Sideline Story

What makes Paris Olympics special?

The Olympic Summer Games is returning to Paris after 100 years. What has made Paris 2024 different from previous editions of the Olympics? Also in this episode, we give our expectations of Chinese athletes' performances in France and our personal anticipations of the highlighting action of the Games. We touch on how the new trendy sports among Generation Z have changed the Olympic dynamic as well.

Duration:: 25m
Broadcast on:: 26 Jul 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

(upbeat music) - Hello and thank you for joining us on "Sideline's Story", your destination for sports, news, analysis and discussions. I'm Brandon Yates and today we'll be having the first discussion focusing on our ongoing coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympics. We'll take a look at exciting elements to look out for, China's stand-up athletes and teams, international athletes and teams, as well as the new sports on display. I'll be chatting about these topics with my two fantastic co-hosts, Yangguang and Fuyu and team, the Olympics are finally here. I feel like we've been talking about them for months now, but the time has finally arrived. Of course, Paris is hosting the 2024 Summer Olympics. Yangguang going into the Paris Olympics. What do you think is going to make this particular edition special and potentially different to past editions? - I think in terms of what makes this Paris Olympic special is how they hold the Olympics, because traditionally the Olympic action is held in traditional sporting venues. But this year, they moved some of the Olympic action to some facilities temporarily set up close to the iconic buildings in Paris. - So the backdrop for some of these events that we're going to watch are probably going to be spectacular because we're going to see some, and Paris is full of historic landmarks and monuments and locations. So I think we're going to see a lot of spectacular backdrops while we're also seeing spectacular action on display. - Yeah, like an Eiffel Tower on the other side, see some Olympic competitions taking place around those world-famous structures. I think it's very smart of the French organizers. Instead of building brand new venues, they move the Olympic competitions to those iconic spots. And I think it also brings the Olympics closer to people. That's the purpose of the IOC. - So making it more accessible to the people? - Yeah, people in Paris, even the tourists, so they can truly feel they are in the Olympics because it's part of the city now. That's basically what makes the Paris Olympic so special to me. - From your side, Fuyu, we've already mentioned that Paris itself is just an iconic city, and I think there are so many landmarks around Paris that are globally recognizable. But what other elements can we look out for as the games progress that will make this particular edition of the games unique or special or memorable going into the future? - Personally, I think some of Paris's measures at sustainability will make it very special. Low carbon became a thing at Beijing 2022. And at the Olympics, usually when one Olympics does something well or is successful in something, usually the following Olympics do the same. They're trying to become the greenest Olympic. Maybe they don't go far as far as carbon neutral, but at least there are a lot of measures to cut carbon emissions from the Olympic village. Like there are solar panels covered on the roofs of the Olympic village buildings and locally sourced food, cutting plastic, single use plastic. - And dropping the air con. (laughing) - And parts of the Eiffel Tower being included in some of the medals, right? - The medals, yeah, yeah. - I think all of the medals. - Okay, yeah. - Including medals for the Paralympics as well. - Very cool, very cool. So I guess something that Paris can aim for is to be the most sustainable and eco-friendly summer games ever. That's probably more of an achievable goal for them. - Yeah, and a lot of locals are already practicing sustainable lifestyles. I know there are a lot of people who ride bicycles in Paris. - Just like Beijing. (laughing) - Yeah, like that's some goals. There are nine million bicycles in Beijing. - Exactly. - I'm not sure how many there are in Paris. - Probably more, well there's probably more in Beijing now. I think there's more bicycles than people. It's amazing. - Yeah, they're shared bicycles. We call them the little yellow bikes. