The Paris 2024 Paralympics are officially open! We attended the Opening Ceremonies…and we have opinions on the show, which in a first-ever moment for the Paralympics, took the Opening Ceremonies out of the stadium and put it in the heart of the city (in a temporary stadium, but let’s not get too in the weeds with that detail).
The ceremonies covered a lot of ground over a long span of time, and the athletes marched down the Champs-Élysées into the stadium to great fanfare, which was a lot of fun to see. The torch arrived, had a long moment on stage, and then torchbearers got it to the Tuileries to turn on the hot air balloon that took back its rightful place in the Parisian night sky.
We each had a cultural adventure today–Jill saw part of the torch relay, while Alison went to Team USA’s High Performance Center. We report back on those trips. Also, mixed zone tape with wheelchair racer Marcel Hug and para archer Matt Stutzman from Jill’s trip to the Paralympic Village round out the episode.
Thanks so much for listening, and until next time, keep the flame alive!
Photo: Jill Jaracz
TRANSCRIPT
This transcript has been generated using speech recognition software and may contain errors. Please check its accuracy against the audio.
Paris 2024 Paralympics: Opening Ceremony
Bonjour, and welcome to day zero of the Paris 2024 Paralympics on Keep the Flame Alive, the podcast for fans of the Olympics and Paralympics. I am your host, Jill GereJaraczined as always by, with my lovely co host, Alison Brown. Alison, bonjour.
Alison: Bonjour, here we are. We are here. JILL GERENS And the party has started.
Jill: ALISON BROWN It has. I, I, I don’t know if I’d call it a party yet. I’d call it a gathering. JILL Because that’s the kind of ceremonies we had tonight. We’ll get to that. We’ll get to get that. Let’s just begin
Alison: the baguette. So both of us had early starts today and going in opposite directions.
Jill: We did. We did.
I went to the Paris Media Center because the torch relay was going through there. Now the Paralympic torch relay has been a very short one. It started in Stoke Mandeville, The flame came through the tunnel and, uh, then split up into multiple routes to get all across France, which is really cool.
Alison: They made 12 flames to represent the 12 days of the Paralympics.
Because even though we said it was day zero, the Paralympics count today as one. So if you get confused about what day it is, Just, just work with us here, because we’re confused.
Jill: When we just got started, this is great. We’re already confused. Um, so for Paris, I will say this, the sidewalk around the Paris Media Center is usually clean because they have a, our clean streets segment that they like to do for the Paris Media Center one of their theme days, and they have a street cleaner.
there. And, uh, so the sidewalks are pretty clean around the Paris media center and they buffed them again before the torch relay showed up.
Alison: Well, to be fair, don’t you clean the house before people come over? That
Jill: is very true. So they were making it look spic and span. So the, the light came in, the lantern came in one side of the building and, uh, there was a torch bearer there.
named, uh, Ghislaine Westelnick, who is the president of the French, uh, Paralympic sport and the VP of the French Paralympic Committee. So she’s a big win she has a book out, because I saw the book. in somebody else’s hand. And then she passed it, she came through the media center about halfway to the big main open hall.
Alison: Okay.
Jill: down the center of the big main room and passed it off to Elodie Clovell, who won the silver medal in modern pentathlon. So that was cool because I saw her compete and she had her silver medal. And I gotta say, Silver medal is beautiful with the Eiffel Tower in there and the contrasting iron.
Yeah. The color looks fantastic. She and she is also a gendarme. I understand. Oh yes.
Alison: Probably the only gendarme in Paris that wasn’t working tonight.
Jill: Probably got called into duty. Uh, she passed it off. She left the Paris Media Center. And I don’t know if she passed it off to a woman in a wheelchair, because there was a fourth person there that I did not see, because they then went down.
the block in front of the Paris Media Center where we enter and Then she passed it off to somebody named Tebow and this was a man in an exoskeleton which was really cool, but then I couldn’t figure out who he was and I asked around and somebody said it was Tebow Simone who was a water polo player, but I couldn’t I found But I couldn’t find any mention of some sort of accident because he was an Olympic water polo player and Rio 2016.
But then I also found somebody else with the surname Tebow that, Is it doing this exoskeleton thing? So I’m not quite sure who it was, but, uh, and gee, they
Alison: didn’t give you a sheet or anything
Jill: No. With the
Alison: people? No, no, no, no. They didn’t give you the information for the event you’re attending? No,
Jill: and it was a, it was a very French day.
I, you know, it was, it was hard to get a little bit of English so that, that, that was the way it was. Um, so it was cool to see the torch. I will say there were, I, I did get a little teary. When it came through the center, uh, we got hustled and bustled around from place to place. It was like, no, the flame is going over here first, go over there.
I’m like, well, I will give up my spot. That’s really good here. And I’m short and I forgot my, my little selfie stick, which really holds my phone well. And, uh, we just kind of shuffled from place to place with everybody, but it was cool to see once it got done with the end, they got to the end of the block.
They put the flame back in the lantern. And that was it. I don’t know where the flame went after that. But I got, if you’re in the Facebook group, you have seen some video, you’ve seen pictures of the, the lantern with the flame in it. You’ve seen pictures of me with the torch. You
Alison: just love this torch.
Every time the torch is near you. You photograph yourself with the torch.
Jill: I don’t see anything wrong with that. Any torch. It didn’t have to be the Paris 2024. It’s not this one specifically. But this
Alison: one is a particular favorite of yours, it feels like.
Jill: I don’t know. It’s okay. I’ve seen better.
Alison: Wow, we are really cranky tonight. What did you do today? So today I went and took a very long train ride out to the Team USA High Performance Center. So what Team USA did is they rented a sports facility, kind of rehabbed it and upgraded it and brought a whole bunch of people from Colorado Springs. So that while the athletes, both Olympic and Paralympic are here, they have all the training facilities that they are used to, which is pretty sweet deal.
You know, one of the things because we did get to talk to a few athletes and I’ll get to that in a second. A lot of them said, This is so great because we have facilities on our schedule. There’s no sharing. There’s no scheduling. There’s no planning. If they want to go train, they can just hop on the bus.
There’s a bus that runs between the village and the center.
Oh, they go
Alison: directly and just train. Um, they have, a track and field, you know, a full track, full field, um, and several indoor gyms. And then there’s weight rooms and treatment rooms and, um, they have a huge nutrition program.
Jill: Nice.
Alison: So you can eat the same food that you’re used to from the Colorado Springs Training Center if you happen to live there or, or train there.
