After 2020 and a pandemic-delayed Games in Tokyo, the world was desperate to be reminded of what makes the Summer Olympics an international treat every four years.

It’s not just the meeting of athletes across the world. It’s the close finishes, stirred-up drama and compelling storylines that keep fans invested, entertained and coming back for more.

Paris did just that and more this summer after two weeks of compelling competition that will without a doubt be present in 2028 with new and old faces.

Now that the Paris Games are over, there is no better time to reflect on what we witnessed that reminded us of what makes the Games so special.

Breakthrough events

Paris welcomed the debut of breaking (i.e. breakdancing) and kayak crossing — two things that certainly wouldn’t be thought of as Olympic sports to start but brought a fresh flavor to the games.

Breaking shed some light on The Bronx, where the dancing movement originated, and American Victor Montalvo was one of the first to take a medal — a bronze — in the event.

Kayak crossing, which was thought to be similar to ski and snowboard crossing, surpassed expectations. Instead of falls being a big deal along the trail, kayak crossing involves an intense version of bumper cars — fronts of kayaks hitting athletes in the chest as they race along a rushing river around pillars.

It was also the second Olympics featuring surfing, but it was one with far greater competition and more danger — that of giant waves and body-bruising shallows — than ever from Tahiti.

Drama before and after the final whistle

The Olympics always brings a niche array of drama, and this year brought a wide array, from the competitiveness over a chocolate muffin at the Olympic cafeteria to concerns over horse treatment to a heartbreaking gymnastics controversy.

While the on-site bakery earned praise for a chocolate muffin that went viral thanks to Norwegian swimmer Henrik Christiansen, more serious issues were not so well-received.

American Marcus Orlob was disqualified from Olympic horse dressage just after his routine started because judges spotted blood trickling down the horse’s hind leg.

The incident drew added attention after decorated dressage rider Charlotte Dujardin of Great Britain came under scrutiny before the Games were starting after video emerged of her striking a horse’s legs multiple times during a past training session.

Dujardin later apologized and withdrew from the Olympics.

Then there is gymnastics, which currently finds itself in an uproar over Jordan Chiles having been asked to return her bronze medal from the women’s floor exercise final after the Court of Arbitration for Sport voided a scoring appeal made by Team USA coach Cecile Landi that saw Chiles in third place over two other gymnasts. USA Gymnastics is appealing the decision, claiming it has evidence Landi lodged the original appeal in the time allowed. Stay tuned.

Close finishes

An obvious one, but who doesn’t love a close race?

Noah Lyles came away with a win that was pretty much as close as it gets — .005 seconds — between gold and silver in the men’s 100-meter sprint for the title of fastest man in the world.

Another for the men came in the 4×400-meter relay when the team of Christopher Bailey, Vernon Norwood, Bryce Deadmon and Rai Benjamin toughed out Botswana by a mere one-tenth of a second.

Benjamin, a native of Mount Vernon, N.Y., managed to put up a 43.18-second split in the anchor leg to keep Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo at bay, although he ran the fastest leg of the relay at 43.04.

Ilona Maher and USA women’s rugby almost left the Olympics without the program’s first medal once again before staging one of the more incredible comebacks of the Games.

In their bronze medal match against Australia, the U.S. was down 12-7 with time running out before Alex Sedrick made a breakaway from a tackle to sprint down the field for a stunning try to tie the game. Afterwards, the U.S. easily kicked the game-winning conversion for its first-ever medal, leaving Australia to question what happened for the next four years.

The Seine River, of course, brought its own drama with athletes falling to sickness, but those who did race didn’t finish in a landslide win.

The second ever edition of the mixed medley triathlon ended in a three-way sprint for the podium spots. Germany came out on top, finishing just .01 seconds ahead of the U.S. (silver) and Great Britain (bronze).

And we’d be remiss not to mention the gold medal run by the new-look U.S. women’s soccer team, winning its final three matches by 1-0 scores and navigating extra time victories in both the quarterfinals and semifinals.

Challenged dominance

USA basketball — both men and women — were given runs for their money in Paris with close-call games that gave an extra spice to the Olympics, especially with both finals featuring the home country of France.

The men’s team, which was built up with veterans of whom we are unlikely to see again on the Olympic stage (LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry), almost didn’t make it to the gold medal game before orchestrating a fourth-quarter comeback over Serbia in the semifinals with late game efforts from Curry, Joel Embiid, Durant and James.

Curry put on another show in the gold medal final to turn away Victor Wembanyama and France and earn the men their fifth consecutive gold medal.

The U.S. women also were challenged by a tougher-than-expected French team that lost by a single point, 67-66, in the gold medal finale, extending Team USA’s Olympic win streak to 61 games. Only two other games during the streak were decided by 10 points or less.

It was great to see the teams struggle for gold, making for well-earned medals and entertaining games from the best of the best, as the Olympics is designed to showcase.

Off the field entertainment

Just like any event, the atmosphere is a huge part of the experience. It’s safe to say that the NBC broadcast delivered with its cast of characters who have only grown their presence in each games.

Former Olympian Laurie Hernandez gave insightful commentary on gymnastics. Rowdy Gaines delivered with his exciting energy on the mic at the Olympic pool. And Snoop Dogg was all over Paris, interacting with horses with Martha Stewart, dancing with the U.S. women gymnasts, sporting a Lyles sweatshirt, and serving as Team USA’s unofficial mascot.

