For the first time in 100 years, Paris hosted the Summer Olympics. Numerous students in the High School attended the events that took place in several venues and stadiums in and around the city.
Ryan Khatiblou (’27) attended the men’s tennis finals. Khatiblou said it was amazing to watch Novak Djokovic play.
“The most memorable moment was when Djokovic won, because he has now won everything,” Khatiblou said. “At that moment, he broke down and started crying on the court, and it was a very special moment.”
Ethan Rhodes (’25) attended the men’s basketball, men’s wrestling and women’s table tennis finals. Rhodes said it was an incredible experience to see LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Steph Curry all play on the same team.
“I don’t think I’ll ever see Steph Curry or anyone score four 3-pointers in the last three minutes of a gold medal game and not miss a single one,” Rhodes said.
Aishwarya Preising (’27) attended numerous events at this year’s Games, including women’s beach volleyball quarter-finals, women’s soccer finals, the bronze medal match for women’s soccer, women’s basketball finals, track and field and the closing ceremony. Preising said the atmosphere was great, as everyone enjoyed the experience together.
“The atmosphere at the track and field was the best because it was so diverse,” Preising said. “It was really social and energetic, and it was really nice sportsmanship, even if your team didn’t win.”
A total of 17 world records were broken over the course of the Games, according to Sky News. Preising said she witnessed two new records being broken at the track and field event.
“I saw Cindy McLaughlin,” Preising said. “She ran the world record in the 400-meter hurdles, and then a Pakistani javelin thrower made the Olympic record in the javelin.”
Rhodes said many athletes’ popularity significantly increased because of their stellar performances in various events.
“Leon Marchand, the swimmer from France, was incredible,” Rhodes said. “Noah Lyles, Mondo Duplantis, the pole vaulter, and, obviously, Yusuf Dikeç, the shooter from Turkey.”
The 2028 Olympic Games are planned to be hosted in Los Angeles and will feature the debut of flag football and squash, as well as the return of baseball, cricket and lacrosse. After seeing numerous events at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Khatiblou said he would like to go and see some of them again.
“I would like to go back to the beach volleyball and tennis again,” Khatiblou said. “Both those events were really cool. The 3-on-3 was cool, but I want to see regular basketball.”
Rhodes said it is important to see new sports you don’t regularly watch outside of the Olympics.
“Go outside of your comfort zone,” Rhodes said. “Just go to any event that seems intriguing, even if you don’t really like the sport or know anything about the sport.”
