Opinion
Fun and Games: Take a bow Paris, the opening ceremony … and Arnie
Peter FitzSimons
Columnist and authorNow, where were we, before we were interrupted?
I remember. Les Jeux Olympiques! So . . . here’s a quick summation from an Australian perspective.
Biggest What-Are-They-Smoking-Because-I-Think-I-Want-Some Moment! The people who put together that extraordinary opening ceremony. Not for the French the standard-brand whizz-through of national cliches before a march around the stadium, and a few speeches.
We are French! We are creative and edgy. We invented avant-garde (a bit like we invented menage a trois, but let’s leave that for another time). We will do this the way it has never been done before, honouring our real history by heading off on the Excess Expressway, turning right on Bacchanalian Boulevard, left on Rue de Rooting before bringing it in for landing at Place de la Purple People-Eaters. And yes, I get that it was very long, and some parts looked like what you’d expect when the Eurovision Song Contest was kicked out of the nightclub at dawn for being too drugged-up, but come on, admit it, it was nothing if not memorable and, I repeat, very, very French.
Most hilarious and biggest beat-up so far. That would be the evangelicals going ballistic over what they said was the “Last Supper” scene in the Opening Ceremony: accusing the French of being blasphemous etc. In the first place, the tubby blue monster in the scene was meant to be the Greek god of feasting and wine, Dionysus, who surely seems an unlikely attendee at the last meal Jesus had with his disciples? And if the scene did bear a resemblance to Leonardo Da Vinci’s version of the Last Supper, painted 1500 years after the described event, so what? It was a painting, hardly a photograph ripped from the pages of the bible. (Do you think it likely that, for such an occasion, they all would have sat on just one side of the table? Or do you think it more likely that that was just the best way to visually represent it?)
Oh, but if it still offended your belief system because it is sacred iconography, being represented by people of LGBTQI+ persuasion? Say, which way do you think Leonardo himself, a gay man, might have voted on the controversy? I reckon, and Vulture reckons, he would have loved it! And as for Jesus himself, if there was a dining room filled with twelve clones of that paean of piety, Mike Pence, or twelve of our outcast friends, do you really think that the fabled son of God – a famous champion of the different and marginalised – would ask to be put in Room Pence?.
Lady Gaga perform amid a cloud of pom poms.Credit: Getty Images
Star of the show. This is a joint award to Paris and the French crowds. So far, it reminds me of – and I can put this no higher – us, at the Sydney 2000 Games. The city itself is sparkling in the way that has made Paris the world’s favourite destination for centuries. At the venues, the people have turned up. They applaud, they sing La Marseillaise and Sweet Caroline at a moment’s notice and with nearly equal fervour, they are clearly loving the whole thing. And why not? As discussed last week, despite all the hassles, the hideous expense, the snafus, the budget blow-outs, somehow, the Olympics themselves really do retain a magic that makes it a privilege to attend. And a special mention here too, to the thousands of (just-like-in-Sydney) always smiling unpaid helpers who simply can’t do enough to assist the crowds with information, and generally lifting the mood wherever they are. The Games simply couldn’t exist without them.
Biggest downer. The heavy security. I know, I know, they have to have it. It is just odd to be heading into venues amongst joyous crowds and pass dozens of men holding vicious-looking machine-guns that could blow us all away in an instant.
Biggest Star. Ariarne Titmus. Say no more. Still only 23, to have successfully defended her previous Olympic gold medal in the 400m freestyle was an extraordinary feat, with her silver medal in the 200m event a bonus. She carries herself wonderfully well, and is one of whom we can all rightly be proud, well beyond just her swimming feats.
Break-out star so far. Mollie O’Callaghan. Show me someone who beats Ariarne Titmus at anything, from tiddly-winks to swimming, and I’ll show you a champion. But not just that – she was so gracious about it, and her gesture of pulling Titmus up on the top podium with her for the medal ceremony so they can stand side-by-side for the Australian national anthem, was wonderful. O’Callaghan is not yet up to “Our Mollie” status but both she and “Our Arnie” look like they may well be peas in a pod on podiums around the world for years to come.
Biggest Story of Redemption. Shayna Jack. From falsely accused drug cheat to Olympic gold medallist, after years of struggle.
Most Emblematic Australian star. Jess Fox. She carried the flag with elan, is already one gold medal to the good, and hopefully closing in on her second. In everything she does, she seems so wonderfully happy about it all, and so generous in her approach, that you’d like to think if young Australians across our brown and pleasant land are looking for role models in how to go about things, she’d be a great start.
Biggest what-might-have-beens. Both the men’s and women’s sevens rugby teams played wonderfully well and looked to have podium finishes in the bag, only to fall at the last hurdles. In the playoff for bronze, the men’s team had their captain sent off for a marginally high tackle, and were struggling against South Africa, only to score two fabulous tries in the final three minutes, six men on seven, to equal the score at 19-all. Kick to come, to win! It missed. South Africa finished them off. And our women’s team?
I saw every game they played, and they were superb – a class above, I thought. And it was obvious to me in the semi-final against Canada, when they went ahead 12-0 after four minutes, that they were going to run away with it. But Canada did instead, scoring the next 21 points. Maybe the ball bounced their way, or maybe they just played above themselves, but our women were rightly devastated. It seemed nothing could get worse, but . . . it did. In the match for the bronze medal, again, it seemed they had it in the bag, only for the Americans to start from their own goal-line, as the siren sounded, and charge the length of the field to register a 14-12 win. DEVASTATING. But, the rugby sevens itself was a revelation to many of us. All of the teams presented such a fantastic sporting spectacle it was mostly wonderful to watch – bar those gutting defeats to our mob. But Rugby Australia should take note. Both teams are worth pouring resources into, just like cricket once poured money into one-day cricket. It is a wonderful version of the game, and is only going to get bigger in the future.
Legends Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.Credit: AP
Most poignant moment. Rafael Nadal embracing Novak Djokovic at the net at the end of their match at Roland Garros. Rafa is the king of this court, so revered by the French for his 14 singles championships here, that they gave him a starring role in the Opening Ceremony. And yet, here he was at the Olympics, up against his long-time rival, Novak, in the Olympics for what both men seemed to realise was Rafa’s Last Stand at Roland Garros. The crowd noise was insane and somehow even more so when he went down 6-0, 6-4, when they simply erupted. He blew kisses around the stadium in turn, and I think one might have hit me – though Snoop Dogg who was just over my right shoulder, claimed it as his.
That’s it, you’re up to date . . . so far. Stay tuned.
Twitter: @Peter_Fitz
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