Sorry Seoul, I was out of town this Summer. Equally glad to miss your crushing, record heatwave, and thrilled to enjoy Paris 2024 and the most spectacular olympics and paralympics.
Rooting for both nations, this Parisian Seoulite was lucky enough to witness 3 gold medals for Korea:- Archery at Invalides (NB: silver for France):
Little suspense there: as expected, KIM Woo-jin, KIM Je-deok and LEE Woo-seok destroyed all competition, kindly tipping France with one set in a final played under a merciless sun in a postcard setting (the Invalides at 9 o'clock, the Eiffel Tower at 12, the Pont Alexandre III and the Grand Palais at 3).
- Fencing at Grand Palais (NB: bronze for France):
In that very Grand Palais, arguably one of the most spectacular venues of the Games, OH Sanguk, PARK Sangwon, GU Bongil, and DO Gyeongdong had a tougher time defeating Hungary. But nothing could stop the men's sabre squad from claiming gold for the third time in a row, not even that eruption of the stands when Leon Marchand won his race in the middle of the final.
- Badminton at Porte de la Chapelle Arena (NB: no frogs in sight except in the stands):
Another expected triumph for Korea; this time for AN Se-young who let HE Bing Jiao remain hopeful for two thirds of the first set before switching to cruise mode all the way to victory.
Kudos to Paris, France, and Tony ESTANGUET for pulling out a fantastic event and particularly the most successful paralympics ever. FOMO brought Parisians who skipped the Olympics back for that 'return match', and over 95% of all seats were not only sold but also fully animated, even when audiences weren't allowed to make any noise (a silent 'ola' during blind football games? simply brilliant).
After the 2002 World Cup in Korea, I didn't think I
could experience another moment of national communion around such a major
sport event, particularly in a city where protesting is the national
pastime. I'm happy I was wrong.
Needless to say, in both cases, the magic eventually rubs off, and national unity quickly collapses; but for all their defaults, I'll keep rooting for my two favorite countries. With this gift tee that pretty much wrapped up a smoking hot Summer:
Seoul Village 2024
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