What does it mean for extreme sports to join Summer Olympic Games, the world's largest sporting event? Skateboarding, BMX freestyle and surfing made their debut at Tokyo 2021, signaling their full mainstream, and while it makes some skateboarders uncomfortable, how can it be a bad thing if it inspires more people to get into extreme sports? In the summer of 2024, the Paris Olympics will be held from July 26 to August 11, so let's take a look at what the eight extreme sports at this summer's Paris Olympics will look like.
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skateboarding
Skateboarding, the young, energetic sport, emerged in the United States in the 50s, when surfing culture flourished. Steeped in the underground culture of the '80s, skateboarding is synonymous with freedom, rebellion, and a constant thirst for thrills. As the clock ticked to the beginning of the 21st century, skateboarding gradually reached its peak and became a popular choice among young people with great success.
Skateboarding at the Olympics is a feast of skill, with the world's best skateboarders competing against two of the most popular and spectacular disciplines – the park race and the street race. Athletes must show their best skills in competition, meeting the requirements of technique, speed and body consistency.
The competition is divided into two rounds, starting with the qualifiers and then the finals. The park races are designed in a variety of ways, combining pétanque and a variety of corners, for athletes to mingle to gain speed or perform a series of thrilling maneuvers in the air.
In this event, scoring takes into account the height and speed of the athlete during the jump, as well as how skillfully they use the entire terrain surface and its roughness. Athletes have between three and forty-five seconds to demonstrate their skills, and the best clips will determine the final ranking.
In the "street" competition, the venue reproduces elements of the city street, including stairs, railings, etc., as if it were the original playground of skateboarders. Athletes must demonstrate their ability to master skateboards in two rounds, 45 seconds and five stunts, judged on how spectacular the performance is. It's a true showdown of skill and creativity!
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Surfing
In the Olympic surfing competition, it is like a feast of action and skill, with surfers showing off all kinds of magnificent tricks on huge waves. The final five judges scored their movements based on their arrangement of movements, the type and difficulty of their performance skills. A surfer's speed, strength, and fluency also affect the score.
At the Olympics, the surfboard used by competitors is a shortboard because it is smaller than a longboard, allowing for more speed and more agile movements. And the judges love to see the eye-catching, spectacular tricks, which often lead to higher scores.
Swipe left and right to view the gallery (domestic longboarding).
It is worth mentioning that this year's Olympic surfing competition will be held in Teahupo, Tahiti, where the movie "Extreme Thieves" was filmed'o Held.
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Sport climbing sport climing
Looking at rock climbing, this is not an activity for grandmothers to go up the mountain to pick mushrooms, but now it is a competitive sport of climbing on the wall like a spider. In the Olympic climbing competition, it's like a rock climbing feast, with three dishes: bouldering, speed and difficulty. The first is "bouldering", which is like climbing 4A 5-metre-high artificial peak, with no safety rope and only a soft cushion waiting for you, and with limited time, you have to order food as fast as at a fast food restaurant.
Then there's the "speed test", which is like a climbing version of the 100-meter sprint. The two contestants are one-on-one, competing on a 15-meter-high, 5-degree inclined wall to see who can climb faster, the boy solves it in 6 seconds, and the girl does it in 7 seconds, which is faster than snapping up a spike.
Finally, there is the "difficulty test", which is like a climbing version of an escape room. Competitors have to climb a 15-meter-high wall in six minutes, but the route is not known in advance, which is like entering a climbing maze. The further the game goes, the more winding the lines on the wall become, which is more brain-testing than a puzzle game, and puts forward higher requirements for the physical and mental strength of the players.
At the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the climbing competition is like giving athletes two precious tickets, the first is the "bouldering and difficulty" ticket, and the second is the "speed" ticket. Rock climbers are like participating in an exciting climbing competition, not only with skill, but also with speed, which is even more exciting than a roller coaster!
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BMX Freestyle BMX
BMX freestyle originated from the motocross culture that emerged in California in the '70s. This novelty of the sport was inspired by the young man's impression with the skills of motorcyclists, who tried to imitate them on their bikes. Over time, the sport became more and more popular in the following decades and managed to carve out its niche in extreme sports competitions.
