Medalists Michaela Blyde, Grace Prendergast and Dylan Schmidt join NZ Herald Focus Sport’s Cheree Kinnear to look back on the highs, lows and special moments of this year’s record breaking games. Video / NZ Herald
It hasn't been a long time, but changes have already come to the Summer Olympics.
Tokyo 2020 saw six new events added to its lineup with medals being offered for the first time in surfing, sport climbing, skateboarding, baseball, softball and karate.
Some of those have been unwavering success stories with sport climbing, surfing and skateboarding showcasing to the world the best athletes in their discipline.
It will be one-and-done for karate at the Summer Olympics. Photo / AP
However, baseball, softball and karate won't feature in the 2024 Paris edition of the Games as they fall prey to relatively new rules that allow host nations to pick and choose which fringe sports will participate in their event (Los Angeles is expected to revive the ball sports in 2028).
It made perfect sense for karate to be included in the country the sport originated while baseball and softball, which have strong followings in Japan, did too - even if the best baseball players in the world were absent.
Now, French organisers have opted to stamp their personality on the Games by handing breakdancing its debut appearance.
Breakdancing will make its Olympic debut in 2024. Photo / AP
The changes don't stop there either and they may have implications for New Zealand's future success.
Most notably, the women's K1 200m canoe sprint will not be contested, an event which - via Lisa Carrington - has earned New Zealand three consecutive gold medals. Instead, men's and women's extreme canoe slalom events have been added to the schedule which promise to provide plenty of waterworks.
Sailing has also been a traditionally-fruitful source of medals for New Zealand with names such as Russell Coutts, John Cutler, Craig Monk, Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie, and Leslie Egnot and Jan Shearer all snaring podiums over the years in events that will not take place in Paris.
The Finn, men's 470 and women's 470 will all be cut from the Paris lineup with three new categories created in their place: men's and women's kiteboarding, mixed 470 and an as-yet-unspecified third mixed-gender event.
A subtle change also takes place within the traditional windsurfing or boardsailing event with the adoption of foils to its standard "boat".
Elsewhere, as part of a mission to stage the first fully gender-balanced Games, changes have also been made to weightlifting and boxing. Each will have a reduced number of weight classes and an even gender-split between all events, though ongoing concerns around doping mean that weightlifting's overall inclusion continues to be subject to review by the IOC.
The men's 50km race walk also ends as an event as calls - partly led by New Zealander Quentin Rew - to include a women's class were met with, instead, its cancellation. Alternatively, in 2024 there will be a mixed-gender race walk of a yet-unspecified distance.
Additionally, a new competition format for modern pentathlon, based in one venue and taking place over just 90-minutes, has been approved. The competition will begin with riding, followed by the fencing bonus round and swimming, before closing with the laser-run.
'Unique and revolutionary'
Most Olympic Opening ceremonies are centred around stadiums. Photo / Photosport
Finally and possibly the biggest change to regular Olympic transmission will be Paris' opening ceremony.
Where viewers are used to seeing dancers, musicians, elaborate light shows and fireworks centred around a single, packed stadium; Paris will instead take its celebrations to the River Seine.
French President Emmanuel Macron told French sports daily L'Equipe last month that the opening ceremony would take place on the barges and quays of the famed waterway and highlighting world heritage sites such as the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame Cathedral and the Louvre.
"We want it to be a ceremony of the people, open to all and unique in terms of the experience it will provide. Something that makes sense to the French people and conveys a message to the rest of the world," Macron said.
"We want something unique and revolutionary," he added.
It's estimated more than 300,000 fans could line the river to greet and cheer the performers and incoming athletes.
"Delegations arrive in Paris by boat and cross this iconic city," Tony Estanguet, the president of the Paris Olympics event said. "Hundreds of thousands of fans welcoming them. That would be amazing."
