Paris 2024 Olympic Games moments that stole the headlines

This week Showmax takes a look at 14 of the most talkable and memorable moments at the glitzy games.

1. Opening ceremony

Organisers for the Paris Olympics were forced to apologise for the performance against the backdrop of the River Seine that some saw as a spoof of Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” painting.

Comprised of drag queens, a transgender model and a singer made up as the Greek god of wine, it provoked outrage among Catholics, Christians and Muslims around the world.

2. Boxing gender row – Algeria’s Imane Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting

Boxing at Paris 2024 has been overshadowed by a row about the eligibility of two fighters in the women’s competition.

Algeria’s Imane Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting are guaranteed at least bronze medals. But last year they were disqualified from the World Championships.

The body that oversaw that 2023 event is the International Boxing Association (IBA) and it says both fighters failed gender eligibility tests. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has cast doubt on the reliability of the tests and suggested what is happening is a “sometimes politically motivated cultural war”.

In June 2023, the IOC stripped the IBA of its status as the sport’s world governing body over concerns over how it was run.

3. French swimmer Leon Marchand wins four gold medals

The Paris pool will long be remembered as the launch pad for Leon Marchand. The “French Michael Phelps” lived up to his nickname with four golds, going to places that not even the American great had.

No swimmer had ever won the 200m butterfly and breaststroke at a Games — or perhaps even contemplated it.

Yet 22-year-old Marchand won both within two heady hours to send French fans into delirium.

He also won the 200m and 400m medley golds in a France first.

Not even the great Ian Thorpe generated such a buzz at Sydney 2000.

4. USA’s Noah Lyles wins arguably the greatest race ever

As Noah Lyles celebrated wildly, his first Olympic triumph confirmed, others were left stunned after witnessing one of the most remarkable Olympic 100m showdowns of all time.

American Lyles had taken victory by five-thousands of a second from Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson in a dramatic photo finish, winning in 9.79 seconds.

All eight men finished within 0.12secs of the gold medal, with last-placed Jamaican Oblique Seville crossing the line in 9.91 – a time good enough for fourth at the Tokyo Games.

And it meant, for the first time, that eight men had run under 10 seconds in a wind-legal race – making it the fastest race of all time.

Four-time Olympic champion Michael Johnson said it was “absolutely” the best 100m final he has ever seen “bar none”.

5. Simone Biles shines

Biles, who won bronzes on beam in Rio and Tokyo, has already led the US to gold in the team final and won gold in the all-around and vault finals in Paris, bringing her gold medal count to seven and her overall total to 10.

However, she lost out on another medal in the balance beam final, falling off during her aerial series and finishing fifth.

Three years after she pulled out of most of her events at the Tokyo Olympics to address her mental health, Biles has bounced back to become only the third woman to become a two-time all-around champion.

She joined Larisa Latynina of the Soviet Union in 1956 and 1960 and Vera Caslavska of Czechoslovakia in 1964 and 1968.

6. The internet crowns South Korea’s Yeji Kim the coolest Olympian

While shooting may be one of the lesser-known Olympic sports, South Korea’s Yeji Kim has singlehandedly boosted the sport overnight after a video of her shooting on X has gone viral.

The markswoman exuded serious main character energy, fit for a Hollywood blockbuster. The Olympian won silver in the women’s 10m air pistol category and couldn’t have looked any cooler doing so. Just look at the hand in the pocket.

7. Nada Havez competes while seven months pregnant

If there’s one thing the Paris Summer Olympic Games has showcased so far, it’s that women are unstoppable. Nada Havez, a 26-year-old Egyptian fencer, competed in this year’s Games while seven months pregnant. The athlete won her first game but was eventually knocked out in the final 16 and announced her happy news on Instagram.

8. French pole vaulter Anthony Ammirati loses out on Olympic medal because of his penis

The Olympian from France was aiming to qualify for the final of the pole vault event. A gold medalist at the World Athletics U20 Championships in 2022, Ammirati had a chance to clinch a qualifying spot for the finals, but he was unable to successfully get over the bar on an attempt for 5.70 meters.

That’s not the story. There are plenty of Olympians who came up just short of advancing in the pole vault event. It’s the way in which Ammirati did not qualify that’s the takeaway. It’s something that you quite literally have to see in order to believe.

On Saturday, Ammirati was able to get over the bar in the 5.40-meter and 5.60-meter attempts. He needed to land the 5.70-meter attempt to keep the hopes of participating in the finals alive. While a majority of the Frenchman’s body got beyond the bar, there was one part of him that did not — his penis.

That’s right — Ammirati missed out on a medal chance because his penis struck the bar. No part of an athlete can strike the bar in order for it to be a successful attempt.

9. Yusuf Dikec – The John Wick of the Olympics

Yusuf Dikec has rocketed to global fame following his shooting performance at the Paris Olympics. Representing Turkey in the 10m air pistol mixed team, Dikec appeared without any specialist lenses or ear defenders. Dressed in “dad core” attire, he gave off the air of a man who had just popped out to pick out some milk.

He ended up winning a silver medal, albeit with one hand nonchalantly placed in his pocket throughout, leading some to jokingly question whether he was an actual assassin.

10. Clark Kent wins the nerd Olympics for America

US pommel horse specialist Stephen Nedoroscik helped his team clinch bronze in the men’s gymnastics – its first medal in 16 years. But what really got the 25-year-old noticed was his wait to perform. During nearly three hours on the sidelines, Nedoroscik often sat motionless, eyes closed behind his thick glasses (which he wears because he’s cross eyed), only to eventually spring into action, whipping off his glasses, and deliver a history-making performance.

11. After 24 Grand Slams, the Djoker wins his very first Olympic gold medal

A few short weeks after falling to Carlos Alcaraz in the men’s singles final at Wimbledon, Novak Djokovic thoroughly turned the tables, beating the 21-year-old Spaniard in straight sets (7-6, 7-6) at the Paris Olympics. In a match that came down to tiebreakers in both sets – and attracted an audience including Billie Jean King, Serena Williams and Sharon Stone – each player was competing at his highest level, with Djokovic falling to his hands and knees in tears after match point and winning gold.

12. Katie Ledecky ties the record for most wins by an American woman in Olympics history

With her jaw-dropping result in the women’s 1 500-metre freestyle – her 15:30.02 finish set a new Olympic record – Ledecky won her eighth career Olympic gold medal, tying a record set by fellow swimmer Jenny Thomson 20 years ago. No American woman has won more golds in any sport.

13. Canada’s women’s football team is accused of espionage

Days after the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) suspended Bev Priestman, head coach of Canada’s women’s football team, for the remainder of the Games, the team was penalised with a six-point deduction from its group stage total – all but assuring that Canada will not remain in contention for a medal.

Why? Because on 22 July, it was discovered that a Canadian man with ties to the team “had effectively filmed the closed-door training of the New Zealand women’s team, with the help of a drone”.

14. An Italian high jumper loses his wedding band in the Seine

Gianmarco Tamberi, a flag bearer for Team Italy, took to Instagram on 27 July with a confession – and an apology – to his wife: the night before, he had watched his wedding ring bounce into the Seine during the opening ceremony.

“I’m sorry, my love, I’m so sorry,” the high jumper wrote in a caption in Italian. “I felt it slip away, I saw it fly… I followed it with my gaze until I saw it bounce inside the boat. A tinkle of hope… But unfortunately, the bounce was in the wrong direction.”

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