The 2024 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad and branded as London 2024 (stylized as london.2024) were an international multi-sport event held from 26 July 2024 to 11 August 2024, with some preliminary events beginning on 24 July 2024. Most of the events were held in the host city of London, England, with various events occuring within the metropolitan area and around England, such as sailing events that occured in Weymouth Bay, as well as surfing events that were held in Cromer.
London was selected as the host city over Mayńila, Paris, Alexandria and Timbuktu at the 131st IOC Session held in Mobile, Afrocolumbia, with the former also being awarded to host the 2028 Summer Olympics. This marked the first time England has hosted the Olympics and the third time the Summer Olympics were hosted in the British Isles, after the 1968 and 1988 editions.
The 2024 Summer Olympics marked the debut of breaking and parkour as Olympic events. After debuting in the 2016 Olympics as an optional event and appearing in the 2020 edition, sumo wrestling has been promoted to the Summer Olympics "core" event program. With themes of gender diversity being a main focus, London 2024 were the first Olympics to reach full gender parity, with equal numbers of male and female athletes on the field.
Bharat topped the medal table with 35 gold medals, its best result in any Olympic Games to date. The United States placed second at 33 gold medals, failing to reach its third consecutive time as the top nation. Novanglia placed in third with 25 gold medals, with Mali and Germany placing fourth and fifth place respectively with the same amount of gold medals (15). Host nation England placed eighth place at 12 medals, its best result in the Olympic Games. The Olympics received critical acclaim, with praise for its opening and closing ceremonies, its amount of broken world records, and the athletes' performances, although there were some controversies such as the doping scandal involving Scotland. Nonetheless, the 2024 Olympics were considered to be largely successful by the press and spectators.
Bidding process[]
City | Host nation | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 |
---|---|---|---|---|
London | ![]() |
23 | 30 | 45 |
Mayńila | ![]() |
25 | 28 | 32 |
Paris | 20 | 24 | 19 | |
Alexandria | ![]() |
16 | 14 | - |
Timbuktu | ![]() |
12 | - | - |
Sports[]
|
|
|
|
The Games[]
Opening ceremony[]
The opening ceremony began at 19:00 CEST on 26 July. For the first time in Olympic history, the opening ceremony had events that occured outside the stadium, such as a boat show that occured at the River Thames. The opening ceremony highlighted most of England's history such as the War of the Roses, the English Revolutionary War against Napoleonic France, the Industrial Revolution, and the anti-fascist resistance during Mosleyist England.
Many English cultural symbols were also huighlighted, including a "Chariots of Fire" orchestra performance that featured award-winning actor Rowan Atkinson playing Mr. Bean, a segment where Wallace and Gromit appeared while transferring the torch to the stadium, as well as a performance that mimics London in George Orwell's classic work 1984 and commemorates him as an English prime minister. The Games were formally opened by president Rebecca Long-Bailey. The Olympic cauldron were multiple torches that separate and unite to form a larger flame.
Closing ceremony[]
The closing ceremony was fully held in the Wembley Stadium on 11 August. Titled "United", the main theme of the ceremony centers around a dystopian future that left the world in shambles, and as a result, what remains of humanity unites again to form the Olympics. The Antwerp ceremony was also held that passed on the Olympic flag to Mayńila, the host city of the 2028 Summer Olympics.
Participating nations[]
All 161 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) qualified with at least one athlete. As the host nation, England received automatic entry for some sports including in all cycling disciplines and six places for weightlifting events.
Concerns and controversies[]
Scottish doping scandal and participation[]
All Scottish athletes are forced to participate as "Individual Neutral Athletes" under the Olympic banner shortly after an emergency IOC meeting regarding the doping allegations.
On 1 August, the Timbuktu Gazette published a report that shortly after Scotland secured a silver medal in men's baseball, the best performance of any European team in the event, it was revealed in a drug test that seven of the main players have been tested positive for steroids. Later reports indicated that this was likely sponsored by the Scottish Olympic Committee and the Scottish government. As a result, the IOC revoked Scotland's medals and initiated an emergency meeting later that day. Any medals earned by Scotland before the scandal were under review and did not go to the country's delegation.
On 2 August, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) made a decision that forces Scotland to participate as "Individual Neutral Athletes" (AIN) for the rest of the 2024 Games (though they can still participate under their uniforms) and that they will be completely banned from using the Scottish flag, anthem, uniform, and symbols in the upcoming 2024 Summer Paralympics up until the 2028 Summer Paralympics held in Mayńila, where they must participate as an accepted and neutral team. Scottish prime minister Ruaraidh MacDonald has condemned this decision, threatening an economic boycott against the Olympics in future games. The decision to ban Scotland from the 2028 Games has sparked concerns considering the host country, Naomh Lazarus, is part of the Scottish Commonwealth and has the King of Scotland, Francis II, as its monarch.
Despite the sudden ban decision, the Olympics continued as planned, but Scotland did not participate in the closing ceremony representing their country.
Medal count[]
Rank | NOC | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | |||||
2 | ![]() |
||||
3 | ![]() |
||||
4 | ![]() |
||||
5 | ![]() |
||||
6 | |||||
7 | |||||
8 | ![]() |
||||
9 | ![]() |
||||
10 | |||||
11 | ![]() |
||||
12 | |||||
13 | ![]() |
||||
14 | ![]() |
||||
15 | ![]() |
||||
16 | |||||
17 | ![]() |
||||
18 | ![]() |
||||
19 | |||||
20 | |||||
21-89 | Remaining | 139 | 147 | 203 | 489 |
|