EDITORIAL: Let’s embrace joie de vivre for enthralling Olympic Games in Paris
Every Olympic Games starts with the promise that this will be the “greatest ever”.
And the 2024 edition of sport’s grandest spectacle is no different.
After all, when it comes to putting on a show, no one does it better than the French.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.This is the nation that brings us the concept of “joie de vivre”, an exultation of spirit, the sheer delight and joy at simply being alive.
So great is the Parisian enthusiasm for hosting the summer games for a third time that it can’t be confined to a stadium.
Tonight’s opening ceremony takes place for the first time ever not in a sporting arena, but in the city itself. An armada of athletes will float down Paris’s beating heart, the River Seine.
The spectacle will bring one of the world’s grandest cities to a halt, will involve more than 45,000 police and will shut down air space.
The price of a marvel the world won’t easily forget.
And we so sorely need a reason to smile.
Yes, the Games are about rivalry between nations. Tensions played out on sporting fields. But they’re also a powerful reminder about all the things that bind us together.
Sport has an astonishing power to transcend language and cultural barriers, to unite people around the world. We’re all human after all, and all humans love a competition.
At a moment in history where the world feels on edge, and our differences are felt more keenly than our similarities, it’s a reminder we need.
For Australia, this really could be the greatest games ever.
Predictions by Gracenote, a division of international rating agency Nielsen, have Australia on track for a total medal haul of 54 this games, 15 of them gold.
The most medals the country has won was 58, at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.
As always, some of our best medal chances are in the pool. Thankfully, we don’t have long to wait, with the swimming beginning on the first day of competition on Saturday.
One of the most keenly awaited events from an Australian perspective will be Ariarne Titmus’s showdown against American superstar Katie Ledecky and Canadian prodigy Summer McIntosh.
Titmus will be defending her Olympic golds on the 400m and 200m freestyle events. She knows it won’t be easy, especially in the much-hyped 400m race. The world record has passed between the three women multiple times in the past decade. But it’s the Olympic champion who has ultimate bragging rights.
Another Aussie back to defend her Olympic title will be Jess Fox, at her fourth games. The opening ceremony flag bearer is a very real chance of not only winning the C1 event again, but the kayak and kayak cross as well.
Other events to watch include the rugby 7s. Australia’s men’s side has already qualified for the semifinals after thumping the USA. The women too are a favourite for a medal.
It’s enough to justify those pre-dawn alarms and extended bed times.
Let the Games begin.
