As an older geezer, I’m not looking to take anything up (I’m no Andy McDonald) but it has re-kindled my love of sport. I was lucky to be able to go to Paris and be part of it (my second Olympics after London 2012)

I am planning to retire in the next 8 years and now have a target to get to Brisbane in 2032. Hope to see you all there!

I had the tv on 24/7 it seemed. I’m glad to not be that obsessed with anything. Now it’s just my regular 1 - 3 games of baseball a day 🤦🏻‍♀️

Never really been big into basketball, but that USA vs France men’s final really got me into it

seeing the athletes’ determination and resilience at the Olympics made me reflect on my own goals. i’m inspired to take up running again and push my limits.

It really rekindled my love for volleyball - I have been playing for 16 years and the last two seasons I had terrible coaches and that completely took away my joy for the sport. But after seeing the games and especially cheering for some of my favourite teams and players again - I really noticed how much I miss it and thank you for that🙌  Also just in general after all the wars and current injustices, climate change etc. it was nice to see that so many people can get along and just encourage each other to bring out the best in each other and I (and probably the world) needed that as a reminder :)

I checked out fencing in my region, I’d quite like to get back in to it, but fuck it’s expensive if you can’t do it through the school program!

I used to be a diver but gave it up 10 or so years ago due to sickness, ankle problems and eventually uni. I started going to trampoline parks a few years ago which has been nice for keeping up fitness and enjoying the muscle memory of my old skills but this olympics made me really really miss it. Thinking of going to some adults sessions at proper gym and trampolining places to try to keep working on skills in a similar field and learning new ones rather than just trying to hold on to what I can.

It renewed my faith in the Olympic movement.

A lifelong Olympics fanatic, I kinda fell out of love with the Olympics after Rio. The impact of the games on everyday Brazilians, the insistence on prioritizing the games over the major issues facing Brazil at the time, and the sad state of Olympic infrastructure after the games really left a sour taste in my mouth. Moving to Montreal a year later only compounded this (iykyk).

I didn’t even watch PyeongChang, and Beijing and Tokyo felt so insignificant compared to the Olympics I loved growing up (mostly bc COVID tbf). Add to this the unpopularity of hosting the games among the Japanese people, massive costs, and a very underwhelming opening ceremony that made zero noise, and I was ready to completely write off the Olympics as an increasingly irrelevant vestige of a pre-globalized world à la Expo/Worlds Fair.

But WOW, the French proved me wrong. Love it or hate it, everyone was talking about the opening ceremony. The venues were absolutely stunning and a fantastic model for future games. The French really rallied behind hosting. And it felt, at least to me, like the whole world was united for the last few weeks. At work, with my friends, or at social functions, everybody was talking about the Olympics.

Will Paris lose a few billion from these games? Probably. Could that money be better spent on pressing issues? Definitely. But seeing the world come together to celebrate friendly competition, seeing Chinese and Americans hug eachother, seeing North and South Koreans take selfies together, seeing my 60 yr old Quebecois neighbour nearly brought to tears by a 21 year-old from Botswana winning their country’s first ever gold… you can’t put a price on those moments.

I felt like I left these games inspired– a better person. Isn’t that what the Olympics is all about!?

So, thank you Paris 2024 for renewing my faith in the Olympic movement. Milan and LA, let’s keep the ball rolling!

inspiring

The wife and I aren’t “sports people”, but we had the TV on the Olympics every single day. It was fantastic!