Paris 2024, week #1: The Avengers or The Retreat Team?
Welcome to Paris! The 2024 Olympic Games will officially begin on July 26th. 329 sets of medals will be handed out in just 19 days packed with non-stop action. Following it all will be a handful, which is why we will hand-pick and preview the key events of each week.
Squeezing it all into a weekend and just two full weeks sounds unthinkable? This is why the games could be pretty much over before they begin for some athletes. The 24th and 25th will see plenty of action before the 26th is reserved for the opening ceremony.
The rugby sevens will be the one to watch early on because the men’s tournament will reach the semi-final stage before the Olympic cauldron is lit; nobody will be heading home early as all final positions will be played out, but just four of the twelve teams will still have a chance to go for gold. If rugby is not your thing, handball, football, and archery will also lend a hand for those eager to get an early glimpse.
Time for The Avengers
“World champion of what?”
The words of American sprinter Noah Lyles, delivered at a random press conference at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest last year, were aimed at how the NBA looks at itself. Ridiculed at first, his statement soon became prophetic. While Lyles left Budapest with three gold medals, Team USA could only finish fourth at the Basketball World Cup. And that is simply unacceptable.
Americans take immense pride in being the best at basketball. When Eastern Bloc countries started state-sponsoring their “amateurs”, FIBA allowed NBA players – Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and so on – to play at the 1992 Olympics. The Dream Team wiped everyone with an average winning margin of 44 points to restore order. Business as usual.
But by the 00s, the field evened out. A shock loss to Argentina in the 2004 Olympics semi-final, coupled with failed World Cups in 2002 and 2006, made everyone question whether Team USA still set the benchmark. The Redeem Team was then put together for Beijing 2008, captained by Kobe Bryant and including a young LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Carmelo Anthony.
Team USA remained at the summit for the next decade, but questions arose again in the 2020s with foreign players taking over the NBA. The last six MVP awards have been shared between Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic, and Joel Embiid – players from Greece, Serbia, and Cameroon respectively. And then a talented-but-young Team USA failed at the World Cup.
The plane had not yet touched ground back in Los Angeles when 39-year-old LeBron James reached for the phone. Gather the troops one more time. LeBron himself. Stephen Curry making his Olympic debut. Kevin Durant going after his fourth Olympic gold. Clutch defenders. Traditional big men. The best young talent. Sharpshooters.
Of the 12 players, 11 have been NBA All-Stars. Four have won MVP. Three have a Finals MVP. Seven are NBA champions. It will also be the oldest basketball team ever for the US, averaging 30 years and nine months. There can be no mistakes this time. Should they lose, they will be nothing more than the Retreat Team – a bunch of old-timers enjoying some away time together.
And, well, if not them, who? France has the most intriguing young talent in the game in Victor Wembanyama, but could not persuade Joel Embiid to join him (he chose Team USA instead). Nikola Jokic might be the best player in the world, the centerpiece of Serbia. What about Germany, the reigning world champion? Or the experienced Spain roster?
Key fixtures of week #1
- July 27th: Greece – Canada (Group A)
- July 28th: Serbia – United States (Group C)
The last hurrah
“I have the knee, the elbow, the back.”
Age will catch up with everyone eventually. 38-year-old Rafael Nadal has been plagued by injuries for the best part of the last two years, his last great triumph coming at the 2022 French Open. The Olympics will most likely be his last appearance at Roland Garros’, the place where he has won a record 14 Grand Slam titles with a match record of 112 wins and four defeats.
Nadal said the words above in Bastad, the Swedish municipality where he just returned to competitive tennis to prepare. His body can simply not keep up with his mind anymore, as hard as that must be to admit. He will, at best, be considered a dark horse for the men’s singles gold. But winning the doubles together with Spain’s new prodigy Carlos Alcaraz? Do not count them out.
Andy Murray, 37, will be in Paris too. The only man to win back-to-back Olympic golds in 2012 and 2016, it might be his last match ever after being denied a fitting warefell in Wimbledon due to an injury. Unlike Nadal and Murray, their contemporary Novak Djokovic will start the games full of confidence to go all the way but also knowing this will be his last chance to win an Olympic gold, the one glaring omission on his resume. Does he have enough to combat Alcaraz or Jannik Sinner?
Tennis will get underway on July 27th, with the order of play announced the evening prior.
It will be a busy start to the Olympics for Team Estonia, as epee fencer Nelli Differt, swimmer Eneli Jefimova, and the quadruple sculls boat could all compete for a medal if the stars align. Team Latvia will hope Tina Graudina – Anastasija Samoilova get off to a good start at the women’s beach volleyball tournament, as well as Jelena Ostapenko at the wide-open women’s singles tennis.
Badminton, boxing, canoeing, diving, cycling, equestrian, field hockey, gymnastics, judo, sailing, shooting, skateboarding, surfing, table tennis, (regular) volleyball, and water polo competitions will also commence.
Let the games begin!
