A crowd watches the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympic Games on Friday, July 26, 2024 ,in Paris, France.Siegfried Modola /The Globe and Mail
After winning 24 medals in Tokyo three years ago – its most in a non-boycotted Summer Games – Canada will enter the 2024 Games in Paris full of hope it can build on that breakout performance.
And whether you live and die with the fluttering fortunes of the Maple Leaf, or simply enjoy the white-hot thrill of competition, the Games of the 33rd Olympiad offer something for everyone. With almost 11,000 athletes competing across 18 days in 32 sports and 329 events, there is almost too much to keep track of.
So with that in mind, and now that Celine Dion has closed out the Paris Olympics opening ceremony with a majestic performance on the Eiffel Tower, here’s a look at what’s catching our eye.
Saturday, July 27
Women’s surfing
Sanoa Dempfle-Olin trains in Tahiti on July 22, a week out of the opening ceremony.BEN THOUARD/Getty Images
Canadians are traditionally more accustomed to carving turns on a piste than on a wave, but Tofino, B.C., native Sanoa Dempfle-Olin is set to be Canada’s first Olympic surfer when she drops into the competition. The location for the sport’s second appearance at the Games will set Olympic records, too, with Tahiti located more than 15,500 kilometres from Paris, making it the furthest location from an Olympic host city to stage a medal event. From the stiff level of competition to the turquoise blue waters of Teahupo’o, the event should be spectacular.
Road cycling: Time trial
Canada's Derek Gee speeds to the finish line during a stage of the 2024 Tour de France.Daniel Cole/The Associated Press
Cycling has long enjoyed a love affair with Paris, with the Champs-Élysées serving as the finishing straight for the Tour de France every year since 1975. The eyes of the cycling world will be on the road-race time trial here, as both men and women battle for gold, speeding past the Place de la Bastille and through the Château de Vincennes – the former home of the French king. With both male and female entrants competing on the same course on the same day, Canadians Derek Gee, Michael Woods, Olivia Baril and Alison Jackson will all be hoping to see the Maple Leaf flying over the medal podium.
Swimming: Women’s 400-metre freestyle
Summer McIntosh smiles after winning the women's 200-metre butterfly in the recent Canadian Olympic Swim Trials.Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press
Canada is blessed with a plethora of talented medal contenders in the pool, but perhaps no one is getting more attention headed into Paris than Summer McIntosh. Already the world record-holder in the 400-metre individual medley, it is the 400-metre freestyle – and her rivalry with Australia’s Ariarne Titmus and American Katie Ledecky – that is getting people talking about a possible “Race of the Century.” McIntosh finished fourth in this event three years ago in Tokyo as a 14-year-old, and will hope to improve on last year’s world championships, in which she also finished fourth behind Titmus and Ledecky, who took gold and silver, respectively. However, all three have held the world record at some point, and that mark may have to be lowered once again for anyone with designs on gold in Paris.
Tennis
Félix Auger-Aliassime returns the shot during the 2022 Western & Southern Open.Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
Stade Roland Garros is usually the centre of the tennis world in May, but this year the famed clay courts will get two turns under the global spotlight as the venue for this year’s Olympic tennis tournament. Canada has a high-powered squad, highlighted by the likes of Félix Auger-Aliassime and Milos Raonic on the men’s side, while all three of the women are returning to happy hunting grounds. Leylah Fernandez won the 2019 girls junior French Open, while Bianca Andreescu claimed the 2017 girls doubles title. And Gabriela Dabrowski, who will team with Fernandez for the women’s Olympic doubles, won the 2017 senior mixed-doubles championship on these courts, too.
Sunday, July 28
Melissa Humana-Paredes spikes the ball whilst training in the Eiffel Tower Stadium.Esa Alexander/Reuters
Beach volleyball
Canada hasn’t won a medal in beach volleyball since John Child and Mark Heese took bronze at the 1996 Atlanta Games. The best chance of ending that drought may well be the partnership of Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson, a team that has only been together a little more than a year, but has already found success on tour, taking gold at the Montreal Elite 16 last year, as well as silver at the 2023 Pan Am Games in Santiago.
Women’s soccer: Canada vs. France
Team Canada poses for a picture on June 1, in Montreal before a friendly soccer game against Mexico.Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press
While the Olympic champions officially kick off their title defence on July 25 against New Zealand, with all due respect to the 28th-ranked Football Ferns, this meeting with France should be Canada’s first real test. The Olympic host, the world’s second-best team according to the FIFA women’s rankings, should provide a stern examination of head coach Bev Priestman’s eighth-ranked Canadian squad, particularly after it flamed out so spectacularly at the World Cup last summer.
Men’s basketball: USA vs. Serbia
Stephen Curry, LeBron James and Anthony Davis of Team USA practice in France ahead of the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.Michael Conroy/The Associated Press
Ever since Michael Jordan and the Dream Team descended upon Barcelona for the 1992 Olympics, the United States men’s basketball squad has added an extra dose of star power to every Games. The 2024 edition is no different, particularly with LeBron James returning for the first time since the London Olympics 12 years ago, adding to a squad that already includes Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant. The Americans, gold medalists in each of the past four Olympics, kick things off with an enticing matchup against Serbia and two-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic, who led his team to the silver medal eight years ago in Rio.
Monday, July 29
Women’s basketball: Canada vs. France
Natalie Achonwa practices in Toronto.Cole Burston/The Canadian Press
After a ninth-place finish in Tokyo, the Canadian women will get their Olympic campaign off and running with a matchup against the host team, France, currently sitting two places below them in the FIBA rankings. Natalie Achonwa is set to become Canada’s first four-time Olympian in women’s basketball, and the team will lean on her veteran presence as it attempts to better the fourth-place finish it achieved in Los Angeles 40 years ago, the best finish for Canada’s women’s basketball at a Summer Games.
