It was all about “FASTER, HIGHER, & STRONGER” as we spent a week in Paris attending the Olympic games. The planning for tickets began in mid 2023 with Marla, Stacy, and I enrolled in the Olympic ticket lottery. All three of us were chosen for different qualifying and finals competitions for 6 days & 4 evenings of track and field (Athletics) and swimming. Our grandson Vaughan was especially thrilled as he is a total track nut as I am. His brother and sisters were stoked as well! We rented a 5 bedroom apartment for the whole gang in the 1st arrondissement of Paris.

The living room of the apartment and our “Olympic planning center” for the week.

Our last trip to the Olympics was in 1984 in Los Angeles!

This was our first time feeling the magnified excitement of the Olympics.

Vaughan was ready for our first event in the evening,…swimming finals. It was actually the night of our anniversary and I wanted to go out to a nice dinner. Stacy said…“This is the Olympics…you can go out for dinner anytime!” She is a very good sales person!

The excitement was evident for the evening’s first event.

We saw 2 swimming world records!

It was a long trek the next day to an evening track and field session at the Stade de France.

We quickly learned how to get to the stadium. It was a quite a bit of walking as well as taking the Metro. Uber was not allowed to get close because of heightened security protocols.

Stacy and Marla walk toward the Stade de France with throngs of fired-up visitors from around the world.

The Girls were so excited and proudly wore their U.S. flags.

Entering one of many lines in the stadium.

We joined close to 77,000 fans. It was like this for each night of finals.

Our tickets were split up so Marla, Kate, and Lauren sat together. They love seeing who is the tallest (on tippy toes)!

Let the Games Begin!

Gabby Thomas prepares for the women’s 4 X 100m relay. I met her at the 2021 U.S. Olympic track & field trials in Eugene, Oregon.

We had some rain, which made races like the relay more difficult.

“WE DID IT!” The U.S. relay women triumphed beating Great Britain and Germany.

Snoop Dogg was right above our seats and caused some fan excitement.

U.S. fans cheering!

Back to the apartment after a long day.

We all loved watching the spectacle of the competition!

Some young French fans got up close.

The finals for the marathon were just a block from the apartment.

The Girls asked,“Papa,…can we go to the Olympics in Los Angeles?”

The LA Olympics in 2028 will arrive before we know it. Los Angeles has a Herculean task to match what Paris 2024 was able to achieve! All of us were totally impressed with the Olympics in Paris. Paris was amazingly organized, safe, clean, colorful, historic, exciting, and the experience was breathtaking! It will be fun to see what evolves as LA gets ready for the Games!

Photos: Dick Gentry. Not to be used without permission.