The final day of competition is done, and the curtain has closed on the Games. Our reporters in Paris, who have witnessed the sporting achievements, interviewed the athletes, battled the crowds and felt the vibes, have picked their favourite moments of the Games so you don’t have to. and night seven of the swimming.
Watching France’s Florent Manaudou whip the home crowd into a frenzy was something else, but nothing was going to distract McEvoy. He was good enough to win. The form guide said he would win.
But to actually execute on that stage, having effectively given up the sport a couple of years ago, was one of the best swimming stories in years. To then watch and Leon Marchand claim his fourth individual gold in the 200m individual medley inside 45 minutes ..
. loudest venue I’ve ever been in. and the cab driver who stuck up for me when an arrogant American bloke tried to cut in front of us at the taxi rank when I was trying to bolt to Yes, there was drama, but watching Noah Lyles win gold was something I’ll tell the grandkids about.
I brushed up on French before I arrived in Paris, but I’d picked the wrong tongue. What I needed was a crash course in skater talk. Skaters don’t injure their knees, they smoke them.
They don’t fall on concrete, they eat it. Their tricks have names like “McTwist” and “kick for bindi” (I that’s it). what her coach said before her final, gold medal-winning run.
“I’m a ‘skibidi sigma’,” she said. Note to Los Angel.