Everyone has been talking about the Paris Olympics. These ‘talkers’ come in all categories and represent a sport of their own.
The first would be ‘Participators'. The lightest of the categories that requires a minimum level of training and representation. It mostly entails phrases like “I am so happy Neeraj Chopra won the silver.” Or “US has the most medals.”
The second category would be the 'Detailers'. The people who wait for ‘Participators’ to start and build a conversation but take the winning point with the fact that they caught over news. These are like the athletes who stay clear of controversies, have the right attitude, and go for bronze.
Then come the 'Obsessors'. They absorb the whole event, have an opinion on everything, and will tell you about the smallest details. They are gold.
I lie in the second half, maybe. I am emotionally detached from any sport, to be honest, but what excites me are the stories that come out of any event, sporting or otherwise. And the Paris Olympics have been a haven for them.
Let me start by telling you that the Olympic Games Paris 2024 take place exactly 100 years since Paris hosted the Olympics back in 1924. Useless fact, good to quote.
Paris will join London as the only cities to host the Olympics three times. The Games were in Paris in 1900, 1924, and now in 2024. Three times strike? I wonder.
The Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony was not held in a stadium for the first time ever. Instead it was on the Seine, the river that crosses the center of Paris. And boy, didn’t that go well.
The opening ceremony was seen as a spoof of ‘The Last Supper’. The artistic director for the games, Thomas Jolly, denied this inspiration and said he just wanted to project community tolerance and harmony. Ironically, this spread did not digest with many.
Moving the homeless for vanity. Portuguese triathlon athletes falling ill after swimming in the Seine. Drugs. Athletes asked to leave for indiscipline. Bed Bugs. The Heat. Sexist commentators and cameramen who were instructed not to sexualize women athletes. A regular guy from Turkey who casually won a silver. Testosterone went high at wins and a 100 grams that felt too heavy for a nation to carry.
So much did happen in Paris. And then there were stories that didn’t get enough of the spotlight.
The Refugee Olympic team. It’s the team that represents more than 100 million forcibly displaced people worldwide, has 37 athletes, is hosted by 15 National Olympic Committees, competing across 12 sports, and they won bronze for the first time. Cindy Ngamba, a boxer, did it for the first time for the Refugee Olympic Team.
A footballer to begin with, she discovered boxing by accident. Her simplicity lies in the story she narrates about herself. “One day, when I was walking out the football training session, I saw many boys coming out of a room, and all I heard is boom, boom. I walked inside, and I saw boys in the room punching each other on the head. I said, ‘This is so cool,’ “
I could relate. Sometimes life’s best decisions can be as easy as punching the hell out of someone.
But this one has taken a lot of punches to just be in the game. The United Kingdom (no surprises) has denied the 25-year-old citizenship even though she has lived there for more than a decade. She is gay and can’t go back to her home country, Cameroon, because it's punishable there. Her win seemed personal.
Then we had Celine Dion. Coming from a generation that sang the worst renditions of “My heart will go on," her music felt for us when we didn’t know how to feel. She was back on stage for the first time after being diagnosed with Stiff Person Syndrome. Her comeback was the story of gold! And the only song that played in my head was "That’s the way it is.”
The last story, not surprisingly, all over social media, was that of two mothers, two friends, and two hostile nations. India and Pakistan. We couldn’t get more cliche.
Arshad Nadeem from Pakistan won gold and broke the Olympic record with 92.97 m to win the men's javelin title. Neeraj Chopra from India won silver. Everyone who didn’t want the other to win was now face-painted with sportsman spirit.
Their mothers were adorable, though. They seemed oblivious to the impact of their words on the political imagery of the India-Pak relationship. Suddenly the borders seemed to stand on the same stage, with the flags held up as closely by the athletes as we mapped the inches of our land. Everything seemed ok on that day, and that was the true win.
I am sure I am missing out on many more stories, but this is how much one can swim around Paris and its grand event. As the games lose their shine, we go back to being the 'participators', 'detailers', and 'obsessors' of other conversations. These stories and many others will hold a place in my conversations, some as lessons, some as motivation, and some just plain mockery. It's true, Paris does leave a mark on you.
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