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Dragon boat racing is a paddling sport where a team paddlers race in a traditional Chinese long boat. Dragon boat racing was featured as a demonstration sport at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, as part of the event's cultural and sporting showcase.

Although there has been no official Olympic demonstration sports since 1996, there are often sporting events held alongside the Olympics to demonstrate the sport to the world. In 2024, the IOC permitted a dragon boat racing demonstration in Vaires-sur-Marne by the International Canoe Federation.

The three-day festival of Dragon Boat was held on the same Olympic course as the Olympic Games canoe and kayak events, the Vaires-sur Marne Nautical Stadium. The races were held from August 8 to 10, 2024.

The event included teams competing in traditional long boats, each powered by a team of paddlers, a drummer, and a steerer. The crews included club members, invited guests and breast cancer survivors. Three dragon boats were used for the competition, the teams of eight raced each other over the distance of 200 meters.

While not part of the official Olympic competition, the inclusion of dragon boat racing provided exposure on an international stage and sparked discussions about its potential as a future Olympic discipline.

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Related Pages

• Dragon Boat Racing has been part of the Asian Games since the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games.
• Dragon Boat is part of the Chengdu 2025 World Games program
• There was another demonstration sport at Paris 2024, the Thai kickboxing sport Muay Thai.
• There was a demonstration of Canadian Canoe at 1924 Olympic Games.
• All about Olympic Demonstration Sports
• About the sport of Dragon Boat Racing
• 2024 Paris Olympics
• Sport in Thailand