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. They're like bicycle taxis. (laughing) - Yeah, yeah. Back to Paris, there are a lot of people who ride bicycles. And because of the Olympics, the city has extended the bike lanes and also expanded the transportation network. So that helps people get easier access to public transport and also makes their commute easier. - It's another example of the accessibility element that Yang Guang touched on as well, where people that aren't necessarily purchasing tickets or taking part in the games, they will still feel like they're a part of it because they'll have easier access around some of these venues, where some of these events are taking place. And I think looking at the Olympics itself, and I guess this won't necessarily be unique to Paris, but I think something that I always personally look forward to when it comes to the Olympics is, of course we want to see athletes breaking records and winning gold medals and seeing all of those top level athletes and teams competing at the highest level, but I also think something that makes the Olympics really special is those human interest stories. A lot of those moments away from the, well not away from the competition, but away from the gold medals and the breaking of records. But just some of those moments that leave very memorable images and moments in our minds for some time to come, because we've seen that in past events, right? - Yeah, some of those moments remind us that it's less about which country you're from, where I'm from, it reminds us that we're all human. - Yes, exactly. And I think that's also something very special about the Olympics is that, yes, we all come from different countries and we have different cultures and different languages and different ideas about how the world operates, et cetera, et cetera. But something that is really special about the Olympics is that all of those different people and cultures come together for one event. And when we spend time together in those moments, like you mentioned for you, we do realize that we all are human and we basically have the same needs and wants and hopes for our lives and for our futures. And I think that's something that I hope we will continue to see at Paris 2024. That's always a really special element to enjoy. Team China, of course, there's a lot of expectations on a lot of teams and a lot of athletes. I think there's in terms of names that I can think of, there's actually too many to mention in terms of who are medal prospects and there's also just multiple teams that are medal prospects and record-breaking prospects. I'm personally expecting to see a really strong performance from Team China. I think that this is going to be a very, very big year for them. But Yang Guang, if you had to pick out, you know, certain teams and individuals and just your overall expectations for Team China, what do you think we'll see? - There are so many. - Yeah, it really is a strong line up this year. - Yeah, but my focus, first of all, would be in the swimming pool. I will follow the Chinese swimmer's action. I mean, they've grown so fast over the years. Jiang Yufei, Panjanglu, Chinhayang, Wang Shun, these are all world-class athletes. - And they became household names very quickly too. - Yeah, indeed. And China ranked fourth in the swimming medal tally at the Tokyo 2020. They might be able to better that mark this year in Paris and swimming is so entertaining to watch. - Yeah, because it's a highly competitive sport, but it's also one of those sports where the action is very close. I think a lot of the times when we've seen medal events taking place, I mean, visually, you can't really see who wins because it's normally that close. So you have to wait until the stuff will go. Yeah, yeah, you have to wait and see what the, well, you have to, yeah, watch the replay, but you also have to wait and see the actual times come out where it's in a lot of other events. It's quite easy to determine who the win is, but in swimming, the action is normally so high-paced, entertaining and close. - Yeah, it makes an atmosphere so intense and the final stage sprained by the swimmers. And with World Record line in front of all the swimmers, it's so interesting. - I love seeing it, yeah. - And I think what's also been great about swimming, you know, with China's ascension, I think there's also been multiple nations that have gotten stronger in the swimming pool. So I think previously we saw dominance from countries like the USA and Australia and maybe one or two others, which I think we will still see this year. I think we'll still see strong performances from some of those traditional swimming powerhouses, but I also think there's going to be a lot of surprises. I mean, China's potential success, I don't think we'll be a surprise. I mean, we're expecting them to do incredibly well, but I think there's also going to be some countries that people didn't even expect to perform well in swimming to all of a sudden make a name for themselves, which I think we have seen in past games. And I think we could potentially see that this year. For you, Yang Guang's already touched on swimming, but as we've already mentioned, there are so many sports where China is expected to do incredibly well, which sports and athletes will you be keeping your eye on? - I also love some aquatic action, but I'm focusing on our diving team. Specifically, I'm looking out for Chen Hoon-chan, who I think the only person she's got to beat is herself. At Tokyo 2020, she won a gold medal at the age of 14 and became China's youngest gold medalist at the Olympics. I believe she won three full scores out of her five attempts. At Tokyo 2020, and