Four U.S. House representatives have introduced a bipartisan bill aimed at upgrading the U.S. State Department’s sports diplomacy efforts before some of the largest events in the world come to the country, and to take advantage of the impact those events can have on other diplomatic fronts. The American Decade of Sports Act was put forth by Reps. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, a Democrat from California, Bill Huizenga, a Republican from Michigan, Gregory Meeks, a Democrat from New York, and Michael McCaul, a Republican from Texas.

The United States will be home to some of the largest sports events in the world over the next 10 years, beginning with the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will be held in 11 U.S. cities. Other major events on the horizon include the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Summer Games in Los Angeles, the 2029 World University Games in North Carolina, the 2031 Men’s and 2033 Women’s Rugby World Cup, and the 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City. The U.S. is also the only bidder for the 2031 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

In announcing the bill, the political leaders noted that the events present a unique opportunity to enhance U.S. diplomacy and global leadership on the world stage. The bill seeks to upgrade the State Department’s sports diplomacy division to its own office and designate it with the responsibility and personnel to implement U.S. sports diplomacy efforts focused on the decade ahead.

“As a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, I have witnessed firsthand the incredible power of sports to break down cultural barriers and unite people around the world,” said Kamlager-Dove. “The American Decade of Sports is our chance to deepen relationships across the globe and cement U.S. leadership — and we can’t let it slip through our fingers. I’m proud to lead the introduction of this bipartisan legislation to ensure that the State Department is equipped to leverage sports diplomacy as a vital U.S. foreign policy tool and capitalize on this defining moment.”
“From the Ryder Cup to the FIFA World Cup and the upcoming Summer and Winter Olympic Games, the United States is set to host some of the most highly viewed, attended, and anticipated international sporting events in the next 10 years,” said Huizenga. “The American Decade of Sports Act ensures that President Trump is able to carry out his revitalization of American sports and that the State Department is readily equipped to implement this newfound focus in terms of strategic planning and staffing. I am proud to champion this bipartisan effort.”

Specifically, the American Decade of Sports Act:

• Directs the State Department to submit a sports diplomacy strategy to leverage the major sporting events being hosted in the United States to enhance U.S. soft power and global leadership;
• Pulls the Sports Diplomacy Division out of the Office of Citizen Exchanges and elevates it to its own Office of Sports Diplomacy;
• Designates the Office of Sports Diplomacy with the responsibility of implementing the mega-decade sports diplomacy strategy;
• Assigns at least three additional staff to the office to implement the strategy; and
• Requires an annual report to Congress on the implementation of the mega-decade sports diplomacy strategy, the restructuring of the sports diplomacy office, and the designation of additional staff to carry out the strategy.

The American Decade of Sports Act is cosponsored by Reps. Bill Huizenga, Gregory Meeks, Michael McCaul, James Moylan, Maria Elvira Salazar, Michael Lawler, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, Ted Lieu, Dina Titus, Gabe Amo, Kathy Castor, Sarah McBride, Jonathan L. Jackson, Nikema Williams, Hank Johnson, Don Bacon, Michael Baumgartner, Aumua Amata Radewagen, Buddy Carter, Young Kim, Rich McCormick, William R. Keating, and Greg Stanton.

]]> 74964https://media.sportstravelmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/25134347/AP25234631812238-scaled.jpg https://www.sportstravelmagazine.com/phil-andrews-usa-fencings-post-paris-plans/ Mon, 28 Oct 2024 14:00:58 +0000 https://www.sportstravelmagazine.com/?p=67894

Paris je t’aime, the city’s tourism bureau, released its preliminary report on Olympic Summer Games impact saying the United States was the leading international market during the competition.

The report says the United States had 230,000 tourists visit Paris during the Games, nearly double the second-leading country in Germany (130,000). The United Kingdom was third with 115,000 tourists and the global number of visitors in the Greater Paris metropolitan area during the Olympic Summer Games was estimated to be 11.2 million between tourists, residents and day-trippers.

The report said French visitors (tourists, day-trippers and residents) amounted to 85% of all visitors to the Olympic Games. Day-trippers, defined as people who came for one day, were mostly French from outside the Ile-de-France region and accounted for 27.7% of visitors in Greater Paris overall.

Paris je t’aime says day trips were up 9% in Villepinte around the Arena Paris Nord area which hosting boxing. The day-trip rate increased by 10% in Versailles, which hosted equestrian and modern pentathlon. In Saint-Denis, home of the Stade de France (rugby sevens and athletics) and Aquatic Centre (diving, artistic swimming and water polo), local day-trippers were up 40%.

The arrondissements most visited by foreign tourists were the 15^th, 8^th and 9^th.  The report says foreign overnight stays in Saint-Denis increased 205% vs 2023, having been a central area for many of the world’s media representatives. Hotel occupancy rates were up in all departments of the inner suburbs, by double-digits in most cases.

