So I have been watching more Olympic events in the past few days than I have in many, many years now. From the football/soccer matches to more rugby matches (sevens) than I ever remember having watched before, right to the Opening Ceremonies earlier today.
And it has actually been fun. I had watched plenty of football/soccer matches before, and international teams playing against one another is of particular interest to me. Seeing my two countries - the United States and France - play one another was quite interesting, and relatively rare.
But watching rugby is even more rare for me. And I watched quite a number of games. That included the United States and France. Yes, the met in rugby, as well. Also, France versus Argentina in the semifinal, which France won to advance to the medal round. Also, I saw a very intense and exciting - despite being low-scoring - contest between South Arica and New Zealand, two real powerhouses in the sport. The South Africa defense was amazing, and saved the game for their side, allowing South Africa to get past the very tough New Zealand squad. Also, I watched Fiji survive a scare from Ireland.
Really interesting stuff.
Personally, I felt that the Opening Ceremonies were interesting. Paris tried something different. Instead of relegating the ceremonies to kick off the Olympic Games within a stadium. Instead, the entire city was incorporated in it, which I felt was impressive. Each country was introduced on boats riding along the Seine River as the evening grew darker. On the side, there were other things going on. Musicians performing, acrobatics on bicycles, and a makeshift fashion show (which admittedly was not of particular interest to me).
Then, the countries gathered by the base of the Eiffel Tower, which several times had a spectacular light show. There was a white knight on a horse (all mechanical) which rode across the Seine to get to the temporary stadium which had been constructed near the Eiffel Tower, with the flame finally being brought by someone resembling the mechanical knight on a real horse, leading flagbearers of all of the nations to the stadium.
The Olympic flame was given to Zinedine Zidane, the French star who led France to it's first ever World Cup championship in 1998. He then handed it off to 14-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal of Spain, who then went on a boat with fellow tennis star Serena Williams of the United States, track star Carl Lewis of the United States, and Nadia Comăneci of Romania, who once had a perfect score at the Olympics in gymnastics.
Truly, the message was that this was international.
The Olympic flame was eventually lit on a cauldron that resembled a hot air balloon, which honored the invention of the Montgolfier brothers, who launched the first hot-air balloon ever to fly. They did that in front of King Louis XVI at Versailles in September of 1783, although the balloon also flew over Paris in December of 1783, carrying two French inventors, physicist Jacques Charles and engineer Nicholas-Louis Robert. They flew over the Tuileries by The Louvre and close to the Place de la Concorde, and so this Olympic flame being lit close to the same location was truly symbolic.
Wonderful Opening Ceremonies, in my opinion.
Paris dazzles with a rainy Olympics opening ceremony on the Seine River BY JOHN LEICESTER AND MEGAN JANETSKY, July 26, 2024
https://apnews.com/article/olympics-2024-paris-olympics-france-sabotage-9ed330cb83d89d68092ac5858c0fe590
Olympic Ceremonies on the Seine were a daring feat. Paris stuck the landing. by Claire Parker and Rick Noack July 26, 2024 at 7:23 p.m. EDT:
Paris transformed into a spectacular stage — and demonstrated that bold thinking could bring a shine back
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2024/07/26/olympics-opening-ceremony-2024-paris-seine/
2024 Paris Olympics: Why a hot-air balloon was chosen as the Olympic cauldron for this year's Summer Games by Jordan Pagkalinawan, July 26, 2024:
The cauldron was revealed after a relay involving many of the world's most famous athletes
https://www.cbssports.com/olympics/news/2024-paris-olympics-why-a-hot-air-balloon-was-chosen-as-the-olympic-cauldron-for-this-years-summer-games/
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