10 Best Athletes of the 2024 Paris Olympics

by Julian Spivey

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10. Imane Khelif (Algeria) - Boxing
It would seem unlikely that any athlete had to deal with as much unnecessary, toxic and painful outside-of-the-arena mess at the Paris Games as Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, who from her first bout of the Paris Games was the target of bigoted, misguided and inaccurate vitriol online from people accusing her of being a man competing against women in a fighting sport. Khelif, born a woman and always a woman, overcame the hate to win the gold medal in the women’s welterweight event in Paris. After her fight in the ring ended, Khelif filed a legal complaint in Paris for online harassment. That might be a more challenging fight for her to win, but I hope she does. 

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9. Jessica Fox (Australia) - Canoe/Kayak Slalom
Australia’s Jessica Fox has been one of the best slalom canoeists in the world since she made her Olympic debut at just 18 in the 2012 London Games when she won the silver medal in the kayak slalom event. Fox won the gold medal in the canoe slalom in Tokyo, but the kayak slalom gold had always eluded her – she won bronze at Tokyo. Fox finally got the top spot in the kayak slalom event at the Paris Games and backed it up with her second straight canoe slalom gold. Fox also competed in the first-ever Olympic kayak cross event in Paris, where she didn’t medal, but the talent for the sport runs in the family as her younger sister, Noemie, won gold in that event. 

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8. ​Shinnosuke Oka (Japan) - Gymnastics
Men’s gymnastics doesn’t get as much attention here in the United States Olympics coverage because the men’s team typically isn’t as good as the women’s team. NBC also doesn’t focus much on non-American athletes during its coverage. So, some might not realize how good Japan’s Shinnosuke Oka was at the Paris Games. Oka was the Simone Biles of the men’s gymnastics portion of the Games, winning three gold medals in the team all-around, individual all-around, and the horizontal bar routine. Oka also added a bronze medal in the parallel bars to make him the top men’s gymnast in Paris. 

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7. ​Summer McIntosh (Canada) - Swimming
Canadian swimmer Summer McIntosh put her name at the forefront of Olympians to know now and for the foreseeable future. The 17-year-old won four medals at the Paris Games. McIntosh won gold medals in the women’s 200m butterfly, women’s 200m individual medley, and women’s 400m individual medley. She also added a silver medal in the women’s 400m freestyle. With this much hardware at only 17, it’s reasonable to believe we’re seeing a possible Katie Ledecky-esque run in McIntosh’s future. 

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6. Stephen Curry (USA) - Basketball
Stephen Curry may not have been the best overall player throughout the Olympic men’s basketball tournament – FIBA awarded its tournament MVP to LeBron James, after all – but there’s no doubt the USA men’s basketball team doesn’t win the gold medal without Curry on the team. It was Curry’s debut Olympics in a career that only needed a gold medal for a perfect resume. Curry was the only reason Team USA came out of an incredibly hard-fought semifinal matchup against Serbia, with him leading the team with 36 points, including 9-for-14 from three-point range. Then, with the home country, France, playing a tightly contested gold medal game with Team USA and looking like they might come out on top, Curry helped the game away for the U.S. with a barrage of late three-pointers. Curry scored 24 points in the gold medal game with 8-for-12 beyond the arc. Curry may have taken a few games to heat up in the Olympics, but once he did, nobody was better. 

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5. Torri Huske (USA) - Swimming
The best thing about U.S. Olympic swimmer Torri Huske is you can literally see how much heart and effort she puts into her events after she’s finished. It’s all over her face and heavy breathing, especially in those relay events where the U.S. team needed everything she gave them to come out on top. Huske finished the Paris Games with five medals in total. She won gold in the mixed 4x100m medley relay, women’s 4x100 medley relay and women’s 100m butterfly. She won silver in the women’s 100m freestyle and women’s 4x100m freestyle relay. No female swimmer came out of the Paris Games with more hardware than Huske. 

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4. Gabby Thomas (USA) - Track 
American sprinter Gabby Thomas was the Paris Games' biggest track and field star. Thomas was a perfect three-for-three in her Olympic events in Paris, winning the gold medal in the women’s 200m, the women’s 4x100m relay and the women’s 4x400m relay.     

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3. Katie Ledecky (USA) - Swimming
In her fourth Olympic Games, and only 27 years old, Katie Ledecky is still doing things in the pool that her competitors can’t come within double-digit seconds of in her signature 1500m freestyle and 800m freestyle events, both of which she won gold in at the Paris Games. The two golds upped Ledecky’s career Olympic total to nine. She also added a silver medal at these Games in the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay and a bronze in the women’s 400m freestyle. The greatest female Olympic swimmer in U.S. history now has 14 total medals. 

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2. Leon Marchand (France) - Swimming
Leon Marchand became a national hero of France at the Paris Games, dominating the pool. Marchand, the best swimmer at the 2024 Games, won four gold medals, taking the top spot in the men’s 200m breaststroke, 200m butterfly, 200m medley, and 400m medley. The four gold medals make him the swimmer in Olympic history to win four individual golds in a single Games. Marchand also added a bronze medal in the 4x100m medley. At 22, Marchand should also be a force at the 2028 Games in Los Angeles. 

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1. Simone Biles (USA) - Gymnastics 
Even though Simone Biles had done enough in her gymnastics career to have already sewn up the title as G.O.A.T., she felt she had to redeem herself after the Tokyo 2020 Games. There was little doubt she would do just that. Doing things in her field that no other competitors can, she dominated the women’s gymnastics competition, helping lead Team USA to a gold medal in the team all-around, winning the individual all-around, and following it up with a third gold of the Games in the Vault event. The three golds would increase Biles’ career Olympic total to seven. She would also take the silver medal in the floor routine to bring her total medals number to 11, the most decorated gymnast in U.S. Olympic history and the second most in Olympic gymnastics history behind Larisa Latynina’s 14. 

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Who do you think was the best athlete at the 2024 Paris Olympics?