SportsTravel was on location from the Olympic Summer Games focusing not only on the competition but giving readers a chance to learn more about what’s going on behind the scenes. Here is a comprehensive guide with facts about the world’s most prestigious sporting event with information, schedules and links to our content. You can always check out some behind-the-scenes access as well at our Instagram story from Paris as well. Paris hosted the Summer Olympic Games for the third time (1900 and 1924), joining London as the only three-time hosts. Los Angeles will join that group as a three-time in 2028.

What’s Happened So Far

August 12: Closing Ceremony Marks Handoff to LA28

August 11: An American in Paris: Observations from a Memorable Olympic Games

August 10: LA28 Plans for ‘No Car’ Games and More

August 10: Paris 2024 Credits Early Engagement for Success of Olympics

August 9: A Marriage Made in Orange: Mission Viejo and the Dutch Olympic Team

August 9: USA Swimming CEO Tim Hinchey on the Paris Olympics

August 8: Getting Around The Olympics: Paris Metro System Takes Fans to Venues

August 8: For USA Artistic Swimming, a Win Beyond the Pool

August 7:  At the Olympic Summer Games, a Winter Gold at Last

August 6: Future Olympic Hosts Learn from Paris 2024

August 5: 2024 Olympics: Midway Grades for the Games

August 5: Noah Lyles’ Dramatic Olympic Win Boosts USA Track & Field’s Brand

August 4: USA Water Polo Capitalizes on Celebrity Success, Sees Organizational Uplift

August 3: Biles, Ledecky, Marchand, Nadal — An Olympics Made for Legends

August 1: Léon Marchand Enters French Sporting History at the Olympics

July 31: Olympic Triathletes Swim in Seine After Days of Bacterial Concerns

July 31: USA Rugby Gets $4 Million Donation From Michele Kang After Bronze Medal Win

July 30: An American in Paris: Eiffel Tower Shines Above All Olympic Venues

July 30: Paris Battles Heat as Climate Change Rocks Olympics

July 28: Looking Back on the Best (and Wettest) Olympic Opening Ceremony Ever

July 28: Paris’ Iconic Olympic Venues Praised by Athletes, NGB Leaders

July 28: An American in Paris: Behind the Scenes at the Olympic Summer Games

July 26: Why the IOC Hopes Paris Revitalizes the Olympic Movement

July 25: Explaining the Dispute Between USADA And WADA

July 25: USOPC Leadership Not Concerned over Salt Lake Host Contract Clause

July 24: Salt Lake City Approved as 2034 Winter Olympic Host

July 24: IOC Approves French Alps Bid to Host 2030 Winter Olympics

What Venues Hosted Events?

The Games took place in 17 cities across France and Teahupo’o on the French Polynesian island of Tahiti, which hosted the two-day surfing competition 9,765 miles from Paris. The motto of the 2024 Paris Olympics is “Games Wide Open” and organizers integrated venues within the landscape of the city and region. The full list of Olympic venues is here.

What is the mascot of the 2024 Summer Olympics?

The Phryge, a tri-colored mascot based on the shape and form of the Phrygian red cloth cap, a symbol of freedom for France throughout its history.

What are the sporting events?

Here’s the full list with links to several of our preview stories that involve each sport.

Archery: July 25 to August 4, Invalides
Artistic gymnastics: July 25 to August 4, Bercy Arena
Artistic swimming: August 5-10, Aquatics Centre
Athletics: August 1-11, Stade de France (track and field), Trocadero (race walks), Invalides (marathons)
Badminton: July 27 to August 5, La Chapelle Arena
3×3 Basketball: July 30 to August 5, La Concorde
Basketball: July 27 to August 11, Pierre Mauroy Stadium (group phase) and Bercy Arena (finals)
Beach volleyball: July 27 to August 10, Eiffel Tower Stadium
Boxing: July 27 to August 10, North Paris Arena and Roland-Garros Stadium
Breaking: August 9-10, La Concorde
Canoe slalom: July 27 to August 5, Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium – Whitewater
Canoe sprint: August 6-10, Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium – Flatwater
Cycling BMX: July 30 to August 2, La Concorde (freestyle), BMX Stadium (racing)
Cycling mountain bike: July 28-29, Elancourt Hill
Cycling road: July 27 to August 4, Pont Alexandre III (time trials), Trocadero (road races)
Cycling track: August 5-11, National Velodrome
Diving: July 27 to August 10, Aquatics Centre
Equestrian: July 27 to August 6, Chateau de Versailles
Fencing: July 27 to August 4, Grand Palais
Field Hockey: July 27 to August 9, Yves-du-Manoir Stadium
Football: July 24 to August 10, Bordeaux Stadium, Geoffroy-Guichard Stadium, La Beaujoire Stadium, Lyon Stadium, Marseille Stadium, Nice Stadium and Parc de Princes (finals)
Golf: August 1-10, Le Golf National
Handball: July 25 to August 11, South Paris Arena (group stage), Pierre Mauroy Stadium (knockout phase)
Judo: July 27 to August 3, Champ-de-Mars Arena
Marathon swimming: August 8-9, Pont Alexandre III
Modern pentathlon: August 8-11, North Paris Arena (ranking round), Chateau de Versailles
Rhythmic gymnastics: August 8-10, La Chapelle Arena
Rowing: July 27 to August 3, Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium – Flatwater
Rugby sevens: July 24-30, Stade de France
Sailing: July 28 to August 8, Marseille Marina
Shooting: July 27 to August 5, Chateauroux Shooting Centre
Skateboarding: July 27 to August 7, La Concorde
Sport climbing: August 5-10, Le Bourget Climbing Venue
Surfing: July 27 to August 4, Teahupo’o, Tahiti
Swimming: July 27 to August 4, Paris La Defense Arena
Table tennis: July 27 to August 10, South Paris Arena
Taekwondo: August 7-10, Grand Palais
Tennis: July 27 to August 4, Roland Garros
Trampoline gymnastics: August 2, Bercy Arena
Triathlon: July 30 to August 5, Pont Alexandre III
Volleyball: July 27 to August 11, South Paris Arena
Water polo: July 27 to August 11, Aquatics Centre, Paris La Defense Arena
Weightlifting: August 7-11, South Paris Arena
Wrestling: August 5-11, Champ-de-Mars Arena

