Author: nina.tedesco

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Paris

There is still hope for the world

I am incredibly thankful that I got to be a part of this program. As a young girl I always dreamed of winning a gold medal and while I had to let that dream go (at least for now) just being at the Olympics was magical.

Sport at the Olympics is unique in that it brings together the top household names of the world, such as Lebron James and Steph Curry, with athletes who the casual sport fan has never heard of but are masters of their craft – like Stephen N. the pommel horse king of the United States. I enjoyed getting to attend events with high profile athletes, like seeing Carlos Alcaraz play for Spain, but I felt even more magic watching athletes not as popular get their shining moment. I attended the last night of athletics with Monika and seeing the joy on the faces of Haruka Kitaguchi and Hamish Kerr as they achieved their gold medals was heartwarming. They celebrated far longer than the American athletes who looked more relieved than happy when they won. They won’t have the same level of sponsorship deals as bigger names, but in that moment, they were the same as Sydney McLaughlin, Noah Lyles and Gabby Thomas – Olympic gold medalists. Furthermore, watching as all fans stood and cheered for the athletes as they did their victory laps – no matter what nationality – was amazing and reminded me we can come together peacefully as human beings.

I was appreciative of the mix of studies, backgrounds and perspectives that my classmates brought to the program. Spending time with my classmates gave me a much more global perspective on the Games. As an American, my feelings about the Olympics were often garnered around how many medals the American team won – specifically gold medals. Hearing from my Austrian, Korean and Indian classmates the importance of celebrating all medals really stayed with me. They come from countries where they don’t walk into events just expecting to win gold and are just enthusiastic about being a part of the Olympics. They celebrate the performance of their athletes no matter what. I want to take this perspective with me forward into my daily life – not just focusing on the “win” but celebrating the little achievements of the day.

On my flight back to DC I was seated a few rows in front of Katie Ledecky. It struck me just how normal she was – you’d never know she was the US closing ceremony flag bearer the night before or a 9x gold medalist. She wore minimal USA gear, carried her own bags and was traveling sans security. When someone noticed her and congratulated her she said thank you but was more interested in the person than talking about herself. It was so refreshing to see such a humble, lowkey champion when the media often only wants to focus on the brash superstar. I personally think the sports world could benefit from focusing more stars like Katie Ledecky. It would show the next generation that who you are as a person is far more important than the number of likes on your post.

Professor Burns often noted that these Games were coming at a time the world truly needed them and it wasn’t until I attended myself that I understood what he meant. Every day we are bombarded with stories of hate, destruction and division. The world and America itself are focusing on differences rather than similarities. With the upcoming November elections, it often feels like America is at a crossroads for its soul. These Games showed me it is still possible for us to come together peacefully as human beings to celebrate as one. Within the Team USA House I saw men from Texas clapping and high-fiving New Yorkers when women’s gymnastics won. At athletics the British man next to me joined in on the French “Alles France” chants in celebration not mockery. These two weeks showed we are still far more alike than different. A notion I am going to try and remember in these upcoming months, and I hope others do the same.

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Paris

The Battle of Olympic Hospitality

A common theme from several of our speakers is how the Olympics is evolving. The Olympics is one of the premier sporting events in the world and has not been immune to the changes in the sports industry including increased sport media rights, sponsorship and increased fan demands. With more money flooding into the Games fans are expecting the best of the best – especially when many of the fans traveling to the Games are American. Americans are used to seeing a spectacle when they attend a sporting event with in-game entertainment and a myriad of food and beverage options. This had led to greater expectations around hospitality packages with adjustments needed to match the tastes of a fan base used to premier hospitality.

Hospitality changed tremendously from London to Paris. The Paris Games are the first games with one company, On Location, managing all hospitality. Emilio Pozzi, the On Location SVP in charge of Milan-Cortina, noted that On Location wants to re-invent the culture of hospitality in Europe and bring them more aligned with American hospitality. Europeans are used to maybe getting a drink or small snack at sporting events. They do not expect premier food, beverages or entertainment. This is what hospitality was like at the Olympics pre-Paris – unless you were a citizen of one of the 15-16 largest NOCs. These NOCs hired their own partners to provide hospitality to their fans. On Location is working to make those experiences available to all. They are selling different packages to appeal to different price points in hopes more people can afford the experiences. On Location is also ensuring the majority of sports at the Games have hospitality venues instead of just select sports. The only sports they have excluded are the venues that are too far in distance that hold sports with not many spectators.

