I, like many, grew up watching the Olympics. I remember sitting around the television on hot summer days and cold winter nights watching some of the most remarkable (in my childhood heart) displays of humanity and sportsmanship. I remember watching Barcelona’s cauldron lit by a flaming arrow (I was 5 years old). I remember Muhammad Ali igniting Atlanta’s in ’96. The impressive departure of Sydney’s extinguished flame climbing to the heavens on the back of a fighter jet at their closing ceremonies in 2000 still makes me tear up. The arrival of the World Trade Center flag in Salt Lake in 2002 is one of the most somber and reverent things I could ever remember. I imagine you may have similar memories. These are moments that unite us – not just a nation, but as a world.
My birthday in 1996 was an Olympic themed party, since Atlanta was happening at the same time. Every now and then I come across one of the “medals” my parents made for our party events (the medals were made from a button maker and Print Shop Deluxe). Back then I dreamed of going to the Olympics – maybe as an athlete, but more so, just as a witness to the wonder of it all. In 2018 that dream became a reality, not as an athlete of course, but as a spectator (and a tiny contributor to Team USA through my filmmaking). It was everything I had hoped for. At the time Katie and I were just starting to date, and she picked me up at the airport when I returned. When I knew she was “the one,” I knew we would go to more Games together.
This year, that dream also came true. But it wasn’t just Katie and me. Our nearly two-year old toddler Emy also experienced her first Olympic Games. I can summarize the rest of my writing here – Paris 2024 was a remarkable Olympic Games that I am so grateful Emy will know that she attended, BUT… Katie and I decided we aren’t taking little kids to the Olympics again – it was just a bit too much for her at times.
Our trip was possible thanks to the generous hospitality of French friends of ours. My former neighbors in Queens live outside of Paris and graciously hosted my family for the majority of our trip. Our tickets to events were actually purchased through the French lottery system thanks to my friend’s brother who actually brought me to the Panathenaic stadium in Greece two years ago. Similarly, Katie’s college roommate hosted us in Antibes (south of France) for when we were down there on the second half of our trip. Having international friends is so hard because of the distance, but so wonderful when you get to reunite and explore their slices of this planet.
Because we got to stay in French homes and not just some basic hotel room, every night we got to watch the Games with French citizens cheering on their heroes. My French language skills are extremely rusty, and while I could get the gist of a conversation here and there on the French TV broadcast, most of it went over my head. It didn’t matter, though. Sports are a universal language. We didn’t need to understand the commentary to know who was winning a race, or landing a vault, or scoring a goal. We all spoke the same language of hope and pride, and sometimes, heartbreak.
Growing up, I always wondered what the Games looked like around the world. We always watched the ABC or NBC broadcast of American or English speaking athletes, because that’s what was produced for us. I always wanted to know what the rest of the World was viewing, and how their experience was similar or different to mine. On this trip I finally got to see a little bit of that – heroes of a nation (in this case, the host nation) bringing so much pride and joy. One night while in Antibes I was cooking dinner for all of us while the TV broadcast the team mixed judo final between France and Japan. When France won, our French friends cried tears of joy. It was beautiful.
The Olympics are important. They at times are troubled/problematic, and you’ll find (for some reason) plenty of posts on social media trying to shame them as wasteful or destructive. I think that is changing, and a focus on sustainability and responsibility is underway, and was expertly showcased in Paris. But the Olympics are important. No other event in the world brings us together in peace. No other event in the world promotes sportsmanship and love globally like the Olympics. It has survived war. It has survived pandemics. And I am hopeful that it will survive a changing climate because I am hopeful it will help bring to light the importance of saving our planet.
The Paris Games will be hard to top. I don’t really know what the American broadcast looked like or what it showcased, but I am rather confident it showcased the Games just as I experienced them with my family. They were majestic. They were clean. They were safe. Walking around Paris is one of those cities where you feel like you’re discovering a new icon of history, but this time that discovery includes the roar of a crowd you are so desperate to be a part of. While walking from Notre Dame cathedral to the Louvre, I could see the sheen of the Olympic Torch balloon in the Tuileries Gardens in the distance. Walk a few blocks further and we stood on the Champs Elysees, next to the Grand Palais where fencing was taking place. We didn’t have tickets to go in, but the crowd’s explosive cheers were electrifying. We walked the maze of the Versailles gardens and peered at the equestrian venue beyond the reflecting pool. Remarkable. We took the metro to Stade de France in St. Denis and watched women’s Rugby 7’s (which I am now a HUGE fan of) – the venue was incredible! We sat in our seats at beach volleyball and rocked out with the crowd beneath the Eiffel Tower (we didn’t originally have tickets to this event, but I bought them last minute because I wanted to make sure my family experienced one of the iconic venues of the Games). We lounged on the beach of the sailing venue in Marseille where kite surfing races attempted to happen (the wind was too low) as fans ate and drank and swam in the Mediterranean sea. We were overwhelmed by the energy of a Moroccan crowd during the men’s semifinal soccer match at Stade de Marseille (but had to leave at halftime because Emy just couldn’t handle the insanity or sleep deprivation).
Side note, one of the cutest things happened in Marseille during the sailing event. We got sweet crepes as a snack. After eating what we bought, Emy got up without gesturing to Katie or me, took her plate and started walking. When we have eyes on her we let her independently roam, and in this case, we watched her walk all of the way across the viewing field, back to the concession are where she got in line and seemingly waited to ask for another crepe. It was so dang cute – of course we bought more.
I just don’t know how Los Angeles, or anyone for that matter, can top these Games for a while. It just felt… natural. It felt like this was a city meant to give rise to new heroes. To have places once built for the rich and powerful to now become a gathering place for the People – all people.
I wish I could have attended more events, but I couldn’t afford it (in time or money). I wish we could have seen Paris at night (the city of lights after all), but in the summer the sky is still aglow with light at 10PM and Emy needed to be in bed. I wish I could have visited more hospitality houses, but am grateful we were able to enjoy dumplings in Mongolia House and a pivo (beer) in Czech House (where I got my one and only traded pin). I wish Emy was a little older to enjoy all of the amazing activities for kids at Club France (which we got tickets to on our last day), but I also am already fearful that time is going by too fast with her. This all just leaves more items for that wishlist when we return to a Games some day as a family.
I hope families gather around the TV still like mine did growing up. I hope someone runs to the kitchen during a commercial break to pop popcorn while the rest start yelling “the race is about to start” so that they can run back in time and not miss a moment. I hope tears of joy well up in eyes. I hope children see that after a race there is an embrace between everyone on the track, court, field, and pitch. I hope adults pay extra attention all the same.
My dream now is to tell the story of these Games and try to translate this magic through my filmmaking. I hope to find the same drive and passion to achieve that goal with NBC just as Olympics dedicate their entire lives towards those moments on the field of play.
Paris 2024 was incredible. We should all be proud of what we had a chance to witness. I’m so thankful I got to witness it in person, and hope I have a lifetime ahead of similar gratitude.