even now she's only 17. So I'll be watching out to see if she can beat her, beat a younger version of herself. - Yeah, yeah. - And also away from the pool, there's on the track, there's this Chinese hurtler, Wian Yi. I'm sure a lot of other people are looking out for her because both of good and bad reasons, I guess. - She's an internet sensation. - Yes, yes, why is she famous on the internet? - There are a lot of criticism, but also a lot of support for her because of the things that she does on the track, including her tattoos, her makeup, her outfit, and her-- - But that's like normal with track and field wise. We normally see that with a lot of sprinters, where, I mean, we've seen it in the 100 and 200 meters, for example, we've seen some crazy hairstyles, we've seen like these incredibly long nails and lots of jewelry. - That's not from Chinese hands. - Yes, true, true. So I guess this is something new for Chinese viewers. - Yeah, I kind of understand where the criticism or doubts are coming from, but I really like her confidence. And regardless how she will perform at the Olympics, I think herself is just very entertaining to watch. Both in terms of her person and her soundtrack performance. - I always love watching those athletes that kind of polarize people, regardless of their performance. Obviously, we like to see athletes from our own country performing well. But whenever you see those athletes that are a little bit controversial, and some people love them, some people hate them. I love watching athletes like that. Like someone that pops into my mind was Mario Balotelli. I don't know if you're in the room with City, where he was also someone that really people either loved him or hated him. I'm a United supporter, but I personally loved Balotelli. 'Cause you never knew what he was gonna do or what he was gonna say or what kind of performance he was gonna deliver or what kind of goal celebration he was gonna do. So he was always someone that you watched and you weren't really sure what to expect from him. And it sounds like we might see something similar over here. Although we might not necessarily see strange behavior, but we might have a very polarized audience in terms of how people feel about them. - There are no neutral fans. - Yeah. - And I think that's always, I love that about sports. I love it when there's a team or an athletes where people are not neutral about them. They either love them or hate them. I think that's always great to see. - And that reminds me of the youngest athlete of the Chinese delegation, Jen Hao Hao. She's just 11 years old and she's in this skateboard. - That is madness to be an Olympian at 11. Can you imagine, like mentally, how does that, I guess one of the benefits of that is that she probably doesn't even realize how big the stage is, she's on. She's like, I'm just skating, I'm just doing my thing. And probably doesn't feel that much pressure. But I mean, if you think about it, to be an Olympian at that age, like on paper seems like madness. - Yeah, this 11-year-old girl, she might, yeah. - It's crazy, it's talking about it. - You think that we're even speaking about this? - Yeah, I mean, it's equally remarkable as it is crazy. I mean, the time that she's able to compete at that level at her age is remarkable. - Yeah, she might not be the true title contender, but I really look forward to seeing the Chinese girl showcasing her attitude towards the world because I've watched some videos about her. And she's a very interesting figure. She's a super-chilled, every athlete vise for the gold medal, especially at the Olympics. So they're a dream, but I saw something extra from this Chinese young girl. She fell in love with skateboarding at the age of seven because she really loved how it fell to skateboard. She said it's like flying to the sky. And she has really-- - For me, it's like flying to the ground when you first dip onto a skateboard. The first thing that happens is that my right foot gets onto the ground or I fall over completely. So I think it's amazing that she feels like she's flying to the sky, but there's a lot of people that try skating like me that end up face-first on the floor. - That's what her grandfather said. He said that it's like jumping off a building with a skateboard. - Yeah, that's how it feels for me too. - But she really likes how that felt. And I mean, just as an 11-year-old girl, she is quite a character herself. I think she can, to some extent, represent some Chinese girls' attitude towards not only sports but life. Of course, success is what they pursue her, but they can also have an enjoyable right, have fun, and fully showcase in their personality. - And that's something we also love to see at the Olympics is individuals from our home country that we can relate to. And I think that's equally inspiring as someone that wins a gold medal, for example. So I get what you're saying. I think she's a great representative for young girls in China that can see her on the global stage and say, "Oh, she's just like me, she thinks like me, "she talks like me, she acts like me." So I can go out there and do anything and achieve anything because someone that is just like me or looks like me or acts like me has done something incredible. So I think that's equally motivating for young people as winning a gold medal, for example. - Because previously, there had been a kind of stereotype, at least from me, about Chinese athletes. They work very hard, it seems like. - Yeah, don't show much emotional personality, yeah, yeah. - Training and competing seem to be the only thing in their life. They don't do much else. But I think athletes like Jin Hao Hao and Wian Yi here, it's like a trend in Chinese athletes. They really want to show the others. - New generation. - Yeah, and that there's lives outside the sport. