To kick start my 40th celebrations I started large.
It is not unusual for August birthdays to be celebrated on holiday, and this year was no different. But as my birthday fell fortuitously during the first week of the Paris Olympics, it seemed too good an event to miss. Especially as 12 years (and two game cycles) previously, I volunteered at London 2012.
Booking early through the pre-release ticket system in May and June ‘23 proved expensive but provided some excellent seats. Especially for the first session. This ticket system was based on a prize draw, which unfortunately limited the choice of Paris-based sports available I could choose from (in the first round exclusively to volleyball!). But ultimately, that didn’t matter.
For me, one of the delights of the Olympics is the chance to see/ discover new sports – of great variety. Although volleyball and archery are sports I have a passing awareness of (having tried VB in school, and sporadically picked up a bow and arrow at medieval demonstration days), I haven’t spent any time watching them. Especially at high level. Table Tennis is a game we all enjoy as a family, though we play (when given the chance) rather than watch. So, this was a fabulous opportunity.
Volleyball at 1pm, in the South Paris Arena 1, was a women’s preliminary round between Brazil and Kenya (pool B). Our seats were three from the front at end of the court! Though having seen some of the practice shots with the ball veering into the crowd, we started to wonder if this was a good thing – until we realised that the bounce generally carried the ball over the top of us to the rows behind. As it happened, during the game itself, such bounces generally went to the seats at the side of the courts rather than to us at the back.
As we waited amidst the crowd in the enormous ‘metal box’ of a venue, before taking our seats – and enjoying an early sample watching the Kenyan team warm up – we saw a fantastic number of Brazilian flags. Not just the fabric variety. People were bedecked with face paint, had tassels and sparkles in their hair, and any variety of colourful clothing. It was not, therefore, unexpected that the atmosphere in the arena was fizzing – and loud. Cheering for both teams.
I thoroughly enjoyed my first experience of live Volleyball. Though there may have been an almost stereotypical level of audience participation (marking aces, blocked shots and thrilling exchanges), it was none-the-less fun. Although there could have been five sets played, only three were required for the Brazilians to win 75 to 39. Whilst this clearly shows that they were undoubtedly the better team, the Kenyan’s got some excellent shots and fought valiantly.
Afterwards, we enjoyed a brief walk in the Paris streets, pausing at the Parc de Citroen for a peach in the shade. (For future reference, visiting Paris during a heat wave is perhaps a thing to avoid!)
When it then came to watching the Table Tennis in South Paris Arena 4. We walked smoothly through the tickets, enjoyed lack of a queue and paused to pick up a souvenir T-shirt and pin-badge (given the collection I have from London, it seemed only fitting!). Of course, we then discovered that the reason for the smooth entry was because we were late. I’d got into a muddle over the timing as I had worried I would. This was particularly problematic as this was the session my mum was most keen to see.
Although we missed the first set (and a half!), we were still able to enjoy a thrilling session. We were watching the mixed double semi-finals, between the Peoples Republic of Korea and Hong Kong. Because it was the semi-finals, the arena was strangely empty – the central floor being set up with 3 courts, but only the central one in play. But that didn’t stop the enthusiasm of the crowd – the seating was packed. There may not have been the public participation that there was in volleyball, but there was singing, flag waving and boisterous cheering. Albeit in a language we were not ourselves familiar with.
Table tennis is an astonishingly fast sport, the players darting around the table, the partners weaving around each other as they alternated shots, lunging backwards and forwards in and out of the table.
PKR took the first set, then HK the next two, PKR made a come back with games 4 and 5, only for HK to reclaim game 6 so we had a three set each draw going into the 7th and final match! PKR claimed it for a place in the quarter finals (as it turned out, against China.)
Our second session of volleyball on the 31st July was the most invigorating session -watching the then Olympic Champion (USA) versus the World Champions (Serbia). Our seats were higher to the side of the court, which gave us a different perspective – arguably a better overall view of the game. And what a game. The volume, the energy in the stands for this game was off the charts. Every point was contested, many with seemingly endless volleys, and several astounding aces. Players threw themselves around and across the court, weaving and darting round each other as they strained for the ball or avoided making that second – not-permitted – touch. There were a few challenges to results, with a slow-motion replay broadcast on the big screens for us a ll to see.
USA claimed the first two set, Serbia then took the next two, and the final set played until there was a two-point clear lead – 14 all, 14-15, 15 all, 15-16, 16-17 USA.
After a full day of tourism on my actual birthday (1st August), our final session of sport was archery. Such a contrast to the high-energy, highly active other sports!
This was the semi and quarter-final of the mixed team, which enabled us to watch 8 teams (India, Spain, Italy, Korea, Japan, USA, Mexico and Germany), and the progression through to the final two – Korea and Germany, the first and second seeds.
The setting was far more spectacular than either volleyball or table tennis, in the grounds of Les Invalides palace. With the Pont de Alexandre and the gilt-statue topped columns on one side, and the gilded dome of the palace on the other. Given the heatwave, sitting in the full sun was a slight disadvantage though unlike other days there was a slight breeze which helped. The venue was well served with taps, mist showers, huge vats of water and toilets, for us to keep cool. I damped my hat, which provided a blissful trickle of cool water around my neck.
Interestingly, as the calmest of the sports with the contestants taking their time over their shots (albeit within a 60 second count down), there was almost as much audience participation as the volleyball. Certainly far more than I had anticipated – with the commentators calling for us to wave our hands in the air when a team achieved the maximum points (a bulls-eye on each of the four shots), or high hand clapping when the teams achieved a draw and had to split the points (‘Splitting the Pie’). And on top of that, after each shot had been fired (never during) cheering, flag waving and chanting.
It was ‘interesting’ to glance up at the big screen at the moment when the camera was directly in front of the archer… It looked like you were going to be the next target!
Each match consisted of four sets, with each team shooting four arrows per set (two per team member) down a 70m course. Two points were available for each set – if there was a clear winner, that team received both, if there was a draw the points were divided between the teams. The winner of the match was the team with at least 5 points. The sets were won/ lost depending on the total score of all four arrows, with the bullseye being worth ten, the next yellow being worth 9 (etc.)
It was fascinating to learn about the new sports, to feel the atmosphere generated by passionate crows supporting their teams but also all the athletes and to be in excellent company whilst doing so was magnificent. The perfect start to my 40@40 year.