Taking place from July 26, 2024 to August 11, 2024, the Paris 2024 Olympics welcomes nearly 10,500 athletes competing in 329 events across 32 sports. This is the first Games held after the COVID-19 pandemic.
This year’s Olympics sees the addition of four sports. Sport climbing, skateboarding and surfing are making a return to the Games after being first introduced at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Breaking (also known as Breakdancing) is making its debut in this year’s Games.
During the Olympics, athletes will represent National Olympic Committees (NOCs) instead of their respective countries. Athletes from the regions of 206 NOCs, along with the Refugee Olympic Team, are competing in Paris 2024.
First introduced in the Rio 2016 Olympics, the Refugee Olympic Team is fielding its largest-ever team at Paris 2024, with 37 athletes hailing from countries such as Afghanistan, Iran, Sudan and Syria.
Due to their involvement in the war with Ukraine, Belarus and Russia have been banned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) from participating in Paris 2024. However, 32 Belarusian and Russian athletes will compete in the Games as Individual Neutral Athletes (AINs).
Despite growing calls to be banned over its war in Gaza, Israel continues to take part in Paris 2024.
Representing Malaysia are 26 athletes (13 men and 13 women) competing in 11 sporting events. There will be 15 athletes (57.7 percent) making their Olympic debut at Paris 2024.
Gen Z athletes (born between 1997 and 2012) make up a large portion of Malaysia's contingent in Paris. Out of the 26 athletes competing, 21 (80.8 percent) are Gen Z. The oldest of them is badminton men's doubles player Aaron Chia (27), while the youngest is swimmer Tan Ruoxin (18).
The rest of the non-Gen Z athletes (19.2 percent) are millennials (born between 1981 and 1996), with Datuk Mohd Azizulhasni Awang being the oldest at age 36.
According to a recent survey by market research company Ipsos, there is a very high interest in this year’s Olympics among Asian countries, especially in China and Southeast Asia.
In Malaysia, interest in the Paris 2024 Olympics (64 percent) is much higher than the average of the 33 countries surveyed (57 percent).
This contrasts with the surprisingly low level of interest shown by former host Japan and this year’s host, France. Japan, which previously hosted the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, recorded a level of interest of 40 percent. The host of this year’s Games, France, had a level of interest of 46 percent.
The survey also showed that a large number of Malaysians (88 percent) considered this year’s Games to be an inspiration for future generations to take up sports. Around eight out of 10 Malaysians also view the Games as having a positive and unifying effect on the country and the rest of the world.
When it came to the national team, 88 percent of Malaysians responded positively, saying that Team Malaysia made them proud of their country.
Football is the most anticipated sporting event at this year’s Olympics.
Global respondents to the same Olympic survey by Ipsos showed 28 percent of interest in the sport. This was followed by athletics (26 percent), gymnastics (20 percent), aquatics (19 percent), and volleyball (17 percent).
However, it is a different story in Malaysia.
Badminton is the sport most eagerly awaited by Malaysians, with 58 percent of respondents choosing it over football (35 percent), athletics (25 percent), aquatics (18 percent), and cycling (17 percent).
When ranked by country, Indonesia has the highest level of interest in badminton (68 percent). Malaysia comes in second (58 percent), and Singapore a distant third (29 percent).
It comes as no surprise that Malaysians have a deep love for badminton, given Malaysia’s history with the sport.
Malaysia’s badminton players have won countless badminton titles over the years, with strong showings in the Thomas & Uber Cup, Commonwealth Games and the All England Open.
It is also the birthplace of badminton heroes such as Datuk Lee Chong Wei, the Sidek brothers, and Datuk Punch Gunalan.
Badminton is also Malaysia’s best-performing sport at the Olympics.
Malaysia won its first Olympic medal at the 1992 Barcelona Games when brothers Datuk Razif and Datuk Seri Jalani Sidek won bronze in the men’s badminton doubles event.
As of now, badminton has contributed the most medals to Malaysia’s Olympic medal tally. Out of the 15 Olympic medals won by Malaysia, 11 are from badminton (six silver and five bronze medals).
At Paris 2024, 172 athletes will participate in the badminton tournament. Spanning 10 days, it will feature events in the men's and women's singles, men's and women's doubles, and mixed doubles, with five sets of gold, silver, and bronze medals to be awarded.
As of August 12, 2024, Southeast Asian (SEA) countries competing at Paris 2024 have won a total of 16 medals. The Philippines leads the final medal tally with two gold and two bronze, followed by two gold and one bronze from Indonesia, one gold, three silver and two bronze from Thailand, two bronze from Malaysia, and one bronze from Singapore.