When it comes to pre-Olympics grumbling, Parisians are gold medallists, but wait until the Games themselves start on one of the world’s great sporting stages.
You will recall back then at the dawn of the millennium: if Historical Pre-Games-Grumbling had been an Olympic sport, then Sydney itself would have been pushing for the world record.
Not only that, your humble correspondent might have been regarded as the Michael Jordan of the discipline, complete with dark glasses, cigar and effortless elan as I fired off shot after shot with nothing but net derision! I remember complaining about most things: from the insanity of the original bid, to the cost, to the format, to the very idea – and on this one I actually was right – that the Queen of England should preside.
I compose these words in the back of a cab taking me from the Elysee Palace to Austerlitz Station, and there is good news, and bad news. The good news, purely from my own point of view, is that most of the streets we can get on are relatively free of people and traffic. Why, just a few days before the curtain lifts?Because so many Parisians have left town, and not just because of their usual summer vacations.
Back at the 1996 Olympic Games, Andrew Denton rightly said that “Atlanta is where old freeways go to die”. I know it and you know it, Paris is up the other end of the beauty spectrum from that – the absoluteend. And the French Olympic organisers, have decided to integrate the sport with that fabulous canvas as much as possible.
We of Sydney proved that, in the modern age, there was something about the Olympics that still had absolute magic that made it allI don’t know if Paris can pull it off. But their starting point: a city with such a history, such magnificence, such a tradition of putting on global fare that sheer takes the breath away means that if they can’t do it, it can no longer be done.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Why Matilda Michelle Heyman is Australia’s best comeback story in ParisAfter being forced into international retirement in 2019, the veteran striker wants to make the most of her Paris campaign.
Read more »
Why Matilda Michelle Heyman is Australia’s best comeback story in ParisAfter being forced into international retirement in 2019, the veteran striker wants to make the most of her Paris campaign.
Read more »
Why Matilda Michelle Heyman is Australia’s best comeback story in ParisAfter being forced into international retirement in 2019, the veteran striker wants to make the most of her Paris campaign.
Read more »
Why Billy must shake up QLD and consider these changes after MCG mauling — Blog with HoopsOrigin: Maroons coach Billy Slater was on edge after a journalist asked him a follow-up to his 'we're still Queenslanders' claim after game II.
Read more »
Why Buzz believes Broncos’ ‘disaster’ stems from Origin as schedule shake-up loomsNRL: The NRL 360 panel discuss if the quality of the performances lowers in club football when stars are removed for Origin.
Read more »
Why Australia's ban on engineered stone from 1 July comes 'too late' for former workersAustralia is set to become the first country to ban engineered stone products. It's cold comfort to former industry workers with research indicating that 100,000 individuals are currently at risk of developing silicosis.
Read more »