Paris 2024 Olympics

[PleaseBlitz]

I love the Olympics.  2 weeks of watching crazy sports that you only see once every four years and you are automatically assigned a desperate rooting interest by nationality.  

 

This year, the Olympic Games are being held in Paris, which should be a great venue.  They start July 26.  The torch relay has already begun.

 

Paris is going to do things differently

 

Paris is not holding the opening ceremony in a stadium, for the first time that I can remember.  Instead, 10,000 athletes are going to float down the Seine in like 200 boats in front of an estimated 300,000 onlookers.  This is the first post-Covid Olympics, which seems like it's going to be a big theme throughout, so there is going to be a lot more communal activities.  Many of the sports are going to take place along the river, or in outdoor facilities placed right next to landmarks like the Eiffel Tower.  

 

Some events will take place outside of Paris in places like Bordeaux, Lyon and Nice.

 

The surfing competition will take place 10,000 miles from Paris in Tahiti (which is in French Polynesia).  

 

Familiar Names

 

The Olympic trials for most sports are still happening, but we will most likely see household names like Simone Biles, local hero Katie Ledecky and obviously Team USA Basketball is loaded with dudes like LeBron, Steph and Durant.  Ledecky could leave Paris as the most decorated female swimmer of all time, but has actual competition for the first time in years, rather than the past 2 Olympics where she was pretty much racing the clock and history. 

 

Also back are swimmer Lily King (of Lily King Finger Wag fame), Jimmer Fredette (playing 3 on 3 basketball, famous for being named Jimmer), and Alex Morgan (women's soccer).

 

Other Names

 

I'm looking forward to watching the big Team USA Track and Field names, including Sha'carri Richardson (sprinter), Noah Lyles (sprinter) and Ryan Crouser (the greatest shot putter of all time).  Team USA is also going to have a huge swimming contingent and no doubt some darlings will emerge.  Amit Elor is a two-time defending world champion in women's wrestling and ****s people up.  

 

New Sports

 

Break dancing or "breaking" is now .... checks notes, yep, is now an Olympic sport.  

 

 

 

Mascots

 

These are the mascots, which, per my usual, I have done no research on and have named Curie, the anthropomorphic T-Cell that represents our defeat of Covid-19, and Bouillabaisse, also a T-Cell, but who was maimed in the war against Covid and now has one of those bladey-type prosthetics like that guy that who killed his girlfriend.  

 

[FrFan]

34 minutes ago, PleaseBlitz said:

I love the Olympics.  2 weeks of watching crazy sports that you only see once every four years and you are automatically assigned a desperate rooting interest by nationality.  

 

This year, the Olympic Games are being held in Paris, which should be a great venue.  They start July 26.  The torch relay has already begun.

 

Paris is going to do things differently

 

Paris is not holding the opening ceremony in a stadium, for the first time that I can remember.  Instead, 10,000 athletes are going to float down the Seine in like 200 boats in front of an estimated 300,000 onlookers.  This is the first post-Covid Olympics, which seems like it's going to be a big theme throughout, so there is going to be a lot more communal activities.  Many of the sports are going to take place along the river, or in outdoor facilities placed right next to landmarks like the Eiffel Tower.  

 

Some events will take place outside of Paris in places like Bordeaux, Lyon and Nice.

 

The surfing competition will take place 10,000 miles from Paris in Tahiti (which is in French Polynesia).  

 

Familiar Names

 

The Olympic trials for most sports are still happening, but we will most likely see household names like Simone Biles, local hero Katie Ledecky and obviously Team USA Basketball is loaded with dudes like LeBron, Steph and Durant.  Ledecky could leave Paris as the most decorated female swimmer of all time, but has actual competition for the first time in years, rather than the past 2 Olympics where she was pretty much racing the clock and history. 

 

Also back are swimmer Lily King (of Lily King Finger Wag fame), Jimmer Fredette (playing 3 on 3 basketball, famous for being named Jimmer), and Alex Morgan (women's soccer).

 

Other Names

 

I'm looking forward to watching the big Team USA Track and Field names, including Sha'carri Richardson (sprinter), Noah Lyles (sprinter) and Ryan Crouser (the greatest shot putter of all time).  Team USA is also going to have a huge swimming contingent and no doubt some darlings will emerge.  Amit Elor is a two-time defending world champion in women's wrestling and ****s people up.  

 

New Sports

 

Break dancing or "breaking" is now .... checks notes, yep, is now an Olympic sport.  

 

 

 

Mascots

 

These are the mascots, which, per my usual, I have done no research on and have named Curie, the anthropomorphic T-Cell that represents our defeat of Covid-19, and Bouillabaisse, also a T-Cell, but who was maimed in the war against Covid and now has one of those bladey-type prosthetics like that guy that who killed his girlfriend.  

 

Mascot's name is Phryge symbolizing freedom and revolution (phrygian hat).

Actually it's a mess with this outside ceremony security wise (country is on terrorist alert), strikes, 2000+ foreign military reinforcements are coming.

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2023-11-23/olympics-terrorism-cyber-attacks-main-paris-2024-threats-as-security-plan-finalised

Our country is such a mess that 60% of french people are not thrilled about these olympic games.

I hope nothing bad happens. Welcome and good luck to your athletes.

 

 

 

 

Edited May 16 by FrFan

[PleaseBlitz]

19 minutes ago, FrFan said:

Mascot's name is Phryge symbolizing freedom and revolution (phrygian hat).

 

I like mine WAY better. 

[TradeTheBeal!]

Ladies beach volleyball!

