11 August - Day 16 - Paris Summer Olympic Games - Last day

 

Well, it is the last day of the Summer Olympics.  Paris did a great job and I'm sad it is over.  I have to say that my answer to the question, "What is your favorite event?", has always been a tough one to answer.  Up until now, I've answered Modern Pentathlon.  While I still like the event, I fell in love with it in it's classic form where athletes shot real pistols, then went on to fence all the other competitors to one touch, then did a 200M swim, then had to take a horse they have only known for 20 minutes through a small jumping course, and then finally a 5 km run.  You see this was meant to be a soldiers test.  

Picture a soldier behind enemy lines.  He has to get a message through to his allies.  He may have to shoot at the enemy and when he runs out of bullets, may need to use his sword to fight his way out.  He may need to cross a body of water and if he is lucky, he may find a horse to ride through the countryside.  Otherwise, he may have to run.  That's where this event comes from.  The story of it makes the event more compelling, at least to me.  This is the event that General Patton competed in during Jim Thorpe's era.  

The event keeps changing though and my recorded coverage was spread over 4 channels with very limited introduction to what you were seeing.  I haven't had a chance to watch it on Peacock yet and I plan to this week.  I know, though, that they are removing the horse jumping portion from this event in concern for the treatment of the animals.  They are supposedly replacing it with an obstacle course portion, like American Ninja Warrior.  We'll have to see.  I miss the event that I loved so much though.

Swimming is my #1 followed closely by Gymnastics but the event that I watch the most of and just couldn't fast forward through was Volleyball.  Beach Volleyball is great but Indoor Volleyball is so much fun to watch!  Team USA has some wonderful teams and they have been together for a really long time.  Many of them will most likely retire before 2028 but this is another thing we will have to watch.  Playing in front of a home crowd is very alluring!  So...Volleyball is my new answer....for now.

There were some final events contested today.  Here is what happened:

Women's Volleyball:  My heart broke for the women of Team USA today as they fought hard but were thoroughly out-played by Team Italy who won in three sets.  We were the defending Gold medalists but in this tourney, Italy didn't lose a match.  They were hungry and it showed.  Team Italy wins Gold. Team USA wins Silver.  Team Brazil wins the Bronze.

Women's Basketball:  Team USA is VERY lucky the last shot of the game was inside the 3 point line or else the ending may have been different!  Team USA wins Gold over Team France by 1 point!  Oh...and Australia beat Team Belgium for the Bronze.

Men's Water Polo:  OMG!  Team USA did it!  They won the Bronze medal match against Team Hungary in a final shoot-out!  Well done guys!

Indoor Cycling - Women's Omnium -  I don't pretend to understand this event.  There are lots of people all on the track at the same time and it's like a pick-up game as to who races when.  Some day it will make sense.  The only thing I do know is that Team USA won Gold for the second Olympics in this event, which I guess is a really big deal.  I think it is wonderful and I'm so proud of Team USA for pulling this off.  Team Poland got the Silver and Team New Zealand got the Bronze.

Women's Marathon:  In the first Olympics with complete gender parity, I found it appropriate that the WOMEN'S Marathon close out the games.  Traditionally, the Men's Marathon is the last event with the medals given at closing ceremonies.  It was nice to see the change!  The Netherlands won the Gold.  Ethiopia won the Silver.  Kenya won the Bronze.

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Closing Ceremonies....It was nice to have Terry Gannon, Tara Lapinski, and Johnny Weir back to commentate the ceremonies!  Mike Tireco & Jimmy Fallon took over midway through, which I can understand since Fallon knows the bands but frankly, Tireco sucks at the opening and closing ceremony commentation.  He doesn't tell you anything. Terry, Tara, and Johnny do their homework and tell you what is trying to be depicted, what the outfits are made of, where to look, who the people performing are, and such.  I wouldn't have had any clue who that Golden Bug Guy was if it wasn't for them!  I thought he looked a lot like the bad guy from the first Ant Man movie!  The French put on quite a show and it was beautiful but very artsy and if you didn't have a little context, the whole presentation would have been nonsensical.  I liked the shadows in the stands and the raising of the rings.  Leon Marchand bringing the flame from the Balloon Cauldron was a nice touch.  The musical groups were really good!  

And then Tom Cruise jumped off the top of the stadium and the LA 2028 portion started.  It was very Hollywood and I really do hope they make the rings part of the Hollywood sign in 4 years!  I hope that some Hollywood money will also help with the cost of the games since I hear that California is having some troubles right now.  

LA 2028 will be a sight to see!  I wonder if we will see Simone Biles, Katie Ledecky, or even Michael Phelps back for those games.  The Paris fans really made having the hometown crowd cheering for you something to be envious of.  Keep an eye out to see if Phelps moves to Arizona!  That's where is old coach is.  If he does, then Michael may be trying to come out of retirement.

It's been an exciting time in Paris and while Team USA did win the most medals, we didn't win everywhere we thought we should.  I'm sure there will be ramp ups of sport over the next few years since the home team gets a spot in every event!  I don't know what Team USA is going to do about Handball.  We don't play anything like that here in the States.  I guess we better try!  Softball & Baseball will be back in 2028 along with new events like Squash and Flag football.   I heard that Karate may be back in the mix, but that might change.  Breaking wasn't scheduled but to NOT have it in the USA seems like a bad decision.

Next Olympics is in Milan-Cortana starting February 6, 2026!  Ski Mountaineering is a new event that will be contested there.  Sounds interesting!  Mark your calendars!

Thank you Paris!  Thank you France!