Was Paris the best ever? The Olympics have closed with a theatrical flourish. There were thrills and touching moments. Some think we can draw lessons from this sporting spectacle.
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The five key morals of this OIympics
Was Paris the best ever? The Olympics have closed with a theatrical flourish. There were thrills and touching moments. Some think we can draw lessons from this sporting spectacle.
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The Paris 2024 Olympics has come to an end after almost three weeks of spectacular feats and drama.
Sportswriter Bruce Arthur has suggested it might be "the best Olympics ever". But what lessons can its athletes teach us?
1. Sportsmanship is alive and well. Many believe that sport can teach fair play, courage and hard work. Paris 2024 showed athletes with morals.
Japanese gymnast Daiki Hashimoto shushed his cheering fans so that his rival could concentrate. And after South Sudan's Lucia Moris collapsed, her Laotian opponent Silina Pha Aphay ran back to help her.
2. Humans have no limits. Records were smashed. French swimmer Leon Marchand set an Olympic record in four categories and Guatemala's trap shooter Adriana Ruano broke the women's highest score.
Some scientists think that one day there will be a record no one can smash. But Olympians keep on trying.
3. Migration is good for nations. The Olympics shine a spotlight on how immigration can push a country's sporting success to new heights. In London 2012 over a third of Britain's medal winners were born abroad or had a foreign parent or grandparent. Paris 2024 was equally diverse.
4. Winning is all about maths. The nerds took over Paris. Marchand is a computer science student. American champion 200m runner Gabby Thomas studied neurobiologyThe biology of the nervous system. at HarvardA top US university, founded in 1636. .
5. Age is just a number. China's 11-year-old skateboarder Zheng Haohao is one of the youngest Olympians of all time, and 14-year-old Australian skateboarding champion Arisa Trew won Gold after becoming the first woman to land a 720.
Was Paris the best ever?
Yes! Smashed records, stars young and old and a French joie de vivre after Tokyo's Covid-era coldness: Paris 2024 meant a new era for the Olympics.
No! Shameful controversies, a rain-soaked opening ceremony and brutal injuries: Paris 2024 had its triumphs, but otherwise it was Olympic business as usual.
FOR YOUR SUMMER READING CHALLENGE CLUE GO TO STEP SIX IN THE SIX STEPS TO DISCOVERY BELOW.
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Keywords
Neurobiology - The biology of the nervous system.
Harvard - A top US university, founded in 1636.
The five key morals of this OIympics
Glorious: “This is what an Olympics is supposed to be: a great city and country uniting in moments of collective joy... while welcoming the world,” said Canada’s Toronto Star. Glossary
Neurobiology - The biology of the nervous system.
Harvard - A top US university, founded in 1636.