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          Marchand, Khelif, Manu and more - the best moments of the 2024 Paris Olympics

          Jamie Squire/Getty Images
          • Anirudh Menon
          Aug 11, 2024, 11:50 AM

          A fortnight of the greatest sporting show on the planet promised magic, and oh, did the Paris 2024 Olympic Games deliver. From the pool to the track via the shooting ranges and the boxing rings and the wrestling mats, there was something special happening across the French capital.

          INDIA'S OLYMPIC MEDAL TALLY | INDIA AT PARIS OLYMPICS | LATEST OLYMPIC NEWS |

          Here, we try to pick out the most standout moments of them all:

          Leon Marchand stops everyone else

          A fencing match. A decathlon 400m. A tennis doubles match involving Nadal-Alcaraz. Atleast three events in stadia across Paris was stopped because Leon Marchand was swimming for gold in the 200m fly (which he then went on to win in the most astonishing manner) and the spectators there were keyed into it on their mobiles.

          This really was the Leon Marchand Games.

          The debut nation golds

          From tiny nations, to much larger, we had six countries win their first ever (individual) Olympic golds and weren't they spectacular: St. Lucia with 100m sprint champion Julien Alfred. Dominica with triple jump champ Thea Lafond (who then gave an excellent introduction to her nation, correcting pronunciations en-route). Guatemala and their trap champ Adriana Ruano. Botswana's Letsile Tebogo, who stunned US' Noah Lyles in the 200m. Big Arshad Nadeem breaking Pakistan's duck as he shattered the Olympic record in an all-time javelin final. Special stuff all around.

          Mijain Lopez cements himself as GOAT, retires

          2008. 2012. 2016. 2021. 2024. Gold across all five editions in one of the most physically demanding: Ain't no one like Mijain Lopez

          The sons of their mothers

          "[Arshad Nadeem] is also my child, everyone goes there after doing a lot of hard work," Saroj Devi, mother of Neeraj Chopra.

          "[Neeraj Chopra] is Arshad's friend, but also his brother. [Neeraj] is also my son," Raziah Parveen, mother of Arshad Nadeem.

          All hail the improbable Arshad Nadeem - the first and maybe last of his kind

          Imane Khelif wins gold, and the podium celebrates it

          It's not often you see the bronze and silver medalists join together to celebrate the triumph of the gold winner, but it's not often you get a champ like Imane Khelif. Attacked after misinformation about her gender spread online, Khelif was under immense mental duress but she brought out her absolute best in the ring.

          As much as the gold, though, she will value how the podium reacted -- as one, they incredibly joined in on Khelif's joyous celebrations.

          Antoine Dupont destruction

          Fiji 7 - 7 France read the score at half time of the men's rugby sevens final. Then the French brought on the best 15s player in the world: Antoine Dupont. Final score? Fiji 7 - 28 France. Dupont had two tries and an assist as he single-handedly demolished the best 7s team on the planet to deliver France's first gold of Paris 2024.

          Manu Bhaker's redemption

          Scapegoated as the face of shooting's failure at Tokyo 2021. Heralded as the face of the Indian campaign in Paris 2024 -- says it all really. She walks away a history maker, the first Indian to win two medals at a single Olympics... and she's just 22.

          Femke Bol Femke-Bols the 4x400m mixed relay

          It should be a verb really. To 'Femke-Bol' is to appear completely non-descript at the start, come out of nowhere towards the end and blow everyone away at the finish line -- like Bol did for the Netherlands in the 4x400m mixed relay, racing from fifth to first in the space of 70m. Relays are not won single-handedly. This one was.

          Mondo Duplantis owns Paris

          Armand Duplantis started jumping in all earnest after everyone else had stopped. First, he went for the Olympic record (6.10m) and then he went for his own world record. After failing the first two times, he soaked in the drama, all eyes on him as he sailed 6.25m over the bar in a manner most cinematic.

          Truly the great track and field star of our times.

          The intensity of Vinesh Phogat's campaign

          Just to be there was a win after her torturous fight against the system, but Vinesh Phogat then went on to beat the unbeatable Yui Susaki (82-0 in international bouts before this) and smash her way to the final. Medal finally in hand, we thought... till she was disqualified for being 100gms overweight the next morning.

          No athlete, certainly no Indian athlete, has ever gone through such a wave of emotions in a single Olympic campaign. And it's not even done yet

          The 100m photofinish

          For the first time in Olympic history, 8 men ran under 10 seconds in wind-legal race. Individually it wasn't the fastest 100m race of all time, but the collective made for one of the tightest. And what a spectacle it was. We'll let this spectacular edit do the rest of our talking for us:

          2024 Olympics: Photo breakdown of Noah Lyles' 100m win

          The iconic Turk

          "No one will remember those who finish second," they say. Well tell that to Yusuf Dikec: he won Turkey's first Olympic shooting medal (a silver), but it's his pose that took over the Games. Just look at this:

          Sifan Hassan, Empress

          Sifan Hassan's Olympic record reads: One bronze in the 1500m (2021), a gold and bronze in the 5,000m (2021, 2024), a gold and a bronze in the 10,000m (2021, 2024), and... a gold on her Olympic marathon debut in Paris (breaking the Olympic record en-route). What a monster of an athlete she is.

          P.S. A special mention to Kinzang Lhamo of Bhutan, who finished dead last (80th), one and a half hours behind Hassan, and almost an hour behind the 79th placed finisher. But she didn't give up at any point, and the crowd were fully invested in her finishing. If that's not the spirit of the Olympics, what is?

          A podium we haven't seen in 11 Games

          The men's 4x100m swimming medley is the USA's race. It's what they do, come to the Games (the past 11 anyway), win gold and go away. Except this time, Pan Zhanle - the fastest swimmer of all time (50m freestyle record holder) - had different plans as he stunned the US and everyone else to lead China to the top of the podium. Iconic.

          The hardest quote of this Games. Or any Games.

          "I felt my baby kick me before I shot this last arrow, and then I shot a 10", Yaylagul Ramazanova from Azerbaijan, who competed in the archery while being six-and-a-half months pregnant.

          She lost in the round-of-32, but does it matter, really? Just read that quote again.