Written by Sheldon Persad

The topic of the Olympic games typically brings about divergent views and sentiments.  On one end of the spectrum there are those who spend a lifetime preparing for the Olympics in the pursuit of excellence, and on the other end of the spectrum there are those who approach the topic with cynicism and comments about wasted spending. Yes, the Olympics costs host cities a lot of money, and according to Flyvbjerg et al. (2016) every Olympics between 1960 to 2012 went over budget at an average of 172% (1). Specific to the Paris games, with a cost of $8.7 billion USD (to date), it is estimated to be over budget by roughly 115% (2). However, as a coach and sport scientist who has worked with National and Olympic athletes since the early 1990s, the Olympics is a special time, and I see it as an honour to be part of the process.

It was a treat to attend the 2024 Paris summer Olympics. The venues were picturesque, especially the beach volleyball stadium at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. As with each summer and winter games, the Paris Olympics resulted in the full spectrum of performances including athletes that exceeded expectations, to those that underperformed.  Beyond athletes’ performances, there were several talking points surrounding the games as well, from the expected and usual, to the unexpected and unusual.   For this article I will share my highlights of the games focusing on athletes that met and exceeded expectations and, unexpected and unusual occurrences I experienced while there.

 

MET EXPECTATIONS

Phil Kim is the Wizard of Olympic Breaking, thus the nickname “Phil Wizard”.  He is the first male gold medalist for the sport, ever. He now adds Olympic Champion to his world titles.

The year prior to the Olympics, I had the opportunity to coordinate testing for members of the Canadian Breaking team who live in Ontario. It was a treat to watch them train and practice their routines. The unquestionable athleticism of dancers and the consistent joy they bring to their sport is a treat to observe.

 

EXCEEDED EXPECTATIONS

Although I was in France during July and August primarily for work, I did have the opportunity at times to enjoy the games as a fan. Live events I was able to enjoy as a fan included rugby, cycling, women’s indoor volleyball, tennis, and triathlon.

It would be easy to list the Canadian Men’s 4x100m gold medal in the category of exceeding expectations, however, I would like to highlight the Canadian Women’s Rugby 7s team winning a silver medal. I did get to see all the women’s rugby teams play over several games, including New Zealand and Canada in the gold medal match up.  However, Canada’s play while beating France in the quarter finals, and Australia in the semi-final was superb.  Hats off to their coaches, technical leaders, and sport science team for the great work they did with the athletes leading up to the games.

Two weeks after the games I had the opportunity to catch up with one of the Canadian athletes who had spent the previous 2 years struggling with injuries.  It was such a joy to see her with her silver medal and share in knowing all her hard work paid off.

Also, in talking with their coach recently, one thing he shared that is noteworthy is his games first mentality in training. Specifically, during training sessions he includes several fun games when working on skill development. It is clear in speaking with the players about their preparation that their coach has created a culture and environment where the athletes love to be there and play for each other.

 

UNEXPECTED

While it may seem strange, but one thing that certainly stood out to me was the ease at which 80,000 people were able to vacate Stade de France at the end of competition without grief, drama, or tension. In fact, navigating around the city was relatively easy despite the influx of tourists. The Metro transit infrastructure, like London and New York, combined with the hundreds of helpful volunteers made getting from one end of the city to the other straight forward. In Toronto, the primary stadium is half the size of Stade de France, and getting in and around the city is always a challenge, especially on game days.

 

UNUSUAL

At one point during the journey, several of us had to travel around the south of France by train. The day prior to our journey there were bomb treats associated with the line we were required to travel.   However, by the morning all train lines were running on time and there were several reports that the threat had been eliminated.  I categorize this as unusual given how quickly things were sorted. Not going to shy away from the fact that it was a bit tense, however, the travel ended up being seamless.

 

In conclusion, given the COVID aftermath, given games usually go over budget, given terrorist threats, given the Paris games were not the green games that were promised, the Paris games were the most successful for Canadians, apart from the boycotted 1984 LA Olympics, in terms of medal count. It will be interesting to evaluate cost, navigation around the city and athlete performances in 2028 following the LA summer Olympics.

 

Author Bio

Sheldon Persad is certified as a coach in multiple sports, a certified sport scientist leader, and the founder of the CSCA. He has worked with athletes from over two dozen national team programs and continues to coach local high school and adult aged athletes.

 

References

1. Flyvbjerg, B., Stewart, A., and Budzier, A., 2016. The Oxford Olympics Study 2016: Cost and cost overrun at the games. arXiv preprint arXiv:1607.04484
2. Budzier, A., and Flyvbjerg, B., 2024. The Oxford Olympics Study 2024: Are Cost and cost overrun at the games coming down? org/pdf/2406.01714