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The Paris 2024 Olympics are here, and there are some new games entering the party.
Four new sports are going to be added this year, although three of the athletic competitions aren’t technically new. They were introduced in 2020 and are officially back this year, with “breaking” being the only new Olympic sport in 2024.
But with those additions come some beloved sports that have been dropped. Here’s a look at what is new for the Paris Olympics.
Hello Breaking!
To those of a certain age the idea of breakdancing being included in the Olympic Games is enough to send you into a spiral.
But competitive breakdancing is the new Olympic sport for 2024.
The competition will feature 16 men and 16 women squaring off in one-on-one duels where they will use traditional breakdancing moves and incorporate their own improvisations to impress judges and try and earn either a gold, silver or bronze medal.
The sport will be held at Place de la Concorde, a public square in Paris, and the entire competition will take place in five-hour, 23-minute shifts over the course of two days.
The women’s competition will open with a round robin before the quarterfinals, semis and gold medal matches will be battled for over an 83-minute period Aug. 9. The men’s competition will have the same schedule Aug. 10.
Breaking was added to the Buenos Aires Youth Olympics in 2018 and was added to the main Olympic roster for this summer due to its popularity.
The addition of breaking this year will certainly make the betting even more exciting. If you’re planning on placing a wager or two, we’ve reviewed the best Olympic betting sites to find the operators offering the best odds and bonuses for this year’s event.
What Else is New?
Though breaking is the only sport to debut in 2024, three other events, surfing, sport climbing and skateboarding, are back after making their debuts at the 2020 Tokyo Games.
Much has been made about the surfing competition due to the fact it will be held nearly 10,000 miles from Paris in Teahupo’o, Tahiti.
Surfing is slated to be competed over a four-day window, with the men’s and women’s gold medals scheduled to be earned July 31.
Aside from surfing’s triumphant return, sport climbing will also be back for 2024.
Sport climbing is like rock climbing, only competitors will race against each other and the clock to advance.
Competitors will battle in three different disciplines, and those with the highest scores will win gold medals.
Skateboarding will also be back for its second competition in the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Like breaking, skateboarding will be competed at Place de la Concorde, and judges will grade each participant in the difficulty of their tricks and how they executed each.
Skateboarding will be competed over four days, with men’s and women’s street prelims and finals taking place July 27-28 and men’s and women’s park prelims and finals going down Aug. 7-8.
Bye Bye Baseball (For Now)
To make room for the new Olympic sports in 2024, the IOC is dropping both baseball and softball for the Paris Olympics 2024.
Baseball and softball have had off-and-on status at the Olympics. Baseball started in 1992, and softball began in 1996, but each was dropped from the Olympic program after the 2008 Beijing Games.
Baseball and softball sat out the 2012 London Games and 2016 Rio Olympics before returning for the Tokyo Games in 2021.
Each sport was again removed from the Paris program, but they will return for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. In the meantime, you can still bet on baseball at the top online sportsbooks, even if you won’t see it at this year’s games.
Like skateboarding and surfing, Karate was added as an Olympic sport at the Tokyo Games in 2021.
But unlike the two that were added the program, karate was not renewed for the Paris Olympics 2024 and also will not be back for the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028 either.
What Remains
In all, 45 sports will be competed at the 2024 Paris Olympics, with many featuring both men’s and women’s divisions.
Popular sports like swimming, track and field, gymnastics, basketball, and soccer will headline the Paris Games program.
Also newsworthy among the Paris Olympics 2024 program is the fact the swimming portion of the triathlon is slated to be held in the Seine River, which Paris officials have had cleaned in order to remove the river’s toxicity.
The tennis portion will be held at iconic Roland Garros, which recently hosted the 2024 French Open. If you’re interested, bookmark our French Open betting guide for next year’s tournament.
Conclusion
If you’re a casual fan, or just looking at how to bet on the Olympics, these new Olympic sports for 2024 may not even register to you.
But for the hundreds of additional athletes who will be able to call themselves Olympians, the addition of breaking along with the renewal of surfing, skateboarding and sport climbing will create lifetime memories for the men and women who qualify.