And it’s, it’s great. The chef came over and planned the menus and makes food available. So I know we heard a lot during the Olympics about the food in the village. And it seems like at least for team USA, they had a backup, not a bad thing. So a few of the people that we got to see today happened to be Arshia Klastani.
So I saw, uh, Justin Fong Simon and goal player. Goalball player Callahan Young. And I almost tackled sitting volleyball player Laura Webster to get a chance to say hello because she wasn’t our official person who’s going to talk about sitting volleyball. That was Sydney Satchel, who’s the libero. But when I saw Laura, I was like, hi, hi, hi.
I don’t know if you remember me, but she was so sweet.
Jill: And I’m
Alison: not sure she remember me. I think she did because she gave me a hug. So my day was made.
Jill: Very good.
Alison: But Justin is in LA. Excellent spirits, really excited to compete, feeling good. Um, Callahan, it had a little accident with a fence. So no, so but we decided that we’re not going to talk about the fence.
We’re going to say that he rescued some children from a protest near the Eiffel Tower. He just got a little cut over his eye. It’s not a big deal. But he said the mask right now is a little uncomfortable because it’s just hitting him right in that spot. Um, but, and Laura looks fantastic. The whole, the sitting volleyball team was so enthusiastic in their training.
Oh, and I saw Ellen Geddes, our wheelchair fencer.
Jill: Nice.
Alison: So it was a really great to see the facility and also highlights how being the USO PC makes such a difference for the American football team. Paralympians, the advantage that they have and the access to resources that they have is incredible. And I think it’s going to, I think it makes a big difference in results.
Jill: Excellent. Which was good that we both had fun mornings because we did get Uh, the opening ceremonies was today. It turned into a high demand ticket event and we both ended up getting ticketed for it, which meant we needed to get a special high demand ticket event. Sticker. Sticker. And that meant going back to the main press center, which we didn’t really ever want to go to again.
And luckily you got in before I did, which is probably a good thing since I did a lot of interdeet stuff yesterday.
Alison: That’s true. You got more annoyed than I did yesterday. Yeah. I was irritated. You were, you were aggravated.
Jill: Yes. I, well, I have more equipment out than you do usually. Right. Exactly.
Alison: Exactly. So I was able to get in and.
One of the things we mentioned yesterday was how there’s security you go through, but then there’s also like old school, office building security where you have to scan in and scan to the elevator, but we aren’t given any of that. So somebody has to do it for you, but there’s nobody necessarily around to do it for you.
So I went the method of, I just, we had to, I had to get to the first floor. which is not zero because it’s Europe. So I had to get on the elevator. So I don’t have a pass. I can’t pick a floor. So I just got on the elevator and rode the elevator until somebody else stopped on the first floor and got off because I couldn’t press the button.
Jill: So glad I was not there for
Alison: this. But I was able to pick up both of our stickers. So it, it all worked out and we got to the opening ceremony.
Jill: We did get to the opening ceremony, which we will get to, So, in a minute, do you have a volunteer job that you would like to do? I do.
Alison: Today at the High Performance Center, there was a assistant coach working with the sitting volleyball team who collects the volleyballs.
But he didn’t just collect the volleyballs. He had to catch the volleyballs. So, they would Sort of finish with the last shot and he would try and catch it in this giant box rolling on wheels And so he had some skill involved in catching the ball.
Jill: I love it. I will say there were about twenty five million torch relay people around the Paris Media Center today But what I would like to do is a job at the opening ceremonies, which would be to accompany a team as they walk the parade route because as As teams came, because the teams all came down the Champs Elysees, they got to walk in front of the public, and then they came into the stadium, and they all, all the teams had one or more volunteers with them.
I’m sure just in case they needed help with something, but I would like to do that because I would have liked to seen the public parade myself.
Alison: Yeah, we really didn’t get too many. Uh, shots of it even during in the stadium, like while we were waiting for things to start, they didn’t put that on the screen.
So people at home probably saw way more of that parade than we did.
Jill: Yeah. And we would love to know what you do see of that parade if you watched it. I’m, I would not be surprised if NBC had little shots cut in of, uh, Team USA going down the route. So that would be kind of cool to know about. Uh, what would also be cool is if you could, uh, Help support the show because we are here as an independent media outlet, which also means we need independent financing to make the show happen.
We’ve been here for over a month and we’ve got a couple more weeks to go. And we love bringing you the spirit of the games and what it’s like to be at the games in person for everyone who cannot be here, uh, and bring you the sports and the stories of the athletes. Uh, but it does cost money for us to do that.
To be here. So if you could support us, if you enjoy the show and what you’re listening to, uh, please consider giving where you can find a variety of ways at flame of life, pod. com slash support. There’s PayPal. There’s Venmo. If you’d like a one time donation, we suggest maybe 20 and 24 cents.
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I am posting some stuff that was left over from the Olympics right now. And I’ve got an audio postcard that I want to make or two. So, uh, look for that to come. Cause I’m hoping to get some good, uh, venue table seating time soon. There’s always a little time to make some stuff happen. So that’s it. All you can find that at flamealivepod.
com slash support. Thank you to everyone who supported us during the Olympics. It means so much to us. Helps keep us, helps keep our flame alive and keeps the show going. Even, uh, when the games are not on and through to the next. All right, opening ceremonies.
Alison: So we went back to Place de la Concorde. And as I mentioned yesterday, it is not the Place de la Concorde that we remember.
Jill: No, it is not. It is not. It is in a way. because a lot of the seating stayed. So I could tell that the 3×3 slash breaking seats were the same and they didn’t move them because they were kind of in a horseshoe shape around a circle or a half court. And I could tell the like kind of 90 degree angle that was BMX freestyle and one of the skate parks.
And then they added some seating in as well.
Alison: They kept talking about how this is the first of its kind, paralympic opening ceremony, not in a stadium, but here’s what they did. They just built a temporary stadium.
Jill: Yeah. Yeah. And you know what?
Alison: Put it
Jill: back in a stadium.
Alison: It was to nobody’s surprise. It was a nightmare to get there because there are no formal entrances.
They blocked off a lot of streets. It was extremely difficult, again, no surprise, for us to find where to be. But once we were in our tribune seating, we could see the spectator entrance. And the show had started and there was, how many would you say, a couple hundred people still waiting to get in? So getting people into the not stadium was extremely inefficient and I’m sure very frustrating for spectators because just as we couldn’t find where to go and, and gendarme and police were sending us away and no, you can’t go down the street and you have to go three blocks up the other way.
They were doing it to everyone.
