When the Olympics are over ...
My Olympics vacation is approaching its end. That's so weird. The past two weeks have been a whirlwind of emotions, as expected. Ups and downs and surprises, as expected. Very little sleep and not getting anything else done, as expected. Not really feeling all too gloomy, very much NOT as expected. In fact, I'm super excited for the Paralympics to start in two weeks!
But first things first. I absolutely loved the opening ceremony. Not the rain, but the overall concept was great. (I think the closing ceremony proved that the boat concept for the parade of nations was a great idea because it allowed the directors to time when/where to show the different boats and to loosen everything up a bit by putting lots of small performances in between.) It didn't seem long to me at all, not like in previous years. Those where you just saw nation after nation for 1.5 hours straight. So that whole part was nice, but it picked up momentum when the horse rider was riding across the Seine. What an image! And then the Eiffel Tower light show blew my mind!!! Festival of Lights, take a backseat, the real deal is here! I got emotional when the flame was lit and the balloon started to rise up, only to be completely crushed when Céline performed "L'hymne à l'amour." That was beyond touching, particularly after having seen the documentary recently. Gosh, that was something else. I'm tearing up just thinking about it.
I have mixed feelings about the performance of the German athletes. There are some new discoveries that I really enjoyed, but I also felt for so many athletes who couldn't show their full potential and didn't meet their own expectations. Some of which were ending their careers like that. That was tough. It feels like the end of an era when so many outstanding careers are coming to an end. I'm thinking of people like Timo Boll, Angelique Kerber, Laura Ludwig, Lukas Dauser, and so on. Also international greats like Andy Murray, that French handball player whose name has just escaped me, and who knows how much more of Rafael Nadal we'd still get to see.
I still remember that two of my highlights from the Tokyo 2020(1) Olympics were the tennis and table-tennis matches of Alexander Zverev and Dimitrij Ovtcharov, respectively. They were crazy good there, brought such a fight, and delivered in moments where it mattered most, and against all odds. Leading to their medals. Their mental toughness was impressive. I tried to recreate that support mindset, which I succeeded in to some extent, but in the end both left their tournaments much too early. :0( I happened to catch a lot of these two sports again this year ... It was quite some heartbreak. Good for the French to have this 17-year-old wunderkind Lebrun, but really a shame that he shocked Ovtcharov that much and Ovtcharov in turn didn't shock back quickly enough to put him in a different place. I was heartbroken for Nina Mittelham, who started off in such a superior manner - only to be struck by back pain and losing despite a great fight. Given that, it's even more impressive that the women's team made it all the way to the bronze medal match. Speaking of impressive, how amazing was Angie Kerber?! I really thought she'd have it in her to go even further. She really put her heart in and fought for every point and thus demolished a lot of her competition. What a way to end a career.
I already mentioned a few, but it's probably not a surprise that some of the athletes who were most devastated are ones who got a lot of attention because of their prior successes at the last Olympics or at world championships in the meantime. There must have been a lot of pressure on these athletes - by themselves and by the media, the latter being something they are often not so familair with because their sports aren't in the spotlight. They are being sold to us as clear medal favorites, but falter. "Falter." What they achieved is still tremendous, but what does that matter to them when they trained all those years, yet nothing worked out on the particular competition day?
It is all the more impressive how some athletes dealt with the pressure, given the above. Oliver Zeidler, for example, who had such a devastating moment in Tokyo and managed to deliver in Paris. Darja Varfolomeev, who won all the golds at the world championships and had therefore aroused attention in the German media, made a mistake in the qualification round, but had nerves of steel when it counted (unlike the Italian, who was leading after the qualification and therefore probably had a lot of pressure going into the finals) - at the age of only 17. (And can I say that I got super excited that she used "In The Closet" for her ball routine?! :0D That was my favorite song when I was 9 or so!) The women in dressage, who delivered once again. Just wow. Their performances with their horses were so beautiful, I had tears in my eyes.
The surprise medals are of course always such a highlight. While I watched some golf at the beginning, I didn't even bother having the stream playing on the final day because my connection was having trouble with all those streams I had running in parallel, and why bother about women's golf ... and then there was a silver medal! That women's shot put competition was out of this world ( ... if only the camera work could have been better). The triathlon mixed relay was fighting so hard for that unexpected gold. I honestly didn't expect any medal in the equestrian jump because the field seemed so close and so strong and then only Mr. Kukuk made no mistake whatsover when it counted. The two beach volleyball guys Ehlers/Wickler were stunning. And Germany's women totally rocked the 3x3 basketball!
Overall, the team competitions were such a joy because our teams kept making points again and again against teams which were clearly favored over the Germans. I don't think I ever enjoyed watching volleyball as much as I did here. Both basketball teams were amazing and it's really too bad that none of them could medal. That fighting spirit of the men's handball team that turned an almost certain elimination 6 seconds before the regular end into a win. Thank you all for these fantastic experiences.
