The XXXIII Olympic Summer Games: Paris 2024

As a kid, I spent a great deal of my time in the woods, riding my bike, collecting baseball cards, and watching television. Every four years, I would tune into the Olympic Games and be glued to the TV for countless hours. When I first watched the Olympics, the Winter Games and the Summer Games were held in the same calendar year. It was exciting to see athletes from all over the globe achieve new records and personal milestones.

My first memory of watching the Olympics on television isn’t from the Summer Games but from athe 1980 Winter Games that were held in Lake Placid, New York. At the age of nine, I watched Team U.S.A. speed skater Eric Heiden win five gold medals and set five Olympic world skating records at the same time.

The next Summer Olympic Games were held in the city of Los Angeles, California, in 1984. It was during that Olympiad that Nawal El Moutawakel, representing Morocco, became the first female gold medallist of a Muslim nation to win the 400-meter hurdles race. Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing, and Chris Mullin went on to form the first U.S.A. basketball “Dream Team” and land the gold medal that year. One of the most exciting moments in those Summer Games was when 16-year-old Team U.S.A. gymnast Mary Lou Retton was in second place by .05 points behind Ecaterina Szabo of Romania in the individual all-around competition. During the final vault event, Retton performed two vaults and scored a perfect 10 on both to win a gold medal. She also won two silver and two bronze medals during the games.

In 1994, the Winter Games were held in Lillehammer, Norway, which marked the first year that the Winter and Summer games were held in separate years since the Paris Games of 1924. The Olympic Games have been held every two years thereafter. And this year, the 2024 Summer Games have returned to Paris. The medal shown above was engraved by Raoul Be´nard, who created numerous medals for the Games. This obverse portrays the goddess Nike placing a laurel wreath on an athlete and the reverse displays a city view of Paris with the year 1924.

The new mascot of the 2024 Summer Olympic Games is the “Phryge,” which is a derivative of the Phrygian cap or the “Liberty Cap.” The spirit of the Olympics can be summed up in many ways, and here is a fitting statement from the Olympics website: “Phryge takes the shape and form of a Phrygian cap. As Paris 2024’s vision is to demonstrate that sport can change lives, the mascots will be playing a major role by leading a revolution through sport.”

Over 200 countries are represented by at least one athlete during the 2024 Olympic Games. It’s unlikely any of us collectors of numismatics and related material will compete in the Olympic Games anytime soon. However, we can relate to the passion these athletes have for their respective sports as we do for our coins and medals. Good luck to all the athletes worldwide that will be competing in Paris!