This blog is a follow up to #41: The 2024 Olympic Games.
It was hardly a surprise that Team USA earned more medals than any other committee (country) in France this year. The same was true for past Games in Tokyo, Rio, and London. But for Paris 2024, it wasn’t the number of medals earned by the United States making the news. Rather, the records, upsets, and broken streaks came in one after another. In no particular or exhaustive order, here are some of the stories I enjoyed most during my time managing the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Gymnastics
Before the closing ceremony began, Simone Biles became the most decorated gymnast of all time while bringing her total Olympic medal count to 11 thanks to previous appearances in Rio and Tokyo along with her 30 World Championship wins. Being the GOAT means more than raw athleticism though. It was my pleasure to discover, after a few days of interacting with her, that Simone completely lived up to her reputation as being genuinely sweet and surprisingly funny even in the rare absence of cameras or an audience. Ironically, I noticed that Biles wore her medals the least out of any athlete. She also had the smallest fame-to-entourage ratio and preferred to do her own hair and makeup rather than be pampered by professional cosmetologists before public events. Even her chosen topics of conversation had nothing to do with gymnastics or the Olympics. It turns out Simone Biles is just a normal, lovely, awesome person. I forgot how short she was (4’8”) when I first met her though, which completely and comically threw me off especially compared to the height of most other Olympic athletes (see below).
Source: “Joe Thomas and Simone Biles (48250635326)” by Erik Drost is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Not to be outdone by their female counterparts, the equally short and unrealistically muscular male gymnasts also made the headlines after Stephen Nedoroscik took off his glasses and swung his body around the pommel horse to seal his team’s first bronze medal since 2008. This was preceded by performances of a lifetime from his teammates Asher Hong, Paul Juda, Brody Malone, and Fred Richard. Stephen, who also earn an individual medal in the same event, recently announced his excitement to be on the next Dancing with the Stars competition. The guys were a joy to be around because they were over the moon ecstatic about their achievements. Their positive energy was indestructible and contagious.
Swimming
What is a discussion about the greatest American athletes without the topic of USA Swimming? Katie Ledecky, attending her fourth Olympic Games, earned an additional four medals which brought her career total to 14. Ledecky left Paris as the most decorated female Team USA Olympic athlete in history. You wouldn’t know it from talking to her though. Standing six feet tall with a smile that can be seen across the room, Katie stays humble and shy (although Cookie Monster and Elmo were able to get her out of her shell). Apart from being very sweet, what I admired most about my interactions with “The First Lady of Freestyle” was her immense passion for her sport. She lives and loves to be in the water, even when everyone around her is sleeping or celebrating.
Rugby
In one of the most dramatic finishes in all of Paris 2024, the Team USA women’s rugby sevens team clinched an unexpected bronze medal after coming back from a deficit against Australia. Alex Sedrick steamrolled her way through three Aussie defenders to walk off in the final two plays of the match with the USA women’s first ever Olympic podium finish. The play was spectacular and the crowd went just as berserk as the athletes did. I spent most of the following day with the jubilant ladies just as they crested the peak of disbelief and started to let the joy of their incredible feat sink in. What I enjoyed most about my time with the rugby sevens team was seeing such a wide range of personalities come together to win and celebrate as one cohesive unit. Having a big presence in both a literal and figurative sense, the 5’10” 200lbs Ilona Maher was one player who was hard to miss. Her trademark bright red lipstick was always on and her phone was always out to capture content for her 2.3 million TikTok followers. Maher most recently fulfilled her long-awaited dream of becoming a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model, premiering in the September 2024 digital issue.
Rowing
Contrasting with the wide range of personalities on the women’s rugby team were the four very tall peas in a pod that made up the 2024 Team USA men’s 4-person rowing crew. With an average height greater than 6’5” and a fraternity-like bond filled with continuous laughter, the four men could easily have passed as siblings. Instead, what they were passing was every other team on the water. The combined efforts of Nick Mead, Justin Best, Michael Grady, and Liam Corrigan led to the first American gold medal in that event in a whopping 64 years. This set off a chain of events that ended up being some of the most fun experiences during my time at the Olympics. I had the pleasure of introducing the team to the most decorated Olympian of all time, Michael Phelps. As if that weren’t enough, I also played a very small part in sneaking some of Justin Best’s friends and family along with 2,738 yellow flowers onto the Today Show set so he could propose to his girlfriend Lainey on live television. The number of flowers represented their “streak” (in days) on Snapchat. I also witnessed the guys sing a song on Sesame Street; if you can’t guess which song Elmo chose, click here to watch!
