Paris 2024 Olympics Diary: Nadal emerges as people’s champion; Boredom prevails in Châteauroux Athletes Games village

Rafael Nadal had a fairly prominent role at the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

As he was handed the Olympic flame by Zinedine Zidane towards the conclusion of the opening ceremony, it’s hard to say who elicited a bigger cheer from the audience – the French World Cup hero or the 14-time French Open champion.

After Nadal took the flame, he hopped on a boat alongside Serena Williams, Carl Lewis and Nadia Commenaci to start the final process by which the Olympic flame would go on to light the Olympic Cauldron at the Tuilleries Gardens.

But once his part was done, Nadal wasn’t hustled off like the rest of the sporting heavyweights at the ceremony. The Spaniard made his way back to the Trocadero Gardens where the opening ceremony was taking place. When his event was over, Nadal unceremoniously made his way through the exit gates just like any spectator.

While it initially took a few spectators by surprise, they soon decided to make the most of the opportunity and requested him for selfies. While French police and Gendarmerie initially attempted to shield Nadal, a few eventually decided to take a few selfies themselves.

To his credit, the Spaniard, who would be playing in the mens’ doubles competition alongside Carlos Alcaraz the very next day, seemed happy to pose for pictures with whoever asked.

After indulging several requests, a couple of security personnel finally guided Nadal to an official van on which he made his way back to the Athletes village.

Village atmosphere

While the Athletes Games village at Paris has been characterised by fun, activity and the opportunity to stay with top contenders across sports from different nations, there’s not a lot going on at the Games village in Châteauroux, where the shooting events are being held.

There isn’t a single athletes village but two – the PESI (Pôle d’Enseignement Supérieur International), located in the nearby town of Déols and the Lycée Blaise Pascal boarding school, located in Châteauroux.

Some athletes have complained about the size of the rooms and the quality of the food available at the school. An international coach told Sportstar that owing to a lack of space, some athletes have been asked if they would be willing to take up rooms in the town at the organisers’ expense.

This is not nearly as much of an incentive for many. There’s also a general sense of boredom in a town that only has a population of around 70,000. Although public transportation is free in the town, it’s relatively rare.

Jaspal Rana – Manu Bhaker’s coach – who is staying at an apartment in the town found himself waiting for nearly an hour for an official bus after organisers changed the bus timings at the final minute but failed to update either coaches or athletes.  

– Jonathan Selvaraj

History, modernity, solidarity – the message from the opening ceremony

An amazing laser show on the iconic Eiffel tower, bearing the five rings, during the Paris Olympics opening ceremony left the spectators, who stayed put despite the constant rain, awestruck and provided each one a moment to savour and preserve it in their mobile phones as a fantastic memory.

The massive tower, sitting on the banks of river Seine, flashed multi-coloured lights to display regular and irregular moving patterns and scores of beams, which pierced the night sky amid the cloud cover.

It was a sincere effort from the organisers to showcase the French creativity and wow the world by marrying history with modernity.

A call for solidarity during turbulent times

In times of conflicts around the world, International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach and Paris 2024 Organising Committee president Tony Estanguet used the platform for the opening ceremony to call for solidarity and hope.

“In a world torn apart by wars and conflicts, it is thanks to this solidarity that we can all come together tonight, uniting the athletes from the territories of all 206 National Olympic Committees and the IOC Refugee Olympic Team,” said Bach.

Estanguet had a similar thought. “Even though discrimination and conflicts are not about to disappear, tonight you have reminded us how beautiful humanity is when we come together,” he said. France, known for its plurality, provided the perfect setting to send out a message of peace and harmony.

Stars light the way

Following a three-month journey from Greece to the Games host city, the Olympic torch finally revealed a long-kept secret.

Football legend Zinedine Zidane began the last phase of the torch relay by handing it over to French Open legend Rafael Nadal, who dazzled in a red coat, before it was carried by another tennis legend Serena Williams.

When the flame was ferried on a boat on Seine with Nadal and Serena on board, it elicited a round of warm applause from the spectators.

French judo star Teddy Riner and sprinter Marie-Jose Perec jointly lit the cauldron, which propelled a glowing hot air balloon to mark the beginning of the sporting extravaganza.

– Y.B. Sarangi