Summer Paris 2024 - The Fun, the Bizarre and the very French thread.

[RussellEbertHandball]

After discussing this with moderator Jeremias, this thread is to post some of the fun stuff that happens over the next 2 weeks, the bizarre stuff people come across, and the oh so very French things that happen.

So this is a thread that highlights these things and not get buried in other threads. I know from previous Olympics there are many posters on here who keep an eye out for this sort of stuff, and have a good sense of humour.

Plus you are guaranteed bat shit crazy things will happen over the next 2 weeks and someone will film it or report it.

pepsi you are on the ground there in Paris, and for anyone else there, maybe you can post some of the stuff you see that would fit the bill for this thread, in here.

Sort of shadows Roy and HG's - hour long show People, Medal and Cheese program that can be heard every day at 11am across ABC Radio, then at 2pm on RN and as a podcast on ABC Listen. I will put links to their show in this thread.

They had a preview of their show on Radio National yesterday. They are setting up the new ABC card table under the Eiffel Tower to bring us a sense of the games.

Roy and HG present - People, Medals & Cheese! - ABC listen

People, Medals and Cheese - it’s the holy trifecta that promises to make Paris an Olympic Games like no other. The opening ceremony takes place this weekend, and Rampaging Roy Slaven and H.G. Nelson are on the ground having given the facilities the once-over, and are now awaiting the starter's...

www.abc.net.au

I saw this on twitter about an hour ago and thought this is the sort of stuff people will film and put up that will be happening around Paris and France but not an event specific thing.

 

[Sydney Kicker]

Some of the 4,011 comments on this article certainly pass the bizarre test.

Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony Recreates 'Last Supper' with Drag Queens & Trans Performers

Further making the Olympics opening ceremonies the “gayest ever,” Parisian Olympics officials also featured an LGBTQ parody of the "Last Supper" along with a woke fashion show featuring gender-bending fashions and transgender models.

www.breitbart.com

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

Serena after her boat trip with Rafa - Carl and Nadia.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

A little bit of French Farce. Volunteer life guard saves a swimmers cap

Heats stopped as random man in budgies dives into Paris pool

'How do you volunteer?'

www.nine.com.au

 

[Barrybran]

I just did a bit of reading on this (the real version, not the singing in the rain). I couldn't understand it at the time and I couldn't understand the outrage afterwards but having read up on it, this scene was really clever. It would have helped to have it explained at the time. One of the best things about the Olympics are the things we learn about the world over this two week period.

 

[giggler99]

jee the organisers ain’t showering themselves with glory are they

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

 

[Wallaby]

Apparently posted on Twitter somewhere:

Some Americans are shocked that French children took part in a drag performance at the Olympics.

All French are shocked that American children take part in active shooter drills at their schools.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

Don't put shit on social media so you can get caught.

https://www.news.com.au/sport/olympics/swimming/olympian-sent-home-for-sneaking-out-of-village-with-boyfriend/news-story/180a2e2cea77a33ffa19ea1ccffafe48

An Olympic swimmer has been sent home after sneaking out of the athletes village to spend a night with her boyfriend.
Ana Carolina Vieira, from Brazil, was sent packing after being caught short as she attempted to flout the rules to party with her partner.

The 22-year-old was a member of the country’s 4x100m freestyle relay team which crashed out of the tournament ahead of the final on 27th July. But the night before, on 26th July, Vieira and her boyfriend swimmer Gabriel Santos, sneaked out of the Olympic Village to sample Parisian night-life, according to Brazilian media.

And when the Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB) tried to discipline her, she reportedly abused them and was immediately booked on a flight home.

Santos, who had been eliminated in the heats of the men’s 4x100 freestyle, was reprimanded after apologising. The pair are seen as the golden couple of Brazilian swimming and have clocked up a huge social media following with their joint posts.

 

[Cmarsh]

A marathon runner from the Solomon's also picked for the 100m.

