Having memories of avidly watching the Olympics since London 2012, I have now built up a repertoire of favourite sports and sportspeople to watch. However, having spent the majority of the 2024 Olympics in the host city, I have had a completely different experience. The media there (expectedly) focussed on an almost entirely different variety of sports, mostly those with French medal hopes, amongst the usual big events. I never thought I’d end up watching so many handball matches, let alone 3×3 basketball (the existence of which in the Olympics evaded me previously). In light of this exposure, here is a round-up, in no particular order, of special stories from these Olympics (perhaps still slightly skewed towards my favourite events).

Glorious golds in artistic gymnastics

Artistic gymnastics, specifically the men’s competition, is my all-time favourite. As a self-proclaimed superfan of the GB men’s team, I can tell you about the time that Joe Fraser became world champion in parallel bars in 2019 with fellow Birmingham compatriot Dominick Cunningham biting his leg in anticipation. Or Max Whitlock posting a high floor score in Rio 2016 and needing every competitor after him to make a mistake, and him eventually winning the gold. Or when I was in the stadium at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games as newcomer Jake Jarman, now one of our leading gymnasts, burst onto the scene to clinch four golds. Whilst the GB team didn’t quite have the gymnastics success I had hoped for them this Olympics, there were plenty of success stories for other nations and gymnasts I have been following for many years.

“Andrade has been within touching distance of that glittering gold… for so many years. Yet finally her time came this year in Paris”

Despite my momentary hatred for Carlos Yulo in defeating Team GB in both the vault and floor finals, his double golds for the Philippines were historic, with his country rewarding him with a three-bedroom apartment, 60 million pesos, and a lifetime supply of ramen. Another monumental gold medal went to Rebecca Andrade of Brazil in the women’s floor final. Coming close to Simone Biles in apparatus finals and the women’s all-around since Rio 2016 is no small feat, and Andrade has been within touching distance of that glittering gold against her long-standing rival for so many years. Yet finally her time came this year in Paris. The medal ceremony produced one of the most iconic moments of the games, with runners-up Biles and Jordan Chiles bowing to her in a beautiful show of sportsmanship. I attribute my final gymnastics mention to Kaylia Nemour of Algeria, winning the first ever gold medal for any African gymnast at the Olympics, with her mammoth score of 15.7 in the women’s uneven bars final.

Swimming for artistic success

My bias towards artistry within sports continues to the magnificently underrated artistic swimming. Usually dominated by Russia, their absence left the field slightly more open this year, and a door opened for British duet pair Kate Shortman and Izzy Thorpe. Their journey is truly inspirational: best friends since childhood whose mothers were an artistic swimming duet pair, they almost gave up after the Tokyo Olympics, feeling like they had hit a plateau. Yet an increase in funding combined with their dedication catapulted them onto the Olympic podium, winning a silver in the duet competition, and thus Great Britain’s first Olympic medal in the discipline.

“Almost every day in Paris I was seeing footage of the men’s table tennis matches on TV”

Lebrun: Lord of le ping pong

Table tennis is my sport. I train in it, compete in competitions, play for my college and uni. Hence understandably my interest in watching table tennis would be a lot higher than your average Joe. Yet almost every day in Paris I was seeing footage of the men’s table tennis matches on TV. Why? Because of the seventeen-year-old sensation Félix Lebrun. His speedy top-spin and confident blocks earnt him not only two bronze medals in the singles and team event for France, but he single-handedly augmented the nation’s interest in the sport.

The climb

Just when our gold medal flurry was drying up, and all hope seemed to be lost, nineteen-year-old Toby Roberts climbed to the top of the men’s boulder and lead table, securing a shocking (and final) gold medal for Great Britain. This event particularly stands out to me due to its relevance: almost everywhere you go now there are climbing gyms, for recreational fun or intense training alike. The inclusion of sport climbing in the Olympics importantly reflects the public enthusiasm for it, and speaks to young people who may be looking for a sport to undertake beyond the usual.

Yes, there were many more memorable moments from these Olympics, some perhaps even more monumental: Leon Marchand winning four swimming golds for France, the return of Simone Biles, Djokovic winning his first Olympics. However it is equally important to celebrate the nicher victories, the firsts for a country. My personal Olympic experience was made by these four stories, and it is up to each viewer to decide which aspects of the Olympics define their two weeks, which aspects make them want to exclaim: “quel jeux!”