However, On Location has received criticism in Paris. With only 3 years to prepare, they did not have all plans set in stone and are adjusting on the fly. Emilio has noted he is already adjusting his Milan plan based on Paris’s challenges. A large group of critics is the travel agents who feel they cannot do their job adequately for their clients. An Israeli CEO, Yoav, noted to us how On Location has made Paris a disaster and he had to bring 3x as many employees to combat their issues. He struggled to get tickets (On Location is managing 475,000 tickets themselves), and the hospitality packages provided did not have the flexibility his clients were used too. He feels On Location does not have the personalized market knowledge needed to cover all levels of hospitality. He had several instances of IOC members calling him for tickets when On Location could not deliver what they needed. While I personally did not have hospitality tickets, I heard mixed reviews from my classmates who did attend. Patrick loved the hospitality package with beach volleyball (one of the premier events and locations), while Savannah and Max were less enthused by what they received at indoor volleyball and football respectively. On Location’s current contract is for the next 3 Olympic games. They will need to demonstrate improvements to Milan and LA to ensure they stay a part of the Olympic movement.

A benefit of this program has been our ability to hear different perspectives such as those of Emilio and Yoav. It helps round out our understanding of the Games and the nuanced complexities on the operational side. I believe the true answer is somewhere in the middle – a balance between On Location and companies like Yoav’s. We cannot revert to only the richest countries providing hospitality, but we also must recognize it may be too big of a job for one company to manage it all. I am interested to see the changes implemented by On Location in Milan and hope they can find peace with the travel agents like Yoav.

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Paris

The Olympics is more than just going for Gold

One of the biggest takeaways I have had so far is that the Olympics is much more than just a sports competition. This notion was first spoken about during Professor Burns’s lecture on why the Olympics is a brand unlike any other, but that has really been evident traveling around the Games. The Games are about coming together as human beings – regardless of if a medal is won or not. As an anonymous athletes signed the pillars at the Olympic Village – Sport has the power to change the world!

Our first speaker Janet Evans spoke on a wide range of topics from her athletic career to her current role with the LA28 OCOG. However, the most impactful part of our conversation with Janet was when she discussed handing the Olympic Torch to Mohammed Ali during the 1996 Atlanta Games. By the time of the ‘96 Olympics Janet had already won 5 Olympics medals (4 gold). She had spent her life in pursuit of the win. She wasn’t even sure she wanted to be a part of the torch relay as she was going to have to compete early in the Games. However, she told us it was by far the best moment of her Olympic career. She realized running past all the other delegations that for so many this was their medal moment, and how exciting it was to just be a part of the Olympics. The Games was about being a part of the world for these countries. Then once she got to Mr. Ali, who was no longer at the height of his career, she saw the importance of this man being there. It was an inspiration to the crowd just to see him hoist the torch and light the cauldron. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t the gold medal winner of yester year – he was fighting his own battle and winning. Years later the medals of course are meaningful, but they weren’t the most important to her in the end.

Another moment that showed the importance of the Olympics as a community came while I was volunteering at the Olympic house. The Olympic house is for former and current Olympians to come and have a place to relax, reminisce and watch sport. One cool area is the athletes wall, where we have athletes sign the posters of the Olympics’ they competed including their name, sport and country. On my volunteer day we happened to have Rose Vojsk coming to the house who competed for Yugoslavia in the 1948 Olympics in Rhythmic Gymnastics. She is the oldest living Olympian attending these games at 94 years old (she ran her last marathon at 73!). While the house staff and volunteers were excited about Rose – no one was more excited to see her than her fellow Olympians. When Rose arrived at 3:30pm she was greeted to a standing ovation from other Olympians, none of whom she knew, as she signed her poster. She then took the time to speak with them all and take pictures. Each left shaking their head noting how incredible it was to meet her. What was amazing is Rose was not some star athlete – she finished 7th with her team and 48th all around. The other Olympians wanted to celebrate her life for who she was and that she was an elder member of their community. The sport comes and go, but the Olympic bonds remain.

This is perspective on the Olympics, that winning isn’t everything, is different for most Americans. Americans, including myself, have spent our lives analyzing the medal count and expecting to win gold. Even while here in Paris, I and several other American classmates were groaning when we were not winning the gold medal count – despite dominating the total medal count. We hadn’t experienced an Olympics with so much parity in sport competition which was jarring for us. It was then pointed out to me by our Austrian classmate Monika, that any medal should be celebrated, and we have been spoiled to always expect gold. The Austrians are happy to win any summer games medal and are excited to cheer on their athletes regardless. Monika’s quiet reminder helped to enforce what all our speakers and volunteer experiences had shown – the Olympics is much more than gold medals.