Marathon runner picked for Olympic 100m sprints, as administrators question 'unbelievable' decision

One of only two Solomon Islands athletes at the Paris games, marathon runner Sharon Firisua was offered the country's wildcard spot in the flagship 100m heats, which kick off on Friday night.

www.abc.net.au

 

[Royces Hart]

A marathon runner from the Solomon's also picked for the 100m.

Marathon runner picked for Olympic 100m sprints, as administrators question 'unbelievable' decision

One of only two Solomon Islands athletes at the Paris games, marathon runner Sharon Firisua was offered the country's wildcard spot in the flagship 100m heats, which kick off on Friday night.

www.abc.net.au

That’s awesome. Hope she grabs a drink at the 50.

 

[Sydney Kicker]

A marathon runner from the Solomon's also picked for the 100m.

Marathon runner picked for Olympic 100m sprints, as administrators question 'unbelievable' decision

One of only two Solomon Islands athletes at the Paris games, marathon runner Sharon Firisua was offered the country's wildcard spot in the flagship 100m heats, which kick off on Friday night.

www.abc.net.au

"According to Michael Kuali, president of Solomon Islands Athletics Federation, his organisation was told to nominate a sprinter for the 100m events by the Oceania Athletics Association. He understood that was for one of the universality places."

Why do they have to nominate the universality place for a specific event? Surely if you have a minnow country you give them x number of universality slots in track and field based on some formula and then it's up to the countries sports ministry or similar to choose the best athletes and the events that suit them. Then it's on the olympic organisers to schedule extra heats if, for example most choose the 100m or the 10,000m or the long jump etc. That still caps the overall numbers at the olympics without such absurdities as this.

Mind you it sounds like the Solomons administrators are playing favorites as well (or just crazy).

 

[GreyCrow]

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

Saw a longer story/video on France 24 English this morning of SBS with not just the French rugby team but other French and non French athletes celebrating at the new Champions Park at the Trocadero.

They sort of did this in Sydney with the sailors and the Harbour in the back ground but it was minor compared to what the French have planned.

Olympics medalists celebrate in front of fans at new Champions Park in Paris - WTOP News

PARIS (AP) — With medals around their necks and the Eiffel Tower in the background, Paris Olympics athletes chanted, danced and even cried. In a first for the Summer Games, organizers gave athletes a…

wtop.com

PARIS (AP) — With medals around their necks and the Eiffel Tower in the background, Paris Olympics athletes chanted, danced and even cried.

In a first for the Summer Games, organizers gave athletes a place to celebrate their victories and be closer to fans — and they made the most of it.

Champions Park launched Monday at the Trocadero, the site of the opening ceremony of the Paris Games, where Olympic winners can share their experience with family members and thousands of fans who this time didn’t need to buy tickets or make reservations to be part of Games.

Players from the French men’s rugby team, which beat Fiji over the weekend to win gold, were the first to be welcomed at the park, dancing and running around the stage as the crowd chanted. They posed at the end of the stage for a photo with the Eiffel Tower in the background, then led the crowd to chant with them.

“The whole location was the coolest thing,” French rugby player Aaron Grandidier Nkanang said. “We’re just in front of the Eiffel Tower, and there’s thousands of people out to come and cheer us on. I feel as if this year, they’ve done a really good job of treating after winning athletes with memories that we’re going to cherish forever.”

American Haley Batten, a silver-medalist in mountain biking, called it a “crazy experience.”

“The Olympics in Paris is just something special. I was soaking all that up and it’s crazy to actually achieve a medal and to be able to enjoy this,” she said.

French mountain biker Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, the gold medalist, couldn’t hold back tears as fans chanted her name.

Others at Champions Park included athletes who won medals in fencing, judo and skateboarding. Each celebration will hold a ceremony for the medal winners of the previous days. Athletes can bring up to four family members to watch them.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

The tweets have been put in the General discussion thread, but this needs to not get buried. Great stuff by Turkish pistol shooter Yusuf Dikec.

