mr.bernham

If my political knowledge isn't too rusty, isn't Ayuso in PP? Would be the most on-brand thing in the world for Spain's best shot at the games since the 1980s to be scuttled by internal national political drama.

Thank you, Sir Rols! Good to see some missed faces.

I'm pretty sure they still built it to be able to convert. IIRC, the stadium was designed so that the lower bowl could support an elevated platform for T&F configurations. That is why there's a rounded terrace on either end of the lower bowl. Conversion would reduce seating to 65,000, I believe. Since I don't want to spam, and because it has been a while since I've posted on here, I hope Madrid's bid eventually goes forward. It's ridiculous that it lost all three bids in 2012, 2016, and 2020. By the last bid, Madrid was the strongest technically and financially. I can't help but feel that in the years since 2013's vote, the merits of Madrid's bid have only strengthened. On a selfish note, it would be a nice full-circle moment for me. I joined Gamesbids back in 2013 during that bid race. It would be incredible for Madrid to get the games finally.

Seems a bit more ambitious than what Paris can satisfactorily pull off--at least for the live spectators. I'm sure the shots will look great on TV. I think there's an understandable and noble desire to have an opening ceremony that shows off the majesty and beauty of Paris. I don't think, however, putting it on the Seine is the best execution of this idea. Makes much more sense (to me at least) to set up a temporary "stadium" on Place de la Concorde or just focus on the Trocadero/Eiffel Tower site...ala Lillehammer. Based on the few details that have emerged so far, it seems less like the full "ceremony" will actually happen in the Seine and more like certain elements of the ceremony will involve the Seine. Appears that most things will be based at/end at the Trocadero, including cauldron lighting.

I literally voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Joe Biden in 2020. I'm a registered Democrat. Please don't call me a Trumper simply because I personally do not like Osaka. Frankly Baron, I do not understand why you brought American politics into this discussion.

Yeah I am. Look, facing disappointment in anything is devastating, I get that. I'm sorry her Olympic journey has ended early, and I wish her the best moving forward and hope she is able to recover and return and succeed in Paris. That being said, I personally was not a fan of how she has been turned into this strange globalist icon. Maybe it's just my own personal political feelings and personal disagreements with how she responded to the honor of lighting the cauldron.

Glad to see that twat Osaka who didn't deserve to light the cauldron get knocked out in Tennis Prelims. Serve's her right.

By the time the alternative design was built, they cost the same.

Did anyone here read up on the original opening ceremonies plan? Would've been a much more exciting event and in-line with what we were promised during 2016's handover ceremony.

Long time no see. Glad to be back. What a sh*t opening ceremonies. I'm gonna pop off a bit here, but I'm frankly over every single thing being about COVID. Was the pandemic horrible, yes, but should we talk about it every five seconds? No. This opening ceremonies was like if in 1948, London decided to make their entire opening ceremonies about memorializing WW2. As many have said, some artistic segments were nice. Overall, however, I found it to be disorganized and stale. I understand that the pandemic is still raging and that it has changed the world dramatically, but the Olympics are meant to be a moment where we come together as a global community not to mope and sulk, but to celebrate the best of human achievement. Regardless of how you feel about individual elements from this ceremony or COVID, I think we can all agree that what Tokyo's ceremonies lacked were a sense of celebration. Sure, COVID hit us hard, but we're still here, the world is still turning, and the athletes of the world are still ready to reach faster, higher, stronger--together. This may be doomer of me to say, but I can't help but shake the feeling that last night we watched the death of the Olympics. They died, not to the sound of thunderous applause, but to the eternally cringe "Imagine" and faint echo's of loud protests emanating from outside the stadium; where the real spectators were allowed to gather.

Quaker, any boycott that would happen would be like the mooted boycott of Berlin in 1936 and the actual boycott carried out in 1980; it's intended to send a political message. Would it be effective? Probably not. But you're acting like Trump or Biden or whoever the hell is President in 2022 will act rationally with international business interests in mind. Anti-China sentiment is high in the U.S. right now. It's not just some fringe sentiment expressed by Trump, it's a mainstream view shared by many Americans. Boycotting the games would allow politicians to posture themselves as "tough on China" (a popular position these days) and show that they care more about "human rights" (or whatever the boycott justification is) than international business. As for 2028, sure that's a valid concern. However, consider that with how volatile things are right now, who's to say China and the U.S. will not have engaged in some kind of hot conflict by then? What if China has a regime change? This is like trying to say in 1988 that if America hosts the 1996 Olympics, the USSR will boycott again. We simply can't know what on earth will happen in 2028, and I promise you that the politicians who would make the call in this area, or at least try to pressure the USOC, will not give a damn about 2028. After all, USSR and Eastern Bloc didn't participate in the 1984 games and from an American perspective they were the best games ever (not saying I agree with this, just that you should expect '84 to be used to dismiss concerns about a possible 2028 China boycott).

The Beijing 2022 games will be our generation's Berlin 1936. They will happen. There will be controversies and protests. The games will go on. Yet, they will exist as a black mark on the IOC's history.

I feel like you could top this.

I was kinda hoping they would just push everything back four years...that way LA could host 100 years after the first time they hosted.

Looks fantastic. Simple, green, sleek, modern--it's a very fitting design for the times and era we live in. It might not be the spaceship Zaha designed, but it makes up for that in it's elegant design. Really looking forward to these games.