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Paris

Paris came to play!

After being in Paris for a few days it is evident the Paris OCOG looked to make a statement in their hosting of the Games and so far, they are succeeding. Despite the somewhat negative tones from some media on this being the cheapest Games, the product Paris is providing is top notch. There is clear signage everywhere, the ticket and transportation apps are easy to use, and all the staff are incredibly friendly/easy to spot. Security is ubiquitous at the Games as police squadrons can be found all over Paris. Even when the metro lines were sabotaged, the City of Paris and the OCOG handled communication, traffic, and nerves so that the Opening Ceremony could be held without a problem.

The Opening Ceremony itself was truly spectacular and a great tribute to Paris and all of France. They were able to incorporate all parts of their history and culture and show off their city in a dazzling display. Utilizing the Seine for the delegation entrances was risky, but in my opinion it was worth it. I cannot remember an entrance like this in my years of watching/studying the Olympics, and even with the rain it was a sight to see. While we did not get to sit right by the Seine, we found a brasserie that was excited to be live steaming the ceremony and welcomed our large group of 14+ people. The upper floor ended up being groups from all different countries (Nigeria, Great Britain, France, and USA) and we all cheered for each other when our delegations came on the screen. It was great to experience the ceremony watching the French broadcast as they did not interrupt at all to explain – you could just watch the ceremony as if you were there in person. We had a great time, and it was a bonding experience hunting for a place for us to all watch together.

I also had my first fan experience as I attended the Italy vs. Brazil men’s indoor volleyball match. It was very easy to get to the arena and signage was everywhere. The volunteers were friendly and directed everyone to the proper line. The queue to get in was quite long, but the line did move quickly and there were plenty of ticket scanners ready to do their job. Once inside, volunteers directed you to the proper seating and were very knowledgeable on the arena. The usher gave me the exact route to my seat and even which side to enter on that was closest to my seat. I attended the game to support Italy and was in my full Italy gear – in a section of Brazil fans (frankly the entire arena was basically one giant Brazil section as green and yellow was everywhere). Despite this there was no hostility towards any Italian fans which I greatly appreciated. The atmosphere in the arena was electric as the in-house crew worked to keep everyone dancing and cheering the entire game. I was surprised that most of the announcements were made in English not French, but everyone around me seemed to understand what was going on. The music was primarily English as well – until they began to cater to the Brazil fans and only play Brazilian songs. This annoyed me as an Italian fan as I felt it would give the Brazil team an advantage as they were clearly gaining strength from their crowd. Someone must have noted this to the crew as towards the end of the fourth set they began to play Italian music as well. Italy won which made this Italian fan very happy!

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Paris

T-Minus 6 Days till Paris!

It feels surreal that I leave for Paris in less than a week! I learned about this program during my first phone call with Dr. Neirotti just trying to learn about the MSSM program and it was a factor in my decision to come to GWU. I have always loved the Olympics and while I had to hang up my dreams of my winning my own gold medal, I can’t wait to experience the Olympic atmosphere and cheer on these amazing athletes.

One Olympic related news story I have been closely tracking is what is happening with the Seine River. The water quality has been a huge concern for open water swimming and triathlon athletes. Despite a 1.4-billion-euro investment to present sewage leaking into the river and improve the overall pollution levels, heavy rainfalls have caused bacteriological analysis parameters to exceed permissible levels. The athletes, rightfully so in my opinion, do not want to be competing in unsafe water. Given these are not short swims, they have a substantial chance of being exposed to bacteria. To combat these fears, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo promised to swim in the Seine to demonstrate the cleanliness of the water. Her initial swim was scheduled for June but had to be postponed given the bacteria levels were 10-13x higher than permitted levels (depending on where the water was tested). However, she finally completed her swim this past week claiming “it’s wonderful, very, very pleasant. It’s fresh, but not cold.”  She was able to swim as the drier weather in July drastically improved the water quality. I commend Mayor Hidalgo for putting her money where her mouth is and being willing to swim herself in the river. I hope they can keep the water safe for these athletes – especially after the Parade of Nations sends hundreds of boats down the river for the opening ceremony.

I leave for Paris Wednesday evening on an Air France flight. I am curious whether they will do anything special to the planes given most people on board will be headed to the Olympics. It would be festive if they did! I am hoping the airports are ready for the number of travelers coming into Paris. My last visit to Charles de Gaulle airport was relatively smooth, but I know others who have not been as lucky. I am worried it will take hours to get my bags as they try to direct all the planes coming to the airport. Fingers crossed everything goes well!