PREVIEW | 2024 PARIS OLYMPICS

For the first time in 100 years, the Summer Olympic Games return to Paris. After previously hosting the 1900 & 1924 Olympic Games, Paris will become the first city to host the Olympics for a third time in the modern era.

We are in for a huge two weeks of sport, headlined by our swimming team who look to be primed for a major campaign. We will also be sending over our largest ever Track & Field team with some realistic medal chances among them.

5 MUST WATCH EVENTS AT THE 2024 PARIS OLYMPIC GAMES

14 year old Australian street skateboarder qualifies for Paris Olympics

14 year old skateboard sensation Chloe Covell is aiming to become Australia’s youngest ever Olympic Gold Medalist. Covell established herself as a serious contender after becoming the youngest ever Street Skateboarding gold medalist at the 2023 X Games in Chiba, Japan, meaning she will be a very real chance in what will be the second staging of the event, following its debut in Tokyo three years ago.

Olympic Surfing at Teahupo’o

Teahupo’o has been chosen as the Venue for the Olympic surfing completion. Teahupo’o is a village on the south eastern coast of Tahiti in French Polynesia, France. It is a bold move as the Teahupo’o wave is widely regarded as one of the most dangerous and powerful in the world. The steep waves break over a shallow coral reef and usually reach 2-3m, but can grow to as high as 7m. The world surfing tour hosts an annual event at Teahupo’o, with the Olympic favourite Gabriel Medina winning the event twice, while the 2024 runner up, John John Florence is second favourite at $3.75. They clearly both know how to ride this wave!

Newest Olympic Sport

Break Dancing makes Olympic debut, featuring two Australian Athletes For the first time in Olympic history, break dancing will be one of the Events at Paris 2024. Both Solo b-boy and b-girl battles will take place among 16 male and female competitors from around the world. Australia will be represented by Rachael ‘Ray Gun’ Gunn & Jeff ‘J Attack’ Dunne, with ‘J Attack” likely being our better medal chance.

Jessica Hull - Women’s 1,500m Athletics

Since her first senior competition in 2019 at the World Athletics Championships in Doha, Jessica Hull has established herself as a serious athlete who has continued to improve season after season. In 2020 Hull broke her first Australian record over 5,000m, which she then bettered again in 2022 & 2023.

However, it has been in the final month leading into the Paris Olympics where Hull has made two major breakthroughs. In early July, competing in the Paris Diamond League, Hull ran 2nd to Kenyan athlete Faith Kipyegon who smashed the world record by nearly 2 seconds. Hull ran a personal best of nearly 5 seconds in that race, not only obliterating the Australian record, but running the 5th fastest time in the history of the event! Then, just several days later in the 2,000m race at the Monaco Diamond League, Hull led from the front and never looked back, breaking the world record by nearly 2 seconds.

In an Olympic event where no Australian woman has ever won a medal, Hull will toe the start line in the 1,500m at Paris as a genuine medal chance.

Jessica Fox - Canoe Slalom

 Australia's 30 year old golden girl will compete at her fourth Olympic Games in her country of berth next week. At 18 years of age, Fox won Silver in the K1 at the London Olympics, before going on to win Bronze in the same event at both Rio & Tokyo. However she broke through for her first Gold Olympic medal in the inaugural C1 event in Tokyo. Fox has her sights firmly set on becoming the first ever Olympic Champion in both the K1 & C1 canoeing events. Go Jess!!

TOP 5 CONTESTS OF THE 2024 PARIS OLYMPIC GAMES

Ariarne Titmus vs Katie Ledecky vs Summer McIntosh | Women’s 400m Freestyle

What a mouth watering event we are about to witness. We didn’t think it could get much better than what we saw in the very same event in Tokyo, but throw 17 year old prodigy Summer Macintosh into the mix, and we have what promises to be one of the greatest swimming events since the ‘Race of the Century’ (Athens 200m Freestyle - Thorpe vs van den Hoogenband vs Phelps). In Tokyo, Titmus took down defending Olympic champion Katie Ledecky the ‘First Lady of Freestyle’, and has gone onto break the world record since. Both Ledecky and Macintosh come into this with realistic Gold medal chances, and Macintosh in particular is a young athlete on the rise with the world at her feet.

