The Olimpic games

[bf97c28c]

Do you like the Olympic games? What kind of sport do you prefer?  

[ravi_iitian]

Yes, I love the Olympics!

Athletics is my favorite.

I was the 200m, 400m, and 800m champ at school.

I like soccer and hockey too. I was the goalie in school and college.

[bf97c28c]

Ravindra. It's a great situation when you did the same sport with the athlete in the Olympics, so you can understand their feeling a little. It's an interesting time. Do you like watching the opening of the Games?

[ravi_iitian]

---

 wrote:

Ravindra. It's a great situation when you did the same sport with the athlete in the Olympics, so you can understand their feeling a little. It's an interesting time. Do you like watching the opening of the Games?

---

Nope, I am not a fan of opening and closing ceremonies. Too often a petty political point is being made.

[bf97c28c]

I respect your opinion. As for me, I can ignore political splashes at these events.

“Two people look down. One sees a puddle, the other sees stars.
Who sees what.” -Alexandr Dovzhenko

-Ad astra per aspera-

[bilal1983]

I used to watch Olympic games a lot growing up, when there were live telecasts on television. I don't watch much these days.

My interest is limited to watching rather than playing it myself (other than in my younger years)

I like track competitions like races, jumps, javelin throwing, short-putt etc.

Other than that I still watch Football (soccer), Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, Tennis, and I watch a few other ones as well every now and then...

[bf97c28c]

That's great. The Olympics really have a lot of sports at one time you can choose to watch. And I like to cheer for the athletes from my country.

[bilal1983]

Yes! When your country is announced and they walk in with their flag and all the athletes, makes you feel proud yes?

[bf97c28c]

And what about when the athletes from your city or town are shown? During this competition, the feeling flies.

[bilal1983]

An athlete from my country won a gold medal after more than 30 years and broke the world record also. That was exciting!

[bf97c28c]

This is the best result, like a broken world record. Congratulations.

[bilal1983 · Accepted solution]

Thank you, Dmytro! I didn't watch any live events of the Olympics this year, but later watched the gold medal-winning moment. And this happened a few days before our national independence day, so it was a proud moment for the country.

[luce-neidert]

I must admit that I hate Olympic Games. I understand that it must be inspiring for the athletes, but I'm not at all interested in watching sports. 

Besides, now that we are truly seeing the consequences of climate change, it's completely inadequate to encourage crowds to travel around the world using airplanes.

I'm French, I live an hour away from Paris, I'm looking forward for these Games to be over.

[bf97c28c]

Your opinion is interesting. But I imagine how many people would like to be in your place during these games. Of course, you do not like this event, nevertheless, you can describe the situation near these games if you please.

[luce-neidert]

Well, yesterday I was with 7 friends who live in or around Paris.

Some are leaving their area to go on holidays 2 days before the planned date because they won't be allowed to drive around the area where they live due to some Olympic activity around their area.

One, who lives in Paris, is planning to take an 1/2 hour walk in order to reach a stadium peacefully. The others reminded him that he would need to have a pass to walk in that area...

They all commented on the fact that they had noticed police everywhere.

Sorry, Dmytro, all that fuss doesn't appeal to me at all!

[bf97c28c]

I understood. The safety is first of all. You give an opportunity to feel the soul of so a big event. Of course, it's so uncomfortable for the citizens, and it's the other side of the medal. But as a kind Host, your patience will give a memorable event for years for all the world. So the more you can discribe interesting situation even you dont like, the clear picture will be. And watching these games on TV, as for me, I will see more than the camera shows. So it's more interesting. Hope for your next notes. Luce, thank you.

[luce-neidert]

Sorry to disapoint you, Dmytro, I don't have a TV, never watch TV, never watch sports... I have other intetests!

[bf97c28c]

Luce.
I respect your position. I think the notes of your own vision are worth more than the TV.

[luce-neidert]

Here's some information about what you won't see on T.V. : a heat wave is on its way in France. Started in the South of France yesterday, is on its way to the North (Paris is in the North now). That's one of the things I feared would happen, seing that global warming is triggering heat waves in France nealy every summer now.

[bf97c28c]

These are really important changes that are worth mentioning. Maybe it will matter for games. So I watched the opening. It was beautiful, except for the rain. How about you?

[luce-neidert]

No, I didn't watch it. My son did. He found it marvelous. I'm a bit sad that whoever planned it included features that shocked various groups of viewers. That was unecessary.

[bf97c28c]

It's interesting. How about foreigners do you see a lot of nearby? I mean who came for the games.

[luce-neidert]

No. I live an hour from Paris, I guess foreigners are staying either in or close to Paris.

[bf97c28c]

I understood. Thank you. 

[allpurposewriter]

Hey, Luce,

I stand corrected. Or, I stand with my opinion amended.  It turns out the first study that predicted climate change was written in 1896 by a Swedish scientist named Svante Arrhenius. 

Earlier, I wrote that it's too bad folks didn't see complications ahead when the gas-powered engine was first invented -- or when it was inevitable that carbon emissions from gas-powered engines would someday be the bane of mankind. 