[ixcuincle]

USA women soccer look to regain hardware on the international stage during these Olympics. still TBD especially when coach Hayes has not coached a game but the USA group was released earlier and includes Australia, Germany and Zambia. 

it should also be noted primetime in the US will be awful and mostly replays. most of the events will go on during the workday from 6 am or earlier to 5 pm

[The Evil Genius]

From last week. View is from the top of the Eiffel. They were still adding sand to the beach volleyball court.

 

 

 

Also I picked up one of the phryges. They were everywhere. 

 

 

 

 

 

1 hour ago, FrFan said:

Mascot's name is Phryge symbolizing freedom and revolution (phrygian hat).

Actually it's a mess with this outside ceremony security wise (country is on terrorist alert), strikes, 2000+ foreign military reinforcements are coming.

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2023-11-23/olympics-terrorism-cyber-attacks-main-paris-2024-threats-as-security-plan-finalised

Our country is such a mess that 60% of french people are not thrilled about these olympic games.

I hope nothing bad happens. Welcome and good luck to your athletes.

 

 

 

 

 

I was in Paris for a week and didn't see any issues. But I also suspect I didn't see all of it. The only annoyance I had was how ridiculous the process was for the Eiffel, especially for people who had purchased tickets in advance. 2 security checks and took forever to get through the process, even with a reserved time. 

 

Also sun setting past 10pm for the Olympics is going be weird for a lot of people, I think. 

Edited May 16 by The Evil Genius

[Corcaigh]

1 hour ago, PleaseBlitz said:

 

 

Other Names

 

I'm looking forward to watching the big Team USA Track and Field names, including Sha'carri Richardson (sprinter), Noah Lyles (sprinter) and Ryan Crouser (the greatest shot putter of all time). 

Two arguably bigger stars on the USA Track & Field side are Sidney McLaughlin Levrone and Athing Mu. Their preparation since winning Olympic titles has been to do little or no competition, and in their non-favored events. It’s a brave strategy. 

[TradeTheBeal!]

[The Evil Genius]

[LadySkinsFan]

It's great being retired, I can watch anytime. Looking forward to this Olympics, break from Trump's legal issues.

[dfitzo53]

My daughter got very into archery this year, so we're excited for that part.

[SkinInsite]

I look forward to swimming doping beef to develop when unknown Chinese swimmers start shattering records.

[TheGoodBits]

1 hour ago, SkinInsite said:

I look forward to swimming doping beef to develop when unknown Chinese swimmers start shattering records.

Bonus points if we get a “I must have ingested steroids from all the fecal matter in the river” defense. 

[Destino]

Individual break dancing but no dance crew? What were all those stupid movies for then? All that “you got served” bull**** was for nothing. 

[skinsmarydu]

I'm not near as excited about summer as I am winter Olympics.  (Hockey & curling!!!)

But I'll be watching every split-second I can, go Team USA!! 

[LadySkinsFan]

I like the Winter Olympics too. I haven't watched for years either one.

[Destino]

4 hours ago, skinsmarydu said:

I'm not near as excited about summer as I am winter Olympics.  (Hockey & curling!!!)

But I'll be watching every split-second I can, go Team USA!! 

I enjoyed watching 3v3 women’s basketball last time around. They send WNBA players. Men’s 3v3 doesn’t seem to be held in as high a regard by current nba players. Give it a look.

 

[FrFan]

15 hours ago, The Evil Genius said:

From last week. View is from the top of the Eiffel. They were still adding sand to the beach volleyball court.

 

 

 

Also I picked up one of the phryges. They were everywhere.

 

I was in Paris for a week and didn't see any issues. But I also suspect I didn't see all of it. The only annoyance I had was how ridiculous the process was for the Eiffel, especially for people who had purchased tickets in advance. 2 security checks and took forever to get through the process, even with a reserved time. 

 

Also sun setting past 10pm for the Olympics is going be weird for a lot of people, I think. 

You got it, security is going to be a major annoyance, therefore most of the parisians will leave the city, the remaining ones will have to use a governmental QR code to access their job located in olympic zones.

[FrFan]

Olympic news and updates : https://olympics.com/en/paris-2024

 

Latest olympic flame journey update

 

16 hours ago, TradeTheBeal! said:

Ladies beach volleyball!

 

May I introduce you to our team ?

 

[Forehead]

Ah, time to get into my 2-3 weeks mode where America is best and every other country can go pound sand!

 

Also, as far as Olympic memories, I'll always remember the 96 Olympics and Dominique Moceanu being responsible for introducing Charlie Daniels to a new generation.  Because yes, Charlie Daniels had a lot of success in the 70's, but let's be honest, by 1996, unless you were raised in Bumpkinville, Tennessee or had parents really into that music (my parents were John Denver people), no one in their teens/20's knew who the hell Charlie Daniels was.  Charlie Daniels is to Dominque Moceanu like the band Survivor is to the Rocky movie franchise.

[PleaseBlitz]

 

[China]

1 hour ago, PleaseBlitz said:

 

 

Do those fingernails help her cut through the air to run faster?

[Long n Left]

16 minutes ago, China said:

 

Do those fingernails help her cut through the air to run faster?

She can run those babys over my back ANY time!

[DCSaints_fan]

Has anyone ever actively rooted against any athlete from your home country?  

 

The closest one I can think of his Bode Miler in 2006.  I didn't root against him, but I remember getting bombarded with these ads, I think it was Nike or something, how he was like God's gift to skiing.   I just had this image of this board room with all these execs in suits initially cheering him on, then watching him get DQ'd in the Olympics and and starting LMAO.  Like tens of millions spent pumping the guy up and he sucked.  Nothing against the guy personally - and looking it up it seems he suffered a horrible, horrible tragedy no parent should have to go through.

[Forehead]

Ryan Lochte if he ever competes again.