The 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France, are just around the corner. The Summer Games happen July 26–Aug. 11 and will bring athletes and spectators from around the world to the city on the Seine. Some of the most popular summer events are swimming, gymnastics and athletics (track and field). But there are other exciting sports that Boomer will be watching during these Summer Olympics.

Breaking

Breaking will be an Olympic competition for the first time in Paris this summer. Fans will see 16 B-Boys and 16 B-Girls face off in solo dance battles as they spin, freeze, flow and try to power move their way up the medal stand to take home the first Olympic medals in breaking.

Breaking, also called break dancing, started as part of hip-hop culture that originated in the Bronx, New York, in the 1970s. In the five decades since then, hip-hop has become a music genre celebrated around the world. The breaking competition will feature a DJ and MC and dancers will need to improvise to the beat to defeat the rest of the field. The one-day tournament for women’s breaking is set for Aug. 9, and men’s breaking will happen on Aug. 10

Sport Climbing

Sport climbing was part of the 2018 Summer Youth Olympic Games and debuted as a new sport at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games. In Tokyo, athletes competed in three events and the combined results had one men’s and one women’s gold medalist. In Paris, the speed event will award medals and the bouldering and lead events will be combined.

The speed event is what you might imagine, as competitors race up a 15-meter inclined wall. In bouldering, climbers ascend a 4.5 meter wall without ropes. The lead event has athletes facing a route they have not seen before, and the routes become more and more challenging.

Skateboarding

Skateboarders will be flying sky high at the Paris Olympics, including British boarder Sky Brown, who turns 16 in July. This talented teen won bronze in the women’s park event when skateboarding debuted at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games. Men’s and women’s park feature high-flying acrobatics on a series of bowls and bends.

Street events have flat ground tricks, grinds, slides and more on an urban course. In men’s street, look for Mesa’s own Jagger Eaton, who won bronze in Tokyo. In women’s street, 16-year-old Paige Heyn represents the U.S. and Tempe!

Skateboard events are judged based on the difficulty of tricks, speed and control on a timed run. Street combines two runs, and park takes its score from the best of three runs.

BMX Racing & Freestyle

BMX racing is a fast sprint compared to some other cycling endurance events. The fast pace makes it a thrilling sport to watch! Racers speed around a 400-meter course that has obstacles, jumps and steeply sloped corners.

BMX racing first appeared as an Olympic sport at the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing, China. This summer, three women and two men will be representing the U.S. on the BMX track, and two of them live in the Grand Canyon state! Look for first-time Olympians Daleny Vaughn from Tucson and Cameron Wood (Phoenix) doing Arizona proud on Team USA!

Like sport climbing and skateboarding, BMX freestyle became an official Olympic sport at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games. It returns for a second go-round of high-flying stunts at the Paris Olympic Games. Riders perform as many amazing tricks as possible in 60 seconds and are judged on difficulty and creativity.

Surfing

Carissa Moore, from Honolulu, Hawaii, won the first Olympic gold medal for surfing at the 2020 Tokyo Games. Moore will try to repeat her success on the waves at the 2024 Paris Summer Games. The Olympic surfing competition will take place in Tahiti.

Current world champion Caroline Marks and two-time world champion John John Florence will also represent Team USA. Fellow Americans Griffin Colapinto and Caity Simmers make their Olympic debuts at the 2024 Summer Games. Colapinto and Simmers are the leaders in world rankings according to the World Surf League.

Twenty-four athletes of each gender face off in heats. They will be scored based on the variety and difficulty of their tricks, speed and flow. Olympic surfers use shortboards, which are faster and more maneuverable than longboards.

Introducing “The Phryges,” the Olympic and Paralympic mascots.

These little Phrygian caps are the mascots of Paris 2024 based on the famous Phrygian cap—a symbol of freedom.