Cycling
If the aforementioned teams brought the excitement to Olympic competition in Paris, USA Cycling brought the heart. Haley Batten won Team USA’s first ever silver medal in women’s mountain biking despite having to battle back from a broken wheel. When I talked to her the next day, Haley was surprised yet very gracious that so many Team USA athletes and staff from other sports took the time to watch her race. In BMX freestyle, Perris Benegas scored the United States’ second consecutive silver medal since the Olympic debut of the sport in Tokyo 2020 despite having torn her ACL one year prior. Her medal ended up being the first one I held in my hands, which gave her an opportunity to make me laugh with her deadpan delivery of the joke, “Look, they spelled my name wrong!” I imagine being named Perris while visiting Paris is something you can only survive with humor.
On the road bikes, first-time Olympian Kristen Faulkner broke away from the leader group with just five kilometers to go, shocking everyone. Not only did the favored riders behind her fail to catch up, but Faulkner (who had only started cycling just six years prior) crossed the finish line of the 158 kilometer race a full 58 seconds ahead of the chase, earning the first Team USA women’s road cycling gold medal in 40 years. Faulkner would later join three other women to earn another gold medal in the team pursuit event.
Source: “Paris2024 – Women’s Road Race – 08 – Faulkner” by Rz98 is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
At an Olympic Games where it seemed like every Team USA athlete had an even more astonishing story than the next, my personal favorite was that of cyclist Chloe Dygert. Over the years, her list of trophies and medals has been rivaled only by the list of injuries she has had to overcome. Concussion, Epstein-Barr, heart surgery, multiple fractures, and torn ACL just to name a few. In 2020, she lacerated approximately 80 percent of her left quadricep after going over a guardrail and down a ravine during a world championship attempt. The scar, which looks more like a healed shark bite, is a constant reminder that she easily could have lost her leg or even her life that day. Instead, she bounced back and became a world champion in 2023 before earning a spot on the 2024 Olympic team. Unfortunately during her first race on a rainy day in Paris, she was one of a large number of time trial riders who went down on the wet cobblestones. Not only did the hiccup fail to sideline her, but she made a miraculous comeback to earn bronze. Chloe’s disappointment in not getting the top spot was noticeable but suppressed by her strength and stamina. That’s why I was overjoyed to see her later earn a gold medal along with three of her teammates at the velodrome for team pursuit. Imagine the physical and mental toughness to overcome so many unimaginably painful obstacles yet stay healthy and motivated enough to still earn not one but two Olympic medals in less-than-ideal conditions. This is why Chloe’s story and accomplishments made her the most inspiring Olympian during my time in Paris.
Source: “TDFF 2024 Chloe Dygert” by Wombi15 is marked with CC0 1.0.
Rarely will I skip an opportunity to visit a foreign land and become engrossed in an unfamiliar culture. Icing on the cake is the chance to personally witness a celebrity persona transform into their real-life personality. Surely, getting paid to do things like visit the Arc de Triomphe and meet famous stars is an unbelievable gift. But the real pleasure was meeting the athletes and witnessing their accomplishments. After all, that is what the Olympics are about. The physical strength is mind-blowing but we can also explain it through biology and physics. Instead, we admire the unmeasurable ability of these athletes to overcome challenges that cannot be imagined and still be the best in the world. And while you and I don’t have the legs of an elite cyclist or the shoulders of a gold medal swimmer, we all have the same capacity for internal greatness. Not one of the 592 Team USA athletes who went to the Paris Olympics was born with more or less motivation, resiliency, bravery, perseverance, or diligence than you. Nor do you need to be the best in the world to discover any of the aforementioned traits within yourself.
I stood, quite literally in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, embraced with one of the athletes mentioned above. On July 15th we had never met. By August 15th I had been by their side among the blood, sweat, and tears as they stressfully earned the most prestigious athletic awards on the planet. In this moment on a Paris street bordering the Seine River, we suddenly realized we probably wouldn’t see each other again. It was here that I found the theme I would carry forward from my time at the Olympics; a simple question any one of us can ask the mirror every day:
What’s your gold medal?
The Dark Passport 