The Summer Olympics, the world’s largest sporting event, begins in Paris on July 26. It’s the 33rd Games since the modern Olympics started in Athens, Greece, in 1896. Over the years, the Olympic movement gained momentum and shed some of its amateur moorings.
The Paris 2024 Games is pledged to be the “greenest in history,” and the French have promised a “Games Wide Open”. Here’s a look at the Paris Games and the UAE challenge.
Why is Paris Olympics special?
By Shyam A. Krishna, Senior Associate Editor
The Olympic Games. It has an aura, a mystique. Something unique and enchanting. Not even the football World Cup, the most popular sporting extravaganza, comes close. The Summer Games is the greatest show on earth. For over 2,000 years, the Olympics has kept the tradition of connecting sport and culture alive.
Paris 2024 may bear little resemblance to the first Olympiad of the Greeks in 776 BC, but the Olympic ideals of excellence, respect and friendship remain alive. The French capital is intrinsically linked to the Olympic movement. It’s the home of Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the father of the modern Olympics, who drafted much of the Olympic charter.
The Olympics in Paris have always been special. In 1900, women competed in the Games for the first time, and 24 years later the French capital built the first Olympic Village. As the Games return to the city for the third time, 100 years after its last hosting, plans are underway to make it memorable with some firsts in history.
What's new in Paris?
The City of Light has already torn up the Olympic script with some revolutionary changes for the 33rd Olympiad, which opens on July 26. “We wanted a dash of revolution, something the French would look back at with pride,” Tony Estanguet, the head of the Paris Olympics committee, told the New York Times.
The most radical idea has been to move the opening ceremony out of the Stade de France, the main Olympic stadium — a first in the Summer Games history. Paris will welcome the world with a four-mile floating parade of 94 boats carrying thousands of athletes and performers along the Seine, the iconic river that runs through the heart of the French capital.
More heartening is the numerical gender parity on the field. For the first time, there will be an equal number of female and male athletes — 5,250 men and 5,250 women.
How green is the Olympics
Organisers claim this will be the greenest Games, with half the carbon footprint of the London Games. One of the major decisions has been to desist from building stadiums. So 95% of the venues are existing ones or temporary structures. France’s green grid will reduce the event’s emissions, with an energy mix of 74% nuclear, 16.3% hydroelectric, and 9.1% from fossil fuels, according to earth.org. Which means the Paris Games will be powered by near zero-emission energy.
Which means there won’t be air conditioning in the athletes’ rooms, which will be cooled by an eco-friendly system, although some reports say 2,500 temporary cooling units will be fitted if the heat is stifling. The Games, with a price tag of 9 billion euros, will be less wasteful and more eco-friendly than previous events. Recycled material will be used as much as possible amid efforts to minimise carbon emissions, organisers added.
Green moves aside, Paris aims to put on a show. That includes new transport infrastructures, buildings, places to eat, and hotels to ensure the event will reshape the city. After the Seine was cleaned, Mayor Anne Hidalgo took a dip to show that the river water was safe enough to hold triathlon and other events.
Olympics have always minted new heroes. If Astylos, Milos and Leonidas were the legends of ancient Olympiads, Jesse Owens, Jim Thorpe, Pavo Nurmi, Emil Zatopek, Mark Spitz, Nadia Comaneci, Carl Lewis, Michael Phelps and many others cemented their places in the pantheon of modern Olympic greats.
All eyes on Simone Biles
Paris too will have its share of heroes. US gymnastics superstar Simone Biles will be the cynosure of all eyes as the 27-year-old attempts to flip, turn and somersault into the Games folklore.
Biles is one of the 10,500 athletes from 206 countries gunning for glory in 329 medal events across 32 sports over 17 days. Citius, Altius, Fortius (Faster, Higher, Stronger), the Olympic motto since the beginning of the modern games in 1896, will be their guiding beacon in competitions that bring together the best of world athletes.
There will be a couple of new sports too. Breaking, commonly called break dancing, and kayak cross will make their Olympic debut as organisers aim to make the Games appealing to a younger generation. Other sports, including surfing, skateboarding and sport climbing, will make a comeback, but several others featured in past Games, including baseball, softball and karate, won’t feature in Paris.
