2024 Summer Olympics (Paris)

Had a look at surfing yesterday and it seemed very boring and surprisingly little happening. Turns out it was just a not windy day and today has been pure carnage
 
Rugby 7's has easily been my favorite sport at this olympics so far. Was watching the Japan's women's match and despite being smaller than the Brazilians, they were just so quick and tenacious. It was great fun.
 
Quite frankly a total disgrace how Paris has treated the triathletes. You work towards one goal for four years and literally the day of the race you're told that it won't go ahead. Not only from a nutrition standpoint but also mentally that's tough to endure and handle. The negligence of the organisation is unlike anything else I've seen before in the Olympics.

Not to mention that they have a perfectly fine city with great conditions in the South which organizes one of the biggest triathlons in the world every year and the unofficial long distance World Championship since a while ago. But no no, had to be done in the dirty Seine. Shameful stuff.
 
Quite frankly a total disgrace how Paris has treated the triathletes. You work towards one goal for four years and literally the day of the race you're told that it won't go ahead. Not only from a nutrition standpoint but also mentally that's tough to endure and handle. The negligence of the organisation is unlike anything else I've seen before in the Olympics.

Not to mention that they have a perfectly fine city with great conditions in the South which organizes one of the biggest triathlons in the world every year and the unofficial long distance World Championship since a while ago. But no no, had to be done in the dirty Seine. Shameful stuff.
They might have to drop the swimming part of the triathlon.
 
They might have to drop the swimming part of the triathlon.
That idea shouldn't even be entertained and would be a total farce if they go ahead with that.

They have reserved a slot on Friday if it's still a no go tomorrow, or they can move to Vaires-sur-Marne as a back-up location if the Seine water quality isn't getting any better.

I just don't understand how they could hold on to Paris as its location so stubbornly when it's been fairly obvious that this scenario was always gonna be in play. There are other (water) sports which are being organized in Marseille and Tahiti as well, so wouldn't have been the end of the world to have the triathlon in Nice either. It's all nice to envision one of the most iconic Olympic sports in the heart of Paris but the athletes should always come first and if no guarantees could be made, they should've moved its location beforehand.
 
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or they can move to Vaires-sur-Marne as a back-up location if the Seine water quality isn't getting any better.
I don't believe that is an option either due to the logistics of moving the road and running sections of the race.

If it moves to a duathlon it would be nothing more than an embarrassment for the hosts.
 
Quite frankly a total disgrace how Paris has treated the triathletes. You work towards one goal for four years and literally the day of the race you're told that it won't go ahead. Not only from a nutrition standpoint but also mentally that's tough to endure and handle. The negligence of the organisation is unlike anything else I've seen before in the Olympics.

Not to mention that they have a perfectly fine city with great conditions in the South which organizes one of the biggest triathlons in the world every year and the unofficial long distance World Championship since a while ago. But no no, had to be done in the dirty Seine. Shameful stuff.

Guess this was a total waste of money then. What a joke.
 
I don't believe that is an option either due to the logistics of moving the road and running sections of the race.

If it moves to a duathlon it would be nothing more than an embarrassment for the hosts.
Yeah agreed - I just read that it was a back-up option but indeed moving the entire event over is borderline impossible, especially in such a timeframe.
 
Surely the sensible thing to do at this point is just to move the triathlon to another venue, even if that means a delay until after the rest of the games are over. The Seine is obviously never going to be clean enough. Is the 10k open swim also in the Seine? Hopefully not
 
That idea shouldn't even be entertained and would be a total farce if they go ahead with that.

They have reserved a slot on Friday if it's still a no go tomorrow, or they can move to Vaires-sur-Marne as a back-up location if the Seine water quality isn't getting any better.

I just don't understand how they could hold on to Paris as its location so stubbornly when it's been fairly obvious that this scenario was always gonna be in play. There are other (water) sports which are being organized in Marseille and Tahiti as well, so wouldn't have been the end of the world to have the triathlon in Nice either. It's all nice to envision one of the most iconic Olympic sports in the heart of Paris but the athletes should always come first and if no guarantees could be made, they should've moved its location beforehand.

If any of the athletes watched that Under Paris movie on Netflix that I watched last week they’ll probably be relieved if they don’t have to swim in the Seine.

 
Surely the sensible thing to do at this point is just to move the triathlon to another venue, even if that means a delay until after the rest of the games are over. The Seine is obviously never going to be clean enough. Is the 10k open swim also in the Seine? Hopefully not
Logistically it just won't work by moving it to another venue, as you'll need to manage a route for the cycling and running. Delaying it until after the games are over will play havoc on the broadcast schedule, those that have tickets for the event, and also there is a mixed relay event as well, so there needs to be sufficient time of recovery in-between those events.

