With Paris Olympics one year out, Suni Lee, Regan Smith, Gable Steveson, others take aim

Let the countdown begin. One year from now, Paris will join London as the second city to host three Olympics, staging the 2024 Summer Games from July 26 to Aug. 11.

A hundred years after its last Olympics, the City of Light promises a Games full of Parisian glamour and history. Many venues are being constructed at world-famous landmarks — the Eiffel Tower, Versailles, the Grand Palais — and the Opening Ceremony will float down the River Seine. There will be touches of modernity, too, including the debut of break dancing as an Olympic sport.

If it seems like these Olympics are coming up fast, you're right. The 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo were postponed to 2021 because of the pandemic, cutting the countdown to Paris to three years instead of the usual four. The shorter wait has many Tokyo Olympians eyeing another shot at the Games, including Minnesota medalists Suni Lee, Gable Steveson and Regan Smith.

With the pandemic in decline, these Games also are expected to mark a return to normal Olympic fanfare and frivolity. For the first time since 2018, international visitors will be allowed to attend — giving even more cause for celebration.

JUST THE FACTS

Dates: July 26-Aug. 11, 2024

Athletes: 10,500, from more than 200 national Olympic committees

Sports: 32, with 139 total events

Time difference: Seven hours ahead of Central Daylight Time

What's new, and what's out: Break dancing — officially called "breaking'' — will join the program for the Paris Games, with divisions for men and women. Skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing, added for the Tokyo Games, will stick around. Karate, baseball and softball were dropped.

THE ROAD TO PARIS

Olympic qualifying already is underway. At world championships and other major events, athletes are securing Paris Games berths for their countries, with individual athletes to be selected later.

The U.S. teams for many sports are determined through Olympic trials, and Minneapolis will host one of the biggest. The U.S. Olympic team trials for gymnastics will be next June 27-30 at Target Center. Following two days of competition for men and two for women, USA Gymnastics will name the five-member Olympic roster for each gender.

Minneapolis also will host the final selection phase for the U.S. Olympic teams in rhythmic gymnastics and trampoline. Those rosters will be announced at the conclusion of the USA Gymnastics Championships, held June 22-26 at the Minneapolis Convention Center.

Other U.S. Olympic trials include swimming (June 15-23, Indianapolis), track and field (to be announced), wrestling (April 19-20, State College, Pa.) and diving (June 16-23, Knoxville, Tenn.). Athletes in several other sports will be chosen by standards such as world rankings and point standings or by selection committees.

MANY HAPPY RETURNS

Women's gymnastics fans, rejoice. The allure of competing in Paris has led the past three Olympic all-around champions — St. Paul native Suni Lee, Simone Biles and Gabby Douglas — to set their sights on the 2024 Games, pushing a star-studded sport into new territory.

Lee, 20, has not competed since February, cutting short her second season at Auburn because of a kidney ailment. She's been training at her longtime gym, Midwest Gymnastics in Little Canada, with coach Jess Graba. Her goal is to compete at the U.S. Classic on Aug. 4-5 near Chicago, followed by the U.S. championships Aug. 24-27 and the selection camp for October's world championships.

Biles, 26, also will be at the U.S. Classic, competing for the first time since the Tokyo Games. Douglas, 27, has been out of the sport for seven years but recently announced her return to competition.

Only five women will make the Olympic team, and the competition is deep. Other hopefuls include Tokyo Olympic medalists Jordan Chiles and Jade Carey, world champions Shilese Jones and Skye Blakely and reigning U.S. all-around champ Konnor McClain.

MORE ENCORES

Swimmer Regan Smith, of Lakeville, and former Gophers wrestler Gable Steveson, of Apple Valley, also are eyeing a return to the Olympic stage.

Since winning two silvers and a bronze at the Tokyo Games, Smith has remained one of the fastest swimmers in America, winning a world championship last year in the 100-meter backstroke. She finished second in that event Tuesday at the world aquatics championships and will contend for medals in more races this week.

Steveson retired from the mat in March 2022, then made a surprise comeback at the U.S. Open in April. He outscored opponents 44-1 to win the tournament and later made the U.S. team for September's world championships. Though the Tokyo Olympics freestyle heavyweight champion was signed by WWE, he's not scheduled to wrestle his first pro match until Sunday; in recent months, he's declared his intention to compete at the Paris Games and has hinted at a return to college wrestling.

FRENCH FLAIR

Paris hosted the Olympics in 1900 and 1924, when the modern Games were still young. Its third time as host will be characterized by forward thinking, though the past will also play a part.

For the first time, the Opening Ceremony will not be held in a stadium. Athletes and performers will sail down the Seine in a flotilla of more than 100 boats, with hundreds of thousands of spectators expected to line the 3.7-mile route.

As the Olympics strive for better sustainability, 95% of Paris Games venues will be temporary or at existing sites. Some of those will be stunners. Beach volleyball will be played next to the Eiffel Tower. Place de la Concorde, where the French Revolution unfolded, will host skateboarding, BMX freestyle, breaking and three-on-three basketball. Equestrian and modern pentathlon will be held amid the gardens of Versailles.

While there has been civil unrest in France, leading to security concerns, a recent survey showed 72% of its people support the Olympics. There's high demand for tickets, too: 6.8 million already have been sold.

OTHER MINNESOTA HOPEFULS

Plenty of athletes with Minnesota ties — some familiar faces and some new ones — are in the hunt for the Paris Games. Some of the top contenders:

Three-time Olympian Alise Post Willoughby (St. Cloud) remains among the top BMX racers in the nation, winning her 11th national title in May. Cyclist Peter Moore (St. Paul) is on the elite men's national team and raced at the 2022 world championships. Greco-Roman wrestler Pat Smith (Chaska), a former Gopher, will compete at the world championships for the third time in September.

Three Minnesotans earned spots at the track and field world championships in August with their performances at the U.S. championships. Maggie Ewen (St. Francis) won the women's shot put, Tokyo Olympian Joe Klecker (Minnetonka) was second in the men's 10,000-meter and Payton Otterdahl (Rosemount) — another Tokyo Olympian — placed third in the men's shot put. Emma Bates (Elk River) was fifth in the Boston Marathon in April, running the second-fastest time by an American woman in that race's history.

Former Gophers diver Sarah Bacon recently finished fourth in 3-meter synchronized and 11th in 3-meter individual at the world championships. Another Gophers alum, gymnast Shane Wiskus (Spring Park), competed at the Tokyo Games and remains on the men's national team. Twin City Twisters gymnasts Elle Mueller (Ham Lake) and Lexi Zeiss are on the women's national team, while rhythmic gymnast Erica Foster (Chanhassen) is a six-time medalist at the U.S. championships.

The USA Volleyball national team pool includes Tokyo Olympian Jordan Thompson (Edina) and two former Gophers, Hannah Tapp (Stewartville) and Sarah Wilhite Parsons (Eden Prairie). Lynx forward Napheesa Collier won a gold medal at the Tokyo Games and played in the WNBA All-Star Game this season. Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards is on the U.S. roster for the upcoming FIBA World Cup.

Sailor Lara Dallman-Weiss, who raced at the Tokyo Games, recently competed at a test event for the Paris Games. Two other Tokyo Olympians, climber Kyra Condie (Shoreview) and shooter Patrick Sunderman (Farmington), remain on their national teams. Rower Molly Bruggeman, a former Gophers assistant coach, will race in this year's world championships.