It’s been some time for the reason that Olympics have been, nicely, this enjoyable.
No matter is within the air (we received’t discuss what’s within the water—particularly within the Seine), we’d prefer to bottle it up. Snoop Dogg in full equestrian garb, dancing with a horse? Sure, please. Ilona Maher searching for love within the Olympic Village (ahem, “the Villa”)? We’d tune into an ongoing sequence. And now we even know the muffin man: He’s a Norwegian swimmer named Henrik Christiansen who can’t get sufficient chocolate treats within the cafeteria.
Carrying glasses is now iconic, due to Stephen Nedoroscik, a.ok.a. the pommel horse man or gymnastics Clark Kent, who turned an unlikely hero not only for fixing a rubik’s dice in lower than a minute, but additionally swooping in to assist Group USA take the bronze medal within the males’s group competitors. Our utmost gratitude will all the time go to Bob the Cap Catcher, who bravely dove to the underside of the pool to retrieve a rogue swim cap, carrying essentially the most colourful speedo on deck.
The Paris Video games haven’t simply showcased the very best athletic expertise on the planet, they’ve additionally put us on discover: Pleasure is again.
PARIS, FRANCE – AUGUST 5: (L-R) Simone Biles, Rebeca Andrade and Jordan Chiles take a selfie collectively on the finish of the Girls’s Ground Train Ultimate on day ten of the Olympic Video games Paris 2024 at Bercy Area on August 5, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photograph by André Ricardo/Eurasia Sport Photographs/Getty Photographs)Eurasia Sport Photographs/Getty Photographs
It’s no secret that we’ve been by way of darkish days (okay, darkish years!) of late. In fact we’ll proceed to grapple with the numerous injustices and cruelties of the world, however it’s develop into clear that we will additionally forge on with levity amid all this critical enterprise. The 2024 Olympics have proven us how.
Working example: On the finish of her competitors on the 2024 Olympics, Simone Biles, now essentially the most adorned gymnast in historical past, referred to as her expertise this yr “pure pleasure.” Juxtapose it together with her early exit from competitors on the Tokyo Video games to are likely to her psychological well being, which got here as USA Gymnastics was reeling from reckoning of allegations of abuse and long-standing mistreatment of its athletes. One factor I couldn’t assist however discover: The obvious rigidity and worry that I’d seen beforehand on the faces of the women and girls competing for Group USA had been nowhere to be present in Paris, changed by what gave the impression to be an genuine enjoyment of their sport and appreciation of the Video games. That may very well be seen when Biles, Suni Lee, Jade Carey, Jordan Chiles, and Hezly Rivera had been celebrating huge wins, certain—they usually obtained these in Paris, positively—but additionally after they had been merely cheering on their teammates, warming up, or chilling after a match.
