Paris — truly a Games to remember
Au revoir, Paris. The greatest Olympic Games of all? That is a debate for another day. For now, the Otago Daily Times sports reporters look back on their highs and lows of Paris 2024.
HAYDEN MEIKLE
Three favourite moments
1. Fearless Finn the courageous kayaker. One of my top five favourite New Zealand Olympic stories — joining Jack Lovelock, the 1972 rowing eight, Danyon Loader and the great Dame Val. Finn Butcher’s spectacular gold in the kayak cross was a little unexpected (not to him), and when he draped the medal over his dad’s neck, well, this old hack welled up.
2. Blink and you miss it. The men’s 100m remains the centrepiece of the Olympic Games, and Paris delivered a boomer. American superstar Noah Lyles dipped his head at just the right time.
3. Allow me to call this one a tie. Hamish Kerr’s high jump gold might have been the single most significant New Zealand result in Paris. That is one of the big-ticket events, and no Kiwi male had ever won gold in a field discipline. Had to hold his nerve in a jump-off, too. Also hard to go past the immortal Lisa Carrington. She looked invincible. GOAT in a boat.
Unexpected highlight
From a New Zealand perspective, Lydia Ko completing the medal set by winning golfing gold. Ko was always going to be a contender but her form had not been amazing. Olympic gold, hall of fame — tres bien. My overall highlight was . . . everything. The ghastly Tokyo Olympics should never have been held during the pandemic. Paris was an Olympic reset, and pretty much everything about it was wonderful.
Lowlight
Too obvious to say the utterly abominable breakdancer. (Good riddance to that "sport", by the way.) So will have to go for the All Blacks Sevens. They looked a bit clueless, and were utterly overshadowed by the Black Ferns Sevens.
Kiwi to watch in 2028
Maddi Wesche has a silver medal to her name and will be coming into her shot put prime.
ADRIAN SECONI
Three favourite moments
1. Ellesse. Ellesse. Ellesse. Staggering effort at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome by Ellesse Andrews. Two golds and one silver in Paris. Too fast, too strong and her best years are still ahead of her.
2. Black Ferns Sevens warrior Sarah Hirini fractured her cheekbone moments before setting up the match-winner with a storming run in the final. She also battled back to fitness after rupturing a ligament in her knee late last year.
3. The 100m was something special. All eight runners dipped under 10sec, including Oblique Seville, who coasted the last few strides.
Unexpected highlight
If I say the men’s pole vault, people’s minds will immediately go to the viral video of the French athlete knocking the bar off with, well, how do I get out of this sentence. It is hard to find the words to wrap up the gold medal effort from Sweden’s Armand Duplantis as well. He was so utterly dominant and cleared a world record 6.25m with his last jump. That’s the height of a two-storey house.
Lowlight
Australian breaker Rachael Gunn — Raygun — broke the internet with her odd routine. It was widely mocked. But it was only a bronze medal effort for the worst performance. The silver goes to the New Zealand swim team — did they clock a single PB? And the gold goes to the New Zealand men’s C2 500m crew who are still out on the Vaire-sur-Marne course.
Kiwi to watch in 2028
One more Olympic campaign please, Lisa Carrington. One more.
KAYLA HODGE
Three favourite moments
1. The "super mums" Lucy Spoors and Brooke Francis rowing to gold and their joy as they crossed the finish line. Incredible in every sense of the word and you could almost
feel how much the moment meant to them through the television.
2. The men’s triathlon really turned out to be an enthralling watch. Cannot say I have ever watched a triathlon from start to finish, but Paris changed that. Watching Hayden Wilde come back from being behind in the swim, with the help of Dylan McCullough, and seeing Wilde lead most of the run only to be overtaken by Alex Yee on the final stretch was sensational. As was the sportsmanship shown between the gold-silver pairing afterwards.
3. Watching Kiwi women dominate from start to finish. The Black Ferns Sevens got New Zealand’s run of medals started and Ally Wollaston finished it in the women’s omnium. New Zealand won 20 medals in Paris — and women were involved in 15 of those. They reigned supreme in the gold medal tally, winning eight of the 10 golds.
Unexpected highlight
Aside from all the sporting brilliance, thoroughly enjoyed Snoop Dogg as the unofficial Olympic ambassador once again. The man loves the Games, and who can blame him. A personal favourite was his equestrian get-up alongside Martha Stewart.
Lowlight
Absolute heartache for Tom Walsh as he tore his adductor during the shot put final. That was a tough watch. The big man had so much promise heading in only for it to be ripped away. He has already promised he has unfinished business. Dylan Schmidt in the trampoline was much the same. It tugged on the heart seeing his pain.
Kiwi to watch in 2028
Erika Fairweather. The 20-year-old still has so much left in her career and having Paris, and Tokyo, experiences behind her for LA can only make her better.
