Hunting for Gold and Rings in Paris

The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part; the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well.

– Pierre de Coubertin, founding father of the Modern Olympics

Baron de Coubertin had a love of sport and a belief in its ability to lift and educate others, and when he took that great passion to the streets of Europe, America, and beyond, he originally found…

Well, apathy, honestly. For all the celebrated stories of Greece’s ancient Olympics, the late 1800’s of de Coubertin’s life were nearly 1500 years removed from the last recorded Olympic games. While athletes worldwide held themselves to “Olympic standards” or “as an Olympian”, those words held about as much depth and variety of meaning as today’s “media star”. And when Pierre went peddling his wares to the first groups of folks who would listen, he was greeted by an odd mix of pockets of enthusiasm and more often outright laissez faire. To get enough of them together to even consider the idea, half the participants of the first congress to discuss it were semi-duped into thinking the whole meeting was about upholding amateur athletic standards.

Even when the first modern games were held in Greece in 1896, a total of 200-250 (reports vary) male athletes competed in nine sports over the course of ten days. While the event was exceptionally well received and well attended, news of what had occurred took weeks to spread in the less media-saturated late 19th century. The 80,000+ attendees and attendant buzz from what had happened were enough to at least light the flame that has barely guttered since. In addition to the miniscule number of athletes and events they first mustered, there were a few other incredible stats that underpin just how fragile that first modern Olympiad was.

Nearly two-thirds of the athletes who competed in that first competition were doing some home cooking and light commuting, as they were Greek. Every other country that competed in those first games was European, save the United States. With only 14 nations participating, amazingly 10 still found their way to a medal, a great spread of the wealth in round one. Unsurprisingly, host nation Greece won the most medals overall, with 47, but the country with the most gold medals at the first Olympics? The United States, with 11. (USA! USA!)

We were probably even chanting it in 1896.

128 years later, there have been a multitude of amazing additions to the games. Happily, women were not excluded from the second Olympics, in Paris in 1900, with the games expanding wildly and on several fronts. Since then, so many sports and disciplines have been added, and in 1924, the Winter Games were added as well.

In two weeks, the Games return to Paris for the third time, but the first in 100 years. This time around, featuring 329 events in 32 sports. Approximately 10,500 athletes will descend on these games, with an estimated 11.3 million visitors attending after some fashion. Top that with worldwide coverage from hundreds of media participants racking up will become billions and billions of watches from viewers.

592 of those 10,000+ athletes will be traveling from the United States, who will be looking to pile on to the wildly intimidating 2,959 medals they have accrued since 1896. As the heavyweight of the games, especially the Summer Games, the US will be looking to be the first country to pass 3,000 overall medals, while no other country has passed 2,000 yet.

(USA! USA! :))

So whatever variety of sport best lights your fire, be it on the nose (Men’s Basketball), elegance (Women’s Gymnastics), sheer power and speed (Track and Field), or off the beaten path (Breaking. No, really.) there’s a something that the very best in the world at are about to compete at. For most, it’s their most meaningful moment in four years. The passion and drama attendant are as poignant as they come.

We’re two weeks away from Paris 2024. Which of those 329 events will you be making sure to catch?