Paris 2024 Olympics will begin on 26th July and end at 11th August. (AFP)
The upcoming sporting fest in Paris will see two new competitions make their debut including breaking or break dance, and kayak cross in canoeing.
The 2024 Paris Olympics is set to begin later this month on July 26. The previous edition of the Summer Olympics in Tokyo had witnessed the introduction of three new events including skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing.
The upcoming sporting fest in Paris will see two new competitions make their debut including breaking or break dance, and kayak cross in canoeing.
Breaking will be a part of four non-traditional sports that will be contested in France. With the introduction of these sports, the organisers will be aiming to appeal to younger fans.
Here’s everything you need to know about the new sports events.
Debuting Olympic Sports events
Breaking and Kayak Cross in Canoeing are two events that will debut in the 2024 Olympic Games.
Breaking
Breaking or break dance will be making its debut at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The girl’s competition will be held on August 9 whereas the boys will compete on the following day, August 10. The official venue for breaking will be La Concorde, a temporary transformation of the iconic Place de la Concorde. It will also host other events including skateboarding, cycling BMX freestyle and 3×3 basketball. Breaking will have two events for 16 B-Boys and 16 B-Girls. Both of these groups will face off in solo battles while being judged on their dance moves.
Kayak Cross in Canoeing
Canoeing at the Olympics has traditionally involved only two forms of competition including sprint and slalom. The summer Olympics 2024 will now introduce a new style of competition, kayak cross, in the slalom category. The event will see the participating athletes racing over water through obstacles while competing against time.
Returning Olympic Sports events
Skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing made their Olympic Games debut in Tokyo 2020 and are also set to feature in Paris.
Skateboarding
The skateboarding will see the participation of 88 male and female athletes across four events. The street prelims and finals will be hosted on July 27 and 28 whereas the park prelims will take place on August 6 and 7. All the said events will be held on a ‘street-like’ course which will include stairs, handrails and benches. The participating athletes will be judged based on speed, difficulty and range of moves.
Sport climbing
The men’s and women’s sport climbing events will begin on August 5 and last until August 10. The official venue for the sport climbing events will be Le Bourget, built specifically for the Paris Olympics. Sport climbing will be conducted across three main formats including bouldering, speed and lead. Athletes will have high walls without ropes in the bouldering event.
Surfing
The winners of the surfing events in the Olympic Games are determined in six rounds. They are judged on a scale of 0.1 to 10.00. Surfing events at the Olympics will not last more than four days.