At the Olympic Games, BMX freestyle racing takes place in a cool park. Riders have two 60-second opportunities to demonstrate a wide variety of moves, which are scored based on the difficulty of the moves, the height of the jump, and the creativity and style of the entire performance.
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BMX Racing Racing
BMX racing is a more demanding way to race than other, more traditional cycling sports, and unlike traditional races that require a few minutes of endurance, BMX racing requires the rider to release a lot of energy in just a few seconds. In the sprint race, up to eight riders compete on a track filled with jumps, ramps, curves and obstacles, and the final victory goes to the most responsive and fastest rider.
At the start of the race, the riders rushed out of the gate on the 8-metre-high starting hill and then galloped on a 400-metre track at speeds of up to 60 km/h. In such an environment, quick reflexes and strong explosiveness are essential to break out of the starting line and stay ahead of the finish line. The game after that is often a thrilling spectacle that takes the audience's breath away**.
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Trampoline trampoline
The individual events (men and women) of the trampoline are a thrilling show. The athlete has to stand on a trampoline more than 8 meters high, which is made of synthetic fibers and shaped like a large rectangular canvas. They jump like springs in the air and complete a series of twists, bounces, and somersaults.
This bed is attached to a frame with springs in it, so as soon as they jump up, the athlete is bounced into the air. In competition, athletes perform exercises with ten elements, and scores are determined by the difficulty of the movements, the precision of their execution, and the amount of time they spend in the air. This sport requires a very high level of skill, absolutely not sloppy, to maintain absolute precision. Watching them fly around in the air is exciting and fun!
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Mountain bike
A mountain bike race is a high-challenge feast in the kingdom of cycling, taking riders into a paradise of nature and turning cycling into an adventure of skill, resourcefulness and perseverance. On the mountain bike track at the Paris Olympics, competitors will push the limits of their riding skills through steep mountains, steep slopes and winding trails.
Mountain biking requires riders to switch between different terrains, both on steep slopes and on high-tech downhill sections. In this exciting competition, players will not only need to outperform their opponents, but also have to deal with a variety of natural terrain. They may be speeding down rugged mountain trails or displaying thrilling feats on steep hillsides. The race was a challenging one, requiring skilful manoeuvres, balance and quick decision-making.
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Kitesurfing
Kitesurfing is a very popular, modern and spectacular sport, and the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will bring a new dimension to the sport – kitesurfing. As the name suggests, athletes hold a kite weighing 7-18 meters and run on the water with the power of the wind.
It sounds interesting, but kitesurfers have a lot to worry about. If the wind is strong enough, the riders can reach speeds of up to 74 km/h, and they can soar up to 6 meters in the air, stunning the audience with a series of gorgeous grapples and tricks.
Swipe left and right to view the gallery (domestic kitesurfing).
At the Olympics, riders follow a buoy-marked route that includes a variety of challenges such as headwind, downwind and sidewind. These buoys are like markers on a map, indicating the distance that riders must take.
During the race, competitors need to skillfully switch between tracks, skillfully adjust the position of sails and kites, and make tactical decisions in pursuit of optimal speed and efficiency. Overall, they're not just walking on the water, they're maneuvering in a game of wind direction to make sure they have a smooth ride.
Write at the end
When X Games meet the Olympics, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided to include these new X sports programs, in addition to responding to criticism that the Olympics are becoming more and more irrelevant to ordinary people, the biggest purpose is to make money, and it's easy to see why. Extreme sports are a multi-billion dollar industry that has spawned merchandise, fashion, broadcasting, and gaming franchises around the world. This market is more valuable because it is based on young people. As IOC President Thomas ** said, young people have a lot of options and we can no longer expect them to come to us automatically, we have to go to them.
The future of China's extreme sports industry is bright, and it has received strong support from national policies. The extreme sports industry is in the early stages of booming, which means that the market still has a lot of room to grow. In particular, skiing, skateboarding, surfing and rock climbing have been encouraged and supported by national policies because they are listed as Olympic sports, so the development of the domestic extreme sports industry has been stable and rapid. As if the wind was blowing in policy, these projects were like surfing, ushering in wave after wave of prosperity.