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Posted
8 hours ago, Faster said:

I think the IOC made one of the most intelligent choices in giving both France and the USA games back to back. London, while a truly special Olympics, was preceded and followed by problematic Olympics. Paris is going to be followed by LA. If the Italians can pull off another Torino level Olympics for 2026 the narrative around the Games could change dramatically.

I travelled during the second week of the Games so missed much but what I did see and the engagement as I sat at overpriced bars here and there was not something I would have seen previously. NBC's ratings are also significantly up from initial reports. 

Problematic? Maybe from a mostly western world point of view (which is dominant here). I can assure you that most of chinese believe they had one of the best OG ever and still take pride in 2008. As for Brazilians, I haven't talked to anyone yet. Of course, timing was not the best for the country to host OG (political turmoil etc.)  but I would bet they don't consider Rio 2016 "problematic". More generally, even for unbiased/neutral people, the criteria for judging an Olympics can vary A LOT.

Posted
10 hours ago, Lee said:

Do you speak Danish yet, Michelle? 

We lived in Frankfurt for 18 months due to my husband's work but I struggled to get past anything but basic German. I find German particularly hard to get my head around. I have lots of vocabulary but struggle with the grammar rules. 

What makes things worse is that my husband is very good with languages. He speaks German fluently and in lockdown he learnt Dutch. He is now studying French and intends to move onto Swedish.

Great names. Elio is very unusual. 

 

Languages have always come easy to me, not sure why. BUT … Danish is a slow process 😬 we are making good progress tho, and I have more than enough to navigate with. But as we all know, much of Scandinavia can speak English already … and to a higher class than many Anglo countries 🤣 so all good in that respect! 

My partner has always described me as a walking translator haha. Your husband sounds like he would be the same. Is he British? Major respect for Brits who can speak multiple languages … you don’t often see it with English being the preeminent language. 

Elio was conceived in Italy, hence the name choice. My partner had a big part in that process. 

Posted

Interestingly, we had people ask us was he named after the character in the movie/novel call me by your name. The short answer is no. 

However, that is a gorgeous movie. You should watch if you haven’t already. 

Posted
2 hours ago, LOUIS said:

I would bet they don't consider Rio 2016 "problematic". More generally, even for unbiased/neutral people, the criteria for judging an Olympics can vary A LOT.

I’d go further. 
 

Rio was a mistake. 

  • Confused 2
Posted
5 hours ago, Michelle said:

Languages have always come easy to me, not sure why. BUT … Danish is a slow process 😬 we are making good progress tho, and I have more than enough to navigate with. But as we all know, much of Scandinavia can speak English already … and to a higher class than many Anglo countries 🤣 so all good in that respect! 

My partner has always described me as a walking translator haha. Your husband sounds like he would be the same. Is he British? Major respect for Brits who can speak multiple languages … you don’t often see it with English being the preeminent language. 

Elio was conceived in Italy, hence the name choice. My partner had a big part in that process. 

Jeg kommer fra tyskland.

(Learning Danish since beginning of the year with duolingo english <> danish 😅)

  • Like 1
Posted

Well, it certainly has been a while...

I've been living and working in Versailles for the past 3,5 years. I've been very excited about the games, as you can assume.

I went to the opening and closing ceremony, as well as 7 events (not counting the cycling and marathons going through Versailles).

And, boy, what can I say. It's quite hard to describe what I felt. The best experience of my life? I can die happy now? My dream was experiencing the Olympic Games. And I did it.

The venues were astounding, the people were fantastic, everything was insane. What an experience, going to the Games! I'm not objective at all, but I do feel that those games were one of the best I've ever seen.

Now I'm looking forward to going to the Paralympics.

It's been great reading from you guys, maybe I'll stick around for a bit..

  • Like 3
Posted
14 hours ago, LOUIS said:

Problematic? Maybe from a mostly western world point of view (which is dominant here). I can assure you that most of chinese believe they had one of the best OG ever and still take pride in 2008. As for Brazilians, I haven't talked to anyone yet. Of course, timing was not the best for the country to host OG (political turmoil etc.)  but I would bet they don't consider Rio 2016 "problematic". More generally, even for unbiased/neutral people, the criteria for judging an Olympics can vary A LOT.