Jill: Yeah, I will say once we were in the venue and going to the Tribune seating, oh my gosh, there were volunteers who A, knew what, who we were, like, as in terms of media and where we needed to sit. And they had a little sign that said media seating this way. And they just, they were happy to help us.
They knew exactly what to do and they’re like, go this way. And you’ll see another volunteer with a sign just like this. And it
Alison: happened. It was exactly as they said. It was basically at the interchanges where you could get confused. Yes. They had a person standing there and very obviously standing there and then could direct us to the next.
interchange. I was, and then we hit the Tribune and the Tribune volunteer was fantastic. Yes, was like, there’s no seats,
Jill: but I, let me look. And then magically made two seats appear together for us because she’s like, I don’t know if I could do two together. And we’re like four, that’s fine. We can be a part, but she made it happen.
And I don’t know where they got these these can do volunteers and, and signage, but. And I hate to be so amazed by this, but it was, was so nice. It was so nice.
Alison: it was such a drastic difference to, to strike you. So I’m hoping that will continue. I’m not going to be greedy. I will take it for tonight.
Jill: Yes.
Great.
So, another good thing about the show, because I would like to have some positive stuff to say. Hot day today, but a perfect night. It was a beautiful night for the ceremonies and there were times where a I wish we could have seen this because when they showed this the Arc de Triomphe and the the parade on the screen, which is rare, but the sunset behind it was beautiful that we couldn’t see the Eiffel Tower, but when it was lit up, it was beautiful.
The time of day and the changing a day with the magic hour on the albalesque in the Place de la Concorde was beautiful and there were moments where I’m like, I am sitting in Paris and watching this amazing show. And it’s kind of like, it doesn’t get better than this. It would be better if the show was better, but we’ll get to that.
Yeah. But it was just like perfect atmosphere.
Alison: I will say. Agreed. And the idea of putting a temporary stadium in the center of the city like this was a brilliant idea. And it was a, like you said, a wonderful atmosphere. It was just annoying how they kept saying never been done, never been done. Yes. If you had left out that language.
Mm hmm. We would have loved that aspect. Oh, look, they made a temporary stadium right in the middle of the city. And they’re using the Sommes de Lisay as part of the show. And they’re using the, uh, Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe and the obelisk and all these elements and the Seine in a way, because we were right there, that are so central to the city that you don’t get at the Stade de France.
Jill: Right. Uh, I will say that all of the temporary house seating that they, left and put up was then at odd angles for the show because they didn’t bother to move it to make a real stadium. It was a very angled stadium. So if you were stuck sitting in the 3×3 breaking section, there were parts where I don’t think you ever saw the stage and maybe you had screens in front of you or something.
I don’t know. It was, it, it was awkward and there were like dead areas, I thought, that were in the, Uh, what they did for staging wise, if you haven’t seen it yet, they put a very long stage through the middle. Yeah. Around the
Alison: obelisk.
Jill: Yes, around the obelisk. At each end of the oval, there were two circular screens that, they had multiple screens on them, but they were, they were made to be circular.
They were also, uh, uh, launch pads for fireworks later. And then they had big speaker and light towers, which also blocked views in ways that a traditional stadium does not. So that was a pain, I thought. Then the Oval Stadium, or the Oval Stage, was, multi tiered, With both stairs and ramps, which is kind of cool because they used different elements of the stage But not too much.
I thought
Alison: it could have been more
And yet saying anything about this could have been more. I want to shoot myself just saying those words because And, and I know you wanted to stay positive, but let’s say this. About three hours and 45 minutes of bloated, arrogant self importance. Oh
Jill: my gosh, this was so long. This was so long. And, okay, so not all the stands were full.
There was a big empty section near us and I saw other empty seats. People started leaving early. They started leaving maybe even pre Parade of Nations. And then by The, we, they didn’t even stay for the cauldron lighting. They were out of there. At 11 o’clock, people were flying out of that building. Well, because the trains close.
The trains close. We did walk two and a half kilometers home. Because there was no train, no bus,
Alison: no nothing.
Jill: Right.
Alison: It was, it was hoof it or sleep in the stadium. And
Jill: thank goodness we can, we’re in, we’re in our hotel room tonight. And thank goodness we can record here, to be quite honest.
Alison: I don’t know where we else, we would have just recorded on the street, I think, with the gendarmes, with all the gendarmes.
Jill: Yeah, right, right, right. But I will say also, the way the speaker towers were set up, because the music was really loud, the way that was set up and the way the stands were set up, it was really difficult to feel any energy.
Alison: Oh, I’m so glad you said that because I thought it was me. I thought it was like, Oh, I’m being cranky and tired because it didn’t feel and yet.
We saw groups of spectators reacting, trying to get things going that we, we had a fantastic group of Danish fans in front of us that were just great. And then a group of French fans to the side. So when the French team came out, but it did, it felt very flat.
Jill: Yeah. And I don’t know what it felt like in other parts of the stadium.
But yeah, through the
Alison: TV.
Jill: Yes. And, uh, yeah, through the TV might be totally different experience. But yeah, we had the French fans to our right who clapped for everybody. They were really excited. Same with the stand kind of right next to us. They were clapping for everybody. And of course they were when the French team came out, they were super pumped for that.
We had these Danish people in front of us who were so excited. They had flags, they had balloons, they had streamers that they threw all over the stands. It was Phenomenal. There was a bunch of, a few Brazilians, uh, Team Canada tried to come and get a wave started. It was, they tried and it’s just, I hope that when teams entered, they felt some sort of love.
And because from what I saw, the only real response that I felt was for Palestine,
Alison: huge response for Palestine, for the
Jill: refugee team.
Alison: Yes.
Jill: And then for Team France. I mean, USA got a little bit. Uh, Great Britain got a little bit, uh, there, there were a few German fans who were, were just like, we cannot get to the Germany team to let us let, show them that we’re here and waving our flags.
oh, and Ukraine, Ukraine got an amazing response and the Ukrainian team is huge.
Alison: It was, but I think also, and I noticed this when the Canadian team came in yet again and, and the British team, a lot of not marchers. I think all of Ukraine marched.
Jill: Oh, okay, okay. And, and a lot of athletes left early and we could, we could just figure that, oh, they’ve got to compete tomorrow or they’ve got to compete soon and they were not sticking around.
Alison: And what was funny, as the, once that cauldron got lit, the, uh, athlete stands emptied real fast. Yes. They were not staying around for the closing number. Right,
Jill: right, right. So, um, started off with a Welcome to Paris by, which I thought was really cute. It’s somebody that’s not familiar to me. His name is, uh, Theo Curin.
