France is
playing host to 184 countries competing in the XXXIII Olympics.
Centered in Paris as they are, the River Seine played a prominent role
in the opening ceremony last Friday (July 26). The games run through
Sunday, August 11.
The
much vaunted opening festivities featured a parade of ships, each
carrying one to three teams, and took a fair while with the athletes
finally collecting at the Trocadero opposite the Eiffel Tower, which
blinked and flashed in a myriad of lights. Fireworks on a decent scale
are always fun but the organizers opted for the environmentally less
polluting laser lights although a trifle insipid.
In
the games, an early disappointment for France has been the failure of
its women gymnasts to qualify for the final round. Melanie de Jesus dos
Santos, the face of the team had disappointments on almost every
apparatus: falling off on the uneven bars; grabbing the balance beam to
keep from falling off; landing on her knees after a double flip in the
floor exercise --- it was not her day and left her in tears.
The
24-year old has been a European champion four times and spent the last
two years cloistered at the Simone Biles Academy in Houston, Texas
headed by Cecile and Laurant Landi -- the dedication and hard work all
lost like a puff of smoke. The French squad in general performed
poorly, and, in a shock to the French, was eliminated before the final
round.
Competition is so severe and takes so much time that the line between professional and amateurs has more or less disappeared, and they can all compete. If it were not so, only the independently wealthy could. The others would be too busy making a living to stand a chance.
Individual
stories of heartbreak in gymnastics and joy in the women's Australian
swim team can hold the public's attention. The occasional scandal can
destroy careers: The British equestrian Charlotte Dujardin pulled out
of the Olympics after a video appeared of her whipping a horse 24 times
during a training session. She called it "an error of judgement".
With a quadrennial event like the Soccer World Cup or the Olympics, the relative rarity contributes to their attraction. It is not uncommon then for sports fans to travel from across the globe to see them live even when they are likely to see more of the Olympic events if they just watched television at home. The broadcasters switch to the most interesting events because they wish to retain their audience, which in turn profits from the best choices.
Stories
of heartbreak, stories of triumph; drama and what seems like melodrama when the highly charged atmosphere and high stakes take their toll.
Let the audience sit back and enjoy it ... even the slow boat ride down
the Seine River and even if stifling a yawn.
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