The marathon swim is also in the Seine, but that should be easier to move considering there's only one discipline.
 
Marten Van Riel has got it right in his comments this morning: if the health of the athletes was indeed the priority of the organization, as claimed by World Triathlon, the location of the event would've been changed a long time ago. This is just disrespectful to all the athletes involved.
 
The organizers are clearly putting the spectacle of the event above the athletes and the competition. They have this idea that it would be iconic to have events on the Seine, so they move heaven and earth to try to make it a happen.

It’s quite sad. The athletes have a right to be really pissed off.
 
The organizers are clearly putting the spectacle of the event above the athletes and the competition. They have this idea that it would be iconic to have events on the Seine, so they move heaven and earth to try to make it a happen.

It’s quite sad. The athletes have a right to be really pissed off.

At the end of the day, sport - all sport - is entertainment. A notion that does get glossed over a lot. So if you have a chance to create some iconic imagery (swimmers passing under the Pont Neuf, or whatever) when producing sporting entertainment then it is worth a crack. What I don't get is why they don't have a plan B. An alternative venue set up and ready to roll at very short notice, as soon as they realised they were up against it in terms of water quality in the Seine. That seems to be the really obviously poor decision here.
 
At the end of the day, sport - all sport - is entertainment. A notion that does get glossed over a lot. So if you have a chance to create some iconic imagery (swimmers passing under the Pont Neuf, or whatever) when producing sporting entertainment then it is worth a crack. What I don't get is why they don't have a plan B. An alternative venue set up and ready to roll at very short notice, as soon as they realised they were up against it in terms of water quality in the Seine. That seems to be the really obviously poor decision here.
That'd be pretty difficult to do though, although would be ideal. They'd have to organise road closures, policing, the course markers, helpers at the course etc.
 
Yeah, you basically set up two courses in parallel. With a view to cancelling one, last minute Would cost a bit but worth it, surely?
In hindsight yeah. The worst thing they could do now is a "dual" athlon, all those competitors who are strong swimmers and have put 4 years of their life into going for a medal would have no chance.
 
At the end of the day, sport - all sport - is entertainment. A notion that does get glossed over a lot. So if you have a chance to create some iconic imagery (swimmers passing under the Pont Neuf, or whatever) when producing sporting entertainment then it is worth a crack. What I don't get is why they don't have a plan B. An alternative venue set up and ready to roll at very short notice, as soon as they realised they were up against it in terms of water quality in the Seine. That seems to be the really obviously poor decision here.
It was an unnecessary risk to take to begin with that wasn't worth the upside. They've been talking about the water quality in the Seine for months already, and it's well-known that even with the clean-up efforts a big rainfall would drastically reduce the quality way beyond what is safe to swim in.

Frankly, it's just the organizers being up their own asses in an attempt to showcase Paris. But there are so many other opportunities to do it. They did it wonderfully during opening ceremony, and there are the long distance running events, the road cycling events, etc. that also incorporate it. The athletes should always be in focus in the Olympics, and they are the ones paying the price for this arrogance with either delayed events or getting sick from swimming in sewage.
 
In hindsight yeah. The worst thing they could do now is a "dual" athlon, all those competitors who are strong swimmers and have put 4 years of their life into going for a medal would have no chance.
Yes, it would be a total farce. It would be tragic if the need for broadcasters and advertisers to show the event takes precedence over needs of the athletes and the integrity of the sport.
 


Best photo of the Olympics so far?
Was checking this thread to see if this was posted

You can take the "so far" out. Nothing's gonna top this. Highest score on a single wave ever apparently, too
 
Cleaning up the Seine was supposed to be part of Paris's legacy to itself. It basically fast tracked a lot of sewage/wastewater projects that were planned.

It was a big project and in the end the timing has just been too tough for it. I'm sure the planners (and the politicians who backed the plan) will be thinking the customary, "and we'd have got away with it if it wasn't for that pesky rain." It's turned what should have been a source of pride into an embarrassment.

It's a real shame for the athletes though. I understand hoping for the best, but a really strong backup plan should have been in place given the risk.
 
Having a row off for places 7-12 seems like something nobody would want to be involved in.
 
Got the rowing on and there's barely any British competitors, thought we were meant to be good at rowing?
 
Watching Giannis go to work against some random Spanish players is certainly... something.

Also great to see 2K9 legend Rudy Fernandez is still playing.