By Daniel D'Addario
Favorite Olympic moments watching the closing ceremony | Paris Pulse – Day 16 | #paris2024
Even for the passive or casual viewer, the 2024 Olympics proved one thing: we'll be back, to borrow a phrase.
The quadrennial event serves many purposes: a celebration of sport, of course; a chance for the host city to peacock in front of a global audience; a chance to check (and talk about peacocking) how broadcast technology is doing at a particular moment in time. But it’s also a vibe check of sorts, a moment to pause and reflect on the state of affairs, defined as broadly as possible. And after the COVID-delayed, then COVID-curtailed Tokyo Games, which saw elite athletes perform to empty stadiums and one of the world’s greatest cities sit huddled and unable to show itself, Paris in 2024 excelled with something Olympic fans had been craving the previous cycle: possibility.
For the American viewer, the Olympic team delivered a series of heartwarming performances, from Simone Biles cementing her place in history to Katie Ledecky’s dominance in the pool to winning teams in men’s and women’s basketball and women’s soccer. There seemed something striking about the number of sports stories, for Americans, that existed around celebrating women’s achievements — so much so that Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, both conscious about how they use their respective voices, narrated videos in honor of the U.S. team. By the time Vice President Kamala Harris was shouting at the Olympians from a rally podium (talk about vibe shifts!), it was clear that a certain kind of sentimental patriotism was suddenly very much in fashion.
