August 23, 2024

Paris 2024 – delivering for France and the rest of us the most brilliant of Games 

No.4: August 2024 
Guest author: David Eades 

David Eades has been described as “one of the most familiar faces in global tv news”. Over three decades he covered many of the biggest news stories of our time, as wide-ranging as from the death of Princess Diana to the peace process in Northern Ireland, the launch of the euro, and Brexit, plus major sporting scandals, FIFA World Cups and the Olympic Games since Athens 2004. 

David is also a highly accomplished MC and moderator, working across Europe, the US and the Gulf States in particular. Key issues include sustainability and climate, minerals and the green transition, as well as a very wide range of sports events and conferences.

As the BBC’s senior sports news correspondent, he developed long term connections with many in the sports world, and he continues to work closely with numerous different sections of the industry. His connections within the worlds of geopolitics, sport and climate are considerable and he has built up a successful network for placing stories and interviews in mainstream media, especially broadcast, as well as advising organisations on their handling of media issues.

For demonstrating that the real problems facing this world are not so insurmountable when so many people can draw so much passion and enjoyment across so many countries, Paris 2024 is JTA Communicator of the Month.

Too arrogant, too complacent, too conservative, too unionised, too political…over the last 40 years Paris has racked up some pretty impressive credentials in its inability to secure the big prize.  From the mid-eighties, when the city lost out to Barcelona, through the failed bids for the 2008 Games (Beijing by a distance) and 2012 (snatched from its own back pocket by an artful dodger called London), Paris categorically failed to communicate its appeal.  

Ultimately it may have had as much to do with the symmetry of 1924-2024 that got it over the line – with a bit of Paris fatigue, and even a touch of pity thrown in.  

Imagine, then, the cumulative pressure on the Paris 2024 Organising Committee, the capital and the national government to deliver an event worthy of 40 years of trying.  

I grew up on the Olympic Games; my first full TV experience was in 1972, Munich. Dave Bedford was a hero, who couldn’t quite deliver a medal in the 5,000 and 10,000 metres. David Hemery won bronze in the 400m hurdles – and I was disappointed in him as he had won gold four years earlier. Mary Peters did win gold in the pentathlon. The American swimmer Mark Spitz was Superman. 

I had no great appreciation of Munich, the city, the host. For me, it was all about sport. Winners, losers, butterflies on the starting line, a sense of awe at the Americans above all (the Soviet sprinter Valeriy Borzov, aside) and a realisation that Great Britain was…not so great.  

That was more than 50 years ago. I still adore sport, like most of you reading this. But the Paris 2024 Games have been, without exception, the biggest, most complete illustration of how a major sporting event can – perhaps must – shift from a sporting endeavour to something infinitely bigger.  

First the visuals. The unrivalled supply of stunning backdrops has been well documented: beach volleyball under the Tour Eiffel goes without saying; this relative newcomer to the Games has become the ultimate poster child, stealing the most memorable locations. 

The equestrian events set in the Palace of Versailles, that sweeping Louis XIV background as the canvas to every event there… more memorable even than any single round or jump or dressage manoeuvre. 

Cyclists and triathletes sweeping through the capital, crowds 10 deep along the cobbled streets. The fencers holding stage in the vast Grand Palais provided some of the most wondrous photos of all. But this list goes on and on. Even where the venues were temporary, or in less salubrious parts of the city, they communicated fun and entertainment. The Arena Paris Sud hosted the volleyball; China vs France was a no-contest match, the result never in doubt. Yet still the stands were packed, the atmosphere overwhelmingly upbeat and cheerful; the crowd unashamedly Francophile but good sports too – for the most part. 

Sport climbing felt as much like a video game at times, while the age range across sports from 11 to 65 offers a greater reflection of our modern society, where elite stars get younger and elite performers can go on longer.

Ultimately, communicating is the ability to pass on messages, impressions, emotions, attitudes to best effect – and for a purpose. 

This is what Paris communicated to me: how far the Olympic Games have taken me from an obsession with the “sport” (who cares what the scenery looks like) to an appreciation of how beautifully a sport, or indeed any event, can be presented, and, by doing so, can appeal to millions who might otherwise have little real interest in what time Bedford clocked for his sixth place in the 10,000 metres in 1972 (28.05.4 by the way). 

I should add that I am hopelessly biased. I was willing the organisers on towards a Games nobody could ever forget. In my view, they delivered. And Paris communicated the absolute wonder of putting great sport together with great venues to create one of the great experiences. It survived a swathe of cyber-attacks designed to knock it off course; and it delivered a mood, however short-lived, rose-tinted and romantic, that the real problems facing this world are not so insurmountable when so many people can draw so much passion and enjoyment across so many countries. And ultimately a firm belief that, for all the rival entertainment on offer in today’s world, world-class sport remains an irresistible offer.  As for that damning list of negatives…for arrogance, read friendliness and even a touch of modesty; instead of complacency we got focus; conservatism was dumped, notably in the ceremonies, and politics were tucked away just long enough to suggest harmony of purpose.  Don’t expect it to last. That wouldn’t be fair. Already there are critics describing these Games as an official “tyranny of joy” imposed upon the French. And the political crises that France has done its best to ignore for the past few weeks have roared back into full view. But make no mistake, Paris, even as a “divertissement” from other realities, has delivered for France and the rest of us the most brilliant of Games.

Picture credit: Paris 2024