The Olympics Are Over – Some Thoughts

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We were on vacation, so I did not watch as much of the coverage as I would have liked. I tend to gravitate to sports that do not get much coverage outside of the games (Badmitten, Fencing, rowing, etc.). I will present my thoughts in chronological order-mostly.

The Opening Ceremonies

I will give credit to the French for trying something new with the boat parade down the Seine.? Unfortunately, it took entirely too long.? The time lost transferring the athletes from the boats to the stadium for flag-raising was a challenge to sit through.

The torch relay back to the balloon flame was entirely too long.? Having the oldest living French medal winner was a nice touch.? Celine Dion’s performance was remarkable.

I was offended by the parody of the Last Supper.? As Bishop Robert Barron pointed out, they never would have considered mocking Islam in a similar way.? The non-apology made it worse.

France’s 100-year-old Olympic champion Charles Coste participates in torch relay's final leg (Paris 2024)

Celine Dion closes the Olympic Opening Ceremony with a courageous tour de force (NBC Sports)

Bishop Robert Barron of Minnesota criticizes Last Supper parody during opening ceremony of Olympics (Word on Fire)

Day 2

Léon Marchand of France lived up to the hype in his first event. He set an Olympic record to win the 400m individual medley and went on to win four golds.

Day 3

The photo of the century captured Brazil's Gabriel Medina, recording the highest single-wave score in Olympic history.

Conditions were perfect’: how the breathtaking image of Olympic surfer Gabriel Medina was taken (The Guardian)

Day 7

France's Teddy Riner, who opened the Games by lighting the Olympic Torch, became the first man to win four gold medals in judo.

Day 8

Katie Ledecky (800m freestyle) and Vincent Hancock (skeet shooting) became just the sixth and seventh athletes in history to win four gold medals in the same individual event.

Day 10

Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles demonstrated sportsmanship by celebrating Brazil’s Rebecca Andrade’s gold medal.? They both wanted to win, but on that day, Andrade was better.

Day 14

Breaking made its debut.? It must not be a sport because the biggest story was Australia’s Rachael Gunn.? She scored a zero, resulting in outrage from some Australians and a parody by Chloe Fineman.

Cringy moves and a white b-girl’s durag prompt questions about Olympic breaking’s authenticity (AP)

Aussies lash out after learning their tax dollars have been paying for Raygun's bizarre university breakdancing studies: 'This is an absolute disgrace' (Daily Mail)

Chloe Fineman’s Impression Of Olympic Breakdancer’s Routine Is Hilariously Accurate (HuffPost)

Overall

When I first heard that Snoop Dogg would be working the Olympics, my first reaction was, “What are they thinking?”? It turned out to be brilliant. One publication thinks he should work the upcoming convention.

NBC Sent 27 Creators to Paris. It Only Needed Snoop and Olympic Athletes (Wired)

Send Snoop to the Convention: What Political Media Can Learn From the Olympics (Politico)

NBC had a good viewership after two lackluster outings.? My favorite was the AI-generated daily summaries narrated by an AI-generated Al Michales.

1 big thing: Bravo, Paris (Axios)

According to David Epstein, our Olympic dominance may be in jeopardy.

Why America's Olympic Pipeline Might Start Leaking (SubStack)

The next decade will put America in the international sports spotlight.

U.S. puts on its game face ahead of sports "mega decade" (Axios)

Some countries had better than expected results.? The balance of power is shifting.

Paris 2024: These Countries Punched Above Their Weight (Statista)

Then & Now: Olympic Superpowers (Statista)