Prize money at the Olympics!
Olympics have long ceased to be a preserve of amateurs. That didn’t detract from the quest for medals as professional sportspersons warmed up to the idea of Olympic glory and participation. That will change in Paris, where World Athletics will give away $2.4 in prize money, with gold medallists receiving $50,000.
It’s only a matter of time before other international federations follow suit. Prize money will raise the stakes as winning becomes all-important, undermining the Olympic Creed. “The important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part, just as in life, what counts is not the victory but the struggle,” De Coubertin said. That quote is in danger of becoming obsolete.
At a time when cash keeps the wheels of the world moving, prize money at the Olympics shouldn’t be a surprise. The Olympics is keeping up with the times. A greener Olympics with prize money — that’s the new reality.
UAE embark on Olympic medal hunt with renewed vigour
By A.K.S. Satish, Sports Editor
The UAE contingent arrive in Paris, hoping to build on their success in the last 10 Olympic Games. Since the debut in the 1984 Los Angeles Games, the UAE have progressed over the years.
In the 2004 Athens Games, Sheikh Ahmed Bin Hasher Al Maktoum won the gold in double trap shooting, while Sergio Toma claimed the bronze in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games. The current squad aims to improve upon their success.
The UAE boasts some of the best sports infrastructure in the world, and the several high-profile sporting events held in the country provide enough evidence. These have fuelled the growth of sports in the UAE, and the 14-member team aim to reflect that in Paris.
“I reiterate my confidence in the athletes, on whom we rely heavily and trust their abilities and form to repeat the Olympic achievements in 2004 and 2016 and move forward in solidifying the country’s position and presence in the Olympic forums,” said Faris Mohammed Al Mutawaa, Secretary General of the NOC.
Intensive training
The UAE athletes have been undergoing intensive training in Europe and the USA in preparation for the Olympics.
Cyclist Safia Al Sayegh, 22, encapsulated the mindset of UAE athletes when the UAE Road Race champion said, “The UAE is known as a country where nothing is impossible. It is important to have ambition, to be committed, and to consistently work hard.”
The first Emirati woman cyclist at the Olympics, she said: “There is a large movement in the UAE to empower women and encourage them to be seriously involved in sports, and our leadership is keen to support sporting talent. This support encourages us to develop, motivates us, and makes it easier for us to excel.”
Medal hopes in showjumping and judo
The UAE’s main medal hopes are in showjumping and judo after the impressive show in the recent Asian Games. The nation finished with a tally of 20 medals, including five gold, five silver, and 10 bronze medals. It was their best haul at the continental championships held in Hangzhou last year.
Omar Abdul Aziz Al Marzooqi, 21, leads UAE’s charge in showjumping. His silver and the team bronze in Hangzhou give the four-member team a boost ahead of the Paris showpiece.
“We are the only country to have three medals in the Asian Games. It gave us the opportunity to compete as a team in high-pressure situations, and now we are ready to give our best and make UAE proud again,” said Al Marzooqi, the UAE’s flagbearer in the opening ceremony. “My aim is to show the world UAE’s real potential in the sporting arena and the growth the country has made in recent times.”
The six-member judo team, led by Asian Games gold medallist Magomedomar Magomedomarov (over 100kg), enters with plenty of confidence and will be hoping to better Toma’s bronze in 2016. The other members are Narmandakh Bayanmunkh (under 66kg) and Nugzari Tatalashvili (under 81kg), both of whom won bronze in the Asian Games, along with Aram Grigorian (under 90kg), Dzhafar Kostoev (under 100kg), and Bishrelt Khorloodoi (under 52kg in women’s lightweight).
Swimmers and sprinters
Swimmers Yousef Rashid Al Matroushi, who will compete in the 100-metre freestyle, and Maha Abdullah Al Shehi (200-metre freestyle), and 100-metre sprinter Maryam Mohammed Al Farsi complete the UAE contingent in the quest for Olympic glory.
