NEW YORK — In 100 days, Paris will kick off the 2024 Summer Olympic Games with the opening ceremony. As the host city enters the final stretch of preparations, much has yet to be finalized.
The plan for an ambitious opening ceremony on July 26 — in which athletes float down the iconic Seine River bisecting the city — is set to be the first held outside a stadium, although it could move locations for security reasons. And only a small fraction of athletes have found out whether they are headed to Paris.
Buzz around the Games grew louder in New York this week, where U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee officials and athlete hopefuls gathered to talk about how they’re preparing during the countdown.
Here are some other takeaways from the Team USA media summit.
Athletes prepare for a moment that may never come
Hopefuls spend years training but most won’t know until after qualifying events — for some, in the final few weeks before Paris — whether they’ve secured their spot on the Olympic team. Andrew Capobianco, a diver who competed at the Tokyo Games in 2021 is trying not to focus on the potential heartbreak.
“I probably would have been more overwhelmed if it was maybe before my first one,” he said. “But I guess, for me, it’s just — stick with the plan and train hard every day.”
For some veterans, unexpected hurdles since past appearances have forced a reset of regimens and time-intensive training. A year after Tokyo gold medalist gymnast Sunisa “Suni” Lee learned she had two types of kidney diseases, she says she is now “in remission.”
“I’m feeling really good,” she said. “We have it under control now and like, now I know what to do and right medicine to take in order to keep going.”
To get her health sorted out, she took a break from her sport, which meant time spent regaining the strength she had lost. “I couldn’t do any exercising and I couldn’t even get out of bed most days,” she said.
She and Simone Biles, Jordan Chiles and Jade Carey are among those hoping to clinch a spot in Paris.
Athletes harped on their need for consistency in their workouts, diets and sleep in the run-up to the Games. But that’s easier said than done when most athletes don’t make a living in their sport. Beyond the high-level competitions, many athletes hold day jobs and side gigs.
But this year, some athletes will see a return on their investment with a new opportunity to cash in. Each track and field gold medalist will be awarded $50,000 by the sport’s governing body World Athletics — the first time an international federation has offered prize money to Olympic medalists.
An emphasis on security
Athletes who say pandemic restrictions dampened their experiences in Tokyo and Beijing are looking forward to having back family, friends and fanfare.
This year, officials said they’re imposing no COVID restrictions or vaccination requirements for American athletes, beyond the normal health protocols for things like flu.
Officials say security is top of mind this year. Paris has been the target of terror attacks in the past. Heightening safety fears, these Games will happen against the backdrop of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as well as Israel at war in Gaza fighting Hamas.
USOPC Chief of Security Nicole Deal says there are no current specific threats against American athletes, but that security will be comprehensive and tight. Athletes, who will be competing in events across France, will get security briefings and have access to apps with security alerts, she added.
A big push for gender equality
The International Olympic Committee has made an effort to make the Games more inclusive. As of Monday, only about 15% of the Team USA roster has been named, USOPC officials said. But already the IOC has touted unprecedented achievements in gender equality for the 2024 games. Paris will see an even split of male and female participants, officials said.
Meanwhile, yet another stir over athlete uniforms has renewed charges of prevailing double standards. Nike’s unveiling of this year’s U.S. women’s track and field uniforms reignited criticism over designs that sexualize female athletes. Fans and athletes panned the high-cut bodysuit.
Gold medalist pole vaulter Katie Moon expressed concern for the revealing silhouette but clarified that the design is just one of the uniform options available to women. During the Tokyo Games, German gymnasts traded their bikini-cut leotards in favor of long-legged unitards, in a statement about women athletes choosing what they’re comfortable in.
Criticizing an outfit design that other athletes may prefer is not the answer, Moon said in a social media post. “The point is we DO have the choice of what to wear, and whether we feel the best in a potato sack or a bathing suit during competitions, we should support the autonomy.”
Sarah Hirshland, CEO of the USOPC, addressed the issue on Monday, saying she supports athletes having attire options.
“We want to make sure athletes have choices that they’re comfortable in,” she told reporters.
In an institution known for its curveballs as much as tradition, one thing is certain. Asked about pregame superstitions on a panel of female athletes, soccer player Emily Sonnett said banana pancakes are her “must-have.”
“If you don’t have bananas that day, what are you gonna do?” asked her teammate Crystal Dunn.
“But we always have bananas,” Sonnett retorted.
Transcript:
JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
The opening ceremony of the Paris Summer Olympics is just 100 days away, and NPR’s Olympic team has been here in Manhattan this week, meeting and talking with dozens of American athletes who hope to compete in France. I am here at that media summit, and so is NPR’s Brian Mann. We will both be in Paris for all of the action. Hey, Brian.
BRIAN MANN, BYLINE: Hey, Juana.
SUMMERS: So Brian, we’ve been in New York together for a few days now at this event, which is organized by the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee. And I should just say, this will be my first time covering the Olympics, but you’re an old hand at this. So I think I need you to help guide me through this. What is sticking out to you this week?
