Yes, Paris pulled it off. Their Summer Olympics production was outstanding. But who am I? Read what Time magazine said.- Sure, it rained some, but it was tolerable.
- It did not get stifling hot. Some days saw highs in low 70's.
- However, as the globe gets hotter, the Summer games might well need to be shifted to the Fall or Spring.
- Tokyo in 1964 did move to October.
- Then again, the Southern Hemisphere can be more utilized, for it will be winter there. Only Sydney and Rio have hosted, but Jakarta has a population of 34 million, Buenos Aires 22 million, Johannesburg and Lima with 11 million. Brisbane only has 2.6 million people, but will host in 2032.
- No reason why any event needs to be held during the daytime. What's wrong with a midnight marathon?
- Or, hold all events indoors, including the marathon.
- I've been in Los Angeles in July and remember both smog and triple digit temperatures. Dodger Stadium has suffered temperatures as high as 109 in July. The problem is that events need to be scheduled way ahead of time, and how do you make adjustments when it becomes necessary? The media overrides human health.
- Here is an interesting graphic.
- There were lots of celebrities, and the latest rumor is that Tom Cruise will rappel down the Stade de France as part of the flag handover ceremony to Los Angeles. Makes sense. He is a Hollywood star. Click on this to view many of these famous people. That is Snoop Dog with his pal, Martha Stewart.
- What will Taylor Swift do?
Return of Celine Dion?- Her My Heart Will Go On splashed twice this weekend.
- First, it was played at Donald Trump's rally in Montana just as he hit the stage, making people wonder if there was a mole on his staff, for many consider this song to be a metaphor for the Titanic, or Trump's sinking campaign. Hmm....Trumptanic?
- Then, Celine Dion further added to his agony by slamming Trump's campaign for unauthorized usage of the song.
- Everything seems to be going wrong for the Trump-Vance team. Remember Russian trolls passing on Hillary Clinton e-mails to Trump in 2016? This time it was Iran hacking Trump's campaign, and embarrassing documents were sent on to the media. Instead of Lock Her Up, Democrats can now with glee blare Lock Him Up.
Sure, there were incredible stars and unforgettable moments. However, Paris was absolutely terrific.- First Summer Olympics in a century for the city.
- The Eiffel Tower was at the center of everything, while the Seine River was, well, polluted.
- Hoping nothing serious occurs during the Closing Ceremonies, everything went well. I've been in Paris when it was burning again in 2015, and again on my last trip in 2019 with those yellow vests. Terrorists were kept under control.
About medals.
At the Summer Olympics, there were 329 medal events—157 for men, 152 for women, and 20 mixed-gender events.
Over the 19 days of competition, around 10,500 athletes competed for medals in 32 sports, and for the first time they did so with gender parity—with the same number of male and female athletes.
The final medal count:
1.
USA
40
44
42
2.
CHN
40
27
24
TEAM
TOTAL
3.
GBR
14
22
29
65
4.
FRA
16
26
22
64
5.
AUS
18
19
16
53
There are many such lists, but here is one selecting the top five Olympic Games of all time.
- #1 Athen 1896, for it kickstarted the modern Olympics. Marathon was appropriately won by Greek Spyridon Louis.
- #2 Berlin 1936, with Jesse Owens tarnishing Hitler's Olympics. Owens won four gold medals. Watch this.
- #3 Sydney 2000, where Australia showed the true Olympic spirit of diversity, unity and respect.
- #4 Beijing 2008, where China spent $43 billion to showcase the country, with Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps winning a few medals.
- #5 London 2012, featuring the London Eye and Big Ben, plus Usain Bolt again.
I recorded the 1964 Tokyo Olympiad, directed by Kon Ichikawa. Just about three hours long. Haven't quite finished it, but will find time later. If you have a chance to watch it, do so. Got a 100% reviewers' rating from Rotten Tomatoes. According to the BBC, is the greatest film about sport ever made. View the original if you can, but I found a slightly shorter 2 hour version just for you.
Here is another classic, the Hitler promotion film, Olympia - Festival of Nations (1936), by Leni Riefenstahl. She introduced several breakthrough motion picture techniques which later became industry standards. Rotten Tomatoes gave Part1 89/86 ratings.
Commissioned to make a propaganda film about the 1936 Olympic Games in Germany, director Leni Riefenstahl created a celebration of the human form. This first half of her two-part film opens with a renowned introduction that compares modern Olympians to classical Greek heroes, then goes on to provide thrilling in-the-moment coverage of some of the games' most celebrated moments, including African-American athlete Jesse Owens winning a then-unprecedented four gold medals.
As embarrassing as Jessie Owens was to Hitler, the multi-gold medalist was, in fact, treated much better in Germany than in the USA. He could go to any restaurant and seat in the front of the bus. You never see this photo in the U.S.
Oh, did Tom Cruise show up for the Closing Ceremonies? He did, indeed, for he swooped down to pick up the Olympic flag from Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Simone Biles (with a medical boot), scooted to his motorcycle, and zoomed into the streets of Paris with that flag for Los Angeles.
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