The Paris Olympics: The Stars To Know

The Paris Olympics proved to be the perfect stage for athletes to announce themselves to the world as both rising and accomplished athletes became the sensations to anticipate in LA 2028. All around, the performances made history as the athletes lived up to (and broke) the standards of such an extraordinary environment, creating both new records and titles to defend.

Starting with men’s swimming, 23-year-old American Hunter Armstrong gained recognition for his outstanding performance in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay, being the sole swimmer of fellow Americans Jack Alexy, Chris Guiliano, and Caleb Dressel to break the 48-second barrier in his leg of the relay. After placing fourth earlier in the day, the relay team needed an outstanding performance. Rising to the occasion, Armstrong launched his team forward to win the first gold medal for Team USA in these games. Already a world record holder in the 50-meter backstroke, and a participant in the Tokyo Olympics, his split of 47.50 seconds managed to make Dressel, a three-time Olympian, seem unsensational.

Additionally, 22-year-old swimming champion Léon Marchand made his name more widely known as he championed four gold medals this Olympics, which is more than any other athlete. Although previously famous in the swimming world, having held the Olympic record in the 200-meter butterfly, 200-meter breaststroke, and 200-meter IM, as well as the world record in the 400 long course meter IM, Marchand became known as the sixth Olympic swimmer in history to bring home four gold medals in a single rendition of the games. Destroying the aforementioned events, Marchand became the first Olympian to win gold in both the 200-meter breaststroke and 200-meter butterfly in a single games. Thus, Marchand and Armstrong prove to be amazing case-studies of the way in which pressure experienced by world-record holders can be spectacularly channeled into creating new household names. 

The amazing athletic feats achieved during the Paris Olympics continue to be seen in both the men’s and women’s basketball teams. The 19-year-old WNBL Breakout Player of the Year Isobel Borlase helped lead Australia’s women’s basketball team to a victory with bronze. Borlase was aided, of course, by Jade Melbourne, who was named the Paris 2024 Rising Star by the International Basketball Federation. Melbourne started in all six of Australia’s matches in the Paris games, and also plays for the Washington Mystics in the WNBA. Scoring 18 points in the quarter-final match with Serbia, Melbourne’s reputation is on the rise, and hopefully audiences will further propel her career given the recent media craze around women’s basketball.

As for men’s basketball, the expectations for Team USA were high, and the whispers were full of excitement, as this year’s team consisted of 11 NBA All-Stars and four MVPs. Fulfilling the prophecies, Team USA took gold, despite it almost slipping through their fingers—a mishap that came as a shock to many. The iconic LeBron James returned this year as a three-time Olympic medalist, and upheld his household name as the first men’s basketball player to be a flag bearer for the U.S. Winning MVP of men’s basketball in these Paris games. In addition, LeBron had the second most assists of any player this year and also became the first person to achieve triple-doubles twice at the Olympics. While his skills were essential in the close games against Serbia and Germany, and the finals with France, Stephen Curry also made history with his abundant three-pointers. Against France, Curry scored 24 points, consisting solely of three-pointers, and became USA’s leading Olympic basketball scorer. Curry also scored the most points for a single game in Paris, with 36 points in his winning match against Serbia, which ended 94-91. These close games, however, proved that Team USA’s competition was unwavering, even causing spectators to withdraw earlier comparisons of this Olympic team to the heralded 1992 Olympic team. 

Additionally, 16-year-old Quincy Wilson also made his debut as the youngest male athlete to compete on the USA’s Track and Field Team at the Olympics. Wilson made a name for himself by running in the 4x400-meter preliminary relay, and while he did not run in the finals, the team gold made him the youngest Olympic gold medalist in athletics. This 16-year-old phenomenon is not the most astounding feat of the running sector of athletics events, however. Upon the beginning of the men’s 1500-meter race, it was predicted that it would be a showdown between Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen, the current Olympic champion, and Great Britain’s Josh Kerr, the world champion. Unexpectedly, however, USA’s 23-year-old Cole Hocker overtook both Ingebrigtsen and Kerr to win gold. Not only did Hocker set an Olympic record of 3:27.65 for this event, but the original favorite Ingebrigtsen actually failed to medal, taking fourth place.

Contributing to the wonders achieved in the track and field events, Sweden’s Armand Duplantis won gold in pole vaulting for breaking his own world record. The 24-year-old successfully launched himself over 6.25 meters on his third attempt to earn his ninth career world record. Throughout his career, Duplantis had been raising his record by a centimeter each time at various meets, but the dismantlement of his old record, 6.24 meters, on such a global stage elicited a well-earned spotlight. 

The Paris games also featured now-viral star Stephen Nedoroscik, better known as “pommel horse guy,” who became the second male on Team USA to medal in the pommel horse event at the Olympics. Earning bronze, Nedoroscik has become an internet icon with many memes and tweets admiring his cool, collected demeanor. Many compare the way in which he closed his eyes behind his glasses before his event, appearing to be napping, and then removed his spectacles before delivering a stunning performance, to the transformation of Clark Kent to Superman. Evidently, these games proved to be just the platform he needed in order to shine, as his success helped propel Team USA to a bronze medal—their first medal in men’s gymnastics in 16 years. Winning world champion for pommel horse in 2021, Nedoroscik was the first and only American to do so, and was presently able to defend his honor with his spectacular performance. 

Additionally, these Paris games became an opportunity for the Taiwanese to remind the world of their national identity, as they celebrated gold in men’s badminton doubles over China. People across Taiwan celebrated this win, whether viewers watched it individually or gathered at Taipei’s largest train station for a screening of the match. Like any gold medal, this was a huge victory for the Taiwanese, particularly after being forced to compete in the Olympics as the Chinese Taipei. Winners Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin refused to let this dampen their spirits, as they were able to win gold despite bearing a flag featuring the Olympic rings rather than the true Taiwanese flag. Lee and Chi-lin became the first pair in badminton history to win men’s doubles twice. Remembering this match as their toughest yet, the players celebrate their 21-17, 18-21, 21-19 victory, acknowledging that the biggest lead of the entire match was by just four points in the final set. Unsurprisingly, this victory has rekindled the issue of Taiwanese self-determination, sovereignty, and identity. Despite such controversy, no one should deprive Yang and Chi-lin of the deserved recognition for their milestone.  

Lastly, like women’s basketball, women’s rugby has had comparably low viewership to its counterpart male games. However, just as stars like Americans Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese helped create a growing fandom for women’s basketball, American star Ilona Maher managed to do the same for women’s rugby with her dedication and talent in the Paris games. While she previously debuted in 2018 for the U.S. national women’s rugby team against Japan and represented the U.S. in the women’s Olympic sevens team in Tokyo 2020, it was her astounding speed and strength in these games that scored her significant recognition. With much tenacity, Maher’s indomitable charge to the try line has been both noticed and commented on by American football stars, such as Derrick Henry. Maher’s talent, however, is not her only trait inducing such a spotlight. Her mindset is incredibly iconic as she wears red lipstick to her games and promotes body positivity to her 3.8 million followers on Instagram. Maher is truly the epitome of being both strong and beautiful as she refuses to let her strength be a diminishing marker of her femininity. Maher’s work has promoted women’s rugby and led her sevens team to medal for the first time in Olympic history, winning bronze. 

Together, the Paris games and these amazing athletes performed harmoniously as the world came together to celebrate every nation’s superstars, who in turn showcased spectacular performances we hope to see continued in 2028.