Paris 2024

Now the French have put on a French karaoke. You couldn’t make this up.

Roll on LA. The best opening ceremony of all time.

‘We are the Champions’ sounds better in English than the French translation ‘nous sont les champignons’.

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Really touched by the gold medal ceremony for the women’s marathon. Well done NL! What a great way to receive the gold medal.

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The music accompanying this distopic performance is somewhat off putting, I think.

I like the Ralph Lauren clothes for the US athletes. But 2,5 k each.

If you divide the total population by the number of medals, the UK is ranked 23rd (immediately followed by France at 24th…). If you factor in GDP, the UK is 44th.

As @BruceW says above, it’s not just about the number of medals. It’s the atmosphere, the fun, the joy of those young people. I must say I have found this thread rather parochial, and far too critical at times. Also, if some of you could cut down on the Francophobia…

I live close to one of the Olympic sites, lots of people I know have attended events there, and they’ve been unanimous in praising the behaviour of the crowds, and the organisation. It was a pleasure to see so many foreigners mingling with the locals in the city centre, some of whom had travelled long distances to support their athletes.

I wasn’t too keen on the opening ceremony myself, but then, I don’t think it was aimed at old codgers like us.

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Will Climbing be done against the Hollywood board?

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I greatly admired the way in which the organisers managed to integrate the city of Paris and its numerous landmarks into the various events. It must have been a burden for some locals, but it provided for magnificent visuals. It was a pleasure to watch. Merci beaucoup, Paris!

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Obviously weren’t at the Mountain Biking when Tom Pidcock got jeered at and booed when receiving his Gold medal then.

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Must say the music is getting better now!

It wouldn’t surprise me. 1984 and that jet flight stunned the world in the ceremony. The US know how to entertain.

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Things are never going to be perfect…

I think the Netherlands did extremely well, considering the size of the population.

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Phoenix, pleasant surprise.

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Didn’t recognise the metal guitarist but hello Air :+1:

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Hmmm! I’m not that much older than these musicians! I certainly can play the keys …

If they don’t reveal Daft Punk they’ll be missing a trick.

1996 was universally a poor games for many reasons but surely as such an aficionado of sport you realise past performance is no indication of future success and the reverse is true too.

In any case, this is not the point just now. We should be celebrating the achievements of the athletes at this games not pouring scorn on the occasion or doom and gloom about the next.

You seem to want to extract the joy from the room.

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I liked the shirts. It has a Hawaiian shirt vibe and the emblems on it represent the constituent nations of the GB team.

You seem to want to miss the point.