With the Paris Olympics 50 days away, Kris Shannon counts down by running through 50 questions soon to be answered.
1. Can New Zealand get near the record 20-medal haul from Tokyo? Or the previous mark of 18 set in Rio? Or are we looking more at the bronze-medal position of 13 shared by London and Seoul?
2. Will the Kiwi team be the same without Valerie Adams, given this will be the first Games absent the athletics great since 2004?
3. Are we set for the rare opening ceremony worth watching, avoiding the stadium for a much more intriguing setup on the River Seine?
4. Or will the event have to be further scaled back, after the number of ticketed spectators was cut in half to 300,000 owing to security concerns?
5. Will we all survive a video of a deep-faked Tom Cruise talking shit about the Games, Russia’s key weapon in a cyber-smear campaign being conducted in retaliation for France’s support of Ukraine?
6. Can a mascot still be cute when it’s an anthropomorphic hat?
7. Will Lisa Carrington and Aimee Fisher complete the first Kiwi Olympic 1-2 since Hamish Carter and Bevan Docherty 20 years ago?
8. How many medals will Dame Lisa collect, padding the paddler’s record total currently standing at six?
9. What about Ellesse Andrews — or is that asking too much considering the greater level of competition and capricious nature of her sprint cycling events?
10. Can Aaron Gate continue a golden run that has so far featured four gold medals at the Commonwealth Games and a world championship crown, further atoning for a costly crash three years ago in Tokyo?
11. How can Paris 2024 possibly compete with Paris 1900 considering the absence of ballooning and a swimming obstacle race?
12. And will the shooting events be better or worse without targeting live pigeons this time around?
13. Is Chariots of Fire — based on a couple of British running champions from Paris 1924 — the best Summer Olympics movie? We have consensus on the best Winter Olympics movie, right man?
14. Can either Lewis Clareburt or Erika Fairweather end our 28-year wait for a medal in the pool, or is the Kiwi to do so currently swimming assisted by floaties?
15. Will the pool be clean, given the doubts raised by Wada’s nothing-to-see-here approach to a raft of Chinese doping cases at the 2020/21 Games?
16. After a solitary silver in Tokyo, can yachting justify its funding or will some cash soon be diverted to more watchable sports?
17. Will we be waiting for the women’s sevens side to bring our first gold? And coming off a run of average results, will the men be bumped from the podium?
18. Can Antoine Dupont lead France to home glory after those plans were scuppered at last year’s Rugby World Cup, first by a broken jaw and then by the Springboks?
19. Will the event fix gender equality once and for all since it’s the first Games to feature the same number of male and female athletes?
20. Can anyone beat the American women in basketball (seven consecutive Olympic titles) or water polo (winners of nine straight world events)?
21. Will the latest Dream Team — LeBron, KD, Steph — romp to gold or can one of the Euro superstars dominating the NBA lift their nation to an upset?
22. Given the final of Euro 2024 will light up neighbouring Germany 10 days before kickoff, has there been a less essential men’s football tournament?
23. With new Real Madrid signing Kylian Mbappe gracing only the former, can the Oly Whites upset the hosts or does France boast a few decent under-23 footballers?
24. Who’s coaching the Football Ferns and will they inspire the side to score at least one goal?
25. Is tennis almost as unnecessary as football since it’s being played at Roland Garros, currently hosting another tennis tournament of slightly more import?
26. How will boxing – hosting its medal rounds at Roland Garros – be affected by the clay? Will both athletes fight out of the orange corner?
27. Rounding out events that could be cut, can 3x3 basketball justify its existence? Or shall we go the other direction and include five-a-side football in LA?
28. One addition in Paris – what does breaking look like? Which nations have the best b-boys and b-girls? Can I be a b-boy?
29. Has any venue at any Games been more aesthetically pleasing than the temporary Eiffel Tower Stadium, where beach volleyball will be contested as a certain pointy structure looms over proceedings?
30. On second thought, will it even be the best venue at Paris 2024, with equestrian hosted at the Palace of Versailles?
31. How many gold medals will be awarded in the men’s high jump and can Hamish Kerr grab one?
32. Will Eliza McCartney continue her resurgence and soar to another podium in the pole vault, eight years after reaching her first?
33. Is this the major shot put event in which Jacko Gill surpasses Tom Walsh?
34. Will we see the black singlet prominent once more on the track, given promising results for James Preston (800m), Sam Tanner (1500m) and Geordie Beamish (5000m, steeplechase)?
35. Who will emerge triumphant in the 1500m battle between Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Josh Kerr, the spiciest rivalry at these Games? Unless American Yared Nuguse streaks by both?
36. Can Zoe Hobbs race into the 100m final after her selection snub from Tokyo?
37. Will something called a marathon race walk mixed relay make walking any more interesting?
38. Why are we persisting with the modern pentathlon and isn’t a name change overdue?
39. Can gymnast Simone Biles – still one of the world’s most dominant athletes – add to the four gold medals she won in Rio before being plagued by the twisties in Tokyo?
40. How’s Dong Dong doing? Is Dong Dong enjoying retirement after becoming the first trampolinist to win medals at four Olympics? Does Dylan Schmidt – who joined him on the podium in Tokyo – have any information about Dong Dong?
41. Anyone but the man himself care about IOC president Thomas Bach overseeing his final Games?
42. Will his organisation’s continuing inclusion of Russian and Belarusian athletes create any awkward moments or is the invasion of Ukraine no big deal now there’s an Individual Neutral Athlete designation?
43. What protests will be made over the involvement of Israel, given that nation cannot stop killing civilians from a fellow IOC member?
44. Or as so often happens in sport, will all controversy wash away once the action starts?
45. Why aren’t the climbing disciplines being contested on the various monuments of Paris?
46. How carefully will Hayden Wilde unclip his helmet during the transition from bike to run in the triathlon?
47. With concerns over water quality in the Seine, will that be the only transition in the race?
48. How’s the water 16,000km away in Tahiti, where the surfing events will be held to set an Olympic record for remoteness?
49. Why weren’t the Games called off when organisers unveiled official woke posters, featuring a surrealist cartoon of Paris apparently stripped of symbols of Christianity and French identity?
50. Will the words “woke posters” continue rattling around my brain for the next 50 days?
The kayaking great says her break is an 'opportunity to try something different'