Muay Thai, the national sport of Thailand has grown significantly worldwide. Muay Thai was featured as a demonstration event at the Paris 2024 Olympics for the first time in the history of the Olympic Games.
Muay Thai being in the Olympics has long been talked about, it has been close a few times but has never been fully featured. The 2024 Paris Olympics brought a little bit more hope than usual, it was featured in many news outlets.
But after the 2024 Olympic Games, the hype seemed to disappear, it's quite hard to find out what really went on and the coverage soon fizzled out.
Was Muay Thai featured in the Paris Olympics 2024?
Muay Thai was a featured demonstration at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Like we mentioned in the intro, there was a lot of talk in the build up to the games about how Muay Thai would be featured which soon calmed after the games finished.
The featured demonstration saw fighters from 24 countries, giving them the opportunity to showcase the sport to the Olympics for the first time in history.
The current WBC Australian Champion was one of those called up to appear at the demonstration. Speaking with Australian news outlet, Ibrahim Abou-Saleh said;
“I was informed a couple of weeks before that I was short-listed with some other big names in the country to represent Australia.
“But I thought my chances were slim as a week went by and there weren’t any updates.
“Then to my surprise, I got a call from my coach (Andrew Parnham) while I was having breakfast asking if I was interested in eating escargot (snails) for breakfast in a few weeks. I felt so happy and could not wait to tell everyone.”
The event also saw legends such as the UK's very own Imam Barlow and one of the GOATs of the sport, Buakaw Banchamek featuring in a charity event.
Our take on Muay Thai in the Olympics
I personally think having Muay Thai in the Olympics is a great move for the sport. Muay Thai is growing worldwide with big events being hosted around the world.
A number of different Muay Thai fight promotions have been founded over the past few years, seeing international success. But that comes at a cost...
Many Muay Thai traditionalists believe Muay Thai should be fought in it's true form. 5 rounds with 16 Oz gloves. Some new promotions have adapted the sport ever so slightly to accommodate for a global audience.
Newer promotions like ONE Championship showcase 3 round fights in 4 Oz gloves. Whilst this can make for an action packed night of fights, Muay Thai purists say it takes the true art of Muay Thai out of the sport and doesn't display true Muay Thai.
I tend to agree. I'm a Muay Thai traditionalist myself, I love the history of the sport and seeing Muay Thai fought how it was back in the golden age.
For example when Muay Thai was displayed at the Paris 2024 Olympics, headgear was worn, which isn't really seen in Thailand.
Overall I think it's a move in the right direction. If we can display Muay Thai in it's closest true form, gain global popularity, naturally people will start to search deeper into the sport and ultimately find a goldmine of old fights and techniques.
Thailand is very protective of it's national sport, and rightly so. It comes with rich heritage and traditions that can't be found in any other martial arts. In the 2024 Olympic games we was Buakaw display his Wai Kru, so it looks like Muay Thai federations around the world are trying their hardest to keep Muay Thai in it's purest form when showcased on the Olympic stage.
Will Muay Thai be featured in the 2028 Olympic Games?
Both Muay Thai and kickboxing sadly didn't make it into the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Every 4 years, Olympic hosts are given a choice to add provisional sports to the 28 that are already included in every Olympic Games.
Whilst Muay Thai is popular in America, the popularity behind other sports is far superior, such as softball, cricket, squash and other games have been favoured by the International Olympic Committee for the 2028 Olympic Games.
Will Muay Thai ever be in the Olympics?
It's very likely that Muay Thai will be a featured sport in the Olympic Games. It's unlikely to be in the next 2 games, but with popularity growing and with a strong worldwide following, Muay Thai is quickly becoming one of the most watch spectator sports and martial art to train.
We remain hopeful for seeing Muay Thai in the Olympics for 2032, with the games heading to Australia. We saw a lot of Australian Muay Thai fighters in the 2024 Olympic games, with the sport being very popular in Australia, I fail to see how it wouldn't make the cut.
