The Most Empowering Moments from the Paris Olympics 2024 So Far

Every four years, I find myself putting a dent in my sofa, eyes glued to my television, as I suddenly, inexplicably, become a sports girl. I don’t love watching sports — that is, until the Olympics roll around. Seeing competitors compete in front of the entire world after tirelessly training for four years is uniquely emotional and undeniably gripping. It’s rarely the actual sport that enthrals me — it is the moment after. The moment after the race, the routine, the jump or the dive when the competitor realises that they’ve overcome every adversity — that they’ve done it.

The 2024 Paris Olympics have already been filled with a number of particularly inspiring moments, particularly for the female competitors. After all, this year’s games is being hailed as the first “gender-equal” Olympics, welcoming an equal 50:50 ratio of male and female competitors. There are still a number of sports in which gender parity hasn’t been achieved, with 28 out of 32 sports being fully gender equal.

With more women competing than ever before, there’s never been a better time to celebrate female empowerment in sports. Let’s take a look at how female Olympians are delivering this message of empowerment in Paris this year.

Simone Biles’ triumphant comeback

Simone Biles’ spectacular return to form this year has been one of the main talking points of the games. After shooting to fame with her glorious medal sweep at Rio (she took home four gold medals!), Biles had a disappointing games in 2021 at Tokyo. After getting the “twisties,” a mental block that sometimes affects gymnasts, Biles was forced to withdraw from the competition.

Since then, Biles has fought her way back to form, dealing with her mental health setbacks as detailed in her Netflix documentary Simone Biles Rising. Seeing Biles compete once again was nothing short of breathtaking — and watching her take Team USA to gold in Team Competition was one of the most empowering moments from the Paris Olympics so far.

Al Bello

Nada Hafez competes while 7 months pregnant

Egyptian fencer Nada Hafez competed in her third Olympics this year. Although she beat USA’s Elizabeth Tartakovsky in the first round of the individual sabre competition, she was then beaten by the Republic of Korea’s Jeon Hayoung in the second round.