He has a show here in France called Theo Le Taxi. So he drives a taxi around and it sounds like either it’s a cab confessions or carpool karaoke kind of thing without the singing. He’s also a Paralympian. Yes, he is a Paralympian. So that was cool. And they did a whole really cute thing with developing a car with friezes all over it.
And the car drove in and he said it was like the welcome to Paris guy. And that I thought was really cute. Once you knew the backstory to that, we had, uh, you know, you introduce. uh, Emmanuel Macron, President Macron, and Andrew Parsons, the president of the IPC. Very quick. Then we got into the Discord opening number.
Alison: I am so sorry for Book Club Claire watching more pianos be sacrificed for an opening ceremony. I could not believe that they, did they, was it steaming or were they on fire? What?
Jill: They weren’t on fire. ’cause I would say heaven was there. I would say, heaven forbid have the CO2 emissions that flames produce
But we will come to find out later on that there are a whole. long dance number with actual torches, a lot of actual torches. And yet then we go and let lit an electric light. So
Alison: the, the pianos were steaming or smoking and then the dancers are dancing on the pianos. Yeah, it was. And it was yet again, somebody needs to tell Thomas Jolie.
No. So, so long and, and bloated. That number could have been a third of the length and it would have been way more effective.
Jill: Almost every segment could have been a third of the length, uh, and I don’t know why they decided to, they timed this out for us and everything, you, you saw like seven minute Dan segment, eight minute Dan segment, 16 minute Dan, like, Ooh, this has got to run long.
And it ran. It ran. way long, and it was not interesting.
Alison: And it supposedly had a storyline. There was supposed to be a storyline between the, the people who were not inclusive, and then the more creative people who were also, uh, had disabilities were supposed to be fighting for inclusivity. Right. Honestly.
It felt like that whole first segment really rubbed me the wrong way. Really felt like they were mocking people with disabilities.
Jill: I’m surprised you could see the people with disabilities. So we have to say that it was choreographed by a man named Alexander Ekman and he used 140 dancers and 16 Disabled dancers and I will say that first off if You’ve got a Paralympic committee who’s got a we the 15 campaign because 15 percent of the world’s population is stable 16 is not 15 percent of 140.
Alison: It’s not even close. I mean this felt like a big step backwards
Jill: yeah, and it was a little tiny group of disabled performers and they were called the Uh, creative gang in English, right? Yeah. Yeah. In English. And, and, and then the, the other people were these strict society and they looked like they were, they were dressed as men in black, but David Byrne size suits.
So it was really weird. And in French, cause we thought, well, maybe that’s a weird translation, right? So, um, in French, uh, they are, uh, two distinct groups, le creative gang et la strict society. I’m not kidding. I’m reading this from the
Alison: opening ceremony. Just the whole concept of this opening ceremony felt backwards.
Jill: Yeah, and it was one of those, like, the strict society’s dancing around, we’re dancing around, then they see the creative gang. and their eyes open. Whoa. And honest to Pete, there, the 140 dancers, there were too many dancers for me, for the size of that stage. Cause you couldn’t really see what was going on.
And because it was an oval and there was a lot of things interfering with your sight lines, that made it more difficult to see what was going on. And it just looked like a big black mob and then a little tiny colorful group.
Alison: It
Jill: felt Then we had a flyover. That was cool.
Alison: All of a sudden, everyone’s jumping up and turning around and I’m hearing this noise and I’m thinking, what is going on? And then the flyover. I have to say, I don’t think I’ve ever been under a flyover in person before. Maybe since I was a kid, you know, at some Blue Angels show.
So that gets. In your gut. It does.
Jill: It’s awesome. You feel it. Right. And that was amazing. And I understand that it’s not for everybody, but it’s, it’s something that I thought was a cool moment. Then we had our Parade of Nations. Very long. Very
Alison: long.
Jill: Very, very long. A lot of space in between some nations.
I will say that.
Alison: We could, I think when they re air it, we’re going to tighten that baby up.
Jill: Right. They had floor maintenance going on during the show. So while, uh, the, the nations paraded in and then they marched around the oval stage on a flat floor. And while that was happening, there were workers sweeping the stage off.
Alison: And more importantly, while that was happening. We had the Friege. So right before the Parade of Nations, this army of Friege, how many would you say a dozen? At least maybe 15 or so. Yeah. Friege, both Olympic and Paralympic came out and were on the oval stage during the entire hour and a half. It
Jill: was longer than an hour.
It’s supposed to be about an hour and a half. It was closer to
Alison: two hours. Uh, Parade of Nations, they were dancing, playing Duck, Duck, Goose, line dancing, all kinds of, uh, games going on with the Friege. And they never rested. Several Friege went down and got picked up. I don’t know if any of the Freejantics made it onto television.
I hope they did. They were interacting with the DJ.
Jill: Yes, there was a DJ in a, uh, a red, white and blue coat or blue, blue, white and red, I guess would be more proper to say because it was French flag. And it had a train that went across most of the stage. And the freezes were there to kind of be entertainment while you waited for the nations to come around, but they didn’t let up.
And then part of me went, nobody told them this was supposed to be an hour and a half. Because I think some went down on purpose.
Alison: Yeah, at one point they were, Duck Duck Goose got a little long. And they kind of sat there for a while and then they were bowling with popcorn. Yeah. They brought, they brought out props.
Jill: Yeah.
Alison: And I think there was also like some rolling of freezes along the ground.
Jill: It was a little bizarre, but it was also nice to have as, because you didn’t, it took a while for the nations to come around and, uh, they were seated in different sections. So kind of like they did make a whole loop of the stage and then, um, Somehow they went back under and had to go be seated on the other side.
It was very weird. I think it was very long for some people. Um, I will say when Team France came out, it was a best of Olympics soundtrack. We sang all of the sing along songs. All of the sing alongs, all the champs élysées.
Alison: I didn’t even know half of them. I didn’t know any of the words. I didn’t care. I sang what I knew.
The crowd really got into it and the, uh, the flag bearer for France really got into it, as did the entire French team. So that’s what, I mean, that’s what you want for a home team, to have that moment. Exactly.
Jill: Uh, when the parade was finally, anything else on the parade? I,
Alison: I, I had a couple shout outs. Okay.
Since people expect me to, to comment on the uniforms. Um, I do want to say both China and Korea. Yes, really good. Korea looked really good. Ethiopia had the dresses and the shirts with that beautiful material. You got very excited about Indonesia because they had kind of a traditional costume, but these crowns.