I also want to acknowledge that many athletes who didn't medal brought a lot of joy because of the way they improved throughout the competition or compared to what they've done before. I had no clue of the state of Germany's swimmers and was super excited for the resutls based on the experience at pervious games. Not only was there the gold medal of Lukas Märtens and the bronze of Isabel Gose (lus the silver of Oliver Klemet), but also a lot of final entries and some great finishes with personal bests or German records. I'd like to single out Melvin Imoudu here because he had to fight really hard to get into the final (with a swim-off for the 8th spot) and ended up 4th! He always had such a spurt towards the end that really impressed me. The high divers were all out of the medal ranks after so many of the greats had retired, but many who qualified for the final even improved their position there. Same for gymnastics - Nils Dunkel and Helen Kevric both managed to make up ground from their qualifications. She was also one of those young athletes to look out for in the future. Just like the table-tennis player Annett Kaufmann, who stunned everyone with her game. Margarita Kolosov coming so close to a medal in rhythmic gymnastics was also super lovely.
Another aspect worth mentioning: how cool was it that the arenas were so packed?! :0D That was so beautiful. I felt so happy for the athletes that they got to compete in such a beautiful, excited, supportive atmosphere. No such thing as empty ranks anywhere! (Well, maybe I have to exclude the soccer games, but those weren't held in Paris.) And the crowd in Montmartre for the cyclists was mindblowing!
So I really had a good time watching the games. I do have to admit that some sports were disappointing from a German perspective. Shooting (despite creating THE meme of the game) amost didn't take place at all for us because hardly anyone made it past the qualification, and those two who did finished ... 4th. Fencing could have been better, but then we only sent two athletes to begin with ... There were many early losses in wrestling and judo. There is work to do.
As alluded to earlier, the closing ceremony then was a bit lengthy. I was a bit unprepared for them turning off the fake flame of the balloon first thing of the event that it didn't touch me the same way it usually does when they eventually blew out the real flame in the lantern towards the end of the ceremony. Apart from the "My Way" performance, I didn't care much about the music acts, though, and certainly not about the L.A. presentation. (The adjustment of the Hollywood sign added a nice touch, but that had nothing to do with hosting Olympic Games when you throw a beach party with 3 famous songs.) I enjoyed the fireworks, though. And, as I said, I immediately couldn't wait for the Paralympics to take over!
So much for my write-up. I probably forgot a few things.
Edit:
Addition 1:
The canoe sprint women were so refreshing! In the interview, on the podium, while they waitied for the photo finish to be resolved - such a breath of fresh air. :0)
I was so in love with the obstacles in equestrian. The Notre-Dame window, a Métro station, Le Petit Prince on his asteroid, L'Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower, the stag in eventing, it was all so pretty!
But first things first. I absolutely loved the opening ceremony. Not the rain, but the overall concept was great. (I think the closing ceremony proved that the boat concept for the parade of nations was a great idea because it allowed the directors to time when/where to show the different boats and to loosen everything up a bit by putting lots of small performances in between.) It didn't seem long to me at all, not like in previous years. Those where you just saw nation after nation for 1.5 hours straight. So that whole part was nice, but it picked up momentum when the horse rider was riding across the Seine. What an image! And then the Eiffel Tower light show blew my mind!!! Festival of Lights, take a backseat, the real deal is here! I got emotional when the flame was lit and the balloon started to rise up, only to be completely crushed when Céline performed "L'hymne à l'amour." That was beyond touching, particularly after having seen the documentary recently. Gosh, that was something else. I'm tearing up just thinking about it.
I have mixed feelings about the performance of the German athletes. There are some new discoveries that I really enjoyed, but I also felt for so many athletes who couldn't show their full potential and didn't meet their own expectations. Some of which were ending their careers like that. That was tough. It feels like the end of an era when so many outstanding careers are coming to an end. I'm thinking of people like Timo Boll, Angelique Kerber, Laura Ludwig, Lukas Dauser, and so on. Also international greats like Andy Murray, that French handball player whose name has just escaped me, and who knows how much more of Rafael Nadal we'd still get to see.
I still remember that two of my highlights from the Tokyo 2020(1) Olympics were the tennis and table-tennis matches of Alexander Zverev and Dimitrij Ovtcharov, respectively. They were crazy good there, brought such a fight, and delivered in moments where it mattered most, and against all odds. Leading to their medals. Their mental toughness was impressive. I tried to recreate that support mindset, which I succeeded in to some extent, but in the end both left their tournaments much too early. :0( I happened to catch a lot of these two sports again this year ... It was quite some heartbreak. Good for the French to have this 17-year-old wunderkind Lebrun, but really a shame that he shocked Ovtcharov that much and Ovtcharov in turn didn't shock back quickly enough to put him in a different place. I was heartbroken for Nina Mittelham, who started off in such a superior manner - only to be struck by back pain and losing despite a great fight. Given that, it's even more impressive that the women's team made it all the way to the bronze medal match. Speaking of impressive, how amazing was Angie Kerber?! I really thought she'd have it in her to go even further. She really put her heart in and fought for every point and thus demolished a lot of her competition. What a way to end a career.
