Paris 2024

[Michelle]

11 minutes ago, Rob2012 said:

There is a hot bods thread somewhere.

I can’t find it. I did rush to look haha. Can you link me at it please. 
 

it’s ok, I found it 🙌

Edited July 28, 2024 by Michelle

[baron-pierreIV]

6 hours ago, sebastien1214 said:

Am enjoying the Eventing coverage.  Such beautiful grounds and wow -- so many people enjoying the grounds and the coverage!! I'm hoping Galway Downs can match it even a litte.  

[Sir Rols]

18 hours ago, sebastien1214 said:

 

11 hours ago, baron-pierreIV said:

Am enjoying the Eventing coverage.  Such beautiful grounds and wow -- so many people enjoying the grounds and the coverage!! I'm hoping Galway Downs can match it even a litte.  

My god, isn’t just so exquisite! Eventing’s always one of my favourite events, and Versailles has just raised it to a whole new level. Forget Sophia Coppola’s wet dream, I’m, well, I won’t take that one any further.

The weather cooperated too. Versailles at its best. So lucky for a single day event.

And yeah, M, those crowds. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Eventing  so well attended.

Edit: I just watched the first French rider take to the course. I’ve never heard crowd cheers like that before in Eventing.

Edited July 29, 2024 by Sir Rols

[Scotguy II]

I am absolutely loving the crowds at these games. definitely have missed a more rowdy crowd. The atmosphere in the venues has been great, even in some of the lesser sports. The French have definitely brought the passion to these games.

[sebastien1214]

 

[ejaycat]

On 7/28/2024 at 7:18 AM, Ikarus360 said:

Most venues lool very beautiful so far. The Brand is also working nicely and not being distracting at all. I just wish they had a bit more fun with the colors than just purple or blue though.

Yeah, what I've seen so far looks good on TV, at least with the central Paris venues adjacent to the landmarks, and the Grand Palais. And I agree with you about the color scheme.  

I watched basketball yesterday, USA vs. Serbia.  Looked like a typical indoor arena, and then I learned it's all the way out in Lille!  I knew these Paris Games would be spread out (sailing in Marseille, surfing in Tahiti), but basketball 2.5 hours away by car, nearly 3 hours by train from central Paris?  What da fak?  In a rather very nondescript area, too; spin the Google camera around and you can see: https://www.google.com/maps/@50.6129941,3.1289363,3a,75y,133.55h,89.68t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1siZiHSZezFgKSi7S-eX1OBg!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DiZiHSZezFgKSi7S-eX1OBg%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D329.88608%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192?coh=205409&entry=ttu

Lille has its own satellite village, too.  Shooting apparently is also far away from central Paris.  Yesterday I read an article where some of the athletes participating in shooting are hoping that the 2028 venue will be close enough where they can stay at the main Olympic Village; as nice as the satellite village is that they're staying in, they feel they're missing out on the total athlete Olympic experience they would otherwise have.     

[sebastien1214]

1 minute ago, ejaycat said:

Yeah, what I've seen so far looks good on TV, at least with the central Paris venues adjacent to the landmarks, and the Grand Palais. And I agree with you about the color scheme.  

I watched basketball yesterday, USA vs. Serbia.  Looked like a typical indoor arena, and then I learned it's all the way out in Lille!  I knew these Paris Games would be spread out (sailing in Marseille, surfing in Tahiti), but basketball 2.5 hours away by car, nearly 3 hours by train from central Paris?  What da fak?  In a rather very nondescript area, too; spin the Google camera around and you can see: https://www.google.com/maps/@50.6129941,3.1289363,3a,75y,133.55h,89.68t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1siZiHSZezFgKSi7S-eX1OBg!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DiZiHSZezFgKSi7S-eX1OBg%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D329.88608%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192?coh=205409&entry=ttu

Lille has its own satellite village, too.  Shooting apparently is also far away from central Paris.  Yesterday I read an article where some of the athletes participating in shooting are hoping that the 2028 venue will be close enough where they can stay at the main Olympic Village; as nice as the satellite village is that they're staying in, they feel they're missing out on the total athlete Olympic experience they would otherwise have.     

3 hours by train? No, that's more like the duration to go from Paris to Marseille (where there's sailing), between Paris and Lille there's only 1 hour by train. And it's not an obscure place, it's the Stade Pierre Mauroy, 50,000 seats in football configuration. And it's well served, close to the Lille metro.

