Less than 100 days remain until the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris, France.  The torch has been lit in the ancient home of the Games in Athens, Greece. 

As the torch works its way to Paris, the athletes continue to work and train in hopes of being one of the thousands of Olympians to participate in the Games.  The International Olympic Committee is expecting more than 10,000 athletes from over 200 different countries to compete in 32 different sporting events including break dancing, basketball, track and field, cycling, swimming, boating events, gymnastics, archery, and wrestling.  Surfing is also one of the sporting events in the Olympics but it will not be held in Paris, but in the South Pacific.

While the sports themselves occasionally change; one thing is for sure The United States, China, and the Soviets top the list when it comes to the medal count.  But the Former Soviet Union is no more; it is now several different countries.  And for the past few Olympics, Russia has been banned from official competition.  Those Russian born competitors who participate in the games must do so under the Olympic flag and their national anthem is not played.

However, there is still some question as to whether any of the Russian athletes will be a part of the 2024 Olympic Games.  Team sport participation is not allowed nor are any athletes who have expressed support for the military, has links to the military, or has spoken out in favour of the war against  the Ukraine.

The IOC expects that there could be 36 to 54 athletes in Paris for the Olympics.

Athletes from Belarus are also restricted and neither the Russians or Belarus athletes will be allowed to participate in the opening ceremonies.

However, Russian President Vladimir Putin opposes the IOC ruling.  He has asked the Russian Olympic Committee and the Sports Ministry to recommend whether their athletes should participate in the Games.

Russian athletes have been banned due to a doping scandal; however, the Russian invasion of Ukraine during the 2022 Winter games in violation of Olympic rule has extended that ban.

While Russia works to sort out its banning issue, the United States has just named its All Star team to compete in Basketball which includes some of the NBA’s top players that includes nearly 200,000 points, 84 All Star game appearances, and 10 Olympic gold medals.

LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Bam Adebayo, Devin Booker, Joel Embiid, Jayson Tatum, Anthony Davis, Jrue Holiday, Tyrese Haliburton, Anthony Edwards and Kawhi Leonard have all been named to the team.

The NBA regular season has just concluded and the playoffs will be completed when the Olympic games begin in late July.