By Reuben Abati
The Paris Olympics Games, 26 July – 11 August began on a tentative note, but it has turned out to be a memorable, successful, sensational event, which not only lived up to the billing, but was also a masterpiece showcase of French history, culture and hospitality. The French have every reason to congratulate themselves, history was made, there were emotional moments, records were broken, marriage proposals took place in the city of love and lights in what Thomas Bach, the retiring International Olympic Committee (IOC) Chairman calls “Seine-sational” – in obvious reference to the fact that the Paris Olympics, after 100 years since France last hosted it, began in the open, along the Seine River which courses through Paris.
Athletes from 184 countries marched on the Seine in 90 boats, across 3.7 miles, surrounded by dancers and serenaded by singers (French Pop star Aya Nakamura and legendary Celine Dion). Ahead of the Olympics, France had just concluded its snap parliamentary elections with fears that the febrile politics of the elections could affect the Olympics but that didn’t happen as both the far-right and the far-left in French politics buried their ideologies to receive and host the world. There were also fears about security after the attack on targets across Europe and the rising threat of terrorism and extremism. France deployed 75,000 police officers around Paris, and also got friendly countries to send troops in support. The United Kingdom contributed 50 special constables, Spain sent 142 civil guards, 171 police officers, 10 horses and dogs; the United States sent 94 police officers and the FBI; in total, 40 countries including Qatar, South Korea, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Morocco and 31 European countries contributed a support force of about 2,000 police officers in what was a statement about the value of international security operation. In the end, security did not constitute a problem. It was bon. It was magnifique.
There were a few hitches though. During the opening ceremony, there was an embarrassing mix up with the national anthems of North Korea and South Korea, the drag queen sequence and the parody of Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” which drew the ire of the Catholic Church, Christians and which in other quarters led to death threats. During the group stage men’s basketball game between South Sudan and Puerto Rico the wrong national anthem was played for South Sudan, a gaffe that the South Sudanese did not find funny at all. At the athletics Olympics village, there were complaints about substandard food, hot accommodation and cardboard beds.
Team Great Britain ended up hiring a chef, many of the American superstars relocated to hotels. Transportation to the event venues was also inconvenient for the most part. River Seine gave the organizers grave concerns, as the heavy rain showers on opening day further polluted the water, raising the level of E-coli, making it difficult for the river to be used for the men’s and women’s triathlon. The planned games on River Seine were rescheduled, all the same, three German athletes reported that they had been infected, athletes from Belgium and Switzerland also fell ill.
But we witnessed, nonetheless, the triumph of the human spirit, the defining characteristic of the Olympics since its Athenian beginnings, and its re-invention in modern times in 1896 by Frenchman Pierre de Coubertin. Memories of the Paris Olympics will linger and endure in terms of the drama; the colourful, history-laden displays; and the use of the cityscape of France, with the Eiffel Tower looming large in the background. Andy Murray, the British tennis star, announced his retirement during the Olympics. Novak Djokovic, won the men’s tennis singles final, a gold medal at last at the Olympics, practically fulfilling a dream.
Simone Biles who had to withdraw from the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, due to a condition called “twisties” made a remarkable comeback, to win three gold medals and a silver in gymnastics and in the process, became the most decorated gymnast in American history. Suni Lee, a former Olympic all-round champion and US gymnast was diagnosed with an incurable kidney disease in 2023. In Paris, she won gold at the all-round team finals, a bronze in uneven bars and yet another bronze at the all-round competition. She did all that while battling two types of incurable kidney diseases.
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