Well, the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad have drawn to a close: it has been wonderful to watch as it happened, and it’s been 28 years since it took place in my hometown of Atlanta, GA, where I was able to go to the Global Olympic Village at Centennial Olympic Park during the Games. That was the place I went online for the first time and where I got my beloved “Atlanta 1996 Fencing” Olympic pin.
As I grew up, my grandfather would record the, admittedly a bit limited, coverage of the Olympics from TV for me. Notably in 1988 he recorded both the Winter Olympics in Calgary and the Summer Olympics in Seoul. Both of these were during the school year, so I was only able to watch them on tape delay. He did the same in 1992 for the Winter Olympics in Albertville and the Summer Olympics in Barcelona. I believe he also recorded the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, and he most definitely recorded the Games when they came to us in 1996.
The last one he recorded was the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano as he passed away the next year.
Because of the time difference in 2000 to Sydney I was only able to watch a little bit of it: I also had other interests by then and honestly it kind of passed me by without my knowledge. Sadly this happened with the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City: by this point I had effectively stopped watching TV except for special moments at home.
I remember vividly visiting the first Fry’s Electronics that opened in Metro Atlanta during the 2004 Athens Games: I got to see one of the heats of the 100M on a 108′ HDTV that was on display. That was very cool.
I have no memories of the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics, and the only memories I have of the 2008 Beijing Games are reading about Michael Phelps’ exploits and the very high tech swimsuits used there that FINA later banned.
Despite the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics being on the same continent as me, I also missed these. I am aware of some things that happened here but have no direct memories.
I watched the Opening Ceremonies of the 2012 London Games, on tape delay of course, at a bar with my family, and I might have seen some results but otherwise no direct viewing of events there: the same goes for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.
Rio 2016 was the first time in a long time I was able to watch the Olympics thanks to NBC Sports’ Olympics app and more varied TV coverage across NBCUniversal’s networks: it was here that I was able to actually see Olympic Fencing! I had knowledge of the sport enough to want an Olympic pin of it, which I had totally forgotten about before I was packing to move. I recall the DJ at the venue playing the Imperial March which I felt was very much on point.
Anyway, Rio 2016 was a fun time: the Games were two timezones east of my timezone at the time, so I was able to watch it live on my tablet at lunch during my job at the time and on the weekend at home both on TV or online. This was probably the Games that helped revitalize my interest in the Olympics.
Two years later, the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang was a moderate repeat of the Rio Games, only I was able to watch it during work this time as I’d changed jobs. Everyone in my office was absolutely mesmerized by curling!
Although the Tokyo Olympics were pushed back a year because of the pandemic, I still watched them online. From the use of video game music in the Parade of Athletes to staying up quite literally all night two nights in a row to watch the men’s and women’s cycling road race, to watching various exploits in other sports, it was a very good time. NBCUniversal’s use of Peacock to allow one to watch literally “their” sports: more on this soon.
I somehow completely missed the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics: I think it was a combo of timezones and business travel and existential crises. I believe I watched some of it on TV with my parents. Maybe. This was a weird time for me.
Anyway, Paris 2024. I’ve been following Le Tour de France for a very long time, so I have seen much of France thanks to that Grand Tour and have some familiarity with Paris because of it. Plus, one of my favorite films, Ronin is set in France.
Now that I am 100% remote in my job, I’m able to have the Peacock stream going for my sports of choice as I work: from the group stage soccer matches ahead of the actual Opening Ceremonies, to the Opening Ceremonies themselves, to fencing and cycling, and finally to the Closing Ceremonies, I was able to watch much of the sports I have an actual personal interest in.
I got into cycling because I used to bike around my neighborhood in the 90s, got into soccer because of high school, and got into fencing because swords are cool. Of course I do enjoy track and field, swimming, basketball, but the ones I actually had checked as “favorites” in my Olympics’ site profile are road and track cycling, fencing, and football (soccer).
While I do own a road bike, my new city is incredibly hilly, and I live in a semi-urban environment now, so I will likely donate or sell it once I get it shipped up here as it’s super risky to ride on the “real” road. Conversely, if circumstances allow am looking to get into fencing as I’m sure it carries less risk of major injury than old people’s soccer league. I know one big fencing club around here has a complete beginner’s class for adults: once I get the two IT certs I’m looking at getting this year out of the way I’ll reach out to them, so we’ll see where this goes!
The next Olympics are the Winter Olympics in 2026, hosted by Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo in Italy. Italy is further east than France, but not so far that it’ll prevent my watching the Games should I choose to. I generally prefer the Summer Olympics due to where I am from having a relatively warm climate, not to mention being a former host city of the Summer Games themselves.
Though world sport organizations are stained with a tinge of corruption, the Olympics do have a good message and desire for peace. Plus, seeing the world’s best perform truly amazing feats in sport is very cool no matter who you are, and if the handover sequence to LA from Paris is any indication, Hollywood is sure to put on a good show in 4 years’ time.