Coming off the 2020 Tokyo Olympics—the least-watched on record—the International Olympic Committee saw the need to attract a younger audience. So it launched a new brand platform this month, “Sport. And More than Sport,” leaning into the stories beyond the games. Throw in Team USA and NBC’s Roblox collab and social media brand activations that have some already calling this “the first TikTok Olympics,” and the Olympics are officially in full youth-engagement mode.
That extends to the events themselves. Out of the 329 events across 32 sports featured in this year’s games, a handful will either debut or return after debuting in 2020, most geared toward younger audiences.
While the 2024 Olympics official kickoff begins with the opening ceremony in Paris on Friday, July 26, competition in rugby and soccer began on July 24. Here’s a quick guide to the new events featured in these Games.
New Olympics Event: Breaking
Paris organizers recognized the IOC’s goal of setting a new standard for inclusive, gender-balanced, and youth-centered games by submitting a proposal that included events that are “closely associated with young people and reward creativity and athletic performance.”
Perhaps the most controversial among them is the sport of breaking—aka breakdancing.
Is it a sport, a performance art, or both? Some argue the former, citing the precedents of synchronized swimming and rhythmic gymnastics, while others lean toward the latter, noting the lack of measurable criteria. Regardless, after debuting at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires in 2018, breaking will make its official Olympic debut in Paris.
Judges will score athletes as they improvise dance moves to the beat of a DJ’s tracks. Judges evaluate contestants on vocabulary (move selection), technique, execution, originality, and musicality (rhythm interpretation). Points reflect diverse moves, body control, smooth performance, unique style, and adapting to the music. Judges will deduct points for errors and falls.
Breaking battles feature one-on-one competitions where breakers perform alternating 60-second routines called “throw-downs.” These showcase three main elements: Rock moves are performed standing up, most reminiscent of hip-hop dancing, while Down Rock moves are performed on the floor, and Freeze moves are stylized poses that lean most into musicality and rhythm.
When: August 9-10
Team USA Athlete to Watch: Victor Montalvo (B-Boy Victor) is the top-ranked breaker in the U.S. and was the first breaker in history to qualify for the Olympics with his win at the 2023 World DanceSport Federation World Championships. The reigning world champion is among the favorites to win gold in Paris.
New Olympics Event: Kayak Cross
Another event added to modernize the Olympics is kayak cross.
Olympic canoeing has two main types: sprint races on calm water and slalom events on artificial white-water courses with obstacles. Sprint involves paddling for the fastest time, while slalom requires navigating through gates.
Kayak cross falls under the slalom umbrella, yet it deviates from the traditional slalom, as it combines white-water racing and obstacles with direct competition rather than racing against the clock. Competitors start on a ramp above water, like motocross riders. After simultaneous release, they must navigate through six downstream gates and two upstream gates. Missed gates result in disqualification, and the race requires a mandatory Eskimo Roll—a full, lateral, 360-degree flip that requires capsizing the kayak and returning fully upright.
Kayakers can also use their paddles to thwart their competition, as long as they contact opponents’ kayaks and not their bodies. This adds a full-contact element to a traditionally solo event, while the event’s head-to-head nature and brevity (races last roughly 45 seconds) add the pace and excitement required to lure younger audiences.
When: August 3-5
Team USA Athlete to Watch: Evy Leibfarth is the first American woman to qualify for three whitewater events at the Olympics, including kayak cross, in which she won bronze at the 2021 World Championships. The 20-year-old is the top-ranked paddler in the U.S.
New Olympics Event: Kiteboarding
While sailing has been an Olympic sport for more than 100 years, kiteboarding—or kitesurfing—will make its Olympic debut as one of 10 sailing events in Paris.
Kitesurfing combines elements of surfing, windsurfing, and paragliding. Riders stand on a small board similar to a wakeboard and are pulled across the water by a large controllable kite, which they use to maneuver the course. The event will feature 20 men and 20 women competing in races up to four times a day, battling winds that will range between five to 40 knots in races that last roughly 10 minutes. The event will be held at the Marina de Marseille on France’s Mediterranean coast.
When: July 28–August 8
Team USA Athlete to Watch: Daniela Moroz, a six-time world champion in kitesurfing, is number one in the Formula Kite women’s rankings and among the favorites to medal in Paris.
Olympic sophomore events
Several sports that debuted at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics—delayed until 2021 due to the pandemic—will return in 2024, including surfing, skateboarding, and sport climbing.
They won’t be surfing on the Seine. The surfing competition will happen more than 9,000 miles away in Tahiti, the largest island in French Polynesia, where the world’s best surfers will attempt to tame the infamous Teahupo’o wave. The competition will span four days from July 27-30.
Meanwhile, skateboarding advances the X-Games-ification of the Olympics, while sport climbing—on the back of a climbing-gym industry that accumulates over $30 billion in annual revenue—returns for its sophomore Olympic campaign. The competition is broken into two events, street and park, which will take place on July 27-28 and August 6-7, respectively.
And while the LeBron James-led USA basketball team looks to add to its record 16 gold medals, 3×3 basketball will return for its second Olympic campaign. The women’s team will look to defend its 2020 gold medal, while the men’s team—led by former NCAA and BYU star Jimmer Fredette—will attempt to upset the favored Serbians. The tournament will tip off on July 30, culminating with the men’s and women’s semifinal and gold medal games on August 5.
Future Olympic Events
The IOC chooses which sports will or won’t be included in each Olympics based on a vast criteria. Surfing, skateboarding, and 3×3 basketball returned. Baseball, softball, and karate were dropped for 2024 in favor of sports with more youthful audiences. Baseball and softball will return for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics—along with cricket, flag football, lacrosse, and squash. Breaking is not on the 2028 Olympics schedule. Its prospects for inclusion in the 2032 Brisbane Games may depend on the popularity of the Paris competition.
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