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I think that's very important to show the public, is that yes, you can be this world-class dedicated athletes or just someone that is dedicated to some sort of craft, but you can also still have your own personality, your own thoughts, and live a very full life away from the sport, and I think that's a very good image to show. So I hear what you're saying, that is very important. I think there's also a couple of other sports from China that I'll be looking out for, the traditional sports. I mean, badminton, I'm expecting to see some dominance table tennis, weightlifting as well, I think will also be very dominant from Team China. So I think there's a lot for Chinese fans to look forward to as the Paris 2024 Olympics progresses. On the international front, any teams or athletes to look out for, young one? - For me, Team USA in men's basketball. - Of course. - The dream team, because he's definitely a bronze player together for the first time. - I'm really looking forward to that. - Kevin Durant, Jason Tatum and so many other stars. - I mean, the fact that the guy from the Boston Celtics, not Jason Tatum, his partner, - Jalen Brown? - Jalen Brown didn't even make the team. He was the MVP in the finals. I mean, that just shows you how strong the team is. - Yeah, and it looks even better than the NBA All-Stars. But I had off the Olympics, there were some games where the USA didn't really dominate. Actually, they played against Serbia, South Sudan and Germany. They didn't make them one-sided games. - I think the South Sudan game, LeBron, had to win it in like the last minute or something. - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. - They had to come back from behind to be South Sudan. That's a very surprising game. - Very, very. - Yeah. - To be fair, South Sudan has a very good basketball team. - Yeah, but I mean, the USA is like, I mean, it's like the USA basketball. It just goes hand-in-hand. The fact that they are even coming close to some other teams now just seems like something that we would never see. But I guess it is good for the game as well to see other nations competing with, you know, the seemingly unbeatable USA team. And they're not looking so unbeatable anymore. - So they kind of disappointed fans ahead of the Olympics, but so I'm very curious how they play when the game is on. - I think there might be a little bit of trickery there from the USA team. I think they might be holding some things back. I think maybe obvious performances as the games progress. So you probably find in these warm-up games they were just kind of taking it easy. But I think once the games start, I think we're going to see some. - When things get serious. - Yeah, we're going to see some fireworks on that course. And I mean, for me, I'm looking forward to the sports that I love to actually play. So I mean, rugby, sevans, water polo. I like to, a basketball, of course. I liked shot put at high school, so I'll be watching that as well. And then for South Africa, I'll be watching a carnees and beanie in the sprints. Of course, the South African sevens, rugby team. So those will probably be the sports that I'll be looking out for. But there's no like stand out superstar athletes that I'll necessarily be looking out for. I'm looking to see who the new stand out will be, who the new stars will be. That's kind of my approach to the games. What's your approach for you? - Again, I like Aquatic sports because summer is. - So you'll have your eyes on the pool the whole time. - Yeah. - And not only the pool, surfing competitions are out in Tahiti, which I think is a very innovative idea. - Quite far from France though. - Yes, it's a little of it. You can't exactly walk from Paris to Tahiti. - No. - I believe it's nearly 16,000 kilometers away. - That's a long D.D. ride. It's a very long D.D. ride. - Because of its natural resources, like big waves and perfect wind conditions. - And a surfing culture, there's a huge surfing culture there. - And a very scenic landscape. I think they all make Tahiti an ideal place to host the surfing competitions. And also, it only became an Olympic sport at Tokyo 2020. And this year, 15 year old Chinese server, Yang Sichiz, representing China in this sport for the first time. So that's something exciting to watch. And even in Paris, the river