How can I watch the Olympics?

Peacock streamed every event live and has replays on demand available for subscribers.

PARIS — The success of the 2024 Olympic Summer Games in Paris has put Los Angeles in the spotlight as the LA28 organizing committee switches fully into operations mode.

At a press conference to close the Paris Games, LA28 Chairman Casey Wasserman and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass outlined some of their own ambitious plans for the Games in 2028. And among them is something that goes against the grain in Los Angeles: Bass pledged for the event to be a “no car Games.”

How exactly that can be accomplished in a city that lives and dies by the car remains to be seen. Bass outlined how she thinks it can happen, starting with a massive investment in public transportation, an equally big procurement of buses and a commitment for people to work remotely.

“The ‘no car Games’ means that you will have to take public transportation to get to all of the venues,” she said. “In order to do that, we have been building out our transportation system. That’s not going to be enough. We’re going to need over 3,000 buses that will come, we will borrow them from all around the country. And you can’t do that without cooperation on every level of government. And I’m happy to say that we certainly have that.”

Bass noted that local residents were fearful in 1984 of what the event would do for the city’s notoriously tough traffic.

“Angelenos were terrified that we were going to have terrible, terrible traffic,” she said. “And we were shocked that we didn’t. But I will tell you, in 1984, we didn’t have any of the technology that we do today. We learned in COVID that you could work remotely. What (then) Mayor (Tom) Bradley did is he staggered the workforce. I think we can do that again. Part of having a no car Olympics means getting people not to drive, but also using public transportation to get to the Games.”

Wasserman said the LA28 organization is ready to get going on implementing its own plans for the Games after being in Paris. “Our observer program has been here in full force,” he said. “It’s important for us to see and experience the Games of full scale, not just our staff, but partners in our delivery: city officials, state officials, government officials from the federal government. Hundreds of people are here to observe and learn and watch what it really takes to deliver a world-class Olympic Games at the scale it requires.”

Wasserman and Bass addressed several areas of the upcoming preparations:

Security

Wasserman noted the Games received a national special security exemption in January, three years earlier than any other sporting event has received in the United States. The plan, he said, is to take advantage of the time until 2028 to prepare, similar to the way London organizers did in the Wimbledon before their Games, treating it like they would the Olympics to prepare local residents and fans.

“We can take a Dodgers game and enact it on a Thursday night in 2027 and tell people what it’s going to be like so that we can practice, they can practice and we can learn,” he said. “Not every city has the opportunity to do that.”

Bass noted all the city and county’s lead security and public safety officials came to Paris to observe the Games.

Ticketing

Paris set a record with 8.3 million tickets sold, selling nearly all of them. Can Los Angeles top that?

Wasserman said they won’t know the total inventory until final venues are confirmed.

“We have a pretty good idea of how many tickets we have to sell, but the exact manifest of those facilities won’t be finalized until every venue is finalized and we have a couple of sports where we have a lot of flexibility of where they can be,” he said. “So, we can optimize those for both our financial responsibility and our operational responsibility to deliver the Games.”

He noted Los Angeles has the opportunity to sell “significantly” more tickets than Paris. “But Paris sold every ticket they had and they deserve a lot of credit for that.”

Authentic L.A.

Asked what aspects will make for an “authentic” Los Angeles Games, the leaders said they had different criteria. Wasserman said the city will aim to highlight itself at the Closing Ceremony. But as for 2028?

