From fashion to family – there’s more to Paris 2024 than medals alone
For Karsten Warholm, the reigning Olympic 400m hurdles champion, the excitement revolves around what will happen on the track.
“What am I most looking forward to?” he asked rhetorically. “Running!”
“Hopefully, if I don’t get a heart attack running from the hurdles, I will have plenty of time to see stuff later in my life. But for now, I’m at work. You know, I have one purpose,” he said.
Warholm was fresh off winning men’s 400m hurdles gold at the European Athletics Championships when he spoke to Olympics.com. And while the Norwegian is fully focused on the competition in Paris, the Netherlands’ Femke Bol revealed having her loved ones cheering on would be one the highlights of her Games.
“I’m looking forward to it completely,” she told us. “I went to Tokyo but it was during COVID and it was completely different. I have a lot of family and friends coming [to Paris], I’m really looking forward to being there.”
Jesse Grupper, the reigning Pan American sport climbing champion, echoed Bol’s sentiments.
“I’m really excited to have my family and friends and parents with me, and I’m really excited to just get to explore the city, walk around, get to see some art and museums. It’ll be a really special time,” he said.
Grupper’s sport made its Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020 and this year the sport of breaking has been added to the Olympic roster. Team USA’s Jeffrey Louis (AKA B-Boy Jeffro) will be one of the 32 groundbreaking athletes competing in breaking at Paris 2024.
“I’m really interested to see everything Paris has to offer,” he said. “You know, usually when I’m done competing I want to explore and look at the structures and be inspired by fashion.
“I’m literally a blend of what’s around me and then with my own creative style and influence…[my team and I] just inspire and create,” he added. “So, I’m just looking forward to embodying everything and just embracing everything Paris has.”
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