Yes,
Jill: they were fabulous. Fancy, fancy, fancy. And, and a traditional dress that wasn’t flag colors, if I remember that correctly. No, no, it was more
Alison: golden if I, if I have that right on my notes. Um, Estonia with the denim maxi skirt, aka your middle school music teacher. Or your high school me. That’s true, too.
But I think our our favorite might have been Venezuela’s star suits.
Jill: Oh, man, you could see those a mile away. They were good stage outfits. I will say that. But there were some lovely dresses like when we saw Croatia that had a kind of a the Checkerboard from the flag, but it was white and some kind of off white or gray and just looked stunning.
Poland
Alison: also did a beautiful dress with that red and white fabric that they also had multi options. They could have a blouse. They could have a shirt. They could have a dress. Yes. But a lot
Jill: of nice dresses. Yes. We did see a lot of polos and saw a lot of, uh, kind of like back it’s back to school.
Uh, but. But we did see some really, really good, uh, outfits that seemed to be different than the Olympic counterparts. Although, you know, I, because they were on boats, I didn’t really see too much.
Alison: And a lot of the people had plastic over them.
Jill: Yes.
Alison: But Mongolia, the famous Mongolian outfits did come back. Oh, good.
Good, good, good, good.
Jill: okay. So then we had the National Anthem, a new version of the National Anthem, which was But it was nice. It was beautiful. I will say, when we stood up, somebody in our row let out the biggest fart.
Alison: It was like, really?
Jill: I did not notice that, and now the marcelase is ruined for me. I know, I know. Then we had our speeches. We had, uh, a video that showed that seemed like it was a video for, uh, commercial breaks for, for lack of a better phrase, but, that was okay. It was different people talking about being a person with disability and how they got treated and how they learned to accept their body and things like that, which is kind of interesting.
interesting in a way. I don’t,
Alison: I liked it. Did you? Okay. I thought it was effective and I thought it was a nice use of video because you know, there always has to be some element there when they’re resetting the stage or reorganizing the dancers or just to give your brain a break. from the stage show. I thought it was quite effectively done.
Jill: Okay, good. Uh, then we went on to a segment called Sportography, which was the dancers were
Alison: back. Yes. And there was one segment and I’m confused now because I thought it came before that when Lucky Love sang.
Jill: Oh yeah. I’m sorry. I think I missed that.
Alison: The, the performer who is disabled himself, I thought was the best segment, the whole artistic program, because the song was catchy.
It highlighted the people with disabilities are people who do things. You know, that whole idea of We the 15, that same campaign, like, we’re not inspirational. We want to be singers. We want to be dancers. We want to do our thing. And I thought that was when it was kind of, I liked the song and it wasn’t overdone and it felt like the right length of time.
See, you forgot it because it didn’t annoy you. Probably.
Jill: Well,
Alison: I thought it was a little long.
Jill: I thought everything was a little long. I thought everything
Alison: was a little long. Yeah, fair enough. Um, but. Then we got to the portography. That is the part of the section that I saw. The one little section, not when they have the boxing helmets on, but when they first do the little boxing dance before they come off and come back on with the, with the, with Are they crutches?
They were crutches. Okay, they were crutches. Um, before they come on with the crutches is what I saw. So literally three minutes of the show.
Jill: Okay. All right. Um, This was also long and forever taking. could we have more deep and meaningful music? All the music for these things got to be really slow.
Maybe that’s why the Lucky Love was a little bit better, because it was a little more upbeat. And I get that we’re in the opening ceremonies, which is usually a lot more solemn. And the closing ceremonies is a bigger celebration, but they really took Solem to a new level with this music.
Alison: And one thing that we found frustrating was white costumes, white stage, very bright white lighting.
I wonder how that translated on to television. It didn’t translate well on the screens that we were looking at. And it certainly didn’t translate well to the naked eye. No, no,
Jill: it was so hard to see what was going on with this at all. And there were, essentially there was a uh dancer who crutches dancing and showing the rest of the people how this worked.
So they came on with their crutches. I don’t know what the boxing had to do with it.
Alison: I did like the concept of able bodied dancers dancing with the crutches with the dancers with disabilities. But man, that could have been. We’re gonna keep saying this. It got lost because it just kept going.
Jill: Well, it kept going and then I noticed the able bodied dancers were dancing with the crutches, not using the crutches.
They were just kind of whipping them around and they were staying on their two feet and I thought, well, I don’t know how long they rehearsed and I don’t know how hard it is to learn how to do this with crutches. But it was, It was long, it was hard, and, and it became less effective the longer it went.
Yes! That was, that was really, really tough. Um, I, I did note that there were times, we did a lot of clapping during the Parade of Nations as teams came out. Usually in the press tribune, people don’t clap because journalists try to be impartial, so they try to show not, uh, Too much emotion they you’ll see some when their country comes out clap and get excited or they’ll get excited during a game When their country’s doing well, but boy This was one segment where I was glad to be a journalist and not have to clap for it I hate to say that but it just it was long and again the able bodied dancers just started overpowering disabled dancers and how cool they’ve showed us.
I mean, it was so cool what they showed us and it just got drowned out by this massive people, uh, Paralympic flag and anthem with the, the Paralympic anthem does have words. We did not hear them tonight. We heard some. Unbelievable screeching. Yes. Of noise. Right. And then the, the Paralympic flag went up.
Again, we have bad flag fans because they tried really, really hard with the French flag.
Alison: They did. They seem to, and I think they tried really hard with the Paralympic flag. It’s just the flag technology, the flag waving technology is not up to par. And I do not understand why this like, I want to understand why getting a flag to fly.
With the with the with the picturesque waving is so difficult. What about that is hard?
Jill: It must be the size of the flag and the power of the fan that the fan may not be powerful enough for the size flag They chosen. I also have a conspiracy theory that They were that they didn’t really put a flag fan on the Paralympic flag because they were not convinced that whoever was holding it Could get it right side up after the whole Olympic flag thing.
That’s my conspiracy theory and I will stick with it for the moment because I was glued to that flag going, did they get that right? They could never tell because it couldn’t fly correctly. Then we finally got to the arrival of the flame.
Alison: So we knew that the flame, that the cauldron was going to be a return to the balloon that was in the tooleries, which is not far from where we were.
But it is not there, right? So the flame comes into the stadium. And I think I turned to you and said, Wait a second. Why is the flame here? Doesn’t it have to go to the tooleries? Meaning the flame would have to come in and then go out.
