PARIS, France: The 2024 Paris Olympics are upon us, set to officially begin on Friday with a groundbreaking opening ceremony that will traverse the heart of the French capital. Just six days later, the eyes of the world will focus on athletics, the premier Olympic sport.
This year, breaking from tradition, the opening ceremony will not be held in a stadium. Instead, over 10,000 athletes and performers will parade through the heart of the French capital on boats on the Seine along a 6-kilometre (3.7-mile) route in the opening ceremony at sunset, beginning at the Austerlitz Bridge near the Jardin des Plantes and concluding at the Trocadero.
Although the opening ceremony is the symbolic start of the Games, several sports began before the lighting of the Olympic cauldron. The men’s football competition kicked off on Wednesday with rugby, handball, archery, and shooting events also started ahead of the official opening.
Jamaican athletes have won 87 medals at the Summer Olympics, and that number is expected to increase in the coming days but first the nation’s standouts – 58 of them across four sports – will make their way along the 6-kilometre (3.7-mile) route on the Seine River, led by triple jumper Shanieka Ricketts and British-based swimmer Josh Kirlew as flag bearers.
Jamaica’s delegation includes 54 athletes in athletics, two swimmers (Sabrina Lyn and Josh Kirlew), diver Yona Knight-Wisdom (men’s 3m springboard), and former British judoka Ashley McKenzie (men’s extra-lightweight, 60 kg).
McKenzie will be the first Jamaican in action in Paris, facing Hesham Makabr of Yemen in the seventh match of the men’s judo competition on Saturday.
The judo competition, scheduled to run until August 3, will be held at the Champ de Mars Arena. This temporary facility has been set up opposite the Grand Palais, located in the heart of Paris.
Bringing a wealth of experience, McKenzie has competed in three Olympic Games under Team Great Britain and has won two Commonwealth Games gold medals. In February 2023, he obtained Jamaican nationality through his father, continuing his judo career under Team Jamaica.
Notably, McKenzie will be the first male Jamaican judoka to compete at the Olympics.
Paris 2024 marks Jamaica’s 16th appearance at the Summer Olympics as an independent nation, and it officially begins just 12 days before the country’s Independence Day on August 6.
Jamaica boasts a storied Olympic history, having won medals at every Games since its debut. Jamaica’s delegation to the London Olympics was its most successful performance at any Olympic Games. The country was represented by 50 athletes competing in four sports—athletics, equestrian, swimming, and taekwondo—the same team size as the previous Games. Although Jamaica did not achieve the same number of gold medals as in previous Games, the country set a record by winning 12 medals, surpassing its performance at the 2008 Beijing Olympics by one medal.
There will be more than 200 countries represented at the 2024 Paris Olympics in over 400 events, but two nations are expected to take center stage in the track and field competitions: Jamaica and the United States, who has won the most medals in athletics in Olympic history, amassing 827 in total (344 gold, 269 silver and 214 bronze).
Of Jamaica’s 87 Olympic medals—26 gold, 36 silver, and 25 bronze—86 medals were won by track and field athletes, led by their outstanding sprinters. The remaining medal, a bronze, was won by David Weller in the 1000 metres time trial at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.
Three of Jamaica’s six individual Olympic medalists from Tokyo 2020—sprint legends Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Shericka Jackson, and Hansle Parchment—headline Jamaica’s track and field team.
Fraser-Pryce and Jackson, who finished behind Elaine Thompson-Herah in the women’s 100m in Tokyo, repeating a clean sweep only the Caribbean Island nation has accomplished in Olympic history, will join 19-year-old Tia Clayton in the short sprint.
Jackson, a bronze medalist in the Tokyo 100m, aims for her first individual Olympic gold in both the 100m and 200m events.
Fraser-Pryce, who in Tokyo became the first 100m sprinter to win individual medals in four consecutive Olympic Games, will compete in her fifth and last Olympics. She looks to add to her impressive tally of eight Olympic medals, which span the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay events.
Fraser-Pryce and Jackson, the leading figures in the squad, will also compete in the 4x100m relay team alongside Tia Clayton and Shashalee Forbes, with Alana Reid as a reserve.
They will be joined by Kishane Thompson, the fastest man in the men’s 100m this year, who clocked a stunning 9.77 seconds at last month’s Jamaica Olympic trials, making him the fourth-fastest Jamaican of all time. Oblique Seville, who finished fourth in Tokyo’s 100m, and Ackeem Blake are also set to compete in Paris.
The 23-year-old Thompson followed his trials performance with a victory at the Istvan Gyulai Memorial meeting, clocking 9.91 seconds. He defeated two sprinters who will also figure large in Paris: Botswana’s 21-year-old world silver medallist Letside Tebogo, who clocked 9.99, and Akani Simbine of South Africa, who recorded 10.01.
The Jamaican trio aims to reclaim the Olympic title last won by Usain Bolt at the Rio 2016 Olympics.
The Jamaicans will face strong competition from Noah Lyles of the USA. Despite Thompson expressing confidence in surpassing his 9.77-second performance, Lyles remains unfazed by the challenge. When asked about Thompson’s pace, Lyles said last month, “I hope he stays healthy.” After his London Diamond League win on July 20, Lyles confidently stated his expectations for the Games, saying, “I’m going to win. It’s what I always do.”
Lyles, 27, who secured a third consecutive world 200m title last year as well as his first in the 100m has been talking about winning four golds in Paris. This would emulate the achievements of his illustrious United States predecessors Jesse Owens and Carl Lewis, who accomplished that feat at the 1936 and 1984 Games, respectively.
For Lyles, the 100m is the event he has worked to master. It offers him the chance to earn the first of his four potential gold medals in the French capital.
At last month’s US trials in Eugene, he won the 100m in 9.83 seconds, equalling his personal best. He then demonstrated his form by winning the 100m in front of a sell-out 60,000 crowd in London with a personal best of 9.81 seconds.
Despite Lyles’ boundless confidence, the 100m is far from a foregone conclusion with Thompson in the field.
In the women’s 100m, USA’s Sha’Carri Richardson, who won the world title in Budapest last year, appears poised to end Jamaica’s streak of four consecutive Olympic titles in this event.
Richardson claimed victory at the US trials with a time of 10.71 seconds, the fastest this season, setting herself up for her first Olympic appearance. After missing the Tokyo Olympics and the 2022 World Championships, she showcased her talent on the global stage in Hungary last year, winning the 100m title from lane nine and setting a championship record of 10.65 seconds.
Two-time double Olympic gold medallist Elaine Thompson-Herah, who became the first woman to win back-to-back sprint doubles at the Olympics when she defended her titles at Tokyo 2020, and world 400m champion Antonio Watson, have missed the Olympics due to injury.
