New African’s sports correspondent Michael Renouf and his partner Gail Collins were able to enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime experience of watching the Olympics live at the Stade de France. He shares his thoughts and feelings.
There are really only two global sporting events: the FIFA Football World Cup and the Olympics – only one of which covers everything from archery to wrestling.
These are my highlights of the 2024 Paris Olympics. Our first night in the stadium was on 6 August, to witness among other things, the hyped battle between Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Britain’s Joshua Kerr for 1,500m glory in what was a two-man race in a field of 12.
As we took our seats, which were kitted out with mini-French flags by the organisers – I attended with my partner and fellow New African writer Gail Collins – we realised just what an international community the Olympic Games is.
In front of us were Americans – of course with a flag larger than permitted, – across the aisle the Dutch supporters, to our right some Spanish, behind us Norwegians and a few rows in front, Joshua Kerr’s family.
However, the abiding memory is the off-scale support from the French for their athletes, fast or slow, famous or unheralded, which that night came to a crescendo during the women’s 3,000m steeplechase.
Most nights as well as during finals, there would be other rounds of competition and on this night, one such event was the men’s 400m semi-finals, the first contest I witnessed at an Olympics.
The excitement was unbelievable. Having been born in the UK, I was keeping a keen eye out for British athletes as well as those from Africa. Matt Hudson-Smith (GB) ran in and won his semi-final and it was soon apparent that after the French, the most represented nation in the stands was Great Britain, being a short hop over the channel.
This was later confirmed when Keely Hodgkinson was presented with Team GB’s only athletics gold medal in Paris and a spine-tingling rendition of God Save the King reverberated around the Stade de France.
Each night the victors from the previous night would be presented with their iconic gold, silver and bronze rewards, which included a piece of the Eiffel Tower; and the crowd stood as each victorious nation’s national anthem was played.
Approaching 9pm, the long-awaited middle-distance battle was ready to commence. Joining the two main men on the start line was Kenya’s Timothy Cheruiyot, meaning all three medallists from Tokyo were present. This was the event I was most looking forward to, having been a decent middle-distance runner in my teenage years.
Ingebrigtsen took off at a phenomenal pace meaning everybody had to make a choice – stay in touch with the favourite or run their own race. With 500m left, the Norwegian was still setting the pace with the field stretched out.
On the final bend, the two favourites led and the crowd cheered them, but unexpectedly Americans were placed third, fourth and fifth. Down the home straight Cole Hocker (USA) came through the inside to claim the Olympic title with Kerr second and Ingebrigtsen completely out of the medals!
The shocked crowd turned to look at each other and even the jubilant Americans had the good grace to shrug their shoulders and shake their heads. It turned out the two-man contest had several other competitors involved.
Although the race had an unexpected conclusion, it did live up to the billing with Hocker setting a new Olympic record of 3:27.65 in a race littered with national records and personal bests.
Carried by the crowd
Not long after it was the women in the 3000m steeplechase, where Peruth Chemutai (Uganda) was defending her Olympic title from four year earlier. That medal was the first-ever for a Ugandan woman at an Olympic Games.
In an exciting race a pack of five African-born athletes pulled away from the rest – including Winfred Yavi, who runs for Bahrain but was born in Kenya. Come the last hurdle, it was down to two and in a sprint finish Yavi bettered the defending champion in another Olympic record (8:52.76).
However, the real story which you would not have seen on your television was further back. With two laps to go, France’s Alice Finot was miles behind, sitting in a lowly eighth. With incredible support from the home crowd, she was sixth at the bell but still well out of touch.
Then she was seemingly carried round the last lap by her supporters and over the final water jump, and moved into fourth where she would finish to a deafening din, including a frenzied drumming from her fans, setting a European record in the process.
During each evening, the field events were also going on and if you were too far away in the stadium to watch these properly, you could take in the action on the big screens while the commentator kept the crowd up to date with relevant information.
Many of these competitors would encourage the spectators in choreographed hand-clapping that resounded round the arena like a giant’s heartbeat.
Two nights later was the men’s 200m final, where American Noah Lyles, who bounded into the arena like an over-excited golden retriever pup, was hoping to complete the sprint double. On your tickets it asks you to be quiet for the start of events, but the hush seems even quieter for the sprint events.
Of the eight finalists, four were African and, in an event in which they have an outstanding Olympic history, there were three Americans.
With 50m to go, Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo took the lead that he was not going to relinquish and crossed the line beating his chest, in the process, claiming his country’s first-ever Olympic gold. Although he was quite subdued in his celebration, the crowd was not, with huge cheers going up for the man, who was running in memory of his mother, who had sadly passed away in May.
The last night in the stadium was the night Africa came to the fore, winning six medals. The flags from previous nights were joined by Kenyan, Ethiopian and Algerian ones amongst others.
Kenya had won gold in the last four editions of the men’s 800m but in tonight’s race, with 200m left, Gabriel Tual of the hosts led and as the home crowd attempted to push, pull, will and cheer their hero to glory, the noise was like a jumbo jet taking off.
However, fate was not to be denied and it was Kenya’s Emmanuel Wanyonyi who crossed the line to claim gold, and Algeria’s Djamel Sedjati, with a storming finish round the outside from way back, clawed his way to bronze. As the athletes got their breath back, so did the crowd. Algeria was to win another medal in the women’s welterweight boxing when Imane Khelif beat Yang Liu of China for the gold.
Three in a row
The men’s 5000m, an event that of late has been one in which African representatives are often the favourites, this year had a Norwegian slated to win it, our old friend Ingebrigtsen, who was not going to slip up twice, meaning Ronald Kwemoi (Kenya) did the best he could in taking silver.
Meanwhile the field events were going on, where South Africa’s Jo-Ane van Dyk claimed a shiny silver medal in the women’s javelin.
Now was the chance for history to be made by Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon in the women’s 1,500m. She had won this event in 2016 in Rio, then defended it in Tokyo. Could the world record holder make it three in a row? Of course she could and in an Olympic record time. As the stadium realised just what it had witnessed, she rang the winners’ bell with a huge smile and received the reception she deserved.
The last African medal that night came in the 4x400m men’s relay, where Botswana, anchored by 200m champion Tebogo, were beaten into second by the USA, in another Olympic record and with Britain finishing third, the medals went exactly where expected.
The night concluded with the women’s 4x400m women’s relay, the USA completing a relay double, after which the DJ played the crowd out with his final song, of the final night.
What an experience.