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Long live the non-COVID Olympics, or at least the non-COVID-dominated Olympics.
No offence to the 2021 Tokyo Summer Games and 2022 Beijing Winter Games, but those Olympics during the pandemic couldn’t possibly have had the same drama as Paris 2024.
Seeing roaring crowds and emotional family members made a world of difference for the viewer. These were the Olympics as they’re meant to be contested.
Combine the vibrant scenes in Paris with exceptional performances by some of the biggest stars in international sport — Simone Biles, Steph Curry, Novak Djokovic, Léon Marchand, Lydia Ko and Canada’s own Summer McIntosh, just to name a few — and you had a recipe for truly compelling theatre.
Canada won a non-boycotted Summer Games record of 27 medals, exceeding projections and making Paris 2024 that much better for sports fans in this country.
Everyone will have a different list, but here are 10 moments that this longtime Olympic viewer won’t soon forget.
Relay stunner
What’s the best Canadian Olympic moment of all-time?
We can debate this for days, but Canada’s 4×100-metre men’s relay triumph has to be right up there with moments like Donovan Bailey’s double gold (100 metres and 4×100-metre relay) in 1996 and Sidney Crosby’s golden goal in 2010.
Unlike those three previous events, Canada wasn’t considered a medal favourite entering this year’s final after barely squeaking through the semifinals. Canadian star Andre De Grasse and teammates Aaron Brown, Brendon Rodney and Jerome Blake were not even finalists in previous individual events.
But the relay always has been a Canadian speciality. After the favoured Americans bungled a handoff (that seems to happen all the time!), De Grasse — running on an injured hamstring — took the final handoff and roared across the line first for a gold shocker.
“It’s the Mona Lisa, we’re in Paris right?” Brown told CBC Olympics. “Hang it in the Louvre. Take this moment, take a picture of us four and hang it in the Louvre, We’re immortalized forever, baby.”
While there were many amazing scenes in Paris, the relay triumph will be the only one that goes down as a where-were-you-when moment for many Canadians.
Canadian women’s soccer players overcome scandal caused by their coaches
Through no fault of their own, Canadian women’s soccer players were under the microscope for all the wrong reasons at the Olympics.
When Canada was caught using drones to spy on New Zealand practices in France before their opening game, a Canadian analyst and assistant coach were sent home. Days later, Canadian head coach Bev Priestman also was forced to relinquish her Olympic duties. Meanwhile, FIFA stripped the defending Olympic champs of six points, seemingly crushing medal hopes for Canada.
But while the scandal played out, Canadian players took an us-against-the-world mentality. Never was that more on display than during a must-win game against France when Vanessa Gilles scored in stoppage time to break a tie.
“What’s given us energy is each other, is our determination, is our pride to prove people wrong; our pride to represent this country when all this (expletive) is coming out about our values, about our representation as Canadians… We’re not cheaters. We’re damn good players. We’re a damn good team. We’re a damn good group and we proved that today,” Gilles said after the match.
Canada went on to beat Colombia to advance to the quarterfinals, where the Canadians lost in penalties against Germany.
Against all odds, Canadian players stepped up in a huge way.
Curry can’t miss
It’s hard for many people to root for the U.S. men’s basketball team because the Americans always are heavy favourites.
But the plot changed toward the end of what was a tremendous Olympic tournament. After a stirring comeback win against Serbia in the semifinals led by all-time legends Kevin Durant, LeBron James and Steph Curry, the same three delivered more remarkable efforts in a close win over host France for gold.
Curry, in particular, was at another level in front of a roaring French crowd. He scored 24 points, all on three-pointers.
The best shooter there is put on a performance for the ages.
Summer’s Games
At the age of 17, swim sensation Summer McIntosh was pegged as Canada’s best bet to deliver multiple medals for the country.
The pressure didn’t faze McIntosh one bit.
The Toronto teen captured four medals, including a Canadian record three golds at one Olympics.
Her final gold, in the 200-metre individual medley, was the most dramatic as McIntosh turned it up a notch in the final 50 metres to rally for the win.
“Absolutely unreal,” McIntosh told CBC Olympics.
Canadians would agree.
