From the perspective of an 80118 Larkspur resident traveling to Paris for the 2024 Olympics.
Introducing our special feature where Chris Warren, a familiar face from our community, takes us on a journey through the Paris Olympics. Chris, who worked at the 1984 Olympics, is now back as a fan, and he’s sharing his unique experiences and observations directly from the heart of the Games. Get ready for an insider’s look at the excitement and spirit of Paris 2024 from one of our own.
August 1, 2024
If you have watched any Olympic competitions this week – you may wonder why some athletes are shown “Biting” their Gold medals? It is actually a show of the Athletes International sense of humor, because the Olympic medals awarded by the IOC (International Organizing Committee) used to be made out of real Gold, which is a soft metal and would leave indents if you bite it – but they stopped awarding medals made of real Gold in 1912.
According to the IOC, this years official Gold medal weighs 529 grams, but only six grams are gold — around 1.3% of the medal’s total weight — while the rest is pure silver. The gold part consists only of a plate laid over the silver core. The silver medal, however, is still entirely made of silver, while the bronze one is a mixture of copper, zinc and tin alloy.
A pure gold medal would be worth $41,161.50 today. The composite Gold medal is probably worth $1,500-2,000 (or priceless, if you are the Athlete winning it). Silver medals weigh 525 grams and are made of pure silver, valued around $486, and bronze medals weigh 455 grams and are composed of copper, tin, and zinc, valued at approximately $13. But Athletes are not in the Olympics for the cash value of their medals. That being said, it is a known fact that immediately after the Olympics – some athletes will sell their medals.
The medals being awarded in Paris will likely increase in value because they are partially constructed with iron from the Eiffel Tower.
And if you want to know what the Paris medals are made of – here is a great article:
The true worth of an Athletes hard won metal is not in actual Gold, Silver or Bronze – but what are they worth to the Athlete and recognition by the World for decades of sacrifice, effort and mastery of a sport?
But just because the medals awarded are no longer made of Gold – don’t believe the Athletes go home with nothing. In addition to winning a medal, Athletes receive a stuffed toy of the Olympics mascot and a box containing the official Olympic poster and “some” medalists receive additional financial rewards for their efforts.
Many Sports Committees and host countries reward their Athletes for bringing glory and prestige to their Country. The top being Singapore who pays over $700,000 for Gold medals won, while others may receive Cars, Apartments and even Cows. Here is a fairly comprehensive list!
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/07/31/heres-how-much-athletes-at-the-paris-olympics-earn-for-winning-medals.htmlEnjoy the Games!
Chris Warren
July 30, 2024
For all who have attended sports competitions at any level, they tend to build from preliminaries to intermediate to final competitions! All competitions are exciting, but as you get closer to the finals in each sport – the quality and intensity of competition definitely rackets up and the audience becomes more involved and excited!
In Paris, the Olympic venues
https://olympics.com/en/paris-2024/venues
are spread over hundreds of miles, and even those close to each other can take an inordinate amount of time to access via special security checkpoints – so when planning your visit to the Olympics it is important to remember that attending more than 2-3 sports per day (assuming you had the good fortune to enter the ticket lottery and win that many tickets and have the stamina each day to get around to that many venues), could keep you running from early morning to possibly late at night as some competitions take 2-4 hours plus transit time!
Between competitions and during gaps in your ticket schedule – Paris has hundreds of fine tourist attractions worth a visit and thousands of great restaurant’s. My family found excellent food and service all over Paris. One major difference between France and the US is it that it is still very common for residents and visitors in France to smoke or vape in public and restaurants – which we found difficult, but there are lots of outdoor cafes and eating areas where you can escape the smoke.
Speaking of escape – we took two side trips this week, the first to the Paris catacombs,
https://www.catacombes.paris.fr/en/history/site-history where you can see a small fraction of the estimated six million human remains which were relocated under government decree from cemeteries around Paris to fill the 600 hectares of quarries under Paris for health and safety reasons. Be warned that to enter the Catacombs you must descend 300 steps down into the extensive labyrinth (no elevator) and then walk what seems like miles – but your return to the surface takes only 108 steps – (yes, I counted)! Creepy but a fascinating part of the history of Paris which draws over 500,000 tourists a year. If you can hike Dawson’s Butte you can hike down into the Catacombs – but avoid if you get claustrophobic. Be sure to rent the audio tour – which is available in English.
Monday, July 29, 2024
Today terrorists took down four internet carriers in France – but they can’t keep the France down.
Sunday, July 28, 2024
The Paris Olympics are highly guarded with Local, State and Federal police on every street corner, subway platform and public venue – thwarting two attempts to disrupt the Games so far. The first was a Russian agent arrested for planning a mass disruption, the second partially succeeded when terrorists blew up the fiber optic lines on the High Speed rail lines, shutting down tourist and athlete traffic into Paris from 7/26-7/29 (with the exception of the Paris to Nice line, where the explosives were discovered before they were detonated). No injuries, but major inconveniences for hundreds of thousands of people. The high speed line to Nice turns a 13 hour drive into a 5.5 hour train trip – traveling up to 199 mph from the city to the coast! Luckily my tickets were not cancelled because we were heading south, so we got to see the speed and efficiency of their train system.
Saturday, July 27, 2024
Opening Ceremony from the lens of Chris Warren, Larkspur, Colorado resident