MANN: Well, first, it’s just exciting and amazing to be around these driven competitors – joy to be back around this energy and passion. One thing you’re reminded of when you meet them, again, is that these are complex people with full lives, Juana. I met a software engineer, a data analyst, one guy who washes tractor-trailers. That’s their day jobs. Then they manage to train and compete, you know, as runners and gymnasts and swimmers at this unbelievably high level.
I want to talk about one woman I met, Morelle McCane from Cleveland. She’s an incredibly fierce boxer. She started in the sport at a relatively late age, 17, but now she’s a medal contender. McCane talked about her technique and how she’s sometimes compared to male fighters.
MORELLE MCCANE: I just feel like that’s so insulting when people be like, oh, you don’t fight like a girl. No, fighting like a girl is not an insult. It’s a statement of empowerment. And that’s how I carry it. Like, don’t know – I’m just a really great female fighter.
MANN: And McCane’s going to be really fun, Juana, to watch in Paris.
SUMMERS: Yeah. I’m looking forward to that. And I have to say, Brian, one of the athletes that I got to spend some time with is Sunny Choi. She is from here in New York, And she will be a part of the first ever U.S. Olympic breaking team. Now, if you’re not familiar with breaking, you may know it as breakdancing. But she told reporters that that is a tell that you don’t really know the sport if you call it that. She talked to us about what it’s like for her sport, which is one that has its roots decidedly here in the United States, to travel to Paris.
SUNNY CHOI: Even when they initially announced breaking was going to be an Olympic sport, I was like, no way, you know? That’s not possible ’cause it’s born from the streets and it – so many of the Olympic sports feel very kind of elegant. And breaking has this, like, grit and rawness that you don’t get in so many of them.
MANN: Yeah. And Choi is definitely another medal contender. With breaking or breakdancing added to the Summer Olympics, there are a lot of events – 329 medal events – so it’s going to be a massive competition.
SUMMERS: So we just heard from Choi and McCane, and they have both qualified for Paris. But one thing we learned here is that most of Team USA has not actually been decided. Many athletes still need to qualify to head to Paris, so that means there’s just so much excitement in these final 100 days ahead of the games, and our team’s going to be really busy.
MANN: Yeah, it’s really a lot of pressure. These athletes spend years training, and most won’t know until the final weeks before Paris if they’ve even won a spot on the Olympic team. I spoke about that tension and the possible heartbreak with Andrew Capobianco. He’s an Olympic diver who competed at the Tokyo Games three years ago. He says the anxiety right now is really tough.
ANDREW CAPOBIANCO: It definitely is. I would say, I think I probably would have been a little bit more overwhelmed if it was maybe before my first one. But for me, I guess it’s just kind of trying to stick with the plan and train hard every day and not really, like, change the plan.
MANN: So while we’re all waiting for the Summer Games to begin in July, these athletes – they’re still competing. They’re still hoping to peak at just the right time.
SUMMERS: I mean, just thinking back to watching the Tokyo and the Beijing Games, there were these incredibly tight restrictions due to the COVID pandemic, and a lot of athletes here have said that was something that really dampened the experience for them. And here in New York, officials have said that the Paris Games – they’re going to be more open. What have you been hearing about that?
MANN: Yeah, this part is going to be really different in a really good way. These athletes competed in Tokyo under those tight restrictions. I covered the Winter Olympics in Beijing, where the lockdowns because of the pandemic were intense and, honestly, pretty miserable. COVID took so much of the fun out of the games, with really small crowds. Now, Juana, U.S. Olympic officials are telling us they’re imposing no COVID restrictions or even vaccination requirements on American athletes – nothing beyond normal health protocols they use for things like the flu. So this change alone – it’s going to make Paris feel really different.
SUMMERS: Right. And Brian, I think we have to note here that Paris is a city that has been the target of terror attacks in the past. And these games are happening against the backdrop of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as well as Israel at war in Gaza, fighting Hamas. What have you heard from U.S. Olympic officials about security and safety of athletes, their families and those like us who are going to these games?
MANN: Yeah, I had a chance to ask Nicole Deal about this. She’s the U.S. Olympic Committee’s chief of security. Deal says, right now, there are no specific threats against U.S. athletes going to Paris. But she says security is going to be incredibly tight. She described working with French officials in Paris and with U.S. State Department and intelligence agencies.
NICOLE DEAL: We will have agents at venues supporting Team USA athletes or embedded with the team supporting USA athletes. I’ve been working with DS years, actually, just on the Paris Games.
MANN: But, clearly, this is going to be a challenging Olympic Games to police. It’s wide open, spread out across the city, and also events in other parts of France. One thing that’s interesting – Deal says U.S. athletes are going to get briefings on security. They’ll also have apps on their phones that’ll alert them if there are any problems. The athletes we talked to say they’re aware of those questions about security, but they do feel safe. They say their families are excited to be making this trip.
SUMMERS: Brian Mann, thank you.
MANN: Thank you, Juana. This is going to be fun.
SUMMERS: It will. That’s NPR’s Brian Mann. We’ll both be a part of NPR’s Olympic team, which is traveling to Paris for the Summer Olympic Games. The opening ceremony is on July 26.
