We’re less than a week away from the opening ceremony, and I couldn’t be more excited! I first learned about this program during my orientation with the Sports Management program and from that moment, I knew I couldn’t miss out on this opportunity.
I depart the evening of July 23rd and will arrive in Paris the morning of July 24th. With the recent global tech outage, I hope my travels won’t be impacted and I also wonder how this has affected travel for athletes and fans headed to Paris. What would have happened if this tech outage occurred one week later, at the start of the games?
While in Paris, I’m especially looking forward to attending the team handball showcase the first weekend we are there and visiting the USA high performance training center the following weekend. Exploring Paris during our downtime is also something I eagerly look forward to.
Today, I watched a Team USA basketball exhibition match against South Sudan, a country that has only been in existence for 11 years and has no indoor basketball courts. I expected the United States to win by a large margin, but the game came down to the final seconds, with Team USA winning by just one point. It was thrilling and gave fans a taste of what the upcoming Olympic Games will look like. I’ll also be attending the Team USA vs. South Sudan basketball group stage match on July 31st, just a week after I arrive. Seeing these teams face each other again in person will be exciting. However, the arena is about two hours from our hotel, so I’m a bit worried about transportation but I’m sure that splitting the cost of a cab will be worth the experience.
This will be my second time in Europe and my first time visiting France. I can’t wait to immerse myself in Parisian culture and see how the city has prepared for the Games.