Looking back at the unforgettable moments and uplifting stories of those whose achievements, with or without medals, conveyed messages full of hope, from so many nations gathered under one banner for the greatest celebration of sport in the world.

Despite setting off amidst controversy over the opening ceremony and the cleanliness of the River Seine, the Paris Olympics managed to recompose that breathtaking formula of strength, speed, technique, intelligence, sacrifice, elegance, lightness and power, spread over 32 different sporting disciplines (including Break Dance for the first time). All are drawn to the French capital for this competing event par excellence, to witness its unmistakable display of numerous faces but a single language: sport; from Notre Dame to the Eiffel Tower, a meeting of victories and defeats, some who could not contain their joy; others, equally, their disappointment.

Epic moments captured on camera, using ever more sophisticated technology – think of the men’s 100 m – to determine first place or not even a medal.  It was so close! Every athlete just centimetres or milliseconds apart; minute fractions that produce such opposite effects mentally, but release the pressure, reminding us that in sport as in life, we cannot do more than our best, there are always elements outside our control.

As in every Olympics, Paris ’24 had its moments when the world held its breath, as competitors caught up from behind to be out front, defying all thoughts of stopwatches, finishing lines, juries, points and podiums, quickly recovering themselves to see their score which allow them to take stock of all their years of work, involving huge sacrifice sometimes rewarded and sometimes not, at least so it appears.

For there is always something more, beyond the hard-won victory; it is realising that one has got that far, to be representing one’s country, entering into dialogue with the rest of the world through that ancient and immortal language called sport. It is the struggle to make one’s dream a reality, to seize it before it slips away (perhaps) forever. It is honouring that life-choice that demands so much and offers so much in return, not necessarily with a medal. It is the joy of participating in that shining event that reaffirms the beauty that human beings are capable of.

And stories from Paris Olympics ‘24 do not stop at medals! They break records, such as when Armand Duplantis from Sweden won gold in the pole vault with a jump of 6.10 metres, then broke the world record with a jump of 6.25 and kept running in order to embrace his fiancée.

Chinese swimmer, Pan Zhanle, also broke the world record (which he held) in the men’s 100-metre freestyle with a stratospheric 46”40. R.  Record-breaking in a different way are the unforgettable gold medals of legendary Novak Djokovic, on a par with few others in History, achieving, at the age of 37, a career Golden Slam (victory in all 4 Grand Slams and the Olympic Games); and that of Cuban Mijain Lopez Nunez, the Greco-Roman wrestling heavyweight, who achieved his fifth gold across five consecutive Olympic Games. There is no one quite like him!

Deeply significant and moving also, was the silver (for her it was ‘gold’) won by Ukraine’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh, a high jump champion who dedicated her victory to her compatriot athletes who have lost their lives during these years of terrible war; and the three golds (and silver) of Simone Biles, extraordinary American gymnast and multiple Olympic champion, but also the young girl who, in Tokyo, came to terms with her inner fragility and put everything aside to find herself as a person. The story of her long pitstop (told in the Netflix docuseries Simone Biles Rising: Towards the Olympics) reminds us that health, physical and mental, comes before any medal and that – despite sounding rhetorical –  working on one’s health is the key to achieving sporting prowess.

Gianmarco Tamberi, one of the medal-less victors of Paris’24, already a high jump Olympic champion in Tokyo, knows this only too well.  He would dearly have loved to succeed again but constant kidney colic on the days he was due to compete decided otherwise. Nevertheless, he wanted simply to be there, to attempt his jump with whatever strength he had, so little physically but so much in his heart.  He did not win but paid tribute to the great event that had given him so much.  Tamberi shed tears, yet the stadium applauded him, writing together a precious page of sport.

Also in tears, but tears of joy, was the Italian swimmer Benedetta Pilato, despite coming fourth, missing third place by a millisecond!  She had tried her best right to the end, she said, and then exclaimed ‘This is the best day of my life’. Her words sparked numerous comments but without a doubt, despite her 19 years of age, this athlete was able to see the beauty also in not succeeding. “A year ago,” she continued, ” I was not even capable of this race. This is just the beginning.” Benedetta Pilato was able to make the most of what happened and use it to walk towards the future whilst appreciating the gift of her achievement.

In positions further away from the podium came Kimia Yousofi, an Afghan 100 metres runner; her Olympics resonated with deep meaning through a message written on the back of her bib: “Education, sport, our rights. Three colors: black (education), red (sports) and green (our rights), mirroring the Afghan flag. At the end of the race Kimia held this inscription up high, as a mark of solidarity with the oppressed compatriots of her homeland.

The voice of this courageous woman became strong and moving through the power of sport, particularly the Olympics, which, in this edition, awarded the Refugee Olympic Team its first medal (bronze), won in women’s boxing, by Cindy Ngamba, adding another historical page to these days of tremendous feats, emotions and above all peace. Days which heralded, as the closing ceremony announce “a culture of peace”, a world united through sport. Now we await the no less important and extraordinary days of the forthcoming Paralympics: from August 28, also in Paris. Not to be missed.