By Kayleigh Murphy

The 2024 Summer Olympics took place this past July and August in Paris, France, for the 33rd time since their modern outset in the late 1800s. With over 200 countries competing in sports ranging from archery to water polo, thousands of athletes competed for a chance to win an Olympic medal, showcasing their passions on the world stage. 

The Olympics officially began on July 26th with the opening ceremony, which consisted of cultural performances and the parade of athletes. This opening parade featured all of the competitors, each representing their countries. Each nation had athlete flag bearers for both the opening ceremony and closing, chosen by fellow athletes and team captains. The United States chose LeBron James and Coco Gauff for the opening, plus Katie Ledecky and Nick Mead to close out the event. 

Olympic athletes have made their way to becoming household names and stars. 

Possibly the most exciting, four-time Olympic champion Simone Biles, returned for her third Olympics after withdrawing from the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 as a result of “the twisties.”This is a phenomenon where a gymnast’s mind and body disconnect while airborne, causing her to lose sense of where she was in the air. With her return to the games in 2024 came an anticipated comeback the world was waiting for. Simone exited this year's Olympics with three gold medals and one silver, including the golds for women’s artistic individual and team all-around.

Competing countries were ranked throughout the weeks based on the number of medals they receive, specifically gold. Over the course of the games, athletes like Katie Ledecky, Simone Biles, and many more contributed several gold medals individually for the United States. Ultimately, Torri Huske obtained the most medals for the US, and the second most overall, with three gold medals and two silver in swimming.

 As for team sports, both the womens and mens basketball teams, women's soccer, and several more all won gold while competing multiple times through bracket competitions.

Competing closely, China won the same amount of gold medals as the US. With one day left of the games, the US was sitting only one gold medal behind them, ranking second. It had all come down to the women’s basketball team playing in the final gold-medal game. The United States team barely beat France with a final score of 67-66; they won the final gold medal needed to place team USA in first place. In the final analysis, the United States placed first with 40 goal medals and 126 medals total.