“I think we are the place in the world where culture is made and culture is started,” he said. “Whether it’s our incredible history in the film industry, the music industry. L.A. has become so much more: fashion and film and food. And all of those things and all of the star power and opportunity to showcase that to the world.”

Bass said the city will also lean into its significant ethnic diversity.

“What is authentically L. A. are Angelenos,” she said. “And Angelenos representing every part of the world. I’ll be excited when people come from Bangladesh and find out that there’s a Little Bangladesh, and a Little Ethiopia, and a Little Tehran. All around the world, there will be people coming from countries who will come and see their diaspora. And I’m hoping that that’s something that we can really build upon.”

Legacy

Wasserman said the committee has an early commitment of $160 million toward youth sports programs in the Los Angeles area. “It is the largest single investment in youth sports in the history of America in one city and that’s before we even hosted the Games,” he said. “So, we are proud of that.”

Beyond that, he noted that the U.S. has not hosted an Olympic Games since 1996, meaning there is the opportunity to inspire a new generation of sports fans.

“A lot has changed since 1996, suffice to say. And so, the opportunity to have one of the great sporting cities in the world showcase the greatest sporting event in the world and the place where the world comes to tell their stories, we think is a really powerful opportunity.”

Paralympics

Wasserman also noted that the 1984 Games included several adaptive sports as exhibitions even though the Paralympic Games weren’t tied then with the Olympic Games.

“I think our history of access and accessibility for physically impaired individuals in the United States is world class. I think L.A. is at the top of the heap in that regard and I think the opportunity to showcase these stories and to showcase these athletes is incredible,” he said.

Team USA’s Paralympic team includes 25 percent who got their physical impairment while serving in the military. “As special as the Olympics is going to be, the Paralympics will be a truly electric and a special opportunity with just as much thought, just as much energy and just as much excitement for the city of L.A. and the world.”

He also noted the youth sports initiative in place includes programming for adaptive sports. “One of our future Paralympic champions is going to come through that Play LA program that we started with the city.”

Bass said she also intends to return to Paris for the Paralympic Games as well. “I’ll be extremely honored to be here for the Closing Ceremony and really look forward to the Paralympics in Los Angeles.”

Venues

While there wasn’t much discussion about venues that will be used in Los Angeles, there’s one thing LA28 won’t be doing: Cleaning up their river like Paris did with the Seine. “It doesn’t mean we’re going to be in the L.A. River, but I think they get a lot of credit for taking chances.”

PARIS — Events like the Olympic Games are significant boons to the host city. But lost in the story of the host city for mega sporting events is the opportunity for smaller destinations to get their own piece of the action.

This week in Paris, an unlikely partnership formed between the Netherlands Olympic Committee and the relatively small city of Mission Viejo, California, in the heart of Orange County. Under terms of the deal, the entire Dutch Olympic team will call the city of 90,000 its training home in the month before the 2028 Olympic Summer Games in Los Angeles, as well as from time to time in the years leading up to the event.

The deal, signed at the Netherlands House that is home to Dutch hospitality during the Games, was the result of years of effort to get a piece of the Olympic action, said Mission Viejo Councilman Brian Goodell, who is a two-time Olympic gold medalist in swimming from the 1976 Games.

“We realized that for us, 2028 is perhaps the last opportunity in our lifetimes to host an Olympic Games in our community,” he said. “And so we wanted to make sure that we had a part in that. Now we have.”

Adjusting After a ‘No’

The effort in Mission Viejo started eight years ago. Located about 50 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles, the city does have an Olympic pedigree. The city seal has an Olympic torch, a nod to the cycling races held in the city during the 1984 Games in Los Angeles. But when city leaders approached LA28, it was clear they needed another approach.

“They told us that the IOC basically wanted everything in L.A. proper this time, not spread out all over Southern California like it was in ’84,” Goodell said. “So they gave us the stiff arm. We said, ‘OK we have to do this on our own.’”

Thus started a concerted effort that involved hiring Greg Harney, a veteran of the Olympic hospitality scene as a consultant, and traveling the world to spread the message that the city was open for business. City leaders went to Brisbane, Australia, which will host the 2032 Olympic Summer Games, for a meeting of the Oceania National Olympic Committees Conference, where Goodell said they were the only other city in the room. They followed up with a contingent at the 2023 Pan Am Games in Santiago, Chile, eventually meeting with more than 40 countries.

Eventually, the effort led them to the Dutch.

A Mix of Venues and Sports Passion

At the signing ceremony, Andre Cats, director of elite sport for the Netherlands Olympic Committee, said his organization was impressed with the range of facilities in Mission Viejo, which has track-and-field venues as well as several aquatics venues.

“We have another four exciting days to go (in Paris),” he told the Mission Viejo contingent who traveled for the ceremony. “But we also like to prepare ourselves for the future. When we visited you, we saw so many colleges, track-and-field venues, fantastic accommodations, fantastic hotels. You guys are lucky that you have a fantastic infrastructure.”

