Paris 2024 Olympic Games: The journey of an Olympic spectator

The Olympic Games make friends of everyone

Everyone has a story, and you never know whom you might meet in line. My first unexpected encounter was with the Aussie swim fans behind me in the queue to enter La Defense Arena. I soon learned they were the parents of one of the women who won gold a few hours later in the 4x100m freestyle relay. My alma mater, the University of Virginia, was also well-represented in the pool this year, adding to the excitement.

At rowing, I reconnected with my former teammate from University of Virginia (and the first gold medallist I ever knew personally), who to my delight this year was back to coach the USA men’s pair on the day I happened to be gifted tickets.

By a wild twist of fate, at artistic gymnastics I was seated in front of US gymnast Jordan Chiles’ parents during the women’s team competition. It was very convenient for picking up tidbits about the level of difficulty and execution. Little did I know it would also be the debut of my head on NBC! Friends screamed when they spotted me on TV. This ticket was an invitation from someone I met at my book event I hosted in July, further exemplifying how you never know how things may unfold in life. Also, even if you can’t hear it people are cheering you on on the other side of the world!

In the queue for artistic swimming, we started up a conversation with the person who turned out to be the strength and conditioning trainer for Team USA. This conversation started because of his socks (one sock was blue with white stars, and the other was red and white stripes). We got a quick briefing on the sport, and then had seats in front of American athlete Megumi Fields’s fan club of friends who had oversized cutouts of her head and fabulously Olympic painted nails. These human encounters made it even more exciting to cheer on the silver medal-winning US team.

Another night I took myself to a local bistro for a beer and to watch the games on a big screen. I ended up striking up a conversation with the table next to me thinking they were American, and I showed them a new Instagram post of Snoop Dogg’s latest antics. Lo and behold, they were actually from Bermuda and had watched their sister swim in the triathlon that morning. I looked her up later. This was her fourth Olympics, and she won gold in Tokyo.

I was always the “quiet one” growing up, so the Olympics were a powerful reminder to me that we all can connect with others around a shared experience. When you’re at the Olympics you know everyone is there for the same thing. We all have stories whether we’re super fans or complete debutants for the sport.

Beach volleyball probably was the most successful at making us feel like we were part of something bigger, and this doesn’t even have to do with having an iconic view of the Eiffel Tower from our seats.

Like several of the venues, there was a DJ, dance cam, a “cancan cam” with overlay legs, but here they really warmed up the crowd. We had cheers to learn. My personal favorite was for the monster block which went like this, “Monster block. Monster block. Monster. Monster. Monster block” all while raising our hands. While you all were watching replays on TV, this is what kept us feeling like we were at the best party in town.

As a designer by trade, I noticed the use of color in all of the venues (the lilac track for athletics, purple for taekwondo in the historically stunning Grand Palais, blues for the aquatic events, and teal for table tennis). Before long you realize your own anthem for life is Gala’s “Freed From Desire” na na na na na na that was played at nearly every venue, and medal ceremony “Parade” by Victor le Masne is the music you want to celebrate everything in your life with. Music and the buzz of the spectators were just as much a part of the design. The intentional choices by the designers of the games stick with us as fans.

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