ROLL up, roll up for the greatest sporting cabaret on Earth.
There is nothing quite like the Olympic Games – a sprawling 32-sport global orgy of athleticism.
And from beach volleyball beneath the Eiffel Tower to marathon swimming in the River Seine – pollution levels permitting – Paris promises to be a bewitching host.
For the first time in eight years, this will be the real thing after the delayed, Covid-blighted, behind-closed doors ‘Ghost Games’ of Tokyo.
And for the first time since London in 2012, a European Olympics – easily accessible, with half a million tickets sold to British punters, and a boon for prime-time TV watching,
With the next two Olympics scheduled for Los Angeles and Brisbane it will be at least another dozen years before we get to enjoy a Games anywhere near our time zone again.
After our staple diet of wall-to-wall football, the Olympics always provides a great variety show.
From horses dancing at the dressage to the newly-introduced ‘sport’ of breakdancing, from kayaking to taekwondo, this is an opportunity to roar on competitors in events we previously knew little or nothing about.
And this summer promises to be a continuation of the golden age of the British Olympic movement.
Since the depths of the Atlanta games of 1996 when Team GB collected just a single gold medal, National Lottery funding has bankrolled an extraordinary revival, with the Brits becoming a major powerhouse at the Games.
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Athletics icon Carl Lewis unveiled the new look purple track, which was designed by Italian company Mondo.
It is made of rubber, covers an area of around 17,000 square metres and has been extended from eight to nine lanes.
President of the Paris 2024 Organising Committee Tony Estanguet revealed that the idea was to create a more “joyful and festive” tone to the track.
It will feature three colours, two shades of purple (one lighter, closer to lavender and the other darker) and grey on the outside of the track.
Mondo have seen three hundred world records broken since the Italian company produced the tracks since 1972.
And it is hoped that many more will be broken at the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
After a third-place finish in the medals table in London – 29 golds and 65 podium finishes in all – Britain became the first nation to host a games and then improve on their medal tally at the following Olympics.
In Rio in 2016, Britain finished second behind the United States – even surpassing the mighty Chinese – winning 67 medals.
The target set this year is up to 70 gold, silver and bronze gongs.
But behind the bare statistics, there are always a plethora of human-interest stories – the chance to revel in the successes of the boys and girls next door who rise to global glory to enjoy their 15 minutes of fame on the podium.
The track-and-field events, always the centre-piece of an Olympics, hold serious hope for the Brits.
Josh Kerr is the world champion over 1,500 metres – an event once contested by Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett – while Keely Hodgkinson is favourite to win the 800 metres after winning silver as a teenager in Tokyo.
Katarina Johnson-Thompson is another British world champion, the heptathlete looking to emulate Jess Ennis’ heroics in London, although she has been plagued by injuries.
After a world indoor title, pole-vaulter Molly Caudery is another one to watch, literally setting the bar high and threatening to peak in Paris.
Away from the athletics at the Stade de France, there will be many familiar British names hoping to add to previous Olympic golds.
These include swimmer Adam Peaty, diver Tom Daley, gymnast Max Whitlock and rower Helen Glover.
Peaty will aim to complete a hat-trick of golds in the 100m breaststroke, while showman Daley competes in his fifth Games, seeking to repeat his golden triumph in Tokyo, with partner Noah Williams in the 10m synchronised event.
On the pommel horse, three-time Olympic champion Max Whitlock quit gymnastics after Tokyo but has returned for Paris, determined to win gold for his young daughter.
Oarswoman Glover, a 39-year-old mother-of-three, is hoping for a third gold medal on the lake at Vaires-sur-Marne.
There will surely be new faces who become household names too. And heavyweight boxer Delicious Orie is a name to behold as he seeks to match Anthony Joshua’s achievement of winning gold in the ring at London 2012.
Skateboarder Sky Brown won Olympic bronze aged just 13 in Tokyo and now at the grand old age of 16, she goes for gold in France.
At the other end of the age spectrum, two-time Olympic champion Andy Murray will bow out on the clay of Roland Garros, where he is entered into the singles and doubles – fitness permitting.
But of course there will be stars emerging from across the planet. The Olympics gave us Jesse Owens and Muhammad Ali, Usain Bolt and Simone Biles and they will give us the stars of tomorrow again this time.
It’s been too long since we marvelled at a proper Olympics after the masks, spit tests, and nose swabs of Tokyo.
So from an extravagant opening ceremony along the Seine to the surfing being held on the faraway Pacific paradise island of Tahiti, the Olympics are an opportunity for the athletes of the world to walk on water.
Let the Games begin and let us cherish the show.
