Every edition of the Olympic Games offers athletes the opportunity to achieve sporting glory by breaking records. A place in the record books is every athlete’s dream… and with the Paris 2024 Olympics approaching, records are sure to be shattered, and new sporting champions are born.
The world is awaiting the start of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in a few days, which will be held from July 26 to August 11.
The Olympic Games, a global sporting event that captivates the world every four years, have a rich and fascinating character. The significance of the Olympic Games goes beyond mere sporting competition. It represents the coming together of nations and the promotion of peace, harmony and mutual understanding. The Olympic Games also serve as a platform for athletes from different cultures and backgrounds to showcase their skills and break down barriers.
Many Olympic Games throughout history have witnessed the emergence of bright stars in the world of sports, and many of them have achieved immortal glory in Olympic history. Usain Bolt, the Jamaican runner, is considered one of the fastest athletes in history. He was the first to collect the Olympic medal for the 100-meter race with a time of (9.63 seconds) and the Olympic medal for the 200-meter race with a time of (19.19 seconds).
Wayde van Niekerk is the undisputed Olympic champion in the 400m and world record holder. This South African champion has written his name in the record books and climbed the highest podiums in the world. He specializes in the 200m and 400m races. On August 14, 2016, this runner managed to pull off a major surprise in the 400m final at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro after breaking the world record for the 400m race with a time of 43.3 seconds, breaking the record of the legendary American runner Michael Johnson, who recorded 43.15 seconds. The Kenyan runner David Rudisha, who specializes in middle distances, holds the world record in the 800m race with a time of 1:40.91, and is the current Olympic and world champion in this discipline.
Records have been held for long periods of time and there are records that have not been broken yet. In the 1500m race, the Kenyan Noah Ngeni holds the record with 3:32.07, while his compatriot Kenenisa Bekele holds the record for the 5000m race (12:57.82). Bekele also holds the record for the 10,000m race (27:01.17). The record for the high jump for men is 2.39 metres, achieved by the American Charles Austin in 1996, which is (2.39) metres. In the long jump, it is (8.90) metres, held by the American Bob Beamon. In swimming, Michael Fred Phelps stands out. He is an American swimmer who holds the record for the number of Olympic gold medals he has won, having so far won 28 Olympic medals, including 23 gold medals, three silver medals, and two bronze medals. He is also the athlete who has won the most gold medals in a single Olympics, with 8 gold medals in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
There are also numbers achieved in the last edition in Tokyo 2020, most notably the Norwegian Karsten Warholm – 400m hurdles. Warholm, who participated in the men’s 400m hurdles as a favorite, completed the race in 45.94 seconds. In the process, he broke the world record for the 400m hurdles of 46.70 seconds, which he set two months ago. The Norwegian athlete had broken his own record by more than three-quarters of a second. He will look to defend his golden record in the 2024 edition in Paris.
The American also put on a record-breaking display in the women’s 400m hurdles final, finishing in a world record time of 51.46 seconds, nearly half a second faster than the previous world record of 51.90, which she also set at the US Olympic trials. She is in great form ahead of the Paris Games, having recently smashed her own 400m hurdles world record with a stunning 50.65 at the 2024 US Olympic trials in Oregon. Meanwhile, Yulimar Rojas, also known as the triple jump queen of Venezuela, set Tokyo 2020 on fire when she jumped 15.67m (51.41ft), breaking the world record of 15.50m (50.85ft) set by Ukrainian Inessa Kravets in 1995. Rojas became the first Venezuelan to win an Olympic gold medal.
South Africa’s Tatjana Schoenemaker also took gold in the women’s 200m breaststroke. In the process, she also broke the world record for the event, finishing in 2:18.95. She surpassed Denmark’s Rikke Moller Pedersen’s record of 2:19.11, set eight years ago at the 2013 World Swimming Championships.
At the 2020 Olympics, nine Japanese athletes won gold medals in judo, setting the world record for the most judo gold medals in a single edition. The previous record of eight gold medals was also set by Japan at the 2004 Athens Olympics.