Paris 2024 Olympics 10: Diving & Wrestling

Friday, August 9, 2024

The final day in Paris and attending the Olympics dawned just as early as all previous mornings. Dad was, once again, not feeling well and stated that he would stay behind today. He had now missed out on the entire second half of the trip, from Berlin through the final three days of the Olympics, which was unfortunate. Mom and I set off for Gare de Lyon, where we grabbed coffee and a quick bite to eat. The train took us up to the aquatic center, which required us to make the long walk through the neighborhood to reach the venue.

Once through the security screening, we stopped to get something to drink and noticed that there was a small tent setup nearby with a small queue in front. Inside was one of the Olympic torches that visitors could hold and take photos with (just as I had done previously during our rowing event). Since the line wasn’t very long, we popped in to have our photo taken together holding the torch. So much of the Olympics is focused on the events themselves, but there is a lot going on around each of the venues for spectators to enjoy as well.

Upon entering the arena, we were both very pleased to discover that we had outstanding seats for today’s diving event – we were sat close to the diving platform in the lower section of the stands. While waiting for the diving to begin, many of the now familiar activities took place to entertain spectators: music, video playing to describe the event, etc. One of the recurring bits was to have women dressed up as someone named Alice Milliat and then wander around the venues. When spotted, fans were encouraged to take selfies with her and post them to social media. Alice Milliat was a pioneer in getting women accepting into major sporting events, including the Olympics. In the early 1920s, she organized the Women’s Olympic Games, later rebranded as the Women’s World Games, which became highly successful. Through her continued efforts, she was able to bring attention to women in sports.

For the first time at the Olympics, ‘Alice’ appeared in our section of the stands and slowly made her way around, stopping for photos. Mom and I took the opportunity to snap a quick photo with her as well, which was rather fun. Shortly after ‘Alice’ left, I spotted a man walking through the stands wearing a jacked with the DPRK (North Korean) flag on it! I knew that North Korea had sent athletes to the Olympics, but this was the first time in Paris that I had seen anyone from their group. I got on my phone and discovered that a North Korean would be competing during this morning’s event!

Event 17: Diving (men’s 10m platform)

Today’s diving event was the men’s solo 10m platform. Several divers we had seen during the 10m synchronized diving the previous week were also competing in today’s event, but Tom Daley was sadly not among the athletes (his diving partner, Noah Williams, was diving today). Before the event began, we got to watch the divers warming up for quite a while. This included male and female divers practicing for future events, as well as those competing this morning.

The diving got underway at 10:00, which began by announcing each diver in turn as they made their way out from backstage. In total, there were 26 divers competing today, representing such countries as Canada, Australia, Italy, Germany, South Korea, the USA, Mexico, Ukraine, Colombia, Uzbekistan, Malaysia, Egypt, Japan – and North Korea. I was surprised by how many divers we would be seeing today. Each diver were perform six dives throughout the morning, and the 18 with the highest cumulative scores would advanced to the semifinal round.

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The Mexican diver, Ranal Willars Valdez, had a large number of supporters in the crowd who enthusiastically cheered for him each time he was up to dive. The Ukrainian, Oleksii Sereda, also received loud applause as well, both for his performances and as a way for the crowds to show support for Ukraine in their war with Russia. My favorite diver of the morning was the Timo Barthel from Germany.

The two Chinese divers were the standouts of the day, with each successive dive being near perfect. They dominated the top spots for much of the competition. However, midway through, one of the divers slipped up (just a little) and dropped down in the standings, making way for other divers to move up in the rankings. The North Korean diver came out very strong as well, executing excellent dives for the first few rounds. It was nice to see him doing so well, but this unfortunately changed during his fifth dive. The dive went horribly wrong, and he ended up doing a back-flop when he entered the water, which doused any hopes he had for advancing to the semifinals. It was disappointing because he had started the day so strong.

Others in the top spots from the morning were the divers from Japan, Ukraine, Great Britain, and Australia. The Canadian Rylan Wiens, who we had seen win bronze during the synchronized diving, placed third in today’s preliminary round. Tom Daley’s diving partner, Noah Williams, also advanced (and would later win the bronze in the finals). Only one American did well enough to compete in the semifinals.

By the end of the event, the Chinese divers claimed first and fourth places, Japan was second, and Canada third. The Ukrainian diver finished in fifth, while the German Timo Barthel came in twelfth. The top two divers of the day, from China and Japan respectively, would later go on to claim the gold and silver medals. Mom and I both enjoyed the event quite a bit – a great way to start our final day in Paris!

Mom and I had a busy afternoon planned out, so we had to rush back to the metro station when the diving came to an end. We rode the metro over to the Louvre station, where we made a quick stop at a nearby Pret a Manger for lunch. A few days previously we had bought tickets to visit the Louve for this afternoon (we had one for dad as well, but he obviously wasn’t joining us). Since we had only a few hours before our next – and final – event in the evening, we ate quickly and then walked over to the museum.

