Paris 2024 Olympics: My Spectator’s Dream
From navigating the bustling streets to cheering on athletes: my personal journey through the magic of the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics
The Olympic Games come around only once every four years, and they are often held in countries far from my hometown. When I heard that the 33rd Olympiad would be hosted in France, I knew I had to seize the opportunity to experience the games as a spectator. Initially, my plans seemed uncertain as I hadn’t secured any tickets by the end of June. However, just a month later, and halfway through the summer Olympics, I finally got the chance to witness the grandeur and excitement of this incredible event.
The bar was set very high, very early on
Why would it not be, the Olympic Games are the pinnacle of sports for so many disciplines, so the experience for me as a fan but also for the athletes was going to have to be outstanding. I had very high hopes for the games, spending a lot of time on social media I saw what was happening in Paris and it all looked amazing. The venues were being built, athletes were starting to arrive at the Olympic Village and best of all the opening ceremony was fast approaching. Everyone had their own personal thoughts on what was about to happen, as an athlete and someone who loves massive events I was hyped, but all over the media and around my friends’ lots of people had doubts, they weren’t very confident.
Then the crazy opening ceremony happened, and what a show. Breaking the codes for the first time ever the organising committee decided to hold the ceremony outside of a stadium and along the river Seine. I was in Bessans (73) when the show started, with my teammates on a small television sadly we watched in amazement at what we were being shown. Too bad about the weather but you can’t plan for that. The aspect of the show that amazed me the most was the soundscore, the music used during the whole ceremony was amazing, had great vibes and properly set the tone for the weeks to come. The team behind the show did a great job at mixing multiple cultures without going overboard.
Before I left for Paris I had an extra week of training at home, and all that week did was build the excitement for what I was about to experience. The French athletes were winning left right and centre, beating athletes no one thought they could initially beat. This brought the whole country together in a way I have rarely seen before. Everyone was celebrating, and talking about sports and not a single person was complaining. All the Parisians who had fled the capital to avoid the games were regretting their choice and wanting to return to live the games from the inside. But after a week of training, it was finally my turn to leave for the capital.
Not too fast, got to get to Paris first
Yeah, on paper this seemed like quite an easy task. Drive down to the local train station in Thonon-les-Bains and then a direct TGV all the way up to Gare de Lyon in Paris in time to watch the Olympic Flame rise up unto the Parisian sky. But that was up until about 21h when everything went wrong. Ever heard of Maroles-sur-Seine? me neither but I did for about 3h last Saturday evening when my train suddenly stopped because of a suspected bag. Originally we were told to wait for 30 minutes for the police to arrive, check the bag quickly and we’d be off. But when they did arrive they announced that they were going to have to call the bomb squad to blow the bag up.
When you are in a major airport this happens reasonably fast, but when you are parked on the side of a train track in the middle of what the French call La Diagonale du Vide this can take a very long time, and it did. The bomb squad took 2 full hours to arrive from Paris-Orly Airport. Once on site, they were incredibly efficient and we finally got going again at about half past midnight.
Arrived in Paris at 01h15 the next morning, and thanks to a very efficient taxi service at the train station I was able to quickly make it to my accommodation.
The Grand Palais and fencing, a match made in heaven
Up early the next day, because even if I got in late that wasn’t going to screw up the massive agenda I had set myself out to achieve during the day. I had two events planned for Sunday, the first one was free, the women's road race and then later on that evening I had tickets to watch some fencing. But before all that I wanted to visit the Champs Élysée, many nations had their “Houses” down on the Champs and I managed to visit the Dannemark Pavillon and the Korean House. Two great experiences with the opportunity to discover their local culture and food. The Danish house also had a free flower lego activity which I had the opportunity to take part in, very fun and I got to keep my flower.
After having descended the avenue and visited the Alibaba and Samsung stands it was time for me to make my way to Montmartre. The men’s race the day before was a massive success and I knew I would have to get a spot very early in the afternoon if I wanted to see anything. My waiting paid off and I was on the first row to witness the women's road race and what a race it was. The cobbles up the steep Parisian streets made for some incredible racing and the atmosphere along the road was amazing. I’m a massive fan of cycling so this was one of the events I didn’t want to miss. The race ended quite late and I had to quickly make my way back to the centre of Paris for the fencing.