I already mentioned a few, but it's probably not a surprise that some of the athletes who were most devastated are ones who got a lot of attention because of their prior successes at the last Olympics or at world championships in the meantime. There must have been a lot of pressure on these athletes - by themselves and by the media, the latter being something they are often not so familair with because their sports aren't in the spotlight. They are being sold to us as clear medal favorites, but falter. "Falter." What they achieved is still tremendous, but what does that matter to them when they trained all those years, yet nothing worked out on the particular competition day?
It is all the more impressive how some athletes dealt with the pressure, given the above. Oliver Zeidler, for example, who had such a devastating moment in Tokyo and managed to deliver in Paris. Darja Varfolomeev, who won all the golds at the world championships and had therefore aroused attention in the German media, made a mistake in the qualification round, but had nerves of steel when it counted (unlike the Italian, who was leading after the qualification and therefore probably had a lot of pressure going into the finals) - at the age of only 17. (And can I say that I got super excited that she used "In The Closet" for her ball routine?! :0D That was my favorite song when I was 9 or so!) The women in dressage, who delivered once again. Just wow. Their performances with their horses were so beautiful, I had tears in my eyes.
The surprise medals are of course always such a highlight. While I watched some golf at the beginning, I didn't even bother having the stream playing on the final day because my connection was having trouble with all those streams I had running in parallel, and why bother about women's golf ... and then there was a silver medal! That women's shot put competition was out of this world ( ... if only the camera work could have been better). The triathlon mixed relay was fighting so hard for that unexpected gold. I honestly didn't expect any medal in the equestrian jump because the field seemed so close and so strong and then only Mr. Kukuk made no mistake whatsover when it counted. The two beach volleyball guys Ehlers/Wickler were stunning. And Germany's women totally rocked the 3x3 basketball!
Overall, the team competitions were such a joy because our teams kept making points again and again against teams which were clearly favored over the Germans. I don't think I ever enjoyed watching volleyball as much as I did here. Both basketball teams were amazing and it's really too bad that none of them could medal. That fighting spirit of the men's handball team that turned an almost certain elimination 6 seconds before the regular end into a win. Thank you all for these fantastic experiences.
I also want to acknowledge that many athletes who didn't medal brought a lot of joy because of the way they improved throughout the competition or compared to what they've done before. I had no clue of the state of Germany's swimmers and was super excited for the resutls based on the experience at pervious games. Not only was there the gold medal of Lukas Märtens and the bronze of Isabel Gose (lus the silver of Oliver Klemet), but also a lot of final entries and some great finishes with personal bests or German records. I'd like to single out Melvin Imoudu here because he had to fight really hard to get into the final (with a swim-off for the 8th spot) and ended up 4th! He always had such a spurt towards the end that really impressed me. The high divers were all out of the medal ranks after so many of the greats had retired, but many who qualified for the final even improved their position there. Same for gymnastics - Nils Dunkel and Helen Kevric both managed to make up ground from their qualifications. She was also one of those young athletes to look out for in the future. Just like the table-tennis player Annett Kaufmann, who stunned everyone with her game. Margarita Kolosov coming so close to a medal in rhythmic gymnastics was also super lovely.
Another aspect worth mentioning: how cool was it that the arenas were so packed?! :0D That was so beautiful. I felt so happy for the athletes that they got to compete in such a beautiful, excited, supportive atmosphere. No such thing as empty ranks anywhere! (Well, maybe I have to exclude the soccer games, but those weren't held in Paris.) And the crowd in Montmartre for the cyclists was mindblowing!
So I really had a good time watching the games. I do have to admit that some sports were disappointing from a German perspective. Shooting (despite creating THE meme of the game) amost didn't take place at all for us because hardly anyone made it past the qualification, and those two who did finished ... 4th. Fencing could have been better, but then we only sent two athletes to begin with ... There were many early losses in wrestling and judo. There is work to do.
As alluded to earlier, the closing ceremony then was a bit lengthy. I was a bit unprepared for them turning off the fake flame of the balloon first thing of the event that it didn't touch me the same way it usually does when they eventually blew out the real flame in the lantern towards the end of the ceremony. Apart from the "My Way" performance, I didn't care much about the music acts, though, and certainly not about the L.A. presentation. (The adjustment of the Hollywood sign added a nice touch, but that had nothing to do with hosting Olympic Games when you throw a beach party with 3 famous songs.) I enjoyed the fireworks, though. And, as I said, I immediately couldn't wait for the Paralympics to take over!
So much for my write-up. I probably forgot a few things.
Edit:
Addition 1:
The canoe sprint women were so refreshing! In the interview, on the podium, while they waitied for the photo finish to be resolved - such a breath of fresh air. :0)
I was so in love with the obstacles in equestrian. The Notre-Dame window, a Métro station, Le Petit Prince on his asteroid, L'Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower, the stag in eventing, it was all so pretty!