish on the podium in Summer Games history. The semi-final loss to Australia, followed by defeat to Netherlands in the bronze medal match, also meant that USA's pursuit of a fourth consecutive gold medal failed miserably.
After a whirlwind 16 days in the French capital, the baton now passes on to Los Angeles, where the 2028 Games will be held. It remains to be seen how the aforementioned athletes and teams perform in four years' time.
