This year's Summer Olympics came to a close on Sunday (August 11) in Paris. While cricket was not present at the Games this time around, it was still connected to the world event in ways you may or may not have known.
It was confirmed in late 2023 that cricket would be part of the Olympics in 2028 in Los Angeles, for the first time since 1900. But there were strands of connection to this year's edition through different athletes and events.
Brandon Starc
Australia sent a total of 78 representatives to the 2024 Olympics, across the athletics disciplines. Among them was high jumper Brandon Starc, brother of fast bowler Mitchell who has taken over 650 international wickets and won multiple World Cups with the men's national side.
Mitchell's wife (Brandon's sister-in-law) is also a cricketer – Alyssa Healy has been a stalwart of Australia's women's team for over a decade and has won eight World Cups across formats.
At the Paris Olympics, Brandon narrowly missed out on the men's high jump final, finishing sixth in qualifying group B.
Arshad Nadeem
The men's javelin throw this year saw a historic result, as Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem took home the gold medal, breaking the Olympic record in the process. It was Pakistan's first medal in 32 years at the Games, but things could have been very different.
Like many children across the Indian subcontinent, Nadeem's first introduction to sports was through cricket. He played cricket alongside football and table tennis during his childhood, and harboured ambitions of becoming a full-time cricketer. But after being spotted by coach Rasheed Ahmed Saqi and discussing the matter with his brother Shahid, Nadeem switch to javelin full-time.
As they say, the rest is history.
Rai Benjamin
This year's winner of the men's 400m hurdles competition was USA's Rai Benjamin, who was also part of the gold medal-winning men's 4x400m relay team. He won silver in the 400m hurdles as well as gold in the men's 4x400m relay at the last Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Benjamin's father Winston is a former cricketer, who hails from Antigua and has played 106 international matches for West Indies, including 21 Tests, from 1986 to 1995. A pace bowler, he took 61 Test wickets and 100 ODI wickets. Following his playing career, Winston was also the coach of the Leeward Islands team in first-class cricket.
Rohit Sharma - Man in red hot form 🔥#RohitSharma #India #Cricket #ODIs #T20Is pic.twitter.com/XQDLPpNmnc
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Rajindra Campbell
The bronze medal in the men's shot put event this year went to Jamaica's Rajindra Campbell. Despite Jamaica's success in various sprint events, this was the first medal in the island's history in this particular discipline.
Speaking to Sportstar after securing the medal, Campbell opened up on his unique first name, saying, "It’s a bit uncommon to have a name like Rajindra. It’s mostly Indian-Carribbean people who have that name. But my father was a big fan of this West Indian cricketer of the 1990s of that name (leg-spinner Rajindra Dhanraj). So, that’s what he named me."
Rajindra Dhanraj played just four Tests and six ODIs for West Indies, taking a total of 18 wickets but it appears his legacy will live on, albeit through another sport.
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