I don't know how many gas-powered engines were in use in 1896, but, as usual, there was a bright scientist who gave fair warning to our impending doom well before it was too late. Arrhenius recieved the Nobel Prize in 1903, so his warning was not entirely ignored or laughed at ... it's just that, to put it one way, the wheels of industry overran good science, as per usual.

[allpurposewriter]

Luce,

Your concerns are spot on. Unfortunately, you're not going to stop air travel or car travel or factory polution. You clearly have a laptop, use some form of transportation aside from walking and bicycing, buy things made in factories ... do you not?

The problem with climate change is ultimately a problem of over-population. We have too much of everything, except common sense.

Isn't amazing that people who invented gas engines celebrated that triumph without a thought towards a more complicated future. We are so impulsive, so inherently lazy, so short-sighted. I find climate change to be a universal flaw, not a specific one. Let's have the Olympics. Let's adapt to a changing planet. The past is behind us, not in front of us. 

If it was up to me, I would solve two problems on this planet: Racism and climate change. You got my vote just for going in that direction, but I am also a huge fan of Lily Tomlin's wonderous insight, when she said, "No matter how cynical you are, it's never enough." 

It took billions of years for birds to evolve. In my lifetime,the bird population on Planet Earth has dropped by 70 percent.  Coral reefs are down 50 percent. 

One of my sons and I went to Australia in 2019. We flew there in one of those pernicious airplanes you dislike so much. We took a gas powered boat along with a few dozen other tourists to the Great Barrier Reef, where I snorkeled and my son scuba dived. I have swum in tropical waters since the 1950s. What I saw in Australia's waters was nothing but  an abomination, a mass murder, an ecosystem's funeral.  The ocean is crying itself to death.

You know what I did, when my son climbed back in the boat and told me he had just seen the most beautiful place on earth? That's right:: I kept my mouth shut. In my unadulterated, unfettered dominion of grief, I will never tell him what I saw and what he saw were complete opposites. What, I ask you, should I tell him? He's smarter than I am and he sees more than I do.

[luce-neidert]

Thank you for sharing so much personal info with me, Anthony.

I don't have much illusion about the end of the Olympic games as we know them, but I do believe it's useful to encourage people to think about what it does to our beloved planet.

Yes, I try to be "virtuous" and live as ecologically as possible. Yes, I have travelled by plane many times and would love to travel by plane again, but I'm not allowing myself to do so. I don't have much illusion about whether the people of this planet will be smart enough to avoid the great catastrophy that is bound to happen if nothing drastic is done. But I try to remain optimistic - knowing that I'm not that young and won't have to live through the worst of it does help...

[bf97c28c]

Actually the organisers have said that this will be the most technologically advanced and "green" Olympics ever.
The Olympic Village doesn't have air conditioning, but instead has a geothermal cooling system that pumps cold water from underground. 

[luce-neidert]

I heard on the news that many countries had decided to add AC for their darling athletes not to suffer from the heat in their bedrooms, anyway. The organisers may have had the ambition of greener Olympic Games, but not the athletes.

What is sad is that most of the athletes are young. They are a generation that is going to really suffer from climate change. They should fight for their right to live on a livable planet.

[bf97c28c]

Well, a start has been made on trying to reduce pollution. Hopefully, the results will get better each time. And the first quality of the event will be the green result.

[luce-neidert]

All right. Heat wave and storm yesterday (it felt like a tornado was coming for a few minutes, where I live). Today another huge storm, a TGV (fast train) ran into a tree that had fallen on the track.

We humans want to pretend there is no climate change around and that we can go on as if there was no reason to worry. Nature is showing us there is reason to worry.

Sorry, but nature is telling us its time to stop organising things like the Olympics.

[841a6e71]

Yeah, I'm a big fan of the Olympics! I really enjoy watching swimming and gymnastics. The precision and athleticism in those sports are just amazing to see.

[bf97c28c]

Totally agree. The time spent with the Olympics is really nice. Are you going to be present in any arenas?

[841a6e71]

Definitely! The Olympics are amazing. I'll be catching a few events live. Are you planning to attend any?

[bf97c28c]

You are a lucky person. As for me, not at this time. But you can share your expression about your visits. It's always more interesting to know opinions about events not only from the News.😃

[841a6e71]

Oh, noo why? I'd definitely share my experience. 🙂

[bf97c28c]

Thank you very much. It's so nice of you. Post peactures from the event's if you please 🙂

[bf97c28c]

I'm also waiting for the opening of the Olympic games. The show often is amazing.

[ravi_iitian]

Looking forward to the Olympics.

[ravi_iitian]

"The Paris Olympics will officially kick off with two men's soccer matches at 9 a.m. ET on July 24. Argentina will square off against Morocco at Geoffroy-Guichard Stadium in Saint-Etienne, while Spain will face Uzbekistan at the Parc des Princes in Paris.

"Rugby, handball, archery and shooting action will also begin before the Opening Ceremony."

https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/paris-2024-summer-olympics/when-do-2024-olympics-start-paris/3919424...