PARIS – As they welcomed the Summer Olympics to Paris for the first time in a century, organizers have set the bar high for the 2028 Los Angeles Games. In addition to overcoming the odds by hosting an entirely outdoor opening ceremony along the Seine River despite the country’s heightened security alert and chaotic political struggles, the Paris Games outdid even the most glamorous episode of “Emily in Paris” with selfie-friendly contests held at iconic Parisian landmarks.
While Parisians fled the city in droves ahead of the Olympics to take a break and avoid the disruption caused by tight security, a star-studded line-up descended on the City of Lights after the opening ceremony, which attracted Tom Cruise (who is also set to perform acrobats on the closing night), Steven Spielberg, Ariana Grande and a host of artists including Lady Gaga and Celine Dion. Nicole Kidman skated at the Place de la Concorde, Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes took to Versailles for the equestrian competition, and Baz Luhrmann, Judd Apatow, Elizabeth Banks and Leslie Mann watched a beach volleyball match by the Eiffel Tower.
Fencing at the Grand Palais was also a big hit, while Saturday's cycling event drew some 500,000 people who lined the streets of Paris, from the Amélie district in Montmartre to the Eiffel Tower. The indoor competitions also featured a star-studded line-up, particularly at the Bercy Stadium, where Simone Biles became the most decorated American gymnast with three gold medals and a silver.
French athletes are enjoying the jubilant atmosphere as the boos of Parisians and complaints from business owners have faded. With six days to go, the French team has already broken its own record, winning 44 medals, including 12 golds. That total is double what the country won in Tokyo and puts France in third place behind the United States and China. Swimming champion Leon Marchand and judo star Teddy Riner lead the French gold medal list with four and two respectively. Medals aside, the only athlete to have sparked the biggest viral moment of these Olympics is also a Frenchman, 21-year-old pole vaulter Anthony Ammirati, who took down the pole with his stomach on Saturday and quickly went viral.
The unexpected Olympic madness was also evident in the crowded fan zones, such as the Club de France in La Villette, where thousands gather every day to watch the competitions together on a giant screen and welcome each French athlete like a true rock star.
“It's like a daydream. We've come a really long way,” Tony Estanguet, the French canoeing gold medallist who heads the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games organising committee, said in an interview on Sunday evening on France Television's France 2 channel. “I was convinced we could do it but this is beyond our wildest hopes. It's great to see the French together, happy and united. There's a lot of enthusiasm. We're giving a great image of France and our athletes can feel it.” Estanguet, who expects the French team to win up to 60 medals, said more than 5 million people had visited the competition sites while fan zones across France had attracted more than 3 million visitors.
Local enthusiasm for the Olympics was also measured by record viewing figures on the French channel, which attracted more than 24.4 million viewers, the largest audience ever for an event with an opening ceremony.
But even outside France, Estanguet said he has received positive feedback from “TV executives all over the world, who tell us they are breaking records.”
The Paris Olympics also introduced new sports that became very popular, such as kayak cross, which has been compared to Mario Kart and combines kayak racing with strategic challenges; and breakdancing, a form of dance that involves footwork and athleticism. The new sports are intended to make the Olympics “more gender-balanced, more youthful and more urban,” IOC President Thomas Bach said at a press briefing before the Games. In addition to the new sports, the Paris Olympics also introduced the three-strike ritual before each competition, a tradition inspired by French theater. At each competition, a character takes the stage and strikes the ground three times with a wooden stick called a brigadier to attract everyone’s attention.
But the hype around the Olympics has not been widely noticed everywhere, and although cafes are full in popular areas, some business owners in quieter areas are disappointed and are hoping for compensation from the government.
“It's a great way to get around,” says Jess Jekyll, a Melbourne native who runs a bike tour company in Paris. diverse Bookings dropped 50% just before the Olympics, and have only slightly increased since the event began. “The city’s traffic changes every day—after the opening ceremony and the torch relay, there was the bike race, the triathlon, the marathon… The hard part is that we can’t rely on the maps the city provides,” says Jekel, adding that “some guests like it because they’re in the middle of the Olympic atmosphere, but others are annoyed by the unpredictability.”
At Bistrot Paul Bert, a popular destination for foodies and tourists, manager Chloe Colin sums up the current mood of Parisians: “We’re not really working, but the atmosphere is great with so few people coming in!”
These Olympics have been filled with social media-fueled drama, kicking off with an opening ceremony that was supposed to celebrate diversity and inclusion. The event, which featured black performers in a tableau that appeared to mock the Last Supper and the severed head of Marie Antoinette, unleashed a torrent of online hate, along with vitriol from the Catholic Church and conservatives against organizers and performers, including artistic director Thomas Joly, DJ Barbara Puch and drag queen Nicky Doll, who filed police complaints. But neither Joly nor the rest of the organizers are willing to let the haters take over. The closing ceremony will be held at the Stade de France, with more Greek gods, world-famous singers and Tom Cruise passing the flag to Los Angeles for the 2028 Games.
Ben Kroll contributed to this report.