But Cats noted the committee was looking for more than venues: “We were also looking for warmth, for hospitality, for passion for sports. That is what we were looking for. The little extra that we need to have that Olympic spirit in 2028. And we are very sure that we found that in your beautiful place.”

The Dutch team had a relatively easy training experience in Paris, which is hours from their own headquarters and facilities in the Netherlands. Cats said the national Olympic committee recognizes the efforts in 2028 will be more challenging picking up their team of nearly 300 athletes to train in the United States.

“We looked at your energy,” he told city officials, “but we also looked at the quality of all the facilities that you have. Mission Viejo was on top.”

Marc van Den Tweel, the secretary general of the Netherlands Olympic Committee, said the arrangement will bring some of the Dutch excitement to the region. In Paris, as at previous Olympic Games, the nation’s hospitality house has become a place to be seen, especially at night when the public can buy tickets to get into what has become one giant party.

“Every night we have more than 6,000 fans over here to come and watch the Games and to have the experience of being part of the ‘Orange Family,’” he said. “We hope to bring a lot of Dutch to California as well.”

Potential Room for More

Mission Viejo and Orange County officials are also hoping that ends up being the case.

“Orange County is a special place — it’s not L.A., it’s not San Diego,” said Anthony Brenneman, executive director of the Orange County Sports Commission, who joined the ceremony. “It’s a unique identity.  It’s true Southern California. So that is what your athletes are going to get. They’re going to get the pleasure of being around our great communities, our great weather, our great facilities and all the other things that we bring to the hospitality side.”

Goodell and the city of Mission Viejo may be able to continue adding some more teams to the mix as well leading up to 2028.

“We think we have potentially room for more, maybe some of the solidarity athletes from the IOC movement, some of the people who don’t have good training facilities in their own country,” the councilman said. “You’ve heard the stories about the swimmers who have to swim in a hotel pool or train in the ocean. So we’re still working those angles. But to have a team like the Netherlands, it’s huge for the city.”

And it’s an example of one way a city can take advantage of major events being held nearby.

“As a marriage, it just seems to be right,” he said. “And that’s how we feel with the Dutch. It’s the right place. Our community, our council, our visitors, everyone will be so excited to have you.”

An Olympic Summer Games in Paris hailed as a success operationally and otherwise came to an end with a Closing Ceremony that put LA28 on the clock as it enters its next phase leading to the Los Angeles Olympic and Paralympic Games.

And the final act in Paris had several nods to the Hollywood-style approach L.A. organizers may take, including actor Tom Cruise descending from the top of Stade de France, taking the Olympic flag from Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and whisking it on a journey via motorcycle and on video all the way back to Southern California. The video also featured the Hollywood signs with the final “O”s made up to be part of the colored Olympic rings.

The stunt came shortly after Paris Mayor Ann Hidalgo ceremonially handed the Olympic flag to Thomas Bach, who passed it on to Bass and Simone Biles, who joined the mayor on stage. It was the first time in Olympic history that two female leaders of the host cities participated in the tradition.

“It was an immense honor to participate in this moment of history and it was such a privilege to stand with Simone Biles – someone who has made the entire country proud,” Bass said afterward. “It’s my hope that when girls around the world watched the first woman mayor of Paris officially hand off the flag to the first woman mayor of Los Angeles, they were inspired. Together, we sent the message to girls all around the world that they can do anything — they can run for gold and they can run for office.”

LA28 also unveiled several new LA28 emblems, which reflect a rotating version of the “A” to offer different looks of what’s ahead. Among those who designed the new emblems were the musicians that took part in the Closing Ceremony, H.E.R., Billie Eilish, Snoop Dogg, Red Hot Chili Peppers, as well as one themed for Kobe Bryant, by his wife, Vanessa.

All the artists but H.E.R. appeared from a taped appearance in Long Beach, California, during the ceremony, a move that appeared to disappoint many in attendance at the Stade de France, with scores of athletes and spectators leaving for the exits when they realized what was happening. H.E.R. appeared in Paris to perform the national anthem during the handover.

The Closing Ceremony had a few logistical hiccups, including one of two screens in the stadium that went dark for some time and a moment where hundreds of athletes came onto the center staging en masse, only to be told over the stadium P.A. that they had to get back down.

For their part, Paris 2024 organized staged a large production that reflected a dystopian world where the Olympics had to be reborn again. Central to the production was a “Golden Voyager,” that was inspired by the Golden Record, a disc launched into space in 1977 by the Voyager spacecraft that contained an identity card of human civilization.

It included five rings that were assembled and inevitably hoisted in the air to make the Olympic ring logo.

In closing remarks, Paris 2024 President Tony Estanguet thanked the athletes, staff, volunteers and public safety officials that made the event happen. “France has showed up,” he said. “Tonight, I have never felt so proud to be French. Together, we have shown the world the most beautiful face of France.”
He also noted that seven marriage proposals had been recorded among athletes during the Games — believed to be a record.