[FYI]

13 minutes ago, ejaycat said:

Lille has its own satellite village, too.  Shooting apparently is also far away from central Paris.

Other than soccer, those two, along with sailing in Marseille (& surfing in Tahiti), are the only venues well outside Paris. The vast majority are in (& around the) Paris (metro area).

18 minutes ago, ejaycat said:

Yesterday I read an article where some of the athletes participating in shooting are hoping that the 2028 venue will be close enough where they can stay at the main Olympic Village; as nice as the satellite village is that they're staying in, they feel they're missing out on the total athlete Olympic experience they would otherwise have.     

The white-water & softball athletes will more likely say the same, come 2028, since their Olympic venues have now been placed in far-flung OKC over 1,300 miles away. Lille & Chateauroux are down the street, comparatively speaking.  

[ejaycat]

12 minutes ago, sebastien1214 said:

3 hours by train? No, that's more like the duration to go from Paris to Marseille (where there's sailing), between Paris and Lille there's only 1 hour by train. And it's not an obscure place, it's the Stade Pierre Mauroy, 50,000 seats in football configuration. And it's well served, close to the Lille metro.

Oh I see, yes, one hour by TGV.  Still, that's 224km, or 139 miles:  https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Paris,+France/Lille,+France/@49.8417196,2.0210728,8z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x47e66e1f06e2b70f:0x40b82c3688c9460!2m2!1d2.3513765!2d48.8575475!1m5!1m1!1s0x47c2d579b3256e11:0x40af13e81646360!2m2!1d3.0678588!2d50.624378!3e3?entry=ttu

That's like driving from downtown Los Angeles to Santa Barbara wine country or something.  Sorry, just putting it in a perspective that I can relate to.  

I didn't say that Stade Pierre Mauroy is an obscure place, I just said that its surroundings are very ordinary-looking, nothing at all like central paris.  It looks like a very state of the art stadium.  

But so far, the Paris Games are going very well, and look very nice!

[ejaycat]

2 minutes ago, FYI said:

Other than soccer, those two, along with sailing in Marseille (& surfing in Tahiti), are the only venues well outside Paris. The vast majority are in (& around the) Paris (metro area).

The white-water & softball athletes will more likely say the same, come 2028, since their Olympic venues have now been placed in far-flung OKC over 1,300 miles away. Lille & Chateauroux are down the street, comparatively speaking.  

Oh totally.  In fact last week I read how a softball player is very disappointed that softball will be in OKC.  Even when the news broke out that that would be the case, even a local news anchor said something along the lines of "well how disappointing will that be for some athletes.  It's like 'I'm going to LA in 2028!' and then realizing you'll be staying in Oklahoma."  I agree, but as a news anchor I would think they wouldn't editorialize so much.  But that's local American news for you.  

And with all disciplines of equestrian events being in Temecula, I'm sure those horse riders will be missing out on the Olympic athlete camaraderie.  But hey, at least they'll be in wine country.  

[sebastien1214]

6 minutes ago, FYI said:

Other than soccer, those two, along with sailing in Marseille (& surfing in Tahiti), are the only venues well outside Paris. The vast majority are in (& around the) Paris (metro area).

The white-water & softball athletes will more likely say the same, come 2028, since their Olympic venues have now been placed in far-flung OKC over 1,300 miles away. Lille & Chateauroux are down the street, comparatively speaking.  

If even Los Angeles, which is probably the place on Earth with the most sports facilities, is forced to relocate events, it really raises questions about whether the Olympics are perhaps too big.

5 minutes ago, ejaycat said:

Oh I see, yes, one hour by TGV.  Still, that's 224km, or 139 miles:  https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Paris,+France/Lille,+France/@49.8417196,2.0210728,8z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x47e66e1f06e2b70f:0x40b82c3688c9460!2m2!1d2.3513765!2d48.8575475!1m5!1m1!1s0x47c2d579b3256e11:0x40af13e81646360!2m2!1d3.0678588!2d50.624378!3e3?entry=ttu

That's like driving from downtown Los Angeles to Santa Barbara wine country or something.  Sorry, just putting it in a perspective that I can relate to.  

I didn't say that Stade Pierre Mauroy is an obscure place, I just said that its surroundings are very ordinary-looking, nothing at all like central paris.  It looks like a very state of the art stadium.  

But so far, the Paris Games are going very well, and look very nice!

