Moments of the 2024 Paris Olympics that I want to remember.
Opening Ceremony
We were in London and we were able to watch it live. The organization of the show was different. Instead of hosting the ceremony inside a stadium, France decided to host the ceremony throughout historical sites in the city.
It was a novel approach and it was disjointed. It was disoriented and hard to follow. The ceremony also caused a lot of controversies, particularly the infamous “Last Supper” scene:
It drew “condemnation among people who saw the images as a parody of “The Last Supper,” the New Testament scene depicted in da Vinci’s painting by the same name.” The director Jolly tried to explain that the inspiration came from a story about Dionysus, the Greek god of festivities and wine, who was the father of Sequana, the goddess of the Seine River. Jolly said. “The idea was instead to have a grand pagan festival connected to the gods of Olympus, Olympism.”
The organisers later apologised, but it was too late. Many people found the entire show strange, offensive, and distasteful.
We watched it with Jing, and I thought it was a good idea. We got to talk a little about it. The strong visuals triggered her to ask questions, which I thought was good. It gave us the opportunity to peek into her mind. It was also an opportunity for us to discuss the purpose of art and freedom of expression.
B-Girl From Japan
Breakdancing was a new event in Paris 2024, and Ami Yuasa (湯浅 亜実) from Japan won Gold in the Women’s event. The more trailbreaking athlete was Ayumi Fukushima (福島 あゆみ), also from Japan.
Ayumi is 41 year old and is a Kindergarten teacher. She began breakdancing after teaching her kids everyday before most of her competitors in Paris was even born. She lost in the eighth round, but her story was such a feel good story that it made me feel hopeful that maybe I could still achieve something at my age. haha.
Chromosomes in Women’s Boxing
Two female boxers got a lot of hate because allegedly they were men. JK Rowling made a lot of noise about it. They were Imane Khelif from Algeria and Lin Yu-ting from Taiwan. They both won gold medals in their respective categories.
I think my take is, based on the information we have, the results the International Boxing Association (IBA) used to rule them ineligible in the past was not recognised by the IOC. The IBA tried to clarify the matter but made it even more confusing. If they were permitted to compete at the Olympics, we should not accused them of anything. It is even more unfair to be so harsh on them and to create such an uproar round them. I cannot imagine the emotional toll on them. Plus, at the end of the day, it’s not them. It’s the organisations’ responsibilities to be transparent and fair about these tests. Finally, no one deserves this kind of public ridicule. Oh well, I suppose that’s just now the world works.
One bright spot did come through in this debacle was the love shown by Imane’s competitors during the medal presentation. Chen Nien Chin, the bronze medalist from Taiwan, was very friendly and energetic during the ceremony. She brought so much laughter and excitement to the ceremony. Together with Imane Khelif, Yang Liu (silver medalist from China), and Suwannapheng Janjaem (bronze medalist from Thailand), they took selfies, hugged, laughed, and showcased the beauty of sports most appropriately.
USAB
I watched two games- Serbia vs USA during the semifinals, and France vs USA during the Gold Medal game.
First, Lebron, at 39, was still killing it. He was the MVP. He was doing everything- scoring, defending, leading. I have followed him since he joined the NBA 20+ years ago. It is remarkable to witness his journey. It is simply remarkable that he is still the greatest on the court at his age. It was thrilling to see him play. I feel blessed to have this opportunity in my lifetime to witness this. I must also add, Nike was so visionary. They came out with the slogan “We Are All Witnesses” very early on in LeBron’s career. I never would have imagined how appropriate this slogan turns out to be. Yes, we are all witnesses.
Then there was Bogi and Melo. Bogi was from Serbia and he was making a lot of threes. He started to celebrate this gesture that Carmelo used to make. He was doing it in front of Melo, who was also at the game. It looked as if he was taunting Melo. LeBron appeared to be pissed about his antics, and the internet went after Bogi.
Turns out, Bogi and Melo were buddies. He was doing the gesture out of respect. Thank goodness Melo took to the internet to clear things up. And when Serbia beat Germany to win Bronze, Bogi actually went to the stands and celebrated the moment with his idol, Melo. Oh, how heartwarming.
Of course, Curry’s ridiculous performance in those two games will forever leave a mark in how I will remember him. I really disliked his abilities because he would put daggers after daggers into this opponents with his threes. I so wanted them to lose and he bailed his team out so many times and those were some of the most frustrating moments in my NBA watching life. It felt illegal and unfair.
And it was the same daggers that made me jump out of my seat. You have to give it to him. During the most critical moments in both games, Curry made consecutive threes and took over. He hasn’t been playing well throughout the Olympics but he returned to his form when it mattered the most.
I wasn’t too sure of my feelings though when he went on fire. While it felt amazing to see him get hot, those positive feelings definitely contained a hint of those lingering feeling of frustration from the past. Regardless, those were great basketball games. I am happy.
Finally, it’s WHOOP. During the men’s 4×400 meters relay finals, one of the US runners (eventual winning team of the race) was shown wearing their band at the block. This has to be the best marketing ever. Athletes only wear what they truly need, and the fact that one of these elite athletes decided to use the band to keep track of possibly one of the most important races of his lifetime, speaks so much about the product. Now I want one.
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