Prediction: Titmus Gold Medal

Ariarne Titmus vs Mollie O’Callaghan | Women’s 200m Freestyle

The two Dean Boxall trained athletes both broke the world record in the 200m Freestyle final at the Aus Olympic trials recently, with Titmus narrowly edging out the 20 year old star on the rise. This shapes up as a fascinating contest. Mollie is the current world 100m champion with speed to burn, and is the second fastest woman in 200m Freestyle history. With every week of training, she will improve and there is a very real prospect of her turning the tables on Titmus.

On the other hand, Titmus has openly stated that this is her last Olympics, and she has all the motivation to do the double double (200m/400m Gold at consecutive Olympics) which would put her into rare air.

Prediction: O’Callaghan Gold Medal

Sha’Carri Richardson vs Shericka Jackson | Women’s 100m Athletics

Who will be crowned the world’s fastest woman? At last years World Championships, we saw Richardson narrowly take the win ahead of Jackson in an unexpected result. Since 2007, a Jamaican athlete had won all bar two World 100m Women’s titles. However, the Jamaican women have won every Olympic 100m title since 2008, and they are no doubt hoping Jackson can make it 5 in a row.

The big question mark is around her final run leading into these Olympics, which was a 200m race in early July where she pulled up when she was in the lead with 50m to go. The camp have stated that it was only a cramp and nothing more. She will need to be at her best to beat Richardson, as both athletes are getting closer to Flo-Jo’s 1988 world record time of of 10.49.

Prediction: Jackson Gold Medal

Karsten Warholm vs Rai Benjamin vs Alison Dos Santos | Men 400m Hurdles

Warholm produced one of the all time greatest Track & Field performances in history to win the Gold medal in Tokyo in world record time (45.94)! Benjamin has been the standout this season, running the fastest time in the world so far (46.46) to win the US Olympic trials in a scintillating performance. Dos Santos has run the second fastest time of the trio this season when he ran 46.63 winning in Oslo. Warholm’s season best is 46.70 when he ran 2nd to Dos Santos in that same race in Oslo. That places all three athletes within 0.24 of each other, which sets up for a tantalising contest in Paris! Watch Warholm attempt do what he did in Tokyo when his goal must have been to go flat out in the first 200m and then improve his speed from there!

Prediction: Warholm Gold Medal

Nina Kennedy vs Katie Moon | Women’s Pole Vault

 Nina Kennedy arrives in Paris as the only current Aussie Track & Field World Champion. After claiming Bronze at the 2021 World Championships, Kennedy went two better after she agreed to share the gold medal at the 2023 Budapest World Championships with reigning World & Olympic Champion Katie Moon. To share a Gold medal the athletes need to have not only cleared the same height in a particular competition, but must also be equal on count-back. If that occurs, the athletes can choose to share the medal, or keep jumping until a winner is found. Kennedy and Moon agreed to share the gold medal in emotional scenes on that occasion in 2023, however Kennedy has gone on record to say there will be no sharing in Paris 2024 if the same circumstances arise!

Kennedy is undefeated in the 2024 season so far and she looks to be in the shape of her life!

Prediction: Kennedy Gold Medal

Multi Bet Suggestion

Women’s 100m Freestyle - O’Callaghan Gold Medal $1.85

Women’s 400m Freestyle - Titmus Gold Medal $1.20

Women’s 100m Backstroke - McKeown Gold Medal $1.90

Women’s 200m Backstroke - McKeown Gold Medal $1.50

Women’s 1500m Freestyle - Ledecky Gold Medal $1.03

Women’s 400m IM - McIntosh Gold Medal $1.06

Women’s 4x100m Freestyle - Australia Gold Medal $1.10

Women’s 4 x 200m Freestyle - Australia Gold Medal $1.02

Men’s 400m IM - Marchand Gold Medal $1.15

Women’s Pole Vault - Kennedy Gold Medal $2.10

Women’s 400m Hurdles - McLaughlin-Levrone Gold Medal $1.15

Women’s 1500m - Kipyegon Gold Medal $1.20

Multi Bet Odds $25.83