Jill: Yes, but we needed to see it. We as an audience, I think needed to see the flame arrive.
So the flame arrived. But then it didn’t go out. No, it stuck around. It stayed. It stayed like, if you’ve ever seen the ballet, the Nutcracker. Several different torch bearers, because the torch, the torch got passed to four people, three people. There was, uh, Baby Veo was one of them. Oksana Masters,
Alison: and then a French, I believe a French Paralympian, and then a person who brought it in.
So there was, there was four in the Knot Stadium.
Jill: And along with them was another cadre of dancers, maybe the 140, who had their own torches.
Alison: I thought that place was going up.
Jill: And they were real flames. And that just made me angry because they’re dancing around with their torches and their real flames, emitting all the CO2 into the air, and yet we get balloon light for the next two weeks.
Alison: So. When the torch dancers came in and were dancing around the obelisk,
I was thinking, are we trying to submit a demon?
Jill: It was rough. It was rough. And, and everybody who was a torch bearer had to sit there and watch them dance for a while.
Alison: Right. They didn’t, it wasn’t like they did this dance while the torch Torch was getting to the balloon.
Jill: No, it was pass the flame, watch us dance.
Pass the flame, watch us dance some more.
Alison: But you forgot the most important thing about this segment.
Jill: Which was?
Alison: What
Jill: music did they play for
Alison: them to
Jill: dance to? Oh, bolero, bolero! Oh, my, you could pick a longer, slower song. I don’t think so. Oh, man. Oh, man. I do have to go back to the last, this photography thing, because I will say that’s when they put projection mapping in.
And it was very cool. They did projection mapped on the obelisk. That was very, very cool. They projection mapped on the floor and the dancers did different sports. And that one of the most effective one was the Okay. canoeing or rowing.
Alison: Yes, where it seemed like the, the dancers were in boats on the water, but they were just sitting on the floor.
Jill: Exactly. So, uh, that was very cool if you saw that and thought that as well. Back to Bolero, longest, I mean, seriously, it’s, the only people who have a right to Bolero anymore in my mind are Torval and Dean.
Alison: It’s, it’s, of all the songs by French composers, there are thousands. Why would you pick something one that is based on a Spanish musical theme and two, that just feels like a death march.
Yeah.
Alison: And the version they played also was not the chippiest. Not that Blair was ever chippy.
Jill: No, but it was, it was long and slow and.
I felt bad for the torchbearers because they looked kind of awkward and poor Oxana Masters was standing on like a little tiny set of stairs.
Alison: Like a tower. It was, it was like a little mini pedestal, but it was, it must’ve been bouncing from all the dancers because you said right away, she looks terrified.
And I said, she keeps reaching out and trying to adjust herself. She was, she looked like she was going to fall.
Jill: So yeah, that was, thank goodness she didn’t. Yeah. I will say that. Can you
Alison: imagine? She would have set herself on fire with the 1, 200 torches all around. Not that we get a cauldron. Not that
Jill: we can have that.
Um, the other. Issue that we had was they could not put the names of the people on the screen
Alison: We only knew baby video and Oksana masters because we recognize them from our own Fandom.
Jill: Yes, and then they did put the final Cauldron lighters on but in a we couldn’t read it on the screen. They didn’t use the typical OBS Font and uh, it was very small.
Yeah, very small white and blue and It just was difficult to read. So I don’t know who lit the torch who lit the cauldron. Sorry,
but they finally got there They did we have that then the balloon went up and everybody was happy. Everybody is walking home People are taking pictures of the balloon. It is I will say it is an amazingly successful cauldron for being a light. Um, no, not that. No, but I mean the design of the cauldron and the symbolism of the balloon and what And it goes up in the evenings
Alison: and it comes down and people can visit it.
Jill: Yes, people can visit and they can be around it and it’s, it is a, it is a wonder. It is, it is delightful to look at in the air and It, it’s nice that it’s bringing people together. And I think people really love this symbol and, and what it stands for.
Alison: Earlier in the day, you had mentioned and reminded us or reminded me of that amazing story that Tokyo did with the, the plane with one wing and how they integrated the whole idea, one of disability into a fairytale and how they used.
Performers with disabilities in a way that didn’t feel so virtue signal it. And with that in my head, I watched this.
Jill: Yeah, I’m sorry I brought that up. Because thinking about it now, it still makes me want to cry. It was such a beautiful ceremony. The opening and closing ceremonies for Tokyo were just so beautiful.
Alison: But even for Beijing. Those were short. Yes. But what they did was, ended up being so effective because the, the opening and the closing came together. Yes. As a story.
Jill: Yes.
Alison: God, I do not want the story to come back in closing.
Jill: You don’t need the strict society to come back? Cause they aren’t strict anymore.
That’s the thing. The creative game changed them.
Alison: This is something that would, that we would have seen in 1998.
Yeah.
Alison: That’s what it, that’s why it made me angry because the Paralympics and the Paralympic movement have come so incredibly far. And the idea that we’re using people with disabilities to change the strict society feels so backwards.
Jill: Yeah. It just should be
Alison: like, why are we starting again with this inspiration? Yeah. stuff. Mm
Jill: hmm.
Alison: Why are we going back to that?
Jill: Athletes, you got a job to do. Just be your sporty, sporty selves and, and uh, maybe that’ll change. Maybe that’s what French think because there’s not a lot, I mean, accessibility has been a big drive here in the last seven years and they’ve had to do a lot of work to get a little bit of accessibility.
So, I don’t know, it’ll be interesting to see what we can learn about how the society at large here. changes or, or learns just in this time period getting to watch them or watch them in person. Or just how the
Alison: fans react at the events. Are they reacting the same way or differently? Then for Olympic events.
Jill: Well, I think if you’re French, you’re just constantly rooting for France It does not matter who you are. And
Alison: I think that’s perfect.
Jill: I do too. It’s gonna be great. They’re all excited already It’s gonna be so Allez les Bleus! Allez les Bleus! Well, you know who I’m excited about Tell me. Our new mascot. Our
Alison: new mascot.
So we have new mascots for, uh, the Paralympics. And first up are Sunny and Sadie, our first guinea pig mascots. I love that. So you’ll have some pictures and some stories coming on our social medias and in our newsletter and on the show for the first week of the Paralympics. So special thank you to our listener, Don, for supporting our Kickstarter campaign that got us to Paris and got us these fantastic.