The Louvre entrance thankfully wasn’t very busy, which was most likely due to the requirement for visitors to have tickets with times entry. We breezed through security, got a map of the museum and set off to explore the art treasures. I guided mom through the various galleries until we reached the room housing the Mona Lisa. We had both seen it before, but we figured we might as well see it again while we were at the Louvre. The crowd around the masterpiece was large, but we managed to wind our way up to the front relatively quickly so we could spend a few moments admiring it.

Up next were my favorite paintings in the Louvre, all centered on Emperor Napoleon I. I wanted to show mom the impressive coronation painting, as well as some portraits of the emperor that hung in one of the larger galleries. She was very impressed by them, especially the one of his coronation in Notre Dame It’s a gigantic piece of art and shows Napoleon as he is about to crown himself emperor while the Pope looks on from behind.

As we strolled through the Louvre, we marveled not only at the artwork on display, but also at the stunning architecture of each room. One can easily get lost among the art and forget that the Louvre was formerly a royal palace of the Bourbon kings of France. The palace is massive and we walked around the entire length of the building, from one wing to another. We found a large gilded room that contained the crown jewels of the French royal family. Mom loved being able to see the various crowns of the kings and queens, as well as diamonds worn by the last empress, Eugenie (wife of Napoleon III). I couldn’t locate Napoleon I’s crown, though it was apparently on display somewhere in the Louvre.

We then began to walk around the museum in search of the Napoleon III state rooms. Along the way, we stumbled upon the state rooms of both Louis IV and Louis XVI. This section of the Louvre was new to me, and I wasn’t even aware that they existed prior to this, but it was a very pleasant surprise for us both. The state rooms showcased what the palace had once looked like during the time when it had been used as a royal residence. Rich, sumptuous furniture and wall coverings filled each successive room, displaying the wealth and power that the royal family had during its heyday in the 1700s.

I finally found the route to the Napoleon III state rooms, the entrance to which is located down a nondescript hallway near the restrooms. To our great dismay, that section of the Louvre was closed to visitors due to the heat! This was very disappointing because I knew mom would love to visit the state rooms. I saw them back in 2014 and found them to be amazing. This did not detract from our overall enjoyment of the museum though as we still had other art to see.

Mom is a big fan of the Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer, who is widely considered of the greatest painters from the Dutch Golden Age. His paintings are noted for their remarkable life-like depiction of people, utilizing light in each work to enhance their realistic appearances. He used expensive pigments in his art, especially ultramarine, to capture the colors and hues of his subjects. Vermeer’s incredible attention to detail shines through in all of his works, though the painting techniques he used have been long debated. Mom and I had last seen some Vermeer paintings in November 2022, when were in New York for Thanksgiving.

The Louve has a small collection of Vermeer paintings. On display today were ‘The Lacemaker’ and ‘The Astronomer’ which mom thoroughly enjoyed getting to admire. ‘The Lacemaker’ depicts a young woman carefully making lace in such realistic details, especially in the items on the woman’s table. In ‘The Astronomer’, an older man looks at a globe as he studies. The room and objects around the man are do detailed, with the light shining in from the window creating life-like shadows. Vermeer’s ability to paint clothing and fabric is second-to-none – the cloth flows and drapes so naturally in each painting.

We then began to make our way back through the winding halls and galleries so we could head to the exit. Along the way, we noticed signs pointing to the Venus de Milo, so we took the small detour to view the statue. It is located in a small, dark room, which allows visitors to focus solely on the sculpture itself. This was our last stop in Louvre as we made our way to the exit. The museum was packed with tourists and we were eager to escape the crowds.

We left the Louvre around 16:00 and went to a nearby Starbucks to get some coffee. We tried to go several local cafes first, but they were all packed with customers. We enjoyed getting to sit down for a short rest after spending hours exploring the Louvre. It had been a rather last-minute, unplanned addition to our time in Paris, and we were both glad that we’d gone to the museum.

We talked about everything that we had managed to do during the past two weeks, not only at the Olympics themselves, but also sightseeing throughout Paris, not to mention Berlin. This was the second international trip that mom and I had taken together (and the first one I’d taken with dad). I was thoroughly enjoying the time we had together, especially seeing how excited and happy mom would get at each new site we visited. While planning the trip, I had tried to pick out things that I knew she would enjoy seeing and it had been a resounding success. Dad’s illness had forced him to miss out on so much, and we both agreed that traveling would be easier for him after his hip replacement surgery – the long walks were not easy for him due to the pain. Nevertheless, the trip was outstanding and I was very glad to have this time with my parents.

Mom kept mentioning that “international travel just wasn’t for [her]” and I tried several times to push back on that idea because I wanted to go on more trips together. There are so many places around the world that I would like to visit together, from the countries of the former Yugoslavia to Japan to Vietnam and, hopefully one day, Russia.

We had one final event at the Olympics later this evening, but mom opted to skip it so she could head back to the hotel and pack. My parents were leaving for the airport in the early hours the next morning, so they needed to get everything packed before bed tonight. We walked over to the metro station and I explained to her how to get back to the hotel – though I did ask that she message me later so I knew she got there okay.