The cost of both games are one of the major sticking points. Add in the white elephants and organization problems of Rio and the Brazilian economy (like the Greek) circling the drain since hosting has provided much ammunition for people to come out strongly against hosting. Tokyo's overspending and corruption have also caused a lot of problems.

Posted
7 hours ago, Faster said:

The cost of both games are one of the major sticking points. Add in the white elephants and organization problems of Rio and the Brazilian economy (like the Greek) circling the drain since hosting has provided much ammunition for people to come out strongly against hosting. Tokyo's overspending and corruption have also caused a lot of problems.

I agree up to a point but, even if cost is the only criterion, some things can be viewed differently. For China money was not an issue and Beijing 08 was a long-term investment in brand name and much need infrastructure. And they really believe it was worth it. Athens OG's "contribution" to the greek economic crisis is one of the biggest olympic myths. The total cost (not net loss) was just a tiny portion of the greek debt.

Posted
2 hours ago, LOUIS said:

Athens OG's "contribution" to the greek economic crisis is one of the biggest olympic myths. The total cost (not net loss) was just a tiny portion of the greek debt.

There's an underlying paradox. Over the course of its two bids and final preparation for the Olympics, Greece spent huge sums on infrastructure, which it absolutely needed whether or not it hosted the Games, but absolutely couldn't afford 😐

Posted

I wonder that person got "222" countries when of the 204 recognized National Olympics, TWO were already missing (Russia and Belarus) -- so what were the other TWENTY countries?  :blink:  Sealand? Dagestan? The Vatican? Narnia?  Brigadoon? Atlantis? The Deep State?  

Posted
9 minutes ago, baron-pierreIV said:

I wonder that person got "222" countries when of the 204 recognized National Olympics, TWO were already missing (Russia and Belarus) -- so what were the other TWENTY countries?  :blink:  Sealand? Dagestan? The Vatican? Narnia?  Brigadoon? Atlantis? The Deep State?  

I imagine that when you create your account on the ticket purchase site, you can specify specific territories that would not have a NOC; such as New Caledonia. (It may be of practical interest to differentiate, for example, New Caledonia from France, since the currency in force is not the euro but the Pacific franc). That would explain the "surplus".

Posted
15 hours ago, LOUIS said:

I agree up to a point but, even if cost is the only criterion, some things can be viewed differently. For China money was not an issue and Beijing 08 was a long-term investment in brand name and much need infrastructure. And they really believe it was worth it. Athens OG's "contribution" to the greek economic crisis is one of the biggest olympic myths. The total cost (not net loss) was just a tiny portion of the greek debt.

Unfortunately truth and good narrative are not always the same. Opponents of the Olympics and the media can take two things and conflate them. As was seen in Munich/Stockholm/Calgary/Rome/Oslo/Trondheim/Hamburg/etc etc etc.

And opponents will always seize on needed infrastructure projects that are built/sped up because of a major event hosting and the cost of the overall Olympics. Look at Vancouver and the metro line and improvements for the Sea to Sky highway. Both much needed, but because they were part of and deadlined for the Olympics it became conflated. Completely ignoring that infrastructure does not go away after the Olympics.

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Posted
43 minutes ago, Faster said:

Unfortunately truth and good narrative are not always the same. Opponents of the Olympics and the media can take two things and conflate them. As was seen in Munich/Stockholm/Calgary/Rome/Oslo/Trondheim/Hamburg/etc etc etc.

And opponents will always seize on needed infrastructure projects that are built/sped up because of a major event hosting and the cost of the overall Olympics. Look at Vancouver and the metro line and improvements for the Sea to Sky highway. Both much needed, but because they were part of and deadlined for the Olympics it became conflated. Completely ignoring that infrastructure does not go away after the Olympics.

Well said.

Look at Brisbane now. Brisbane absolutely NEEDS a new stadium now, irrespective of the Games, But it’s the Olympics itself that are making the debate toxic and making it harder to achieve.

  • Like 1
Posted
58 minutes ago, Sir Rols said:

Look at Brisbane now. Brisbane absolutely NEEDS a new stadium now, irrespective of the Games, But it’s the Olympics itself that are making the debate toxic and making it harder to achieve.

Could not have phrased it better myself.

