Going for Gold: The Summer Olympics in LEGO
Once again, the festival of sport is upon us. The Summer Olympics are here! In Paris, no less, which hosted the modern Summer Olympics previously in 1900 and 1924. France has hosted three Winter Olympics as well, including the first Winter Olympics in Chamonix in 1924, Grenoble in 1968, and Albertville in 1992.
Source: LA Times
A whole deep-dive article on LEGO sets tied to Paris could easily be created. Everything from UCS Christmas trees, cathedrals, and other Paris-themed sets are ripe for analysis; but so are sports-based sets! Given the global event occurs only every four years, Olympic-themed LEGO builds tend to be sparse. But today we are searching faster, higher and stronger to bring you a glimpse of what is out there when it comes to some of the lesser-known Olympic sports.
To start us off, the French LEGO forum Brick Pirate is having a contest with some excellent entries so far for us to look at. DigiLUG is also having an Olympics themed contest that BrickNerd has highlighted with limited entries so far. I’ve tried to highlight a variety of sports that will be at this year’s games, hopefully with a bit better coverage than prime-time TV!
The Summer 2024 LEGOlympics | Source: Brick Pirate
Hopefully that means that even more Olympic-themed builds are already on their way! So let’s take a look at the sports of the Summer Olympics from the perspective of a minifigure…in alphabetical order, of course, just like the Parade of Nations!
Artistic Swimming
Despite being a swimmer, I’ve never really followed artistic swimming (formerly Synchronized Swimming). It does tend to get written off as a “pretty sport,” which is unfortunate because it takes some serious stamina and skill to do what these swimmers do, all in perfect time with each other. That’s before you start to talk about the breath control that it takes.
Source: LEGO Ideas
I’ve seen a swimming-themed shirt that really paints a picture:
“More kicks than a soccer player,
More flips than a cheerleader,
More yards than a football player
All while holding our breaths!”
In LEGO, Aokiji captures an Artistic Swimming scene nicely, showing off some of the athletic prowess of the swimmers. And those transparent plates are not cheap!
Athletics (Track & Field)
Jerome Barchietto gives us a humorous take on the notoriously difficult relay baton handoff! Who knows how he posed these figures so perfectly, but the humor is delightful.
Source: Instagram
(LEGO really needs to pack the classic pirate hat with hair, don’t they—it could look great!)
Badminton
Badminton is a backyard game—especially in the U.S.—that is often played with an adult beverage in one hand. This leads to confusion from some as to why it is an Olympic sport… until they watch a match.
Source: Flickr
Olympic-level badminton is fast-paced and completely different from what many expect. Lego 7 built a fantastic set of three badminton players for the TTY World Championships in 2022. The dynamic posing of the figures is fantastic. I love the rocket engine pieces as the shuttlecock/birdie as well, though I might be a little biased.
Basketball
Basketball has long been an Olympic sport, and watching the Paralympics version is almost more exciting! For the LEGO MOC, I wanted to highlight an incredible build by Seb71, who built a fantastic basketball player for the Brick Pirate contest.
Source: Flickr
The wheelchair is well constructed, capturing the “light but strong look” of the athletes’ equipment. The rubber bands wrapping around the ball are great parts usage, and those biceps are amazing! Overall, it's a really clean and nice build.
Diving
FoxduFutur is hoping to make a splash in the Brick Pirate contest, which is the opposite of the minifgure in this build! I love how diving is captured from an unexpected angle right after entry. The lighting is just fantastic and the trans clear pieces suspending the diver are well executed and really give the feel of bubbles. Check out the behind-the-scenes to see how it was built and shot!
Source: Flickr
That’s a perfect minifigure head too! Hopefully the diver got full points.
Sport Climbing
This is one of three Brick Pirate LEGO Olympics entries from Gregory Coqulez. I love the feel that the rock face itself is as precariously balanced as the climber!
Source: Flickr
The red, white and blue hand grips are a subtle nod to the French tricolor which is a nice touch.
Surfing
Moving right along to the other side of the world, check out Slopemodified’s monster wave and surfers! Surfing as a sport is the least feasible one to be held in Paris, so in an effort to include France’s overseas territory of Teahupo’o the Olympics head to Tahiti!
Source: Flickr
While simple at first glance, the shaping is well done with decent colors to show the paths of the surfers. And one is cleverly going right though the wave! Cowabunga, dude!
Swimming
A call back to the 2012 London Games, Gabriel built a wonderful swimming pool. The national flags are well-executed and easily identifiable. The rubber bands used for the Olympic rings is a wonderful moment of brilliance!
Source: Flickr
Now for some BrickNerd exclusive content! This is my “I Can’t I Have Swim Practice” vignette that I built for a LUG contest many years ago. Backstroke for the win!
Table Tennis
While not exactly Olympic caliber, I couldn’t resist including legoparkranger’s table tennis game!
Source: Instagram
Enjoy the Games!
No matter what country you are from, the Olympic Games happen at a moment in time when the world comes together to celebrate human achievement. For just a few weeks, people cheer on their countrymen as they try to take the podium for some shiny medals.
Through these builds, I hope you’ve gained an appreciation for some of the lesser-followed sports that the Olympics highlight. I’m excited to see records broken, surprise victories, fantastic physical feats, and the LEGO builds that will be inspired by them!
Are you looking forward to the Summer Olympics? What sport do you enjoy most? Let us know in the comments below!
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