One month and counting: The first post-pandemic Olympics are finally within sight

26/06/2024

PARIS — In exactly one month, the planet’s most gifted athletes will float down the Seine in Paris to celebrate the first Olympics since a world pandemic truncated consecutive Games.

Opening ceremonies of the Summer Olympics, set for July 26, will mark Paris' open door to millions of fans and thousands of athletes’ loved ones after they were virtually shut out of Tokyo in the summer of 2021 and Beijing in the winter of 2022.

There were no fans in the stands in Tokyo, when the Summer Games were held a year after the world economy shut down because of Covid-19.

While a handful of spectators were allowed to attend the Winter Games a year later, contests were largely held in bubbles.

Summer McIntosh wearing a swim cap and looking on

Summer McIntosh during a women's 400-meter medley heat at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, in July 2023.Yutaka / AFLO via Reuters file

When 14-year-old Canadian Summer McIntosh jumped into the pool three years ago, her family was more than 6,000 miles away.

“Tokyo, at the time we were just so grateful the Games were on. We still had a lot of fun watching it on TV and cheering on all of Team Canada,” said her mother, former Canadian Olympic swimmer Jill McIntosh, who will be in Paris cheering in person.

"But then you look back and think, ‘Well, that was kind of a bummer not being able to be there in person.' So for Paris, we’re really, really excited about it. It’ll be a super fun experience to be there in person.”

Paris is being transformed already

Paris' most iconic sites have been transformed into venues.

The Place de la Concorde is closed, and a series of bleachers surround the world-famous obelisk. The historic location will host modern sports like breaking, skateboarding and BMX cycling.

The Champs-Élysées — between the Place de la Concorde and the Arc de Triomphe — is partly closed now, and it will be fully shut for the Games, allowing tourists to walk without fear of the notorious Parisian traffic.

"I love seeing all the grandstands, the Seine, the Eiffel Tower — it’s really nice," Michelle Los Banos, 45, a government worker from Washington, D.C., said as she strolled past the Place de la Concorde venue on the Champs-Élysées. "You never have a chance to be on the Champs Élysées without cars; it’s incredible."

The U.S. hopes to have the world's fastest man

While pedestrians hopefully will be able to negotiate the busy streets, American sprinter Noah Lyles will be seeking a fast, 100-meter lane to gold.

Even though he won bronze in the 200 meters in Tokyo, Lyles failed to qualify for the 100 in the last Games and has spoken openly about his struggles with mental health. He has high hopes for Paris.

“I’d say in 2021 there was a lot more pressure just because of the depression. Usually, I don’t feel the pressure, because I’m just having fun,” Lyles said after he qualified for the 100 at the Olympic trials in Eugene, Oregon, over the weekend.

An American hasn’t won gold in the 100, the highest-profile event, for the title of “world’s fastest man” since Justin Gatlin won in Athens, Greece, in 2004 in the ancient, pre-Usain Bolt era of track.

“All I got to do is be me. I constantly tell kids all the time, ‘Be yourself,’” Lyles said. "And if people see me as being corny, shoot, I’m corny. But guess what? I’m winning while being corny.”

Sha’Carri Richardson's second chance

Team USA is rounding into form, with qualifying events in high-profile sports such as swimming, track and gymnastics unfolding now or soon to get under way.

American sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson will finally get her shot at gold after she qualified in the 100 meters over the weekend with the world’s fastest 100 run this year.

Richardson, one of the U.S.’ biggest track and field stars, missed out on Tokyo after she tested positive for THC. She said on NBC’s “TODAY” show that she ingested it to help her cope with the death of her mother.

U.S. seeks to make another splash

In the pool, Americans are expected to be a dominant force, led by Caeleb Dressel (50-meter free, 100 butterfly, 4x100 free relay) and Katie Ledecky (200 free, 400 free, 800 free and 1,500 free).

The biggest threats to crash America's quadrennial pool party include Léon Marchand, a Frenchman via Arizona State University, the Canadian wunderkind McIntosh and a pod from Australia, led by Ariarne Titmus.

The Aussies believe this could be their strongest swimming team yet.

Olympic officials might be in hot (brown) water

Open water swimming, such as the triathlon, is set to happen in the Seine.

But waters in one of the world's most famous rivers are still brown and raging, canceling an Opening Ceremony rehearsal this week.

Paris 2024 spokesperson Anne Descamps insisted the river will be good to go for the Games.

"We feel confident in the work undertaken by the city of Paris at this stage," she said. "We have experienced bad weather in recent weeks, but we know with summer weather coming to Paris things are going to improve."

U.S. gymnastics to be settled soon

America's gymnastics roster is expected to be announced at the end of the weekend in Minneapolis, in what could be the most competitive U.S. trial in the sport's history.

For example, Simone Biles, Suni Lee and Jade Carey, who have all won at least one gold medal, will face off in a two-day all-around competition.

If Biles qualifies for Paris, she'll be the first American gymnast since Dominique Dawes to compete in three Olympic Games.

USWNT fifth in world? Mon Dieu!

The U.S. women's soccer team heads to France with the sport's greatest track record but also the most to prove right now.

U.S. coach Emma Hayes was hired in the aftermath of the team’s disastrous round-of-16 elimination in last year's World Cup. The American women have dropped to a once-unthinkable fifth in the FIFA world rankings.

The American women have never gone three consecutive World Cups or Olympics without winning it all.

Joy on field, anxiety and instability elsewhere

The Games will unfold against the backdrop of two major armed conflicts.

The assault on Ukraine began on Feb. 24, 2022, just four days after the Beijing Games ended. Ukraine had threatened to boycott if Russian and Belarusian athletes were allowed to compete as neutrals. Russia condemned the restriction as discriminatory and has otherwise discouraged its athletes from going to Paris.

Israeli forces have been conducting an intense offensive in Gaza in the aftermath of Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attacks.

A number of Palestinian athletes are expected to compete in the Games, many being part of the Palestinian diaspora, including Omar Yaser Ismail, who this year became the first Palestinian to qualify to compete in the taekwondo category at the Olympics.

“I’m thinking of kids in Palestine ... in Gaza, also, and I hope they can see me as a role model,” Ismail, 18, who grew up in Dubai, told NBC News recently.

Keir Simmons reported from Paris, Chantal Da Silva from London and David K. Li from New York.