The 2024 Paris Olympics was a memorable one, with Team Canada’s Olympic medal count matching its all-time high. The two-week event, despite its numerous challenges, was a remarkable display of athleticism day in, day out. It must be acknowledged this year’s Games got off to a rocky start, with an arson attack on a major railway in France, a spectacular but controversial opening ceremony, boxers with XY chromosomes fighting against biological women, issues with food quality and availability in Olympic village — and Canada at the center of a spy scandal. On the upside, there were many “firsts” for Canada: first-ever gold medals in women’s judo and women’s canoe, first ever medalling in mixed doubles tennis, women’s taekwondo 57 kg category, men’s synchronized 10m diving and women’s fencing, best-ever Olympic result in women’s rugby sevens and, in men’s swimming, first double podium since 1976.. Featured in this article are my 10 memorable moments of the Paris Olympics — naturally the entirety of the Games and the vast amount of athletic greatness displayed can’t be encompassed in one short list, but here’s a look at some highlights: .10. TEAM CANADA WOMEN'S SOCCER QUARTERFINALSTeam Canada in the first days of the Olympics faced a major scandal in women’s soccer, with its coaches caught spying via drone on the New Zealand team’s practice ahead of their match. The team was dealt a six-point deduction in the preliminary round, but managed to hold on and advance to the elimination rounds. Canada lost to Germany in the quarterfinals after an intense game with no score that after 90 minutes plus two 15-minute overtime periods advanced to a penalty shootout, which went back-and-forth for several rounds until Germany ultimately scored. .9. ARTISTIC GYMNASTICSThe gymnastics are always stunning to watch, from the daring acrobatics on the uneven beams to the incredible height gymnasts achieve on the vault. .Team Canada excelled in both the men’s and women’s events, though no Canadian gymnasts placed. Ellie Black, Cassie Lee, Shallon Olsen, Ava Stewart and Aurelie Tran on the women’s team tied its all-time record of earning fifth place. . The men’s team, René Cournoyer, Félix Dolci, William Émard, Sam Zakutney, and Zachary Clay, though they finished eighth, consisted of the first men’s gymnastics team to ever qualify for the Olympics. .8. CANADA'S HAMMER SWEEP OF GOLDEthan Katzberg, 22, and Camryn Rogers, 25, both from British Columbia, each won the gold medal for Canada in their respective hammer throw competitions with epic displays of strength. .7. SURFING IN TAHITI — AND ON THE SEINEThe waves in Tahiti were radical. Sanoa Dempfle-Olin represented Canada as the country's first ever Olympic surfer. She made it to the second round. .France's Kauli Vaast won the gold medal in the men's competition, after barreling through a wave tunnel that completely encapsulated him for several metres. He came out the other side still on his board and flexing his muscles..And then back in France, Vaast showed off his surfing skills some more, as the gold medalist rode his board behind a speedboat along the Seine under the Eiffel Tower. .6. DE GRASSE'S BIG COMEBACKOlympic sprinter Andre De Grasse, who has been compared to 1996 Olympian Donovan Bailey, had a couple disappointing losses early on, having been eliminated from the 100-m and 200-m races in the semifinals. Then when the 4x100-m team relay final came around, De Grasse, with long-time teammates Aaron Brown, Brendon Rodney and Jerome Blake, were in it to win it and scooped up the gold medal for Canada. . After it was revealed boxers Algerian Imane Khelif and Taiwanese Lin Yu-ting, who both have XY (male) chromosomes were allowed to compete in the women's division, it became a trend for the female boxers, after being whooped by her biological male opponent, to make an 'X' with her fingers to indicate XX chromosomes mean 'woman.'The Canadian men's track team ahead of their race appeared stepped out in what appeared to be in solidarity with female boxers and made the 'X' sign with their arms before heading out to the pool. The symbol, some argue, could instead represent the movie Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. That gesture, however, requires the right arm to cross over the left, not the other way around. .5. TOM CRUISE'S ROOFTOP LEAPThough not an Olympic athlete, Hollywood actor Tom Cruise made a huge splash at the Olympics when he leapt from the rafters at Stade de France onto the athlete-laden crowd below during the closing ceremony. Cruise, who does his own movie stunts, then took possession of the Olympic flag and rode off on a motorcycle, to deliver it to LA, where the next Olympics will be held, by parachuting out of an airplane and landing on Hollywood Hill (in a pre-recorded video). .4. COMMUNITY SPIRIT Paris 2024 volunteer Matthieu Morel of France told the Western Standard he volunteered his time to the Olympics so he could not only “enjoy the games from the inside” but to “participate in this great worldwide event.”Morel, of Sian Ka'an Tours in Mexico, served “six to seven hours a day for 10 days” on the event service team at the Eiffel tower stadium for the beach volleyball, which he said was the “best site of the Olympic games.” .Morel said it was “great greeting all the spectators, welcoming them,” all while enjoying the view of the tower from the stadium.When asked what moments stood out to him the most, he said it was the feeling of the crown when Canada played Brazil in the women’s beach volleyball gold medal match. “I had the opportunity to watch some games inside the stadium including the final women's game Canada vs Brazil. These moments were definitely the best with an incredible atmosphere inside the stadium,” said Morel. .“The atmosphere in the crowd was incredible with a lot of people supporting its team with flags, costumes, make up... Inside the stadium, the atmosphere was crazy with people singing, dancing, applauding... There was a lot of music during the games so the atmosphere never went down and spectators were always at their maximum.”Morel said he “would definitely volunteer again for the Olympic games, it was an amazing experience. I met other volunteers from all over the world.".3. WOMEN'S BEACH VOLLEYBALL GOLD MEDAL FACE-OFFCanadians Brandie Wilkerson and Melissa Humana-Paredes played Brazilians Ana Patricia Ramos and Eduarda Santos Lisboa in the women’s gold medal round of beach volleyball. Canada dominated the first set, but Brazil quickly closed the gap until it was neck and neck, and even stretched into a third round, unprecedented in Olympic beach volleyball. Ultimately Brazil narrowly won the gold medal match, and Canada won its first ever silver medal in beach volleyball. .2. SUMMER MCINTOSH WINS STRING OF OLYMPIC MEDALSCanadian swimming champion Summer McIntosh won a whopping four medals at the 2024 Olympic Games — and she's only 17. McIntosh, of Toronto, ON, won the gold medal in the women's 200-m butterfly, 200-m individual medley and the 400-m individual medley, as well as a silver medal in the 400m freestyle event. .1. TENNIS GREAT NOVAK DJOKOVIC'S LONG-AWAITED GOLD MEDAL VICTORY Novak Djokovic of Serbia won the gold medal in men's tennis after five straight Olympic attempts. The 37-year-old defeated Carlos Alcaraz, who is 16 years his junior. Djokovic is a three-time French Open champion and has 24 Gran Slam titles, and he now has an Olympic gold medal to top it all off. The tennis star famously in 2022 refused the COVID-19 vaccine, despite it being mandatory to compete in competitions. He told the BBC at the time even if he had to miss that year's French Open because he was unvaxxed, that is "the price that I'm willing to pay.".Djokovic, a well-known Christian, after he won the Olympic gold fell to his knees and thanked God for his performance. He made a cross on his chest and bowed his head for several moments before responding to the uproarious applause from the crowd. .The moment was a stark juxtaposition to the 2024 Olympics opening ceremonies, and demonstrated how it is the heart of the athletes, not the committees or corporations, that make the Olympic Games so epic.
