feather_ghyll (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
feather_ghyll) wrote2024-08-13 03:02 pm
feather_ghyll) wrote2024-08-13 03:02 pm
SPORTS: Paris 2024 closing ceremony and overview
The closing ceremony started with an hour reviewing all that had come before, with Mathew Pinsent bringing a reminder of one of the controversies among the celebration. I appreciated Fred Siriex being unable to help himself from correcting Claire Balding’s French. There was a bit of asking who was there to talk about events/people they didn’t know much about, and really, who knows who will be able to compete in four years’ time, even if they’ve said they’d like to?
It was fun to see the flag bearers and the teams, especially if they chose to wear a costume. It turned out the GB Hawaiian shirts had flowers representing the constituent parts of the country, and I think they might have got off better than people who were wearing trackies. Less fun to watch a lot of athletes tripping at the same spot, although it looked as though nobody got injured. It was all too long, especially the bit where they filled with karaoke before setting up the last medal presentation, which is when I found out that Sifan Hassan had won the women’s marathon, after a ridiculous programme.
The show could have been tighter, but the Golden Voyager’s costume was amazing and their acrobatic/dance prowess, along with the other, less dazzling, voyagers were stupendous, with the bits where they were working together almost more arresting than the business with the rings. The hanging piano and player were also showstoppers. The musical section was…not great, what with the problems with the sound and the athletes swarming the stage, and it mainly being middle-aged men along with a Belgian Taylor Swift clone (wearing a catsuit.)
The official business was what it was, with Andrew Cotter’s droll appreciation of Thomas Bach’s fencing successes and very human amateur interpreting gig (he was pretty decent, really.) The references to the refugee team were timely and a very different slant to the discourse going on in the UK and other parts of the world. Paris 2024 do seem to be trying to do right by the Paralympic Games.
Tom Cruise’s stunt was almost a letdown, because I was expecting something involving the Eiffel Tower, but the filmed sequences were cool, and the LA music scene edged it over the live representation of France’s. (I keep wondering whether it will just be too hot in LA in 2028, but we shall see, and perhaps I will not see because of the time difference.) The French singer Yseult performing ‘My Way’ (in her hat and gloves) was great, though, as were the fireworks.
My Olympics were very selective, I treated the tennis as a rare opportunity to see a tennis tournament, and one where doubles matter because they bring medals. I appreciated getting one more glimpse of Nadal more than Murray. Women’s tennis remained women’s tennis, for all that playing for their country was a part of the mix. The Djokovic vs Alcaraz match featured the highest quality tennis. And as had been the case at Wimbledon in 2012, it was a completely different crowd.
While Biles got the most mentions in the gymnastics, and it was good to see her perform as she did, it was satisfying to see Andrade push her and eventually get rewarded on floor. I understand there’s been more controversy over the individual floor bronze. On the men’s side, Oke came through for Japan and Yulo came through when the focus was on the individuals.
Keeley Hodgkinson will get a lot of attention for being the only Brit to get a gold – rightly so, although I wonder if Mu has been hiding under a rock or will use it as fodder in the future. The relay medals helped the British tally, while I think it’s fair to say that Jamaica and Ethiopia underperformed, while athletes from a big range of countries shone. I’m pleased to hear the next athletics world championship will be in Tokyo. One of the reasons these Olympics sang was that the last ones were overshadowed by Covid, and it wasn’t Tokyo’s fault!
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone excelled, as did Mondo Duplantis (well done him, one of the real stars of field) and Beatrice Chebet. Alfred and Tebogo will be remembered with less of a cloud than Noah Lyles and his bad decisions will be. Letting the winners ring a bell after they’d won was a great addition, (as, apparently, was the champions’ parade, although few cities may be able to match Paris for locations.) What was going on with all the tiaras at the Parc de France, though? Not very Republican, was it?
It was fun to see the flag bearers and the teams, especially if they chose to wear a costume. It turned out the GB Hawaiian shirts had flowers representing the constituent parts of the country, and I think they might have got off better than people who were wearing trackies. Less fun to watch a lot of athletes tripping at the same spot, although it looked as though nobody got injured. It was all too long, especially the bit where they filled with karaoke before setting up the last medal presentation, which is when I found out that Sifan Hassan had won the women’s marathon, after a ridiculous programme.
The show could have been tighter, but the Golden Voyager’s costume was amazing and their acrobatic/dance prowess, along with the other, less dazzling, voyagers were stupendous, with the bits where they were working together almost more arresting than the business with the rings. The hanging piano and player were also showstoppers. The musical section was…not great, what with the problems with the sound and the athletes swarming the stage, and it mainly being middle-aged men along with a Belgian Taylor Swift clone (wearing a catsuit.)
The official business was what it was, with Andrew Cotter’s droll appreciation of Thomas Bach’s fencing successes and very human amateur interpreting gig (he was pretty decent, really.) The references to the refugee team were timely and a very different slant to the discourse going on in the UK and other parts of the world. Paris 2024 do seem to be trying to do right by the Paralympic Games.
Tom Cruise’s stunt was almost a letdown, because I was expecting something involving the Eiffel Tower, but the filmed sequences were cool, and the LA music scene edged it over the live representation of France’s. (I keep wondering whether it will just be too hot in LA in 2028, but we shall see, and perhaps I will not see because of the time difference.) The French singer Yseult performing ‘My Way’ (in her hat and gloves) was great, though, as were the fireworks.
My Olympics were very selective, I treated the tennis as a rare opportunity to see a tennis tournament, and one where doubles matter because they bring medals. I appreciated getting one more glimpse of Nadal more than Murray. Women’s tennis remained women’s tennis, for all that playing for their country was a part of the mix. The Djokovic vs Alcaraz match featured the highest quality tennis. And as had been the case at Wimbledon in 2012, it was a completely different crowd.
While Biles got the most mentions in the gymnastics, and it was good to see her perform as she did, it was satisfying to see Andrade push her and eventually get rewarded on floor. I understand there’s been more controversy over the individual floor bronze. On the men’s side, Oke came through for Japan and Yulo came through when the focus was on the individuals.
Keeley Hodgkinson will get a lot of attention for being the only Brit to get a gold – rightly so, although I wonder if Mu has been hiding under a rock or will use it as fodder in the future. The relay medals helped the British tally, while I think it’s fair to say that Jamaica and Ethiopia underperformed, while athletes from a big range of countries shone. I’m pleased to hear the next athletics world championship will be in Tokyo. One of the reasons these Olympics sang was that the last ones were overshadowed by Covid, and it wasn’t Tokyo’s fault!
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone excelled, as did Mondo Duplantis (well done him, one of the real stars of field) and Beatrice Chebet. Alfred and Tebogo will be remembered with less of a cloud than Noah Lyles and his bad decisions will be. Letting the winners ring a bell after they’d won was a great addition, (as, apparently, was the champions’ parade, although few cities may be able to match Paris for locations.) What was going on with all the tiaras at the Parc de France, though? Not very Republican, was it?