Africa has always played a big part in the Olympic Games and many Africans have excelled in the different sports. In Paris 2024 Olympiad, 54 African countries are represented, the largest number of countries from any continent.
The emphasis of the Olympic organisers has always been on participation by member countries and the goal of the Olympic Movement is to contribute to building a peaceful and better world by educating youth through sport that is practiced without discrimination of any kind. This means that the Olympic essence requires mutual understanding in a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play.
The Olympic spirit is best expressed in the Olympic Creed: “The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.”
Africa has not and will not be expected to be among the top medal-winning continents in Paris, but in terms of participation, Africans are there and taking part in many of the listed events. The continent’s top-achieving sportsmen and women will no doubt aim to do the continent proud. Their colourful attires were on display during the parade that marked the opening ceremony last Friday which showed that Africans were ready to do ‘battle’ in the friendly atmosphere expected to be generated during the games, in spite of the early morning arson and sabotage attempts by a group of unknown persons on the railway system in Paris. The disruption did nothing to ensure that the 33rd Olympic Games opened with a lot of fanfare and glitz to a worldwide TV and online audience that likely exceeded one billion. That opening was evidence that the 1.5 billion Euros budget for the ceremonywas worth it, although many observers still felt that the ceremony did not compare with previous events in terms of glitz, glamour and noise. Of course there have also been a couple of controversies from the opening, including the depiction of da Vinci’s Last Supper which has been condemned by several Christian groups.
The opening was a rainy yet momentous ceremony, held on the River Seine, with the Eifel Tower and other Paris monuments, including the Louvre, Place de la Concorde, and the Grand Palais showing some dominance in the landscape. A host of French and international musical performances made the night more memorable.
French President Emmanuel Macron declared the Games open before the waterborne ceremony reached its climax when Teddy Riner and Marie-Jose Perec lit the cauldron with the Olympic flame.
International Olympic Committee, IOC President, Thomas Bach told the people of France in his brief remarks:
“You are bringing our Olympic Agenda reforms to life by making these Games wide open. All of us will experience Olympic Games that are more inclusive, more urban, younger and more sustainable – the first Olympic Games with full gender parity on the field of play.”
For the first time, the opening ceremony took place outside the host city’s main Olympic stadium. From the Austerlitz Bridge to the Trocadero, around 6,800 athletes, assembled behind their flagbearers, sailed a 6km stretch of the River Seine on 85 boats.
In spite of the rains, the athletes representing their countries danced to the music as they processed in the boats, waving their flags and taking memorable videos and photographs.
This is the third time that Paris will be hosting the Summer Olympic Games. The first was in 1900, and the last was in 1924 – 100 years ago.
World acclaimed French Canadian pop singer Celine Dion made her shrugged off her Stiff Persons syndrome by returning to the world stage with powerful delivery of Edith Piaf’s “Hymne à l’amour” to signal the close of the opening ceremony at the iconic Eiffel Tower, but not before we had seen an array of top international stars featuring in the Olympic Torch relay, with French football legend Zinedine Zidane and track star Marie-Jose Perec, tennis heroes Rafael Nadal of Spain, Serena Williams of the United States and Amelie Mauresmo of France, among others.
Nigeria is one of the 206 Olympic national teams that are represented at the 2024 Summer Olympics with 53 others from Africa, 48 from Europe, 44 from Asia, 41 from the Americas, 17 from Oceania, the Individual Neutral Athletes and the Refugee Olympic Team.
A total of 82 athletes are representing Nigeria at the games scheduled to close on August 11 and the country will be participating in 11 events, including football for women, basketball, track and field, boxing and weightlifting. Egypt no doubt has the largest African delegation with 164 athletes, in 22 different sports, making it the largest in Egypt’s participation history. Egypt will participate in 22 different sports. South Africa has sent 149 in 21 sports and the two countries are expected to do well.
Africa has never won more than 50 medals in any Olympic Games and the question is will this be the year to break this jinx?
Tatjana Smith of South Africa, the swimming breaststroke champion has already won a gold medal yesterday. What do sprinter Marie-Josée Ta Lou-Smith and Judoka Cheick Cissé of Cote d’Ivoire, middle distance runners Eliud Kipchoge and Faith Kipyegon of Kenya, Triple jumper Hubert Fabrice Zango of Burkina Faso, hurdler Tobi Amusan and long jumper Ese Brume of Nigeria, sprinter Letsile Tebogo of Botswana, cyclist Biniam Girmay of Eritrea, and Blessing Oborududu of Nigeria in freestyle wrestling have for the teeming fans in Africa?
Can they do something special in the French capital which is hosting the games for the second time, after it first hosted in 1924. That year, Africa was represented by just South Africa and Egypt, and bagged three medals (1 Gold, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze).
Definitely at Paris 2024 edition, the continent will indeed be at the epicentre of the event, given that its National Olympic Committees will be participating this time, and the Olympic dream is to win more than the 37 medals won in Tokyo 2020 during the Games of the 32nd Olympiad.
About 10,500 athletes are expected to participate in 32 sports in 329 events at the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad.
As usual, the regular suspects will dominate in terms of number of athletes and winners, with the United States registering 653 participants to lead with the largest representation. As hosts, France has the opportunity to field a large team too, with 622 athletes while Japan comes third with 447, while traditional powerhouse, China has 405.
The Summer Olympic Games, will be followed by the Paralympic Games, as has been the tradition for several years now and Africa will also be participating, alongside other continents.
Africa has never hosted an Olympic Games, but it has participated in all, except in 1976, when, in protest against apartheid in South Africa, African nations demanded that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) exclude New Zealand from the 1976 Montreal Olympics. After the IOC’s refusal, 28 African boycotted those games in Canada.
The next summer games will be held in Los Angeles, USA in 2028 and then Brisbane, Australia in 2032.
