It’s been a tough week without that je ne sais quoi magic that the Paris 2024 Games conferred. I got used to the daily jolts of athletic awe and phenomenal feats that the world’s Olympians, and the hosts themselves, offered up in ways I had not previously experienced.
True, these were the first Olympics I attended in person, and the privilege of spending the months leading up to their July 26th kickoff were exceptional in all ways. Now that I’ve had a little time to digest after the thrilling basketball gold medal matches* here are a few things I’ll integrate into my global communications, sports diplomacy, and teaching work this fall:
Me and 27,000 of my new friends at the Paris 2024 Olympic basketball tournament in Lille.
1️⃣ Roland Barthes prevails. The shared history and sense of community sports confers per noted French philosopher Roland Barthes was alive and well throughout the Games in ways I haven’t experienced at FIFA World Cups or other events. I recall during my PhD work the argument that the sporting stadium replaced the religious house of worship in a secular society, and thought a great deal about that as I walked past or went into a range of stadia across iconic Parisian. But nowhere was this more apt than in Lille’s Pierre Mauroy stadium where during different basketball matches, me and 27,000 of my new friends worshiped at the altar of the round ball.
With the illustrious Dr. Dikaia Chatziefstathiou
2️⃣ The Games as a connector. The ability to share and dialogue with colleagues around the world in real time via Twitter, LinkedIn, podcasts, and WhatsApp chats was refreshing. It’s not that I don’t engage in these exchanges, but the Games, their approach, and immediate aftermath offered unique opportunities to do so around certain events, experiences, or storylines – a reminder that despite our busy schedules, we’re always there for each other. Bonus: these interactions amped up my understanding of how non-U.S. audiences and regions view these events and the issues that surround them. This is vitally important and will be put to good use across my work this fall.
3️⃣ Make it iconic. The 2024 organizing committee’s slogan “Games Wide Open” placed the venues across the city and country, underscoring the French government’s “Make it Iconic” campaign. This was a brilliantly conceived and delivered strategy, and the main takeaway for all of us is to be authentic to ourselves.
4️⃣ Make it basketball. Beyond the scintillating gold medal finals, the first time that the same two countries contested both the men’s and women’s 5x5 tournaments, the larger hoops tourney was an incredible verdict on the growth and vivacity of the global game.
If you want to know more about the growing (friendly-ish) France-US basketball rivalry, get your hands on a copy of my book Basketball Empire: France and the Making of a Global NBA and WNBA. Shameless plug, but Chapter 15 speaks directly to what the world just witnessed at the stunning Paris 2024 Games.
🎧 You can listen to my basketball knockout phase preview via the Basketball Intelligence podcast here.
5️⃣ Sports diplomacy comes in all forms.
*Stay tuned for my hoops snap evaluation as part of the “Olympic and Paralympic Analysis 2024 – Mega events, media, and the politics of sport” project at https://olympicanalysis.org/