And the fireworks display that lit up the stadium at the event’s conclusion marked a fitting end to a memorable Games in Paris. Now, the work will begin for Los Angeles, which Bass said will aim to have a “no car” Games when visitors from around the world arrive.

With the Olympic movement at an inflection point in the minds of many experts, the 2024 Summer Games in Paris were vital for the International Olympic Committee to prove to the world that it is still relevant and attractive for major worldwide cities to have an interest in hosting. Based on SportsTravel’s experience in Paris — from the atmosphere to the food and transportation — here is an assessment of what the Games were like on the ground.

Atmosphere: A+

Every venue was packed. Every venue was loud. Nearly every country had some type of cheering section; the United States overall was noticeable; gymnastics sessions felt almost like a home meet for the U.S. At La Defense Arena where swimming was staged, other than on nights where Leon Marchand competed, the United States cheering section was at worst second-best in support and many nights the loudest. The Games also got an enormous home-country boost — not only with the exploits of Marchand in the pool. In many other venues, the French people used the Games as a chance to escape the political back-and-forth that has enveloped the country and instead grasped the chance to be proud to be French. No matter the sport, or a team or individual’s chances at a medal, they were loud and supportive. It was a treat to see in person.

In-Venue Experience: B

The in-house arena announcer pairings hyped up the crowd in both French and English. The venues being full meant they were enjoyable to see reactions. Hearing La Marseillaise sung, especially after Marchand’s two gold medals on that amazing Wednesday evening, was stirring. Going to Lille for some basketball and watching the U.S. men play Puerto Rico was striking in that there was no in-game DJ, so with a close seat you could hear and see reactions much better than at an NBA game. Now, for the demerits. Some venues, especially the volleyball arena, did not have the greatest signage once inside. Some of the volunteers, when asked a question, were not 100 percent helpful. There’s also one site, which shall remain nameless, where security looked at SportsTravel’s accreditation badge and mistook it somehow for an athlete’s credential, allowing us to enter through the athlete’s entrance. (We walked around the entrance and found another, less conspicuous way, to go inside.) While there were cooling misters for fans at Place de la Concorde, the lack of prepared shade at outdoor venues left fans drained during intense heat. And at the Closing Ceremony, when LA28 offered their biggest musical stars only on a stadium screen from California instead of in person, it sucked the energy out of the venue, causing many athletes and spectators to depart.

Food: B-

The Paris 2024 emphasis on sustainability was most noticeable in the signage around the arena promoting recycling and vegetarian options. When ordering any type of drink, concession workers poured your order into a plastic souvenir cup that you either kept or returned for a refund of two Euros. As for the food itself, there were basic options depending on the venue. At beach volleyball were hot dogs, hamburgers and some snacks. One of the food kiosks outside Stade Pierre Mauroy for men’s basketball served a cheeseburger with fries that was, shall we say, not completely cooked. It was not the type of varied, expansive menus you expect within venues in the United States.

Transportation: B+

The fan experience relied entirely on the metro system of trains and buses. There were very little to no car parking areas at stadiums. Paris 2024 tried to make sure it had volunteers at metro stations that had heavy foot traffic near venues and almost without fail, those volunteers were shepherding people into the directions of venues. Paris also tried to understand the heat issue by handing out free water to people throughout stations since the trains themselves were hit-and-miss when it came to air conditioning. The heavy heat did make getting from one venue to another an exercise in endurance — but you can’t blame the organizers for the weather.

The Venues: A+

This, more than any other thing, was Paris setting a standard that will be impossible for any future Olympic host to meet. C’mon, now — beach volleyball at the Eiffel Tower? Fencing and taekwondo at the Grand Palais? Cycling down the Champs-Elysees? Equestrian and modern pentathlon at Versailles? While nothing was perfect — given the issues with water quality in the Seine, the insistence on going ahead with swimming events can be debated — there’s a case to be made that no Games ever had a better set of venues for fans to experience or for athletes to savor. In this age of social media, views of the Parisian landscapes went viral daily.

Overall: A-

Were the Games perfect? No. While there was an expectation the Russians would try to disturb the Games, the way it did so — with the Russian-backed IBA setting off a firestorm within the women’s boxing competition — saw the IOC react clumsily. Both the IOC and Paris 2024 organizers seemed unprepared for backlash to certain elements of the Opening Ceremony. But the French enthusiasm and the ability to see so many legends in one spot at various stages in their careers — the emergence of Marchand, the staying power of Katie Ledecky, the return of Simone Biles and the possible final appearances for Rafa Nadal or Novak Djokovic — was embraced and savored by fans. You also cannot overstate the success of the venues that Paris used. The Olympic movement had exactly the type of Games that it sorely needed.

