It's hard to believe, but the next Olympic Games are begin this month.
The 2024 Paris Olympics are fast approaching, reintroducing popular sports from previous competitions while establishing new ones.
One such new event is breaking, which is a style of dancing that originated in the Bronx borough of New York in the 1970s.
Along with some of the classic events, it's imperative to understand the rules of the new competitions ahead of the 2024 Games. Here's everything you need to know before Team USA athletes head across the Atlantic this summer:
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What are the rules for breaking at the 2024 Olympics?
In breaking, there will be two main events featuring men and women.
Sixteen B-Boys and 16 B-Girls will go head to head in solo battles using various moves and improvising on the fly to the DJ's music. The breaker with the most votes will move on until winners are named.
What are the disqualification rules for swimming at the 2024 Olympics?
In swimming, there are no "false start" warnings, so any swimmer who dives into the pool before the starting signal is automatically disqualified.
In open water marathons, swimmers can be disqualified for pacing, slipstreaming, walking or jumping or finishing without their transponder, which is a wristband worn to track timing and results.
What are the disqualification rules for track and field at the 2024 Olympics?
In track and field, the first false start of a race results in an automatic disqualification to the offending runner. As the race goes, any runner who strays outside of their assigned lane is subject to disqualification. If a runner is forced to go outside of their lane by another person and they don't gain a material advantage, they will not be disqualified.
Regarding negotiating hurdles, any competitor who trails a foot or leg below the horizontal plane of the top of any hurdle at the instant of clearance will be disqualified.
What are the age limits for the 2024 Olympics?
Several sports don't have an age limit to compete, but some do depending on restrictions set by the individual International Federations (IFs) for the respective competition.
For example, in gymnastics, athletes must turn 16 in the year of the Olympics with no maximum cut-off age. Boxers must be between 18-39 years old but sometimes special permissions may be granted.
Two 12-year-olds have competed in women's table tennis and women's park skateboarding, respectively.
What are the anti-doping rules for the 2024 Olympics?
All competing athletes will be subject to testing by the International Testing Agency, with no advanced notice required.
If an athlete has been to have violated the anti-doping rules, they could face individual consequences such as disqualification of results, such as forfeiture of all medals, diplomas, points and prizes.
In the case of an athlete violating anti-doping rules, the ITA would conduct a target testing of the entire team for the 2024 Games. If one or more athletes committed a violation, the team could face punishments such as a loss of points, disqualification from a competition, event or the entire Olympics or other sanctions as necessary.
See the full handbook on anti-doping at the 2024 Games here.
Why is baseball not in the 2024 Olympics?
Baseball in the Olympics unofficially debuted in 1904 and made its medal debut in 1992. From there, baseball was a medal sport until 2008, when it was dropped from the official program. Baseball made its return in the 2020 Tokyo Games with six teams competing, but it will not be a part of the 2024 program. But it will return in the 2028 Los Angeles Games, along with softball and a number of other sports.
Flag football Olympic rules
Along with baseball, flag football is also coming to the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. Full-contact football was a demonstration sport in the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles but the IOC is yet to adopt an official format for 2028.
Flag football is a non-contact sport where defenders must remove a flag from the offensive player's belt for the play to stop, rather than tackle.
As defined by the International Federation of American Football, standard flag football features 5-on-5 play, a format the IOC is considering. Some key rules from it are that a touchdown is still worth six points, but since there is no kicking involved, teams can go for an extra one point from the five-yard line or two points from the 10-yard line.
Games are 40 minutes long split into two 20-minute halves, with the clock continuously ticking until the two-minute mark of each half, equivalent to a two-minute warning. See the full flag football rules for the Olympics here.
NFL players may be eligible to compete in the 2028 event, with players like Miami Dolphins star Tyreek Hill publicly expressing his interest via social media.
When will the 2024 Olympics be held?
The 2024 Olympics in Paris will run from Friday, July 26, to Sunday, Aug. 11.