His profile on the official Paris site says this is his 5th Olympics, debuting in Beijing in 2008 and also says:

https://olympics.com/en/paris-2024/athlete/yusuf-dikec_1564893

Reason:
"I took up shooting sport after I started working as a non-commissioned officer for the Gendarmerie General Command." (myInfo)

Philosophy:
"Success doesn't come with your hands in your pockets." (myInfo)

Story in the Guardian gives a bit more info. Somewhere I saw some wag say Turkey sends a hit man to compete in the Olympics.

Turkish marksman’s nonchalant charm goes viral at Paris Olympics

An image of one of the best marksmen in the world treating the pinnacle of his sport like it’s a casual day at the park has gone viral

www.theguardian.com

Enjoying his medal along with mexed teams partner Sevval Ilayda Tarhan at the Champions Park at the Trocadero.

 

[JP Sauce]

Hell yeah!

 

[GreyCrow]

Im getting Owen Hart vibes with Tom

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

The trans gender boxing issue has taken a bizarre turn. The Italian woman who quit the bout is now getting prize money.

Olympics boxing saga takes shock twist

The Italian at the centre of the controversial fight is set to be awarded a huge payout.

7news.com.au

The Olympics boxing saga has taken a shock twist with beaten Italian Angela Carini set to be awarded a monetary bonus by the International Boxing Association (IBA).

Carini abandoned her fight with Algerian rival Imane Khelif after just 46 seconds, citing pain in her nose following a flurry of punches, but initial comments about protecting her life spread widely amid misinformation surrounding Khelif’s gender.

Khelif entered her second Olympics after being disqualified from the 2023 world championships by the IBA for supposedly failing gender eligibility tests.
.........

Carini has since apologised to Khelif for the sad fallout, but the IBA have since released a statement saying they will award the Italian prize money as if she won the gold medal.

“I couldn’t look at her tears,” IBA president Umar Kremlev said in a statement. “I am not indifferent to such situations, and I can assure that we will protect each boxer. I do not understand why they kill women’s boxing. Only eligible athletes should compete in the ring for the sake of safety.”

Carini will receive the equivalent of what the gold medallist will get, which will be US$100,000 (A$153,000). Of that prize, the athlete will get US$50,000 (A$76,000) with the rest divided evenly between the coach and the national federation.

The IBA also said they will support Sitora Turdibekova, who was beaten by Lin Yu-ting — another athlete that was deemed ineligible by the IBA. Earlier on Saturday, Carini said she respected the IOC’s decision................

 

[Wallaby]

This is getting stupid.

1. Always check facts when the media start reporting 'issues raised' by shock jocks pushing buttons and reading twitter. When the US Religous fundies jump on the bandwagon, there's a fair chance they're talking out of their collective arses.

2. Imane Khelif is not a 'transgender' boxer, or a 'man who self-identifies as a woman'. She's a biological female. She's also from Algeria, which has a vehemently anti-LGBT stance.

3. Imane Khelif competed in the 2021 Olympics (as did Angela Carini). Khelif has been boxing for years.

4. The IBA, who run world boxing, excluded Khelif in 2023 because of 'tests' they performed. They have not released any details of their 'tests' that were performed. Gee, thanks guys, that helps. (The IOC refuses to recognise the IBA - not saying the IOC are paragons of righteousness, but boxing has long been a shady 'sport', and this version of the IB-whatever seems particularly strange).

5. Carini has apologised for not shaking hands after the match, and has never said 'It felt like I was hit by a man'.

6. Biological gender is an extremely complicated subject, and science is slowly improving understanding and addressing cultural biases of societal norms that have existed for thousands of years. It's going to take a long time.

 

[Wallaby]

Oh, and by the way - the 'prize money' the Italian boxer will be awarded is from the IBA - who have nothing to do with the Olympics. It's just a gift from the goodness of their heart, and in no way them trying to exploit this controversy.

It's a pretty rare situation where the IOC may be the ones on the side of fairness and integrity.


The Italian boxer confirmed that she fights against men in training 'all the time'. This time she got whacked in the nose pretty badly and couldn't continue.due to pain and the blood flow. She did not quit because 'Oh, my God, my opponent is a man!'.

 

[Sydney Kicker]

Unfortunately this pole vaulter caught the bar on the way down