Throughout SportsTravel‘s time in Paris for the Olympic Summer Games, we have reported on behind-the-scenes observations about how the event is organized.
For previous takes:

Eiffel Tower Shines Above All Olympic Venues

Being the Scenes at the Summer Games

Here is our final installment of what we saw, heard and felt during a memorable Olympic Games.

“Imagine” Stops Match Cold

We don’t think we’ve ever seen a stadium’s entertainment crew succeed in calming down tensions in a competition like we did at the gold medal match for beach volleyball. With Brazil up 12–7 in the deciding third set (with 15 points determining the gold medal), the Canadian team got visibly upset with something the Brazil team had done. The teams met under the net, pointing fingers, with Canada’s Brandie Wilkerson particularly unhappy. Referees came to separate the teams. But the stadium’s musical directors took things into their own hands by playing John Lennon’s “Imagine.”

Soon, the arena’s hype man, who always has something to say with his roving microphone, started singing along, causing the entire arena to sing as well. And not just one verse — almost the whole song. It took so long that Wilkerson, who was ready to serve, just started laughing at the absurdity of it all. In the end, the song did just the trick to ease the tensions. (Brazil went on to win…)

No One Celebrates Like Brazil Fans

That Brazil victory was met by considerable support from a large Brazilian contingent, who descended as close to the sand as they could after the three-set victory. And the music crew was ready for them as well, playing about 30 minutes straight of popular Brazilian music, which led to a giant sing along before the medal ceremony, people jumping up and down, waving flags and beginning a celebration that we imagine may still be going on somewhere.

No one celebrates like the Brazilian fans.

“Sweet Caroline” Battles “Jump Around” for Gold

If you read SportsTravel, you know we’re always finding new angles to report about sports events. In a recent piece, our longtime columnist Bob Latham called on the world’s sports bodies to give a rest to “Sweet Caroline,” which has moved far beyond its quaint playing at Fenway Park to become a standard at international events. At the Olympic Games, the song has been played in just about every arena at one point or another.

But right behind it on the podium, making a last-minute surge to the top of the standings, is another arena classic: “Jump Around.” We recently published an episode of the SportsTravel Podcast with House of Pain co-founder Danny Boy O’Connor, who noted with amusement how popular his group’s hip hop classic has become in the sports world. (Don’t have time to listen to the whole episode? Fast forward to the 14:00 mark to hear his thoughts on the song’s ties to sports.)

When we visited the skateboarding venue at Place de La Concorde, sure enough, there it was.

Olympics Jobs You Didn’t Know Existed

If you watch the Olympic Games on television, you’re aware there are plenty of people working in the arena to make the events happen. But you may not be aware of some of the jobs that help support the competition.

At beach volleyball, crews of six rakers come out every few points to smooth the sand in front of the net, and shake any sand off the boundaries that mark the court. They are methodical and captivating as they go about their business of being human sand Zambonis.

And at rhythmic gymnastics, three women come out after each routine of bedazzled athletes to pick up loose Swarovski crystals that fall from their uniforms.

The Wonder of Rhythmic Gymnastics

A word on rhythmic gymnastics. If you ever find yourself at the Olympic Games and want to see an event off the mainstream, the team competition in rhythmic gymnastics is it. You’ve seen rhythmic gymnastics somewhere on television or in photos in your past. It’s the one with the ribbons, balls and rings. But until you see what these athletes do exactly with those ribbons, balls and rings, you can’t appreciate what it is. Five athletes compete for each team, with one round devoted strictly to rings and the other round to balls (two of them) and ribbons (three of them). In that latter round, the five athletes can interchange those five devices in any way they want, and there are a shocking number of ways they can divvy them up.

In the round of rings, you would also be amazed by what happens. In one sequence, athletes go to the four corners and loop the ring around their bent legs, scorpion style. Then they fling the ring to the opposite corner of the mat with a flick of their leg, catching the other flying ring with their feet. In the round of ribbons and balls, the balls are bounced from every part of their body and the ribbons are tossed at impossible angles.

Simply put: The team competition is mesmerizing. We have a whole new respect for this sport.

Get Your Flask Out!

There are all kinds of signs at the Olympic Games. Some of those signs translate better than others. When we saw this one at the entrance to the breaking venue, we wished we knew beforehand that we were allowed to bring our flask.

Chance at the Podium

Very few people in Paris got to ascend the actual Olympic podium as champions. But Olympic spirit was everywhere, including in our hotel lobby where you could at least get to ascend the wooden podium if nothing else.

The Olympics of Scaffolding

One interesting aspect of so many temporary venues at these Olympic Games is the amount of scaffolding used to support those venues. From the fan perspective, the dramatic setting of the Grand Palais — home to fencing and taekwondo — was a wondrous sight.

But before fans got to their seats, this is what it looked like behind the scenes.

And even in convention center spaces, the scaffolding work is remarkable. At the main volleyball venue in a convention center in south Paris, organizers custom fit several stands in what was actually a fairly tight space.

