Serbia at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics

The Olympic Games are not just the pinnacle of sports competitions but also an opportunity for nations around the world to come together, showcase their skills, and make history. For Serbia, these games are particularly significant, with high expectations to surpass previous achievements and set new records in sports.

From July 26th this year, all eyes will be on Paris, the City of Light, which will host the Summer Olympics for the third time. This city, along with London, is the only one to have hosted the world’s best athletes three times. For Serbia, the journey to Paris has already begun, with 81 travelers already secured for this prestigious event.

Team Serbia has been preparing and striving to earn its place in the world’s largest sports competition, with the first quota for the Olympic Games achieved as early as October 15, 2022, when Zorana Arunović secured participation. This marked the beginning of the journey to Paris, and most recently, wrestler Aleksandar Komarov secured the last spot on April 5th this year.

High expectations for Team Serbia at the Olympic Games are in team sports. Volleyball players, water polo players, basketball players, and female basketball players have secured spots for the 2024 Games, adding more participants from Serbia to the world’s largest sports event. This is no surprise, as team sports have always been the backbone of Serbian athletics.

Serbia is unique in that there is a 96-year gap between the first and second appearance of the nation at the Olympic Games. Serbia first competed in the Olympic Games in 1912, when sprinter Dušan Milošević and marathon runner Dragutin Tomašević represented the Kingdom of Serbia in Stockholm. Over the years, Serbian athletes have represented various Yugoslav states, and independent Serbia has participated in 4 summer and 3 winter Olympics so far, first participating almost a century later in Beijing 2008.

Serbia will make its debut at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics through the “Serbian House” project. This will be an opportunity to promote Serbia as an investment and business destination, a place of rich historical heritage, tourism, culture, tradition, gastronomy, and economy. The “Serbian House” will be located in La Villette Park in Paris, where through artistic displays, it will showcase Serbia’s sports history, achievements of Serbian Olympians, advancements in science and technology, as well as the country’s economic development.

One of the essential traditions of the Olympic Games is the torch relay, which connects us to the roots of the Games. The Olympic flame will be lit on April 16, 2024, at the sanctuary of Olympia, Greece, where the ancient games were held. From May 2024, 11,000 torchbearers will relay the flame to celebrate the arrival of the Games in Paris.

As the world prepares for the spectacle in Paris, Serbia is eagerly gearing up for its participation in this grand event. With a lineup of talents and dedicated athletes, Serbia is expected to leave its mark and proudly represent its country on the world sports stage. The Olympic Games are an opportunity to demonstrate strength, endurance, and the spirit of unity, and Serbia is ready to join this global celebration of sport.

HISTORY OF THE OLYMPIC GAMES

The creation of the Olympic Games was inspired by the Ancient Olympic Games, held in Olympia, Greece, from the 8th century BCE to the 4th century CE. Pierre de Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1894, leading to the organization of the first modern games in 1896. Throughout its history, the Olympic Committee of Serbia, founded in 1910, has contributed seven members to the IOC, had 22 presidents and seven general secretaries, and 18 athletes and sports officials have been honored by the International Olympic Committee with the highest recognition – the “Olympic Order.”

The origin of the Ancient Olympic Games is unknown, with many legends and myths surrounding their inception. According to one of the most popular myths, Heracles and his father Zeus are considered the creators of the Games. According to legend, Heracles first called the Games “Olympic” and established the tradition of holding them every four years. The most widely accepted date for the beginning of the Olympic Games is 776 BCE. This is based on inscriptions found in Olympia containing the names of winners from 776 BCE onwards.

The first Olympic Games were held under the auspices of the International Olympic Committee at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens from April 6 to 15, 1896. The Games involved 14 countries and 241 athletes competing in 9 sports and 43 disciplines. Despite initial success, the Olympic Games faced challenges. The 1900 Paris and 1904 St. Louis Games were overshadowed by world expositions held in those cities at the time. The duration of these Olympic Games speaks volumes: the Paris Games lasted five and a half months, while those in St. Louis lasted just over four months and twenty days. The duration of the games varied, stabilizing to the current 15 days with the games in Los Angeles 1932 and Berlin 1936.

OLYMPIC SYMBOLS

The Olympic movement uses many symbols and emblems, with the most famous being the Olympic rings. These five interconnected rings represent the unity of the five inhabited continents (Africa, the Americas, Australia, Asia, and Europe), and the colors of these rings (from left to right: blue, yellow, black, green, and red) were chosen because every nation in the world has at least one of these colors on its national flag. The Olympic rings were first presented at the 1920 Antwerp Olympics, the first held after a hiatus due to World War I.

The Olympic flame is lit in Greek Olympia using sunlight and a concave mirror. The resulting flame is then carried by thousands of relay runners across all continents to the city hosting the Olympic Games. Finally, the flame is brought to a prominent place in the Olympic stadium where it will burn during the games.