Googling, that display was entirely for the television audience and was not visible for anyone there in person.
I think the flag flying from the Eiffel Tower was virtual effect as well. Still, the presentation from Paris was pretty cool.
Particularly for the huge crowd of unmasked people.
Very nice spot near the end of the closing ceremonies broadcast highlighting the upcoming Paralympics (August 24-Sept 5). Featuring Dwayne Johnson.
I hope I remember to tune in to the games this year. According to an article I read on Yahoo Sports they will be broadcast more this year than ever. I’m terrible about tuning in for specific Olympic events but when I remember I like to have them on in the background.
Okay, to be fair, they did show Eliud Kipchoge receiving his medal as well…
That’s what I thought - they showed an exterior shot of the stadium right at the end of that segment, and you couldn’t see the rings.
It was a spectacular effect but I think they should only have effects that are really visible to people there in person. I remember during the opening ceremonies in Beijing there was an effect of giant feet approaching the stadium, done in fireworks, and that too was fake.
I remember that too, and I feel cheated as well.
Most of the athletes had their phones. Wonder if they could watch it?
Supposedly that effect was displayed on the giant screens in the stadium so my guess is that, yes, the athletes could probably watch it on their phones. But what’s the point of having people staring at their phones?
Well, duh. I should have realized they could watch it on the big screens. But your point is well taken.
BTW, the bit with the kids and the woman singing, was that supposed to be an homage to The Sound of Music?
That was my first guess, too. The woman should have been dressed in a brighter color.
Ah, that makes it far less impressive. Certainly the drones at the opening ceremonies were the coolest effect.
Maybe they’ll have a real flag by the time the Games roll around.
Watched part of the parade of nations - would have been nice if the announcers could have interrupted their chats to mention what country they were showing. For some reason, I couldn’t remember all the flags and uniforms from the opening ceremony (mostly because I didn’t watch much of it, but wouldn’t have any way).
I hope not. That would take hurricane force winds to keep a flag of that size waving straight out.
And that’s it. I’m starting to get the creeping feeling that London 2012 was the last truly fun Olympiad we’ll ever have. Rio was plagued with disasters and internal misery from start to finish, and Tokyo got the insular, quiet competition they wanted and pretty much everyone else lamented. Even if we gotten this crazy pandemic under control by '24 (and right now I have zero confidence that we will), global warming is only getting worse, meaning any outdoor summer event is going to be hell on everyone involved. (Plus this new rise of fascism thing. What the hell’s up with that?)
Get what positive vibes you can and don’t get greedy. Tomorrow’s another day.
One parting question. I saw a shot of a beach volleyball team…I think it was the gold-medal winning April Ross and Alix Kilineman…right after a match, and they were wearing their Olympic jackets and pants. I can understand why gymnasts often want to cover up their legs once they’re done, but they’re under the Tokyo sun in the middle of August! How can anyone possibly be cold in that?
Paris doesn’t usually get all that hot in the summer; it could go up three degrees and it’d still be fine. It’d be easy to just have most of the Games somewhere tolerable.
Los Angeles isn’t as hot as you’d think either, and Brisbane will be holding the Games in Australian winter.
For Israel as well - two golds medals (the country’s second and third, ever) and two bronze, increasing the country’s total historic medal count from 7 to 11. The two golds especially, in gymnastics and rhythmic gymnastics, were huge surprises.
I guess what we needed was an extra year to prepare. Who knew.
Apparently the Tokyo Olympics also broke records in terms of medal counts – 88 different nations won medals and 63 different nations won gold medals, both Olympic records.
Turkmenistan, Burkina Faso, and San Marino won their first ever Olympic medals. The latter claimed three. The Philippines, Bermuda, and Qatar won their first ever gold medals. The latter claimed two gold medals.
Weird, yes. Overhaul? Not if it eliminates moments like this:
