The WASHINGTON POST went with the header, "The 2024 Olympics showed what the world is becoming." In addition to "extraordinary feats on the track and in the pool, or beautiful photos of the Eiffel Tower adorned with the Olympic rings," this Olympiad "should be remembered for the diversity of those who medaled." Five teams won gold, silver or bronze for the first time, "extending a longer-term trend toward a more competitively balanced Olympics." The increasing diversity of countries medaling "mostly reflects the growing number of independent countries" since the dissolution of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. New nations on the podium are also "a reminder that, for all the world’s problems, the past quarter-century has brought a historic decline in poverty and the rise of a 'global middle class.'" Improved economic opportunity "allows more young, talented people a chance to pursue their athletic careers -- even on the world’s biggest sporting stage."
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