The final event was located close to the Eiffel Tower, and I soon reached the venue after taking a short metro ride. The area outside of the arena was small, with only a few concessions stands selling food. I grabbed something to eat for dinner. I then made my way to my assigned entrance to the venue and went up to our seats. Since my parents weren’t with me tonight, I had two empty seats to either side of me, which was nice since the stands were cramped. The section had a so-so view of the competition stage and the arena was packed with spectators.

Event 18: Wrestling

Tonight’s wrestling was a medal round, so the excitement in the crowd was palpable. Looking around though, I noticed that the majority of the attendees were men, with a sprinkling of women here and there. I wasn’t as enthused about attending wrestling as I was for the other events at the Olympics, but it would be something new for me to watch.

At 18:15 the first of 15 matches got underway with the USA facing off against Japan. I never fully understood the scoring system throughout the wrestling, but it was definitely clear that the Japanese wrestler was the better of the two, and he ended up winning the match. Up next were wrestlers from Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, two countries that I had visited last summer. The Uzbek wrestler won to advance to the final matches of the night.

The third match was when the atmosphere at the even took a turn for the worse (for me). Wrestlers from Iran and Turkey faced off against one another, and they were both very evenly matched. The three spectators next to me were cheering for the Iranian; they appeared to be two adult brothers along with their much younger brother. When the Iranian won the match, they erupted in animated, enthusiastic cheering, which quickly went over the top to the point that I felt very uncomfortable. One of them was jumping around, shouting wildly and he bumped into me several times. This was not unique to just them – spectators got overly excited for the various wrestlers throughout the event. I was glad when the three left their seats for what I hoped would be the remainder of the event (I was proved wrong when they returned a short time later).

The wrestler from Georgia defeated his competitor for Azerbaijan in the fourth match, while Ukraine triumphed over Kyrgyzstan. I was shocked by the number of wrestlers present from the central Asian countries and former Soviet republics. As the event progressed, the men in the stands got more and more energetic with their cheering, with many of them shouting things at the wrestlers, which also elicited responses from other in the crowd. All of this served to increase my feeling of unease – I messaged my mom to tell her it was a good thing that she had skipped the event.

The event finally moved into the medal rounds. For reasons I still don’t fully understand, wrestling is one of very few events that award two bronze medals. The two bronze medal matches for the men’s 57kg were up first. India defeated Puerto Rico, and Uzbekistan defeated Kyrgyzstan, with both countries winning bronze. The gold medal match was between Japan and the USA. The Japanese wrestler won the match to claim gold, while the American got silver. Up next were the two bronze medal matches for the 86kg category. In the first one, the American defeated the Uzbek wrestler. In the second, Greece faced off against San Marino, which the Greek wrestler won.

It was at this point that I decided to leave the event early. The toxicity of the crowd was becoming a bit too much for me and I knew that it would only get worse once the gold medal matches began (one of which included the wrestler from Iran, so the men next to me would be going wild). I had watched 11 of the 15 matches and, while it was somewhat entertaining, wrestling had proven to be the least interesting of the events I’d attended.

Since the venue was located so close to the Eiffel Tower, I decided to take a walk up to see the tower illuminated at night. The sun was still setting when I arrived, but the gigantic Olympic rings suspended from the Eiffel Tower were already light up. Soon the rings changed colors and became all white, just as the Eiffel Tower itself began to sparkle at the top of the hour. The hundreds of lights covering the tower from the turn of the millennium still sparkle across the tower for several minutes each night at the top of every hour. It was by pure luck that I arrived in time to watch it this evening, and it was quite beautiful to see.

I planned to walk over to the Tuileries Gardens to hopefully watch the Olympic cauldron flying in the sky, so I began to leisurely walk in that direction. Unfortunately, the weather took a turn for the worse, with the wind picking up and clouds rolling in – I could see lightning in the distance as well. Fearing another storm like the one mom and I had experienced the last time we tried to see the cauldron at night, I decided to head back to the hotel instead. I hurriedly walked over to a nearby metro station and went back to Gare de Lyon. When I arrived back the hotel, my parents were already asleep, so I quietly got ready for bed before going to sleep myself.

Our Olympic adventure had now come to an end. I was sad that it was over, but also glad that we’d had this experience together. It had been a non-stop, exciting two weeks with my parents; I was glad to know that they had enjoyed it just as much as me. For years we had planned to attend an Olympic Games together, first in Tokyo in 2020, but those plans were ruined by the Covid-19 pandemic. The Paris 2024 Summer Olympics had been a phenomenal event and it far exceeded my already high expectations. Paris itself had put on an excellent Games, and my parents had been able to fully experience the various aspects of the Olympics. This is the fourth Olympics that I had attended (Vancouver 2010, Rio 2016, Pyeongchang 2018), but this was the most memorable and special since I had been able to experience it with my parents. We made some great memories during these two weeks and I look forward to future travel with them.

Now it was back to the States for them, while I was heading off to the Maldives.