Today’s back page

Too much football?

The Giants could find themselves in some early-season trouble without Malik Nabers after the star rookie wideout went down with an ankle injury during Sunday’s practice.

Trainers took a look at Nabers’ left ankle after he went to the ground along the sideline. Nabers didn’t return for the last 20 minutes of practice.

It’s believed to be a minor ankle sprain, The Post’s Ryan Dunleavy reported, however the recovery time for a minor and high-ankle sprain are very different. Further tests will reveal what the Giants are looking at as the season approaches.

The Giants had planned for Nabers and other healthy offensive starters to play with Daniel Jones against the Texans in next Saturday’s preseason game.

However, this scare may derail those plans, and it should. Preseason games are meaningless to the league since most of the starters sit for this very reason and will wait the three games until the regular season starts.

As the NFL contemplates adding an 18th game to the calendar, it would be worth cutting down the preseason to two games. Then, perhaps fans might actually see some starters as they try to get in rhythm for the games that do count.

However it shakes out, it’s hard to imagine the schedule not eventually adding up to at least a 20-game slate counting preseason and regular season games.

The argument of more money from NFL owners will be a hard one to kick to the curb.

No league is likely to give up revenue by cutting back on a schedule that currently has 20 dates of ticket sales, parking, concessions, food and merch sales, etc.

The scoreboard

⚾ It wasn’t pretty, but the Yankees survived a near-implosion by the bullpen thanks to four homers to squeeze past the Rangers, 8-7.

⚾ The Mets have had better weekends than the one they just completed in Seattle, where they were outscored 22-1 and lost three straight, the last a 12-1 drubbing on Sunday night.

Olympic athletes to watch in 2028

The Olympics showcased several faces and names that will be on the radar over the next four years in the lead-up to Los Angeles in 2028.

One of those came from the pool and posed a big challenge to the U.S., which saw its veterans uncharacteristically struggle to compete in their individual specialties.

Canada’s Summer McIntosh at just 17-years-old, stole the show with three gold medals and one silver — all of which were individual wins. She became the first Canadian swimmer to ever take home three golds at the same Olympics.

She is a talent that could prove to be in a class of her own in 2028.

Grant Fisher brought the U.S. back into the conversation of international distance running in the men’s 5000-meter race.

The 27-year-old Michigan native made an impressive final push to earn the bronze medal after holding seventh place in the final turn of the race. He placed just behind favorite Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway (gold) and Kenya’s Ronald Kwemoi (silver).

With the win and another bronze in the 10,000-meter race, Fisher became the first-ever American man to win medals in both races at a single Olympic games.

Zheng Haohao, an 11-year-old skateboarder who was the youngest athlete to ever represent China, caught many eyes in Paris as she competed against her own idols, including Great Britain’s Sky Brown, Japan’s Hiraki Kokona and Australia’s Arisa Trew, in her Olympic debut.

She showed potential in the women’s park preliminary contest with a run worth 63.19 points, but it wasn’t enough to push her through to the final. However, time is on Haohao’s side.

In the semifinal game for women’s basketball in Paris, Jackie Young showed that the program is in good hands.

She is one of the best guards in the WNBA and is a star member of the two-time defending champion Aces. However, she came into her own in Paris.

In her second Olympic start, in the semifinal game against Australia, she scored 14 points in less than 20 minutes, and added five assists and grabbed two steals to help the team punch its ticket to the gold medal game.

She and Sabrina Ionescu are the youngest members of the current team, and will likely be in their veteran era to lead the next generation of Olympians in 2028.

Diana Taurasi, 42, isn’t expected to return to the Olympic stage, and outside of the 11-time All-Star, four players on the roster will be 35 or older — Alyssa Thomas, Jewell Loyd, Brittney Griner and Chelsea Gray.

Kahleah Copper, Kelsey Plum and Breanna Stewart will all be 33 in 2028 while Napheesa Collier will be 31 years old, and A’ja Wilson will turn 32 years old.

In four years, it will also be interesting to see if Carlos Alcaraz will capture a gold medal, which he missed out on in Paris at the hands of Novak Djokovic.

By 2028, Djokovic, 37, may not still be on the tennis tour. However, fellow young stars Jannik Sinner, Ben Shelton, and Matteo Arnaldi could pose a threat to the 21-year-old Spanish star four years from now in L.A..

Alcaraz holds four Grand Slam titles across all three surface disciplines and will be after the gold again in Los Angeles to add to his résumé.

What we’re reading 👀

⚾ No team in the majors is on pace for 100 wins. In other words, there are no perfect teams. The Yankees are no exception, but Joel Sherman sees some reasons to believe they are fixing a few of their biggest flaws.

🏈 The Giants are facing a lot of questions this season, but one of them isn’t linebacker Bobby Okereke, writes Mark Cannizzaro.

🏈 Defensive end Will McDonald knows what his assignment is after a lackluster first season with the Jets: “Get more sacks.”

⚾ Both the Mets and Yankees may get some help soon. Starling Marte, who’s currently rehabbing in Double-A, may return to the Mets on their next homestand. Meanwhile, Anthony Rizzo isn’t quite so close for the Yankees but he is hitting and taking grounders and might see himself back in the lineup in a few weeks.