But behind the scenes, it was a lot of walking up and down metal steps to make it happen.

Always Be Branding

At the host city of the Olympic Summer Games, there is always a chance to brand the event. Even on garbage trucks.

Hot Dogs

Paris 2024 reported that more than 400,000 hot dogs were sold at concession stands during the Olympics (and another 100,000 veggie dogs). But with little to no air conditioning on public transportation, we found possibly the hottest dog around on one of our train journeys, tongue fully out in exasperation. We feel ya, buddy.

Stunner of a Venue

We’ll close with this. There was a lot said, including by us, about the temporary stadium built at the Eiffel Tower for the Games. We’ve been at several versions of these kinds of venues, from the beach at Copacabana in Rio to the Horse Guards Parade in London, each of which were memorable. But the venue at the Eiffel Tower was a wonder to behold. That setting, especially at sunset and for night sessions with a light show from the tower itself and colored lighting filling the stands, may well go down as the best that can be done. And it’s a testament to the creativity of Paris 2024 to plan it as they did, knowing the images would go viral around the world — images that no doubt will entice people from around the world to think about visiting Paris, just as we were grateful to be there as well.

PARIS — From the outset, Paris 2024’s plans for the Olympic Summer Games was ambitious. It began with a deconstructed Opening Ceremony along the Seine and it is ending with other firsts, including a public marathon on the official Olympic course near the end.

In between, organizing committee leaders have been pleased with how things have unfolded. At a press conference to dive into what worked and what hasn’t, the general consensus was the Games were not only a boost for Paris but for the Olympic movement.

“For the last 17 days it’s been a magical feeling,” said Paris 2024 President Tony Estanguet. “Time was suspended sometimes in different venues.”

Organizers have plenty to be pleased with by several metrics, including:

• Another estimated 1 million spectators attended for cycling events held on city streets
• The first mass participation event during an Olympics with 40,000 runners from 127 countries in the public marathon
• Record attendance at women’s events, including 56,000 for rugby and 26,500 for handball
• A record medal haul for the host country France

A Focus on Engagement

Estanguet also gave credit to 45,000 volunteers and another 4,000 staff members who helped execute the organizing committee’s ambitious goals. Looking back, Estanguet said an early decision to focus on engagement with the people of France as a priority paid off.

“We decided to add a director on our team in charge of engagement because we knew at that time that success at end of the Games would be our ability to engage widely with people and give them a great experience,” he said. “At each step of the process we found ways to engage people in the delivery. Usually, you concentrate a lot on the operations, but we decided to focus first on engagement and legacy. Of course, the last four years we had to focus more on operations.”

Those operations were not without their challenges. COVID, war in parts of the world, inflation, social unrest all played outside roles in the planning. Estanguet also described some of his anxiety around the Opening Ceremony, which while memorable, did not go how the organizing committee drew it up. All their renderings of a beautiful sunset for the boats along the Seine to move toward turned instead a reality of massive rain — a month’s worth in one night of unfortunate timing.

“The forecast was a major source of concern and stress,” he said.

Adjusting for Torrential Rain

Part of that stress was, of course, the unknown of what the weather would do and how the performance would need to be adjusted after years of planning.

“We imagined (rain) could happen but not that way, so we made some adjustments to make sure the Opening Ceremony could still go through,” he said. “I was stressed through the end of the ceremony because I didn’t know if the artists would be able to adapt to those crazy conditions. But they did.”

Added Etienne Thobois, the chief executive officer of the organizing committee: “We showed we were able to adapt constantly.” That included changes in the schedule for triathlon, sailing, surfing and other events that were affected by weather or other conditions.

“We had a lot of contingency plans in place so that it could go well,” he said. “Everything went smooth for the public even though we as the organizing committee were very tense and under pressure.”

Paralympics Up Next

While execution of the Olympic Games is nearing its end, the Paralympics are up next, something not lost on the host committee. Many of the venues will be repurposed, including the dramatic Eiffel Tower stadium, which will host blind soccer.

“It’s not because we managed to pull off the Olympic Games that we can pull off the Paralympic Games,” he said. “The Paralympic Games will be a success if we’re able to get all our ducks in a row, if we concentrate on everything.”

The Paralympic Games will take place August 28 – September 8. 

Sticking to the Plan

Estanguet said leaders in Los Angeles (2028) and Brisbane (2034) have been on site observing how Paris pulled off its efforts. He said now his team’s effort is near the end, there are no regrets by the approach they chose to take.

“We made strong choices and we stuck to this ambition the last seven years,” he said. “Bold choices are not always the easiest ones. To stage an Opening Ceremony on the River Seine, the swim in the River Seine, we had to face challenges, but we did it. This is what Paris 2024 is all about: We wanted to showcase the most beautiful venues we have. I think we have really delivered on our ambitious decisions.”