This wasn’t a problem because the transport system was running incredibly smoothly and with staff members and volunteers everywhere, it made for a very easy experience. Every venue was marked on the subway map and throughout the stations so getting to the Grand Palais venue was a breeze. I was invited to the fencing by Salesforces, a CRM management software so I met up with the team and we made our way to our seats. Massive thanks to the team at Salesforce for the invitation. I wouldn’t have gone to Paris without them.
The men’s foil team's bronze medal and gold medal matches were great but what I need to talk about is the venue. The GRAND PALAIS; needs no description, being one of Paris’ most iconic locations. I spent the whole event just looking up at the roof of the building and its amazing architectural masterpiece. This is one of the factors that makes these Paris Olympics so good, hosting all the events in such amazing locations is a great way to build an amazing event. Apart from all that the actual fencing was incredibly fun on the watch, I didn’t understand anything (the rules are very complicated), but the ambiance in the crowd was amazing, especially when the French were winning their bronze medal match.
My next stop after the fencing was to try and view the Vasque Olympic in the Jardin des Tuileries next to the Louvre. I got the chance to see the torch relay in Annemasse during the spring so I really wanted to see the end product floating up in the Parisian sky. The amount of people in the park was borderline crazy because it’s a free attraction, everyone wants to go and see it, and that’s not a bad thing. The flame itself isn’t actually a flame this year it’s made out of water and light but the effect is really cool. I managed to get a great view of the floating balloon before heading home very late again to get as much sleep as possible before the next day.
Volunteers and great staff make it all so much better
06h00 alarm the next day, another very short night but it’s all worth it. The mixed triathlon relay was on that morning and getting a spot on the front row was going to be a massive task. The route was very short and loads of people were expected to be present on the side of the race course. I got to the Pont Alexandre III at 07h00, one hour before the start of the event, but the number of people already on the course was crazy. I was on the third row, a decent enough spot because I could see the big screens, some cycling and some running. The swimming was happening in the seine and I sadly couldn’t see over the wall down to the river. Quite an unfortunate race for the French team, favourites on the start sheet sadly our first athlete fell off his bike on the first lap setting him back by about 45secs. This is a massive disadvantage in any sport but especially such a fast-paced mixed relay. Great work by the other three athletes brought the team back to fourth but not enough for the podium. You could feel it in the crowd, the French fans were very disappointed as I’m sure the athletes were as well. Great race upfront though with a massive battle until the end for the win. I’d never seen a pro triathlon event before so I was very pleased with the experience.
The race was right next to the Place de la Concorde where the official Paris 2024 megastore was. I had seen two products I really wanted to buy but sadly they didn’t have them in stock. Annoying because the queue to get in was over 1 hour, I decided to buy some pins because after having queued for that long I wasn’t going to walk out empty-handed. Lunch was quick because I then had to make my way out of Paris to get to the Kayak Cross venue. This was easy, I had bought the official Paris 2024 transport tickets which gave me unlimited access to all the transport modes in all 5 zones, and using the official transport app I just had to enter the venue I wanted to get to and voilà. Step-by-step guidance with all the up-to-date information is much more useful than Google Maps. The RER A was really efficient and then I had to take an official bus from the station to the venue.
It’s so important to mention all the volunteers helping us get around. From the centre of Paris all the way to my seat at the Stade Nautique du Vaires-sur-Marne I had the joy of encouraging incredibly helpful volunteers. They would guide us out of the stations, onto the buses but also every 150m during our walk to the venue. Everything was really efficient and made the experience so much better. The canoe/kayak venue had no natural shade so big umbrellas were put up and water points set up all around so that we could easily keep out of the heat. Being so close to the river I just wanted to jump in to cool down but that was not an option… The venue all offered drinks but I’d set myself the objective of not drinking any Coca-Cola company products during my visit because of their environmental impact.
If you have never heard of Kayak Cross, look it up, a brand new event at this year’s Olympic Games but the discipline has been around for a long time. It was really fun to watch and much easier to understand than the fencing the night before. Great sportsmanship was shown by all the competing athletes and even the French public. The French love to boo the opposing nations when they are in front of the French, but this wasn’t happening here, everyone was getting properly cheered on, it was great to see. Watching the athletes compete made me want to get into some kayaking, it looked so fun. We finished third in the women's event but sadly I didn’t stay for the medal ceremony because I needed to quickly get back to Paris and I didn’t want to be left in any massive queues.