saying it's open to swimmers again, the marathons swimming and the water leg of triathlon will be held in the river. - And we saw the mayor dive in to prove that it's clean enough. - Yeah, to prove that it's clean to swim in for the first time in a hundred years. - Amazing. - When Paris first hosted the Olympics in 1900, they held the competitions inside the river. So modern day athletes will have the opportunity to do that again. - I believe that will be a very unique experience for them. - Yeah, that's gonna be an amazing thing to watch. Speaking of marathon, I know Paris is open to normal runners this year. - Oh, that's only the professional athletes. - Oh, so just open to members of the party. - Chinese delivery man who's taking part. - Yeah, that's very, very cool. I think, yeah, so I guess that will also be a very interesting element to see at the Paris Olympics. For you already touched on surfing, but looking at some of these new sports, Yang Guang, what impact do you think that they will have on the games going forward? And will it change maybe an element of young people becoming more interested in Olympic sports, maybe? - Yeah, of course, I think the new sports like this year and breakdown scene will get people together and people closer to the Olympics, especially Gen Z's. - Yeah, of course. - I think these sports, breakdown scene especially, is different from those super serious Olympic sports, like, in my mind, shooting. - Yeah, right. - You don't see shooting athletes celebrate wildly, like crazy after winning the Olympic gold medal. - Yeah. - Because I think that comes from the nature of these sports, which focuses on calmness, on restraining yourself and-- - Dropping the heart rate, focusing, yeah. - Yeah, it requires like the ultimate chill. - Yeah. - You can't be stressed at all when you're shooting. - Yeah, it focuses more on mental fortitudes than scales. But don't get me around, it's also beauty of sports. But the new sports like breakdown scene surfing represent another beauty. - Yes. - In sports, more expressive. - Yeah, express yourself, freestyle and more chilled. So I think by bringing these new sports together, I think the Olympics is more diverse and inclusive. And it creates a very good dynamics that embraces more participation and involvement among different ages, different cultures, different ethnic. So yeah, I think the new sports make the Olympics cooler. - For sure, and I think that's going to be very important for the Olympics going forward. The more inclusive they can be, the more diverse they can be, the more generations they can represent, the more globally inclusive that they can be. I think that's something very important for an event like this because it is a global competition and we need to see representation, like you said, across all generations, races, nations. It's very, very important. I think these new sports will assist with that goal. Will you, would you agree with some of these sentiments? - Yes, I think there's only good things coming out of evolving more young people. If you look at these new sports, skateboarding, sport climbing, break dancing, all of the athletes are largely young people. And I think that's important because as IOC president Thomas Bach said, we have to engage with this digitally native generation in order to stay relevant to them. Well, he said that at the IOC session for the first Olympic esports in Saudi Arabia next year. - And that's a huge example of how they're trying to appeal to the youth and they're looking into the future. - Yes, and those remarks are for the esports, but I think they also apply here to any young athlete. And I think it's also important to give the young generation an opportunity to see what it's like to pursue higher, faster, stronger, and together sport. And also like the young skateboarder that Young Won just mentioned, John Howe Howe, she's the youngest Chinese athlete at the Summer Olympics ever. And I think she, to some extent, speaks for her generation. And at the age of only 11, she's standing on such a big stage. - No pressure. - Yeah, and also something very interesting, I think is that according to herself, she is a very outroverted and outgoing person. She loves to make new friends. So she will be doing a lot of that in Paris, of course. And also, she barely graduated elementary school. And imagine when her new semester starts, when she makes new friends in her junior high school. - Gonna be the coolest kid on the block. - Yeah, and when people ask her about her summer vacation, and she'll just say, oh, I went to Paris and competed in the Olympics. - Yeah, and I think that's gonna be something very special at Paris, as we're gonna see the impact of these new sports, young athletes, and hopefully that's something we're going to see going into the future as the Olympics evolves and moves forward into the future. But that's all we have time for on this week's episode of Sideline Story. Thank you so much for joining us. And of course, we will be back next week with our latest topic and we'll see you then. (upbeat music) (upbeat music)