Women’s judo
Canada's Christa Deguchi grapples England's Acelya Toprak during the 2022 Commonwealth Games.Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images
The hardest battle Christa Deguchi may face all year may have been reaching the Olympic mat in Paris. As the No. 1 judoka in the world in the 57-kilogram category, the 28-year-old has been in a constant dogfight with world No. 2 Jessica Klimkait to secure the solitary berth on the Canadian team. Having lost out to her rival three years ago for Tokyo, Deguchi left no doubt she would make her Olympic debut this time around, reaching the podium in her past 10 tournaments, and ultimately clinching her spot with a silver medal at the world championships, while Klimkait settled for bronze. Now the two-time world champion will be looking to show her mettle on the Olympic stage as well.
Tuesday, July 30
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (right) vies for the ball against Team USA's Jrue Holiday (left) during an exhibition game in Las Vegas.Steve Marcus/The Associated Press
Men’s basketball: Canada vs. Australia
After a 20-year absence, the Canadian men have returned to the Olympic basketball tournament. Canada kicks off against Greece on July 27, but things get a little more serious here as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and his seventh-ranked Canada squad will have their medal credentials put to the test against Australia, the world’s fifth-ranked squad and the bronze medalist from Tokyo.
Wednesday, Aug. 1
Ellie Black competes in the uneven bars in the 2024 Canadian Gymnastics Championships.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
Artistic gymnastics: Women’s all-around final
While much of the attention will be on U.S. superstar Simone Biles – recently voted seventh-greatest athlete of the 21st century by ESPN – Canada’s Ellie Black heads into her fourth Olympics looking to find her way on to the podium for the first time. The Halifax native finished fifth in the all-around final in 2016, before injuring her ankle in training before the 2021 all-around final in Tokyo, forcing her to withdraw. However, she managed to compete in the balance-beam final, and despite the injury, missed out on bronze in the balance beam by just 0.134 points.
Saturday, Aug. 3
Men’s 100 metres
Andre De Grasse celebrates after winning the men's 100m during the 2024 Ostrava Golden Spike meeting, held in the Czech Republic.Radovan Stoklasa/Reuters
One of the highest-profile events of the entire Games, the 100-metre sprint needs little introduction. Neither does Andre De Grasse. Already Canada’s most decorated male Summer Olympian, with six medals, the Scarborough, Ont., native will attempt to improve on the bronze medals he earned in this event at both Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo. Given the wide-open field – the 100 metres has lacked a truly dominant force since Usain Bolt retired after the 2016 Games – who is to say he can’t?
Men’s decathlon final
Damian Warner competes in the semifinal 100m hurdles at the 2024 Canadian Track and Field Olympic trials in Montreal.Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press
Ever since Jim Thorpe took home gold in this event at the 1912 Stockholm Games, the winner of the Olympic decathlon has been considered the planet’s greatest athlete. While this event may no longer carry the same kind of cachet that it did 100 years ago – or even 40 or 50 years ago – the effort required to reach the podium is still bordering on Herculean, with the winner needing to demonstrate excellence in 10 different disciplines, ranging from the javelin to sprints, ending as always with the 1,500 metres. No one has demonstrated greater excellence in this sport of late than Canada’s Damian Warner, with the London, Ont., native winning gold in Tokyo on the strength of an Olympic-record 9,018 points, and the 34-year-old will be looking for a repeat success in Paris.
Tuesday, Aug. 6
Fay De Fazio Ebert's gold winning routine in the 2023 Pan Am Games.Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
Women’s skateboarding: Park final
You may not know your Ollies from your Tic Tacs, but that shouldn’t stop you from letting Fay De Fazio Ebert give you a crash course. The youngest athlete in Canada’s Olympic delegation, the 14-year-old Toronto native – known as Fay All Day – just missed out on the Tokyo Games in what was the sport’s Olympic debut. The 2023 Pan Am Games champion will hope to make up for lost time here.
Thursday, Aug. 8
Andre De Grasse shows off his gold medal for the men’s 200m at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press
Men’s 200 metres
If De Grasse falls short in the 100 metres, at least he knows he has the 200 metres to fall back on. The reigning Olympic champion at the distance, the Markham, Ont., runner has saved some of his best performances for the longer distance, crossing the line in 19.62 seconds in Tokyo, the eighth-fastest time in history for the event.
Saturday, Aug. 10
Men’s marathon
Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge crosses the finish line to win the men's marathon final during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/Getty Images
Kenyan legend Eliud Kipchoge goes for Olympic marathon gold for an unprecedented third consecutive time. Having run four of the 10 fastest marathons in history, the 39-year-old is in a class by himself, and will doubtless be setting the pace on a scenic route that stretches from the Paris town hall and along the Seine, past the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower, out to the Palace of Versailles and back again.
Men’s breaking
Canada's Philip Kim (aka B-Boy Phil Wizard).Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press
Making its Olympic debut, the sport of breaking was added to the Paris Games following a successful reception at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires. And Canada will have as good a shot as any country when it comes to taking home a medal thanks to Vancouver’s Philip Kim, aka B-Boy Phil Wizard. Inspired to take up the sport after seeing breakers busking in front of Vancouver Art Gallery, Kim proved a quick study, winning the 2022 world championships, before taking home the first Pan Am Games gold in the sport. He’ll naturally be hoping to create more firsts in Paris.