Paris 2024 Olympics: Five unmissable rivalries

With not long to go until the Olympic Games Paris 2024 gets underway, the competition is heating up.

After years of tireless training, it can all come down to one moment. Tempers can flair, contention can spike and athletes will often find themselves up against familiar faces.

From javelin throws to freestyle laps, here are our five unmissable rivalries at Paris 2024.

Kenenisa Bekele will face Eliud Kipchoge for the first time since 2018 (Photo by Mike Owen)

Picture by [email protected]: Kenenisa Bekele v Eliud Kipchoge

Rewind to 2003, where Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele first found himself racing against Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge in the World Athletics Championships 5,000 metres final. Kipchoge won in the final 200m, pushing Bekele into third.

Kipchoge has since won two Olympic marathon golds and was once the marathon world record holder, whilst Bekele has picked up three Olympic golds in the 5,000m and 10,000m.

That day in 2003 kicked off a long-standing rivalry between the pair, but they have not competed against one another since the 2018 London Marathon. Until now.

Having been snubbed for the Olympic Games Rio 2016 and the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, Bekele is set to make his return at Paris 2024 whilst Kipchoge has his eyes on a third marathon gold.

Mutaz Essa Barshim and Gianmarco Tamberi made history by sharing the gold at Tokyo 2020 (Photo by Getty Images)

Picture by 2021 Getty ImagesHigh jump: Gianmarco Tamberi v Mutaz Essa Barsham

History was made in the High Jump at Tokyo 2020 when Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi and Qatar’s Mutaz Essa Barsham opted to share the gold medal after they both jumped 2.37m.

The pair remain inseparable, having drawn the world rankings in 2023. Unsurprisingly, they are both favourites to take gold in Paris - but could this year finally be the one when this rivalry is finally split?

Sha'Carri Richardson will be up against the formidable Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (Photo by Getty Images)

Picture by 2024 Getty ImagesWomen’s 100m: Sha’Carri Richardson v Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce

The showstopper of sprints - and this time, redemption is on the cards.

Team USA’s Sha’Carri Richardson is set to make her Olympic debut and will make her inaugural appearance as a champion already, having taken gold at the World Athletics Championships in 2023.

Standing in between her and a first Olympic gold medal is the world’s most decorated 100m sprinter, Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.

With eight Olympic medals to her name, Fraser-Pryce brings a wealth of experience to the track - but will it be a match for Richardson’s younger hunger?

The USA's Katie Ledecky has reigned supreme in the pool but now has contenders to her throne (Photo by Getty Images)

Picture by 2024 Getty ImagesWomen’s 400m freestyle: Katie Ledecky v Ariarne Titmus v Summer McIntosh

A three-way rivalry takes to the pool in the Women’s 400m freestyle as three of the biggest swimming stars come head to head (to head)!

Team USA’s Katie Ledecky already has six individual Olympic medals to her name but will have to take on Australian Ariarne Titmus and Team Canada’s Summer McIntosh if she is to get her hands on a seventh.

It is Titmus who currently holds the world record but both she and Ledecky will be wary of 17-year-old star-in-the-making McIntosh, who is also a gold-medal contender.

India's Neerja Chopra is eyeing a 90-metre throw and a gold medal (Photo by Getty Images)

Picture by 2023 Getty ImagesMen’s javelin: Neeraj Chopra v Arshad Nadeem

Team India’s Neeraj Chopra is the reigning gold medallist for the men’s javelin and will have to fight off tough competition in Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem if he is to retain it.

Just last year, Chopra beat Nadeem to gold at the World Athletics Championships with an 88.17m throw. However, Chopra is yet to hit the 90m mark, whereas his rival Nadeem did just that at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Paris 2024 gives both men the opportunity to cement themselves as one of the world’s best-ever javelin throwers.

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