Olympic athletes and events that might be under your radar

NPR is in Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics. For more of our coverage from the games head to our latest updates.

PARIS — NPR is at the Olympics covering some of the biggest names in the athletic world. Of course, headliners like Simone Biles or Léon Marchand aren’t the only athletes trying to transcend their sport in the pursuit of gold.

We think the sport that is watching-the-Olympics should look like a well-rounded medley — folding in a variety of disciplines.

That's why we've rounded up some programming in the coming days that might not have made it into your primetime viewing schedule but we think you should check out anyway.

Sifan Hassan goes the distances

The Dutch runner Sifan Hassan will make a historic attempt to run four of the longest distances at the Olympics: the 1500m, the 5000m, the 10,000m and the marathon. Hassan won gold in the 5k and 10k at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, along with a bronze in the 1500m — and in doing so, became the only runner ever to win medals in both middle- and long-distance races at the same Olympics. This time, she's set her sights even higher: Hassan, now 31, has added the marathon to her repertoire.

Simply qualifying to run in all four distances was already a feat. Completing the races will be another: Her slate could potentially entail a race on seven consecutive days. Whether she actually runs them all, or whether she can match her medal count from Tokyo, remains to be seen. Either way, it's incredibly impressive.

Will pole vaulter Armand Duplantis break the world record … again?

The Swedish-American pole vaulter Armand Duplantis won gold at the Tokyo Olympics and is the heavy favorite to repeat this year. But some observers are hoping for more: a new world record. In his young career, the 24-year-old, who goes by Mondo, has already set a new world record eight times.

Whether he can make it happen in the Olympics will depend on many things, including the weather. Earlier this month at the Diamond League, a different track and field competition in Paris, it was a touch too windy for a perfect vault.

"Sometimes it would come really good, the wind. Sometimes it would be completely s***. It was hard to guess where it was going to be and to make those decisions," Duplantis said after the competition. "That's just how it is. It's very difficult and it demands for me to be pretty much perfect to make a world record."

You can watch Duplantis compete in the preliminaries on Aug. 3. The pole vault final is Aug. 5.

Can the U.S. women add another weightlifting gold?

Weightlifting is one of the oldest Olympic sports, but it’s a relatively new field for women athletes, who only started competing at the Olympic level in 2000. That year, at the Sydney Games, an American brought home the gold medal, the first and only time that’s happened for the U.S. But there are big hopes another U.S. weightlifter Olivia Reeves could end that drought.

Reeves, 21, of Chattanooga, Tenn., will make her Olympic debut this year. She is the top-seeded athlete in the 71kg weight class, and has drawn comparisons to Tara Nott-Cunningham, the first U.S. woman to win gold at the Olympics. 

Nott-Cunningham said in an interview that Reeves is “calm and composed,” which will help her remain consistent, despite the excitement of lifting at the Olympics, and that she believed all three women representing the U.S. in weightlifting have the potential to medal. Reeves is joined by Mary Theisen-Lappen, who is also making her Olympic debut, and Jourdan Delacruz, making her second Olympic appearance.

3 on 3 basketball: Newish, fast-paced and half-court

We get it. All eyes are on Steph Curry and LeBron James and their crew marching toward a near-certain American gold medal in basketball.

But there’s a second hoops discipline that debuted in the Olympics three years ago at the Tokyo Summer Games: 3-on-3 basketball.

“It’s a different sport, very fast-paced, half-court continuous play,” said Jimmer Fredette, the former Brigham Young University star from Glens Falls, N.Y., who also played for several NBA teams.

Fredette is now chasing his first Olympic gold medal in a sport he says is more like street ball than 5-on-5 basketball.

“They let you be a little more handsy, they give guys a little leeway,” Fredette said. “It’s like when you’re younger, you can be more physical, you’re not going to call touch fouls.”

The U.S. men lost the 2023 World Cup play to Serbia, so a gold in Paris is anything but certain.

On the women’s team, look forward to seeing a more agile Dearica Hamby, who earned MVP honors at last year’s FIBA AmeriCup, and Rhyne Howard, the No. 1 WNBA draft pick in 2022.

Compared to NBA play, Howard said, 3-on-3 requires you to be in better shape.

“You have to be more mentally and physically prepared,” she said. “For the [shorter] shot clock, you have to be able to make quick decisions while also keeping your mind intact.”

Fencing with a view

Paris is the city of The Three Musketeers and sword fighting competitions for the Summer Games are being held in one of the most fantastic sports venues ever: the soaring Grand Palais.

It turns out Americans are pretty great at fencing disciplines. Lee Kiefer already fought her way to gold medal for the U.S. in women’s individual foil.

“It’s so special to have my family here,” Kiefer said, after her win. “Every day was a rollercoaster, but here we are at the top.”

Matches at the Paris venue — using a variety of swords, the epee, foil and sabre — play out under the soaring glass dome designed for the 1900 Exhibition. White-clad athletes dance as they thrust, slash and parry.

“This is insane,” said Lauren Scruggs, age 21, from the U.S. who claimed silver in the foil competition. “I'm just super grateful to be able to fence in front of such a big crowd and in such a beautiful space.”