An American in Paris: Observations from a Memorable Olympic Games

Throughout SportsTravel‘s time in Paris for the Olympic Summer Games, we have reported on behind-the-scenes observations about how the event is organized.
For previous takes:

Eiffel Tower Shines Above All Olympic Venues

Being the Scenes at the Summer Games

Here is our final installment of what we saw, heard and felt during a memorable Olympic Games.

“Imagine” Stops Match Cold

We don’t think we’ve ever seen a stadium’s entertainment crew succeed in calming down tensions in a competition like we did at the gold medal match for beach volleyball. With Brazil up 12–7 in the deciding third set (with 15 points determining the gold medal), the Canadian team got visibly upset with something the Brazil team had done. The teams met under the net, pointing fingers, with Canada’s Brandie Wilkerson particularly unhappy. Referees came to separate the teams. But the stadium’s musical directors took things into their own hands by playing John Lennon’s “Imagine.”

Soon, the arena’s hype man, who always has something to say with his roving microphone, started singing along, causing the entire arena to sing as well. And not just one verse — almost the whole song. It took so long that Wilkerson, who was ready to serve, just started laughing at the absurdity of it all. In the end, the song did just the trick to ease the tensions. (Brazil went on to win…)

No One Celebrates Like Brazil Fans

That Brazil victory was met by considerable support from a large Brazilian contingent, who descended as close to the sand as they could after the three-set victory. And the music crew was ready for them as well, playing about 30 minutes straight of popular Brazilian music, which led to a giant sing along before the medal ceremony, people jumping up and down, waving flags and beginning a celebration that we imagine may still be going on somewhere.

No one celebrates like the Brazilian fans.

“Sweet Caroline” Battles “Jump Around” for Gold

If you read SportsTravel, you know we’re always finding new angles to report about sports events. In a recent piece, our longtime columnist Bob Latham called on the world’s sports bodies to give a rest to “Sweet Caroline,” which has moved far beyond its quaint playing at Fenway Park to become a standard at international events. At the Olympic Games, the song has been played in just about every arena at one point or another.

But right behind it on the podium, making a last-minute surge to the top of the standings, is another arena classic: “Jump Around.” We recently published an episode of the SportsTravel Podcast with House of Pain co-founder Danny Boy O’Connor, who noted with amusement how popular his group’s hip hop classic has become in the sports world. (Don’t have time to listen to the whole episode? Fast forward to the 14:00 mark to hear his thoughts on the song’s ties to sports.)

When we visited the skateboarding venue at Place de La Concorde, sure enough, there it was.

Olympics Jobs You Didn’t Know Existed

If you watch the Olympic Games on television, you’re aware there are plenty of people working in the arena to make the events happen. But you may not be aware of some of the jobs that help support the competition.

At beach volleyball, crews of six rakers come out every few points to smooth the sand in front of the net, and shake any sand off the boundaries that mark the court. They are methodical and captivating as they go about their business of being human sand Zambonis.

And at rhythmic gymnastics, three women come out after each routine of bedazzled athletes to pick up loose Swarovski crystals that fall from their uniforms.

The Wonder of Rhythmic Gymnastics

A word on rhythmic gymnastics. If you ever find yourself at the Olympic Games and want to see an event off the mainstream, the team competition in rhythmic gymnastics is it. You’ve seen rhythmic gymnastics somewhere on television or in photos in your past. It’s the one with the ribbons, balls and rings. But until you see what these athletes do exactly with those ribbons, balls and rings, you can’t appreciate what it is. Five athletes compete for each team, with one round devoted strictly to rings and the other round to balls (two of them) and ribbons (three of them). In that latter round, the five athletes can interchange those five devices in any way they want, and there are a shocking number of ways they can divvy them up.

In the round of rings, you would also be amazed by what happens. In one sequence, athletes go to the four corners and loop the ring around their bent legs, scorpion style. Then they fling the ring to the opposite corner of the mat with a flick of their leg, catching the other flying ring with their feet. In the round of ribbons and balls, the balls are bounced from every part of their body and the ribbons are tossed at impossible angles.

Simply put: The team competition is mesmerizing. We have a whole new respect for this sport.

Get Your Flask Out!

There are all kinds of signs at the Olympic Games. Some of those signs translate better than others. When we saw this one at the entrance to the breaking venue, we wished we knew beforehand that we were allowed to bring our flask.

Chance at the Podium

Very few people in Paris got to ascend the actual Olympic podium as champions. But Olympic spirit was everywhere, including in our hotel lobby where you could at least get to ascend the wooden podium if nothing else.

The Olympics of Scaffolding

One interesting aspect of so many temporary venues at these Olympic Games is the amount of scaffolding used to support those venues. From the fan perspective, the dramatic setting of the Grand Palais — home to fencing and taekwondo — was a wondrous sight.

But before fans got to their seats, this is what it looked like behind the scenes.

And even in convention center spaces, the scaffolding work is remarkable. At the main volleyball venue in a convention center in south Paris, organizers custom fit several stands in what was actually a fairly tight space.

But behind the scenes, it was a lot of walking up and down metal steps to make it happen.

Always Be Branding

At the host city of the Olympic Summer Games, there is always a chance to brand the event. Even on garbage trucks.

Hot Dogs

Paris 2024 reported that more than 400,000 hot dogs were sold at concession stands during the Olympics (and another 100,000 veggie dogs). But with little to no air conditioning on public transportation, we found possibly the hottest dog around on one of our train journeys, tongue fully out in exasperation. We feel ya, buddy.

Stunner of a Venue

We’ll close with this. There was a lot said, including by us, about the temporary stadium built at the Eiffel Tower for the Games. We’ve been at several versions of these kinds of venues, from the beach at Copacabana in Rio to the Horse Guards Parade in London, each of which were memorable. But the venue at the Eiffel Tower was a wonder to behold. That setting, especially at sunset and for night sessions with a light show from the tower itself and colored lighting filling the stands, may well go down as the best that can be done. And it’s a testament to the creativity of Paris 2024 to plan it as they did, knowing the images would go viral around the world — images that no doubt will entice people from around the world to think about visiting Paris, just as we were grateful to be there as well.