The Paris Olympics has been in our diaries for a while, and most of us know our favourite Olympics sports we will be watching. Or, for people like me who aren’t passionate about sport, what we’ll be getting dragged along to by partners and friends.
While I don’t follow sports closely throughout the year (discounting unfolding drama on The Dallas Cowboys), I love the Olympics. That’s because I almost always discover a sport I’d never heard of and become utterly obsessed with.
This started in 2000, when, as a supremely bored sports-ambivalent child, I became captivated by pole vaulting and Tatiana Grigorieva’s physics-defying grace. Since then, I’ve gotten into trampolining, table tennis, and breakdancing. There’s something immensely satisfying about catching a competition, spending hours on TikTok researching it, and then talking about it incessantly until the next Olympic games. So sorry in advance to everyone who’ll be hearing about the history of the Modern Pentathlon until 2028.
Of course, the benefit of exploring the more obscure sports as a non-sports person is that it makes you look highly knowledgeable when the conversation inevitably turns to the Olympics. It’s the small talk equivalent of flexing a band nobody has ever heard of, but less insufferable.
So, whether you’re sports averse or can get involved in any competition, this is my cheat sheet for the nichest competitions in the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The Nichest Olympic Sports To Watch In 2024
Breaking
For those of us who were in primary school in the 1990s and early 2000s, breakdancing was one of the coolest moves you could pull at a talent show. Some of us never stopped training, though, and in the Paris Olympics, those brave souls will be taking the stage for the first time ever.
When to watch:
10th-11th of August
Ribbon Twirling or “Rhythmic Gymnastics”
Even the least sports literate amongst us have become gymnastics fans thanks to the prowess of Simone Biles. Essentially rhythmic gymnastics takes all the difficulty of normal gymnastics while adding dance, drama, music, hoolah hoops and plenty of whimsical twirling to the mix.
When to watch:
Individual competitions: 8th of August
Group competitions: 9th of August
Olympic Trampoline
You ight think this is another “where are they now” featuring the kid who brought really aggressive to the trampoline in primary school. But it’s not as weird as it sounds, trampolining was actually invented by American Gymnast George Nissen in 1934. He’d seen trapeze acrobats bouncing off safety nets and tried to recreat the net to train astronauts and athletes. Trampolining became competitive in 1964 and formally joined the International Gymnastics Federation in 1998.
The rules stipulate that competitors must bounce over 8 metres high while performing routines composed of ten elements. They’re scored on the difficulty of the move, the precision of the execution, and their total time in the air.
When to watch:
Women’s: 2nd of August
Men’s: 3rd of August
Modern Pentathlon
The fanciest-sounding competition in the Olympics, the pentathlon, was invented by Baron Pierre de Coubertin to help cavalry riders develop the skills to survive behind enemy lines. It’s since become one of the most charmingly chaotic sports in the Olympic competition.
It starts with show jumping on an unfamiliar horse, then moves to two rounds of fencing followed by a cool-off with a 200m freestyle swim. The final portion is a laser run where athletes alternate between running and shooting at targets. Each competition is divided into men’s and women’s and runs over three days.
When to watch:
Women’s: 8th, 10th and 11th of August
Men’s: 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th of August
Handball
Olympic handball preceded your primary school competitions, making a debut at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games. The rules of the game are closer to netball than the games you played as an eight-year-old. The goal is to “handball” the ball down the court to score a goal. Players have to take three steps with the ball without dribbling, and the game is considered a contact sport so get ready for the ref’s whistle. Norway, Germany, Angola, Slovenia, Korea, Spain and the Netherlands are just some of the countries getting involved in the games this year.
When to watch:
Men’s: 27th, 28th, 29th and 30th of July
Women’s: 25th, 26th, 28th, 29th and 30th of July
Marathon Swimming
Marathon swimming takes place on the high seas over two hours. Unlike swimmers who play it safe in the pool, competitors need to navigate changing tides, currents, and potential wildlife, making it one of the most unpredictable competitions in the Olympics.
When to watch:
Women’s competition: 8th of August
Men’s competition: 9th of August
Table Tennis
No, it’s not ping pong. Olympic table tennis is a competitive sport that follows classic tennis featuring singles, doubles and plenty of captivating moments.
When to watch:
Men’s singles: 27th, 28th, 29th of July then 1st, 2nd and 3rd of August
Men’s Teams: 8th-9th of August
Women’s Singles: 27th, 28th, 29th of July then 1st, 2nd and 3rd of August
Women’s teams: 8th, 9th and 10th of August
Mixed Doubles: 27th of July, 30th of July
Sport Climbing
This is indoor rock climbing, but at speed, sans harness. The competition includes bouldering, where athletes climb 4.5 metres and are measured for speed and number of attempts. Then, there is “speed,” in which two climbers compete in a head-to-head race in which they have six minutes to scale a 15-metre high wall.
When to watch:
Women’s Boulder & Lead: 6th, 8th and 10th of August
Women’s Speed: 5th and 7th of August
Men’s Boulder & Lead: 5th, 7th and 9th of August
Men’s Speed: 6th and 8th of August
Where To Watch The Paris 2024 Olympics:
Appetite for some weird sports, but unsure where to tune in? The Paris 2024 Olympics will be broadcast in Australia across more than 40 free-to-air channels in including channel 9 and NineGem, you can also watch on catch up on 9Now. If you’re looking for an ad-free experience (aren’t we all) you can tune in on Stan Sport.
This article originally appeared on Marie Claire Australia and is republished here with permission.