Posted

/\/\ They did send their first athlete, a young lady, to the 2022 Med Games in Oran, Algeria:  

Vatican City primed for debut at Mediterranean Games - Infobae 

Of course, their athletes must also meet minimum Olympic qualifying marks.  If not, they will somehow get in via the Universality Place doctrine.  I guess even Signorina Carnicelli might not have made it this year.  

Posted

There is no media reporting/coverage that could capture how incredible these Games were in reality.

Extraordinary, exceptional and game-changing. What an experience to be in Paris - to have such open Games, to jog to the Eiffel Tower (even during events on the Seine), the Park of Nations...I could go on and on - its just a whole different level.

Apart from the appalling ceremonies, and the French approach with poor access control to venues, and things that could have been avoided (OV food, limited/no media shuttles, aircon)  - simply sensational.

Best Games ever.

Posted (edited)

/\/\ If it had those major snafus -- which in retrospect, are actually greater than Atlanta's own minor failings -- why is it the "Best Games ever"?  Your conclusion doesn't compute for me; just because the setting is Paris??  :wacko: 

Edited by baron-pierreIV
Posted

My job this summer brought me into contact for various reasons with members of the media or Olympic delegations during these Paris 2024 games (in case they encountered problems with their vehicles). They may not have had a dedicated shuttle, but on the other hand I assure you (because it was part of my job) that we lent them vehicles. And for all these people with whom I was in contact, they had no problems with traffic. It was very fluid.

And, for the control of access to the venues:

- From what I could see from afar while passing by certain venues + what I was told, I almost had the impression that there are airports in Europe (hello Sofia, hello Bucarest) where we are less well controlled than in Paris for these Olympics. I don't want to blame anyone, but the only place where I saw such light security control was at the Serbian House in the Parc de la Villette... except that it is the national delegations who are responsible for security, not the COJOP.

- With the exception of the very first match at the Parc des Princes, I did not see the slightest problem with the fluidity of access to the venues. Even for the opening ceremony on the Seine, it was smooth. Long, certainly, because from what I saw there were about as many checks required as to enter a military base (but that's logical given the scale of the ceremony), but smooth.

Posted
1 minute ago, sebastien1214 said:

My job this summer brought me into contact for various reasons with members of the media or Olympic delegations during these Paris 2024 games (in case they encountered problems with their vehicles). They may not have had a dedicated shuttle, but on the other hand I assure you (because it was part of my job) that we lent them vehicles. And for all these people with whom I was in contact, they had no problems with traffic. It was very fluid.

And, for the control of access to the venues:

- From what I could see from afar while passing by certain venues + what I was told, I almost had the impression that there are airports in Europe (hello Sofia, hello Bucarest) where we are less well controlled than in Paris for these Olympics. I don't want to blame anyone, but the only place where I saw such light security control was at the Serbian House in the Parc de la Villette... except that it is the national delegations who are responsible for security, not the COJOP.

- With the exception of the very first match at the Parc des Princes, I did not see the slightest problem with the fluidity of access to the venues. Even for the opening ceremony on the Seine, it was smooth. Long, certainly, because from what I saw there were about as many checks required as to enter a military base (but that's logical given the scale of the ceremony), but smooth.

(I only realize now that technically, I too contributed in my very little modest way to the success of these Games. I should perhaps think about asking Tony Estanguet for a small bonus and some thanks, I love money)

Posted
17 minutes ago, sebastien1214 said:

(I only realize now that technically, I too contributed in my very little modest way to the success of these Games. I should perhaps think about asking Tony Estanguet for a small bonus and some thanks, I love money)

Didn’t Macron already award you all (volunteers, police and essential workers) a gold medal?

Posted
8 minutes ago, Sir Rols said:

Didn’t Macron already award you all (volunteers, police and essential workers) a gold medal?

Yeah, I saw that. It will take a bit more, however, to buy me off so that I don't come to the next demonstrations against his government (I am actively preparing for the first ones in September, of course, like any good Frenchman)

(in reality I don't consider myself an essential worker for these Games on my summer job; well technically I am since my job is one of those considered essential by the government outside the context of these Games, now I don't work at all directly for the COJOP and in reality all the files which concerned members accredited by Paris 2024 only represented a maximum of 5% of the working time so...)

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