Guinea pig
Jill: mascots. Thank you, Dawn. All right. Competition starts tomorrow. Big full day schedule. And we’ve got a lot of Shukla Stanis in action. We do. So Alison Levine
Alison: has two matches in women’s boccia pool play. Matt Stutzman competes in the ranking round of men’s individual compound open archery.
Samantha Bosco races in track paracycling women’s C4 and five, 500 meter time trial. Olivia Chambers swims
Jill: in the women’s S13 100 meter butterfly.
Alison: We have two people playing in para table tennis, Melissa Tapper and partner Trevor Hurth in mixed doubles. And Ian Seidenfeld and his men’s doubles partner, Cal Leibovitz, both begin with a round of 32.
Brian Bell and Team USA’s
Jill: men’s wheelchair basketball face off against
Alison: Spain. And hey, Takeoki’s playing tomorrow. He and Team USA Wheelchair Rugby will have their first game against Canada. What a doozy to start off with. Guess who’s gonna be there?
Jill: I don’t know. Maybe you? Maybe me! Gonna be good. Uh, and listeners, you are gonna look forward to that report tomorrow.
That will do it for this episode. Let us know what you thought about the opening ceremonies.
Alison: You can find us on X, YouTube, and Instagram at flamealivepod. Send us an email at flamealivepod at gmail. com or Call or text us at 208 352 6348, that’s 208 FLAME IT. You can chat with us and other fans on our Facebook group, Keep the Flame Alive Podcast.
And to get our special daily games time newsletter, sign up at our website, flamealivepod. com.
Jill: And just when you thought this episode is over, it’s not. It’s going to go on and on just a little bit because yesterday I forgot to put on Marcel Hughes and Matt Stutzman’s audio, so I will have that on the end of this episode so you can hear what I learned from them at my trip to the Paralympic Village yesterday.
And then you can join us again tomorrow for more action from Paris. Please do not forget to tell a friend about the show and hang out with us in the Facebook group because it is hopping already with everyone who is so excited for these games. Thank you so much for listening and until tomorrow, keep the flame alive.
you be better again in Paris?
Marcel Hug: Uh, that will be very difficult. Because in Tokyo it was, uh, it was perfect for gold medal. Um, so yeah, also in my age now, 38, it’s very difficult to be better. I try to keep my level. To, to repeat my, my success. But yeah, four gold medals from Tokyo would be very difficult to repeat.
So that’s why I would be very happy if I could win maybe one gold medal. It would be nice. How do you manage to do such different disciplines? Because between the 800 and the Martins, it’s very difficult. Yeah, it’s, it’s different, but for us in wheelchair racing, it’s very, yeah, usual that we do, uh, middle and long distance.
Um, so, and also it helps that the marathon is at the end of the competitions. Uh, so that’s very helpful. Uh, and also we have, uh, some rest days between the We are used to have different disciplines because also in the marathon you need to be able to, like, doing a sprint, like an 800. But also in the 800 you need the skills from a marathon, you need the endurance as a basis.
So, yeah, both together, yeah, fits together. Do you, oh, do you have different wheelchairs for the different? No, I have the same wheelchair for the track races and the marathon, but I have different tires. Okay. How, what’s the difference? Uh, the difference is, uh, the tires from the, for the marathon is more, more, uh, robust.
Robust? Yeah. Is that the
Reporter 3: right word? Yeah. This year you decided to write on a blog, uh, about your wheelchair. About the competition, the medias too. Why did you decide to do that now and not maybe before?
Marcel Hug: Yeah, that was an idea that I had already a long time ago. It was in my mind and some topics also came through my mind and I wrote it down a long time ago.
And then this year I had the idea to make a blog because I thought it’s interesting. For me it’s time now to make it maybe public, so, yeah, now I’m quite a successful athlete and so maybe now I have a voice to hear. And, uh, yeah, for me now it felt right. Before it was not feeling right for me. It was maybe, I don’t know, I was not comfortable or not too, uh, successful enough.
I don’t know, but, yeah, now it was fine. As you said, you are 38 now, and how do you cope with the physical situation? I think most of the people feel a decline in physical ability at your age. So how do you cope with such a situation? I’m not sure if I understood. So, as you said, you are 38 years old now, so how do you cope with such a situation?
Most people feel a decline in physical ability. Um, yeah, I think, uh, to become thirty eight or being thirty eight is, uh, on one hand, it’s difficult because it’s more, yeah, you need to train very hard to keep the level. Uh, but yeah, I’m very lucky that I never had accidents or injuries or something like this.
So that’s very helpful. And also, it’s, uh, I think it’s helpful because with every year and every competition you have, you get more experience. That’s very helpful. Maybe I become more calm, more relaxed. Yeah, The village, about the accessibility in the village, uh, is it good for Spanish? Uh, yes, I really, uh, like the village.
It’s very nice. I feel very comfortable here. Uh, it’s good accessible. Uh, I mean, the people here, the volunteers, they’re so nice. They’re very, very helpful. They’re very nice. Thank you. Japanese players, uh, are getting used. Uh, any, any, any plan you say, say? To Japanese athletes? Oh yes, of course. I, I like to compete, uh, against Japanese athletes, but I also like them as a person.
Um, I, I compete in, in Japan every year, in, in the marathons, in, in Tokyo, in Oita. And yes, uh, they have, uh, a lot of good athletes here in Japan. Also, uh, good, uh, uh, They’re good in developing racing chairs. So, yeah, Japan is a really good country for wheelchair racing. very much. Adios.
Matt Stutzman: Okay, hello everyone! Hello! So we have three questions, sorry.
Sorry. Um, Is that true that in your garden, uh, you have, uh, like an image of the invalid, uh, for you to prepare yourself?
Matt Stutzman: It’s, it’s in my, it’s in my, uh, man cave, yes, where I practice indoors. Um, I got a picture there. So I was here for the Olympics.
Uh, so I saw the venue with the crowd and everything like that. But before the, the game, so like last year I came here and spent a couple hours at the venue with the, the, the IPC who was in control of the venue. So I got to visualize, I got to see on paper what it was going to look like. I got to smell the grass and the trees.
And so when I got back, I immediately, that was the one thing I wanted to do because. Mental prep in our sport is the biggest thing. That separates the best from the better. Is that, is how well you’re mentally prepared.
Jill: How has your role changed from Paralympics to
Matt Stutzman: Paralympics? I was newbie, rookies, things like that, and now I’m one of the veterans on the team.
