The Paris Olympic Games concluded on Sunday, Aug. 11, after 16 days of fantastic competition. More than 10,000 athletes competed in 32 sports and 329 events.
Two hundred and six countries participated in the Games, along with the Refugee Olympic Team. The Paris Olympic Games brought the whole world together. Coming into it, pundits speculated whether the Olympic Games were still relevant or had become passe.
The resounding answer is that the Olympic Games are alive and well and moving on to Los Angeles for the 34th Summer Olympiad in 2028. There have been myriad summaries, recaps, and analyses of the games and all the sports competitions. My observations are limited to the game’s atmosphere and the track and field competition.
In the track and field, 48 events were contested, with running events from the 100m dash to the marathon and field events from the high jump to the javelin throw. American athletes won 34 medals in 25 events. The women won 14 medals, the men’s team 20, and the 400-meter mixed relay won the silver medal.
Across all Olympic sports, U.S. women won 67 medals to the men’s 59.
The biggest surprise of the track and field competition was the resurgence of the U.S. men in the middle distance and distance running events.
In the Tokyo 2021 Olympics, the men won one medal in the six middle and long-distance events. At Paris, the men would win five medals. On the first full day of track and field competition, Grant Fisher won a bronze medal in a scintillating .