But 224km is not much when there is the TGV. I mean, between Saint-Denis and Versailles there are only 43km, but it takes as much time (1h) as doing the 224km between Paris and Lille. And in fact, the Pierre-Mauroy stadium is very nice in basketball/handball configuration. I like it a lot. And then Lille is a very beautiful city, in the heart of Europe, at the intersection between London, Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam. Apparently, the American delegation loves Lille. (and anyway, given how easy it is to go to Paris from Lille, they can even make round trips in the day for tourism!)

I think it's complicated anyway to compare European cities to American cities. Especially given the absence of a rail network worthy of the name in the United States, which is something totally fundamental and indispensable in Europe. (and obvious: in Europe we tend to think much more in terms of travel time rather than distance, I sometimes have the feeling that in the United States it's the opposite).

[FYI]

5 minutes ago, ejaycat said:

Oh I see, yes, one hour by TGV.  Still, that's 224km, or 139 

Lol, 139 miles vs 1,327 miles, still the former is a cake walk.

7 minutes ago, ejaycat said:

I didn't say that Stade Pierre Mauroy is an obscure place, I just said that its surroundings are very ordinary-looking, nothing at all like central paris.

 

2 minutes ago, ejaycat said:

Oh totally.  In fact last week I read how a softball player is very disappointed that softball will be in OKC.  Even when the news broke out that that would be the case, even a local news anchor said something along the lines of "well how disappointing will that be for some athletes.  It's like 'I'm going to LA in 2028!' and then realizing you'll be staying in Oklahoma."  I agree, but as a news anchor I would think they wouldn't editorialize so much.  But that's local American news for you.  

If Lille doesn't have much to offer in terms of surroundings, just image the contrast between LA & OKC then. lol

But at least in Lille's & Chateauroux's case, an athlete can still say that they're in France. Not so much with OKC when it is still literally a world away from California.  

[ejaycat]

On 7/28/2024 at 11:16 AM, baron-pierreIV said:

Am enjoying the Eventing coverage.  Such beautiful grounds and wow -- so many people enjoying the grounds and the coverage!! I'm hoping Galway Downs can match it even a litte.  

I don't think Galway Downs will match it, but it'll have its own vibe.  I imagine it to look something like Fairbanks Ranch (Rancho Santa Fe) did in 1984, pretty and rustic.  Wasn't that where eventing was held in '84?  And of course dressage/show jumping were at Santa Anita.  

I found a video:  I'll mess with the link so I don't get too off topic from Paris, just add an ht to the front:  tps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYdxdWsbA18

[ejaycat]

14 minutes ago, sebastien1214 said:

I think it's complicated anyway to compare European cities to American cities. Especially given the absence of a rail network worthy of the name in the United States, which is something totally fundamental and indispensable in Europe. (and obvious: in Europe we tend to think much more in terms of travel time rather than distance, I sometimes have the feeling that in the United States it's the opposite).

I totally agree with you. The US in general is totally lacking in transportation infrastructure that Europeans take for granted.

And if in the US people think more in terms of distance, hehe in Los Angeles, we think more in terms of driving time.    

[baron-pierreIV]

10 minutes ago, ejaycat said:

I don't think Galway Downs will match it, but it'll have its own vibe.  I imagine it to look something like Fairbanks Ranch (Rancho Santa Fe) did in 1984, pretty and rustic.  Wasn't that where eventing was held in '84?  And of course dressage/show jumping were at Santa Anita.  

I found a video:  I'll mess with the link so I don't get too off topic from Paris, just add an ht to the front:  tps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYdxdWsbA18

Right.  But now, the IOC wants all equestrian events --if possible--housed in the one venue.  So Paris has done it w/ Versailles; and I think Galway Downs will fill the requirements as much as possible.  Although they will have to build more dorms for the grooms (as they have done here at Versailles) -- and of course, the stands for Show Jumping and Dressage.  

[FYI]

9 hours ago, sebastien1214 said:

If even Los Angeles, which is probably the place on Earth with the most sports facilities, is forced to relocate events, it really raises questions about whether the Olympics are perhaps too big.

Yeah, so can you 'just imagine' what that could mean for a much smaller city then, with much less infrastructure, in 2032 in ("western" ) Australia!