So, a lot of the newbies, or the rookies we call them, ask lots of questions. And I do my best to just be like, it’s okay, just have fun. Remember that you’re here, and no matter what the outcome is, it’s to enjoy the moment. There’s such a great platform here to tell your story and spread the word about what is possible with people with disabilities and what they can overcome.
And I stress that a lot with them and I’m hoping they’re having a good time no matter what the outcome is.
Any good practical jokes?
Matt Stutzman: I got lots of them. Like, the other day, I was like, knock knock, and someone was like, who’s there? And I’m like, not me. And they’re like, why? I was like, cause I got no arms.
And they’re like, oh, that’s so dumb. I was like, that’s my dad jokes, but anyway. And then the other day, someone’s like, uh, tell me, tell me your famous dad or knock knock or dad jokes. And I was like, uh, what happens when, uh, when I fall down, like what, Mike, my face hurts because my arms, you know, she’s like, Oh, that’s like, Oh, you asked for a dumb joke.
You know, quite France very well, or have you ever traveled there?
Matt Stutzman: Uh, Paris specifically, this is my third time this year, uh, being here and then I was here once last year. So four times in the last. So, I’m very familiar with it now. Uh, it’s very beautiful. I love the food. I love what Paris represents. And, in my opinion, it’s been a long time since we’ve had people in the stands cheering.
For me, it would have been 2016. So I, I’m already vibing and feeling the vibe of Paris about how great it’s going to be. Buying tickets for my family to my own venue was extremely tough because it sold out in like an hour. And I’m like texting people like, I can’t even get my family into my own venue.
And yeah, we were able to figure it out or whatever, but that’s huge. That’s awesome. I’m looking forward to it and I can’t wait to compete in front of everybody.
Your sons will be here in a little
Matt Stutzman: bit. Yeah, my family for the first time. In fact, I’m a little sad because this is the first time they’re getting on a plane that in like a couple hours they’ll fly over.
Um, so I don’t get to be there with that experience. Uh, and it’s the first time of them leaving the country. So, but look, it’s Paris. What’s the best place to bring them? Might as well bring them to Paris, right?
Is that true that there is, uh, nothing that you cannot do actually in, in the quotidian life, in the daily life?
Is that true, yeah?
Matt Stutzman: I’m laughing because there’s actually one thing I can’t do. Uh, dishes. Yes. Dishes are tough for me. No.
I tell everybody, dishes, vacuuming and laundry. I don’t know how to do that. Uh, but the reality is, is, uh, there’s nothing I came across that I can’t do. I’ve always been able to figure it out. Um, if, even if it takes me a little longer to do it, I can still do what everybody else can do.
Yeah. Do you, uh, make some competition this year?
Or, what was the last time you compete, like?
Matt Stutzman: Uh, I’ve shot, uh, Three U. S. events this year and that was, uh, that was it. So, um, I’m having a little bit of, um, uh, hip issues. Uh, it’s sore and, and it’s been that way for several years. It’s because of overuse of the leg on how I shoot. So I basically am just in baby mode to take care of it that way when I’m here.
So I didn’t, I didn’t do a lot of extra archery events over practice just to kind of preserve the leg for a day. This week.
What, what do you think about the, the opening ceremony? I mean it, we’ll be held in this middle of the Paris series. Yeah. How do you think about it?
Matt Stutzman: Uh, I’m excited ’cause first of all, my kids get to be there.
Mm-Hmm. So we all get to be there for this Mm-Hmm. So, uh, for the first time as an athlete, I’m not walking. I’m gonna be in the stands with my family. Mm-Hmm. Uh, which is amazing. So to see it from that perspective and to be able to cheer on my teammates as they come in with my family around. I think it’s going to be amazing.
Yeah. What do you hope the legacy of this game says? Because we’re back.
Matt Stutzman: We’re back. We’re wide open. We’re back. We’re wide open. You know, the whole world has come together after what the whole world went through, right? You can think of Tokyo. I remember going into the stadium and there was nobody there.
You go into the parade, there’s nobody in the stands. And, uh, I think this is a celebration of what, as a world, if we can all just come together, what we can actually accomplish and get through, you know, because at the end of the day we’re all people, right? And this is a perfect celebration of that. It’s, I don’t know, I think it’s going to be the best games.
Whether I podium or not, it’s going to be one of the best games I’ve ever been to.
Are you interested by the presidential, uh, Debates in America. ?
Matt Stutzman: No, I’m not following any of that stuff right now. I, my focus is memories. Making memories ’cause it’s, uh, probably gonna be my last game. So that’s my focus right now and I’ll worry about that stuff when I get back.
do you have any huge expectation, expectation towards LA 28? Because I don’t think Paris Spot is popular in United States. It,
Matt Stutzman: it, uh, you know, honestly, um. I think it’s still going to be amazing for L. A. Uh, it’s the first time that I can think of for me as when I started following the Paralympics, that it’s going to be held in the United States.
But if I remember, I, um, I was told that L. A. We’ve had an L. A. Before the games. Remember what year? Paralympics.
But just not Paralympics in
Matt Stutzman: 84. So, I think it’s gonna be huge. Um, I think they can learn a lot from Paris. And as long as they take some of the things from Paris that are working really good and translate that into L.
A., I think it’s gonna be good too.
You are very popular all over the world. Is that difficult to stay simple with all that? Uh, and you are so popular, I mean, to stay as you were 15 years ago.
Matt Stutzman: Uh, I, so I don’t look at myself as famous or popular. I look at What I’m doing is me just living my life and what I would hope everybody else would want to, you know, in my position, live their life as.
And so for me, it’s an opportunity to spread the word about Paralympics. It’s okay. Uh, about the Paralympics and what, like I said earlier, what, you know, things people can do with disabilities. And so that’s how I look at it. Not about famous or popularity or anything like that. Okay. We’re good.
Sure. So besides the hip, how are you feeling?
Matt Stutzman: Uh, I feel pretty good mentally. I’m probably the most prepared for this games than I’ve been at any games before because of the mental training that I’ve had and the visualizations I’ve been doing for eight months. Um, when I walked out on the stage yesterday to go practice, I’m like, ah, Benny for eight months already, you know, like it just felt home.
It felt home. And I don’t know how to express that to people, but when you feel at home, you do your best. And even though we’re across the ocean or whatever, it still feels home.
Did you try the muffins? Oh yeah! Yeah, we don’t talk
Matt Stutzman: about muffins. Did you try them? I’ve had like one every day. And I don’t eat chocolate much at all.
So like, I’m just like, I gotta have another muffin. Sorry, we have to wrap. Thank you so much. Thank you guys. Absolutely. Thank you.