I finished off the day at the fan zone set up in front of the Hotel de Ville in Paris, loads of great things to do there but I chose just to sit down in the grandstands and watch the evening events. I got to see Arnaud Duplentis break his own world record again, but also the French finishing second during the 3x3 basketball event. Really good vibes all around with everyone enjoying their time in the fan zone. I then stayed to listen and dance to a DJ set they had on before ending my day back at my hostel. Another late night but I was going to be able to lay in the next morning so that was alright.
Olympic rings and the Parc de la Villette
My last day in Paris was a very easy one, a quick trip to the Gare de Lyon baggage area to drop off my suitcase for the day and then I took the metro across the city to see the Eiffel Tower dressed in the Olympic rings. It’s a sight everyone had to see if you were visiting Paris. The city’s most iconic landmark, equipped with the Olympic symbol. A beautiful sight which I was very pleased to have seen. I didn’t stay long though as I had booked tickets to attend the Club France up at La Grande Halle de la Villette.
The Club France is the biggest fan club you can go to in Pairs. Set up by the French Olympic committee it’s the place to celebrate all the medalists, discover the different French sports federations and watch the various events on the big screens. I’d seen people on social media share pictures with massive queues and really crazy party vibes when the athletes were on the stage. That’s what I wanted to experience, but sadly only one medal was won by France the day before so no celebrations were planned during my visit. This didn’t mean I didn’t enjoy my time it was just a lot calmer than what I had seen online.
The calmer crows meant I could participate in many of the activities they had to offer, laser shooting, archery, fencing, volleyball pretty much any olympîc sport you wanted to try out was available. All the CNOSF partners had various stands to discover as well, even though they were much less interesting it was a great way to collect some free goodies. I watched the women’s handball semi-final on one of the two big screens, it was a great game, during which they qualified themselves for the Olympic final. I have a classmate who plays in the team so I was rooting for them to qualify, as I’m writing this they play in 1 hour so hopefully they win for the 3rd Olympiad in a row. They had great food and drinks (still only Coca-Cola branded) available throughout the whole fan zone with a lot of spots in the shade to cool off. It’s a place where you can easily spend the whole day celebrating the French achievements, but I didn’t stay much longer because at 19h00 I had my TGV back home and I did not want to miss it.
My thoughts and looking forward to what’s next for France
Whizzing along the French rail network I got to write down some of my thoughts about these Olympic Games and what I look forward to for France in the future.
These Olympic Games have been a massive success no one could have ever dreamed of, the french public has embarrassed the Olympic spirit in the most amazing way and it has made for a great two weeks. From an outside view, everything was perfect, I was particularly impressed with the branding on these games. The signage and the habillage of all the stadiums and venues have been spot on, and really helps the overall atmosphere. And of course, the French performances have been outstanding. I imagine racing in front of a home crowd helps a little but it’s also important to point out the hard work and dedication that has gone into everyone’s training to make these Olympics a masterclass for Team France. The government has also invested heavily in the summer sports federations to help along the way.
Personally, I enjoyed my experience in Paris. As an athlete, it is my dream to one day be on the other side of the barriers and compete in the winter games. Seeing the athletes up close and admiring their dedication to performance was a great learning experience and will motivate me during my training sessions before next winter. Private problems during my last training camp meant I was struggling to have an absolute blast and let go in Paris. Everyday I still had what happened at the back of my head disturbing me; but I was still very pleased I made the trip. Very long days and an astonishingly short amount of sleep also made the days complicated, but with more planning this can easily be dealt with. Travelling solo meant I was free to do whatever I wanted whenever I wanted and it’s something I enjoy thoroughly.
Next up in France, we have the potential 2030 Winter Olympic Games to look forward to. This is going to be an immense challenge. Paris has set the bar very high with incredible venues, branding and atmosphere. The French Alps are a beautiful place, but increasing global warming and public scrutiny are going to be following the organising committee everywhere they go. It’s a task I’m 100% convinced they are up to taking on and making these potential games one of the best winter games ever. I look forward to the years to come when I’ll put everything together to either compete at these winter games at home or help to make these games a reality.
Thanks a lot for reading through my experience in Paris, writing this out has been great fun and even though I’ve been struggling to keep up with the newsletters lately I hope this launches my motivation to write more during the end of my summer preparation. If you have any comments or suggestions be sure to send me a message on my socials, I’d love to hear what you all have to say. I’m off to Belgium now for a new training camp and the first races of the year. Follow me on Instagram and Strava to be up to date with all my adventures!