[AustralianFan]

1 hour ago, FYI said:

Yeah, so can you 'just imagine' what that could mean for a much smaller city then, with much less infrastructure, in 2032

Doesn’t mean anything.   In case you didn’t realise or did not research this, the existing Brisbane 2032 Equestrian venues are already together:

• Victoria Park - cross country eventing

1km away from Victoria Park is

• Brisbane Showgrounds for Showjumping, Dressage and Stables
•  

 

[FYI]

Suppose to be a hot one in Paris today, into the mid-90's. But that should be the only really hot day of these Games. After that, the remainder of the days should be in the low to mid-80's.

[olimpicgamer]

Athletes are abandoning the Olympic village fdue to lack of bathrooms. 

 

https://m.economictimes.com/news/international/us/olympics-2024-athletes-are-leaving-paris-games-village-to-stay-in-hotel-know-the-truth/amp_articleshow/112117534.cms

[FYI]

Wow, the Today Show is forecasting Paris to reach 100 degrees today (with a heat index of 110)! 

[ejaycat]

Yeah, per weather.com, the low in Paris will only be 73 F overnight.  And a dew point of 70. Talk about muggy!

Edited July 30, 2024 by ejaycat

[baron-pierreIV]

2 hours ago, olimpicgamer said:

Athletes are abandoning the Olympic village fdue to lack of bathrooms. 

 

https://m.economictimes.com/news/international/us/olympics-2024-athletes-are-leaving-paris-games-village-to-stay-in-hotel-know-the-truth/amp_articleshow/112117534.cms

Not really "lack of bathrooms" as they squeezed too many athletes per apartment.  I mean you cannot change the # of bathrooms because those are calculated for their eventual use as apartments/homes.  Organizers just didn't calculate the ratio of bodies per toilettes and that the athletes are very ultra sensitive to the ratio.  That's the problem with the bigger teams -- they squeezed too many in the rooms assigned to them.  For smaller teams of 6 or less, I am sure they don't have that problem.  
The problem is the IOC publicly states that the athletes' cap is 10,500 -- but again I read somewhere that the number for Paris is closer to 11,000.  (I don't know where they are housing the coaches, support teams, and the press.)  But I think in LA because UCLA can actually accommodate 12,500 in all their LA dorms -- (and of course, maybe 650-700 athletes for football in northern CA and then maybe about 150 in OKC for the softball and white-water events), hence LA was brave enough to add FIVE more new sports because they could accommodate a few more hundreds at UCLA.  But the IOC never publicly states that there are more than 10,500 athletes accommodated -- so they cannot be criticized for having such GIGANTIC games.  

[ejaycat]

I wish I can find the video clip (I'm at work right now so I can't do any in-depth Google searching), but some days ago I saw a clip of an American female athlete who has been in the last few Olympics saying something along the lines of "You gotta realize, these Olympic villages are NOT five-star resorts, they're like basic college dorms."  So you would think that these Olympic athletes would already have that in mind before staying in them.

UCLA's student housing is a mix of traditional college dorms (2 or three beds and desks in a single room with a large common restroom on each floor/wing, common study lounge on each floor and kitchenette---at least that was the setup at my dorm at UC Santa Barbara) and suites, which is more like an apartment.  I guess the "lucky" athletes will be the ones assigned to the suites.   

[venuedesignlover]

Does anyone know what the top of Bercy Arena looks like? Is it covered in a large olympics banner. Also about the look of the games, I wish the colors were a bit more vibrant but they do fit perfectly.

[FYI]

5 hours ago, ejaycat said:

I wish I can find the video clip (I'm at work right now so I can't do any in-depth Google searching), but some days ago I saw a clip of an American female athlete who has been in the last few Olympics saying something along the lines of "You gotta realize, these Olympic villages are NOT five-star resorts, they're like basic college dorms."  So you would think that these Olympic athletes would already have that in mind before staying in them.

They're all too busy on tik-tok to notice things like that. But really, organizers probably don't want to make the Olympic Village too comfortable, because they want people to just LEAVE once the Games are over. Besides, those athlete's are there to compete anyway, not stay in those rooms all day.

It's like when one goes on vacation, why spend most of your money on accommodations when you're not going to be spending most of your time in the room anyway. You'll be out (or should be, at least) taking in all the sights & taking every advantage of what your destination has to offer. As long as the room is clean & has a bed, it's all good! I know if I was in Paris right now, the last place I'd want to spend most of my time in is in my hotel room. And regardless, 10 female athletes for two bathrooms would be insane in ANY type of accommodations anyway, or even homes!