Olympics

The unifying effect of sport is what makes the Olympics magical.

The Olympic Games are unique in some way.

I remember it being a special occasion, full of energy and excitement, and having a moment where you could forget about your troubles.

You always have recollections from the Olympics in a congested world with packed memories. They are able to seize and hold onto memory cells.

Even though I was just a little child in 1976, I can still clearly recall the Montreal Olympics, where 14-year-old Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci made history by being the first to receive a perfect score. She went on to earn six more during those Games alone! It was captivating to see her enter the scene.

The news that Australia will join 45 other countries in boycotting the Moscow Games due to the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan came as a disappointment four years later. This was beneficial for Russia, who unexpectedly won the most medals.

The 1984 Los Angeles Olympics Opening Ceremony featured 85 grand pianos, marching bands, and a man propelled by a rocket that flew around the stadium.

A country celebrating Kieran Perkins' gold medal wins in the 1500m freestyle in Barcelona in 1992 and Atlanta in 1996. The Australian audience went crazy as Perkins successfully defended his Olympic title in spite of setback after setback. 

Beyond the medals, however, the Olympics serve as a powerful symbol of harmony and kindness.

Children are allowed to remain up late to watch the swimming, pole vaulting, and archery competitions—a testament to the Games' distinctively southern hemisphere experience.

Time zone discrimination, or TZD, was firsthand experienced by our friends in the northern hemisphere at the 2000 Summer Olympics held in Sydney.

Australia will once again be working through the night for the Paris Games. However, because Tahiti is only four hours ahead of us and the surfing competition is taking place in French Polynesia, we might get to witness some gold medal aerials and bottom turns at breakfast. (Yes, I did prepare by reading the glossary of surfing phrases.) 

Paris has hosted the Summer Olympics three times, in 1900, 1924, and presently in 2024. The fact that the Olympics have returned many times seems appropriate considering that Baron Pierre de Coubertin, a Frenchman, brought the games back to life in 1896 after a protracted absence.

Since 776 BC, twelve centuries of Olympic Games have taken place at Olympia in Greece every four years. However, Theodosius, the Roman Emperor, outlawed the Games in 393 because he thought they were a paganic ritual.

The Olympics originated as a religious celebration honoring Zeus, who was seen as the heavenly personification of triumph, physical might, and manhood. 

The athletes are thought to have competed in their undies as a display of their own strength and strong body, paying tribute to Zeus and intimidating their opponents.

Remarkably, athletes in horse competitions were thankfully not subject to the bare restriction.

Regarding the absence of sportswear, there is an alternative theory.

Orsippos, a runner from Megara, is reported to have participated in the stadion race in 720 BC, which was a 200-yard (180-meter) sprint. Suddenly, his loincloth inadvertently came off. Before he realized it, he had started a movement that allowed men to compete in the Olympics without being constrained by the oppressive rules of non-aerodynamic fabric.

With the exception of the Priestess of the Goddess Demetra, who was allowed to attend and sit at the deity's altar, only men were allowed to enter the stadium to observe the (male-only) Games.

How times have evolved.

The International Olympic Committee divided the 10,000 quota spots evenly among 10,000 male and female competitors, ensuring that there would be complete gender parity on the playing field for the first time in Olympic history.

Furthermore, seventy municipal administrations in France pledged to rename their sporting facilities in honor of well-known women. And in yet another first, the Games' last event will be the women's marathon rather than the men's.

Out of the 460 athletes on our Olympic squad, 256 are female and 204 are male. That is a far cry from the Australian Olympic squad of 1924, which consisted of 37 men and exactly 0 women.

Arisa Trew, a skateboarder, is the youngest member of the squad at just 14 years old, while Shane Rose, an equestrian, is the oldest at 51. Interesting trivia. Ruby Trew, a 15-year-old skateboarder who is part of the Olympic squad, is not related to Arisa, but they are close friends.

Our staff will have the comforts of home, like as Weetbix and Milo, along with three Australian baristas to make sure the flat whites are done perfectly, at the Olympic Village.

 

When the Australian Olympic Committee rented a coffee cart for Tokyo 2020 (held in 2021 due to the pandemic), the idea for the team barista was born. Fortuitously, it employed an Australian residing in Japan who acquired his skills in Fitzroy, Victoria. Melbourne is the epicenter of world-class coffee, as we all know. At least that is my modest and highly subjective perspective.

However, the countdown to the opening ceremony in Paris is almost over.

Another departure from tradition will be that the event will take place on the famed Seine River, which runs through the heart of Paris, rather than in a stadium.

The national teams will be on boats, and fans will be lining the riverbanks to see what promises to be a spectacular spectacle that heralds the beginning of 16 days of the best international athletes competing at the greatest level.

We'll all pick up skills in canoe slalom, diving, archery, rhythmic gymnastics, and skeet shooting quickly.

We'll whine about having stayed to witness the swimming finals for the men and women. However, we will succeed.

We'll be amazed at how hurdlers may outperform us even with a 100-meter advantage and without having to clear a barrier every 8.5 meters.

And after the Games are done, we get to do it all over again with the Paralympics starting on August 28, so we shouldn't be too depressed.

Since its start in 1960, Australia has sent a team to every Paralympic Games.

Kurt Fearnley, a five-time Paralympian and three-time gold medallist, claimed that throughout the years, the Paralympics have evolved from being primarily about participation to being about competitive excellence, or the recognition of the talent and commitment required to become a top athlete.

We have lifelong memories from the Olympics and Paralympics.

 

Sport has the ability "to bring hope," as United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will remind us in his remarks during the Opening Ceremony. to cross cultural boundaries. to bring people together. to encourage fair play and respect for one another.

Let the Games begin, along with all the positive aspects they entail.