These are sports that have been added (and dropped) for the Paris 2024 Olympics

With every new Olympics, we’re introduced to sports that will grace the roster, some more mainstream than others. At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, we saw the debut of sports like skateboarding that ended up being a crowd favourite. This year, the Paris 2024 Olympics Committee has been on a mission to appeal to younger fans. With that in mind, they’ve approved for one new sport to join the lineup alongside three recently introduced events that will make their second appearances. Read on to find out more about these newcomers, the events that are on their way out, and other changes for this year’s Games.

BREAKING 

Also known as breakdancing, this sport will make its debut at the Paris 2024 Olympics—a win for the urban dance community. This dance style started in New York during the 1970s by Black and Latinx youth. It previously made an appearance at the 2018 Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, Argentina, but its appearance and this year’s Summer Games will mark its first time on the main Olympics schedule. 

There will be an event for men and women respectively, with 16 B-Boys and 16 B-Girls competing in each. The competition will be carried out in a round robin of solo battles with the athletes improvising to a DJ’s set on the spot. Athletes will also be required to incorporate a number of mandatory moves—such as windmills and freezes—into their performance as a way to ensure a fair and just competition. Points will be awarded for performativity, creativity, personality, technique, variety, and musicality with 60 per cent of the score weighing on the first two criteria and 40 per cent on the remaining four. 

SURFING 

Making its second appearance at the Games after its debut during Tokyo 2020, surfing is back on the schedule. However, the events will not be taking place in Paris as we all know it isn’t exactly a surf-friendly city. Instead, the competitions will be happening in Teahupo’o, Tahiti—an iconic surf destination in the South Pacific—from 27 July to 5 August 2024. Waves there are known to be strong and heavy, making this venue the ultimate challenge for the Olympians to take on. 

In the Tokyo 2020 Games, Brazil’s Italo Ferreira took home gold in the men’s event, while American surfer Carissa Moore—who has already qualified for this year’s Olympics—won the women’s competition. This year, we will see 48 surfers compete for the gold, as they aim to impress the judges in speed, flow (how well a surfer connects their moves), variety, type, and difficulty. 

SPORT CLIMBING

Sport climbing is back on the schedule for the Paris 2024 Olympics having made its pioneer appearance at the Games in Tokyo. It was also included in the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympics, where it impressed spectators. This event is also confirmed for the 2028 Los Angeles Games, a testament to its success and popularity. 

There are three formats to the sport: bouldering, speed, and lead. While the Tokyo 2020 Games required athletes to compete in all three for a single medal, this year’s Olympics will see athletes split into two competitions. One will combine bouldering and lead events, whereas the other will be dedicated to speed. A total of 68 athletes are slated to compete in sport climbing. 

SKATEBOARDING

Another favourite to watch during Tokyo 2020 was skateboarding, which is back for its second appearance on the Olympics’ programme. This event is especially popular for putting the spotlight on young athletes, with some still in their teenage years. 

It will again include two events: park and street. In the park events, athletes compete in a curved arena that mimics a skate park. On the other hand, the street event sees skateboarders make their way around a course that includes obstacles like stairs and handrails. Those in the park event will have  three 45-second runs to impress judges with their tricks and skills. In contrast, athletes will only have two 45-second runs to perform five tricks with control and style. 

KAYAK CROSS

Kayak cross is set to make its debut as an event under the canoe slalom sport. The competition will see four kayakers race against each other as they navigate a course that features up to six downstream and two upstream gates. It is also the first time the slalom sport will require athletes to compete against fellow competitors instead of the clock.

DROPPED SPORTS

This year’s Games will go on without three sports—though two of them are slated to make a comeback in future events. Despite having just made its debut at Tokyo 2020, Karate has been left out of the programme for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, the International Olympic Committee has not provided a reason for its exclusion. 

Baseball and softball have also been dropped from the Paris 2024 programme, but will make a return in the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. The former is a men’s-only sport and has been featured six times since 1992, whereas the latter—a women’s-only sport—has only made five appearances at the Games since 1996. 

The inclusion of baseball in the Olympics has always been tricky, as the Summer Games’s schedule clashes with the Major League Baseball’s season. In the past, top players on the MLB rosters and Japan pro league players have been barred from participating. However, both baseball and softball fans can expect to welcome the sport back to the Games in 2028. Organisers believe its inclusion will help engage supporters in the United States with the country being home to many of the world’s top players. 

ADDITIONAL CHANGES

Aside from the new sports on the schedule, several minor changes have been made to the formats of gameplay during the Games. Artistic swimming now includes men in the competition, a first in Olympic history. The sport will now also feature a team acrobatic routine round for the first time. 

In boxing, a new weight class has been added to the women’s competition, bringing the new total to six, whereas the men’s events will see a cut to seven classes. Weightlifting has also seen a reduction in weight classes, coming down from 14 to 10. 

On the waters, sailing has welcomed two new kite events. As for volleyball, instead of the usual two pool format, the teams will be split into three pools of four. Shooting sees a mixed skeet team event replacing the mixed team trap event. 

Meanwhile in track and field, the marathon race walk mixed relay will replace the men’s 50km race walk. On top of that, athletes in races between 200m and 1500m—including hurdles—that do not qualify in the preliminary rounds will be able to get another chance at competing in the semifinals via a new repechange heats round. 

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