Photo finish
The 100 metres always is one of the marquee events of the Olympics, and this year’s version was one of the best yet.
It took a photo to determine the winner.
American star Noah Lyles won in 9.784 seconds, five-thousandths of a second faster than Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson.
“I thought I had (him) cleared,” Thompson said, per AP. “But I wasn’t sure. It was so close.”
Photo finishes also turned out to be a Canadian theme on the penultimate day of the Games as canoeist Katie Vincent won gold by one-hundredth of a second, while 800-metre runner Marco Arop took silver after being edged out by that same miniscule margin for gold.
As for Lyles, the drama didn’t end with the 100 gold. He didn’t look right in the 200 and had to be helped off the track by medics after capturing bronze in that race. Around the same time, it was confirmed he tested positive for COVID-19 two days earlier.
Lyles then dropped out of the 4×100 relay. Who knows how things would have played out if he was available.
Golden Slam
It was the dream men’s tennis final and it lived up to expectations.
Novak Djokovic beat Carlos Alcaraz 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2) in a thriller at Roland-Garros.
The man with a record 24 Grand Slam titles finally had his elusive Olympic gold for Serbia.
“Yes! It is,” Djokovic told NBC’s Britney Eurton, when asked whether the gold medal was the missing piece to his career puzzle. “I’m always telling myself that I’m enough because I can be very self-critical, and that’s probably one of the biggest battles internally that I keep fighting with myself: that I don’t feel like I’ve done enough, that I haven’t been enough in my life, on the court and off the court.
“So it’s a big lesson for me. I’m super grateful for the blessing to win a historic gold medal for my country, to complete the Golden Slam, to complete all the record.”
10,000 metres of excitement
One of the most gruelling events of the Olympics produced one of the best finishes.
Canada’s Moh Ahmed was second in the men’s 10,000 metres with about 200 metres to go, but slipped to fourth in a sprint to the line after nearly 27 minutes of running.
Ahmed finished in 26 minutes, 43.79 seconds, .33 seconds behind bronze medallist Grant Fisher of the U.S.
“Dude, I ran an incredible race. I can’t really be disappointed,” Ahmed told CBC Olympics. “These are the hardest Olympics in the history of the Olympics. … I gave it everything I had.”
Unfortunately, Ahmed didn’t get a chance to run in another final after he fell in a crash in the 5,000-metre semifinals. A Canadian appeal was denied, ending Ahmed’s Games.
Great perspective
First, Canadian diver Caeli McKay finished fourth in the women’s 10-metre synchronized event.
Then, it was the same result in the individual competition.
That’s three fourth-place finishes in two Olympics for McKay, who was understandably emotional.
The Calgary diver provided an important lesson for young athletes in how she handled the heartbreak.
“I’ve always had the dream of a medal. Unfortunately, I’m really good at getting fourth. I’ve done it three times now at the Games,” McKay, 25, told CBC Olympics.
“But I was happy and felt just pure joy after my last dive because I did what I came here to do in my event. I was focused on myself, I can’t control anybody else. The three before me dove better but I did as good as I can do today and I did the best I’ve done this whole trip. I’m really, really happy.”
Masse’s huge push
Kylie Masse has a reputation for swimming her best in the biggest moments.
The Canadian swim veteran showcased that ability yet again in the women’s 200-metre backstroke.
While she wasn’t a medal favourite like she was in the past two Olympics, Masse rallied in the final strokes to take bronze for her fifth career medal.
“That last 35 metres, I felt my entire body just giving every last little bit,” an emotional Masse told CBC Olympics. “That’s what I wanted to do. I wanted to leave it all in the pool and just see what I can do. I’m just so happy to get on the podium.”
Fantastic finale
The French women’s basketball team almost pulled off one of the biggest upsets in sports history in the final event of the Olympics.
France lost 67-66 to the United States in the gold-medal game, giving the Americans eight consecutive gold medals and 61 wins in a row at the Olympics.
Trailing 67-64 with mere seconds left, France hustled down the court, allowing Gabby Williams to get off one last shot at the buzzer. It somehow went in, but her foot was on the three-point line and thus was ruled a two.
You couldn’t ask for more to finish things off.
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