Jack Tame: My takeaways from the Paris Olympic Games

I don’t want it to end! Has two weeks really passed that quickly?  

Honestly, my entire life and the daily rhythms of our household have come to revolve around the Olympic Games. There isn’t a dinner that is cooked, a lunchbox that is prepared, a table that is wiped down, or a basket of washing that is folded without the steady hum of speed climbing, or synchronised diving, or the men’s 800m repechage in the background.  

These are my takeaways from Paris 2024: 

First of all, I love the way in which history turns on the finest human margins.  

The men’s 100m final was a great example, the way they broke the line in such a crowd, that both first and second recorded the same time on the TV and stadium clocks. With a microscope and a high-quality photo, apparently the silver medallist somehow broke the line first, but he did so with his foot, and ultimately it’s whoever’s chest breaks the line first that wins the race. History decided by five one-thousandths of a second.  

I said before the games that I was looking forward to the men’s 1500m final and it didn’t disappoint. The two favourites had been talked up so much, and had smack-talked each other so much, that basically everyone —including me— had worked themselves into a state where it looked like only those two runners could possibly win it. The defending champion was so cavalier that in the heats, he deliberately didn’t crouch for the start of the race. He waited for the starting gun, let everyone else run off, and then casually trundled after them. 

But in the final, Jakob Ingebrigtsen’s approach came back to bite him. He led for the first 85% of the race, setting a cracking pace as he tried to break his great rival, Britain’s Josh Kerr. On the final stretch, Kerr looked to go round Ingebrigtsen, and Ingebrigtsen drifted into lane two to try and block the overtake. What do we know about geometry? The inside lane has the shortest path to the finish line. As the two favourites scrapped in lanes 2 and 3, an American runner, Cole Hocker, slipped up the inside and pipped them for Olympic glory. Kerr finished second, Ingebrigtsen fourth. It was extraordinary.  

With a day to go before the closing ceremony, here’s my take on the Olympic sports.  

I love many of the newer ones. Sportclimbing is so good. It fits into my could-a-caveman-do-it category, which I think is an excellent measure for whether individual sports should be at the Olympics. 

I’m not just saying it because Finn Butcher won gold, but I reckon the Kayak Cross is fantastic. It’s such a spectacle! Same applies to the skateboarding. It’s so good.  

I mean no disrespect to any of the athletes in these sports but I’m ambivalent on surfing at the Olympics and as spectacular as the breakdancing is, it’s gonna take me a bit longer to come around. 

Honestly, I don’t think football should be at the Olympics. Same with tennis and golf. Those sports are big enough outside of the games. Maybe the best test should be whether or not the Olympics is the pinnacle competition in that respective sport. If it’s not, then leave it out. 

One of the things that has been great about the games is how well-attended all of the events have been. The crowds for everything have been massive. I also love refreshing it is to hear from athletes who aren’t rugby players who’ve had every scintilla of life and personality beaten out of them by overly-protective media managers. 

And as for my favourite Kiwi performance? We still have that incredible contest in the women’s K1 to come and there are a couple of other Kiwis who could be a chance, but for me it’s still gonna be hard to beat our very first medal of Paris ’24, our very first gold: the women’s sevens.  

Tell you what though... I don’t love Mondays at the best of times... but this week is gonna’ be tough. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack team podcast
from News Talks at me.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Honestly, I just don't want it to end. I cannot
bear the thought of these Olympic Games ending. Has two
weeks really passed that quickly? Yeah? Honestly, my entire life,
the daily rhythms of our household have entirely come to
revolve around the Olympic Games. There isn't a dinner that

(00:34):
has cooked, a lunch box that is prepared, a table
that has wiped down, or a basket of washing that
has folded without the steady hum of speed climbing or
synchronized diving, or the men's eight hundred meters ramp a
charge in the background. So these are my takeaways from
Paris twenty twenty four. First of all, I love the

(00:55):
way in which sporting history turns on the finest human margins.
The mean one hundred meter final, I think, was the
perfect example, the way they broke the line in such
a crowd that both first and second place recorded the
same time on the TV, in stadium clocks and with
a microscope and a high quality photo. Apparently the silver

(01:18):
medallist somehow broke the line first, but he did so
with his foot, with his foot and not with his chest,
and ultimately it's whoever's chest breaks the line first that
wins the race. History decided by five one thousandth of
a second. I said before the Games that I was

(01:38):
really looking forward to the men's fifteen hundred meters, and
I tell you what, it did not disappoint. The two
favorites had been talked up so much and had smacked
talked each other so much that basically everyone including me,
had worked themselves into a state where it felt like
those were the only two runners who could possibly win
Olympic gold. And the defending champion was so cavalier that

(02:00):
in the heats he deliberately didn't crouch from the start
of the race. He waited for the starting gun, let
everyone else run off in front of him, and then
casually trundled after him. The commentators were saying, like, this
is just plain disrespectful. But in the final yakob Ingerbritson's
approach came back to bite him. He led for the
first eighty or eighty five percent of the race. He

(02:22):
was setting a cracking pace as he tried to break
his great rival. This guy from Britain called Josh Kerr,
and on the final stretch, Kerr looked to go around
Ingerbritson and Ingerbriton kind of drifted into lane two to
try and block the overtake. But what do we know
about geometry? The inside lane Lane one has the shortest

(02:45):
path to the finish line, and as the two favorites
scrapped it out in lanes two and three, an American runner,
this guy called Cole Howker, slipped in on the inside
and pipped them for Olympic glory. Kerr finished second, Ingerbritson fourth.
It was it was extraordinary. It was amazing. So, with
the day to go before the closing ceremony, here's my

(03:07):
take on the Olympic sports. I love many of the
newer ones. Sport climbing, welcome to the Olympics. So good,
so good.

Speaker 1 (03:14):
You know.

Speaker 2 (03:14):
It fits into my could a caveman do it? Category,
which I think is a really excellent measure for whether
individual sports should be at the Olympics. Think about it, right,
Swimming could a caveman do it?

Speaker 1 (03:25):
Yes?

Speaker 2 (03:27):
Shot put javelin, could a caveman do it? Yes? Running
could a caveman do it yes? Climbing could a cave
man do it. Yeah, And I'm not just saying it
because Finn Butcher won gold, but I reckon the kayak
cross is an absolute revelation. It's such a spectacle, it's
so good. It just feels like just like anyone could
win any race. The same applies to skateboarding. Actually such

(03:49):
spectacle a it's so good. I mean no disrespect to
any of the athletes in these sports, but I am
a little bit ambivalent on surfing at the Olympics. If
I'm totally honest, and as spectacular as the breaking has
been this morning, it is gonna take me a bit
longer to get used to break dancing at the Olympics. Honestly,

(04:11):
I don't think that football should be at the Olympics.
The same with tennis and golf, although of course, if
Lydia Coe wins gold in the next twenty four hours,
I might have to go and scrub that from the internet.
Those sports, I just think they're big enough outside of
outside of the Games, and maybe the best test should
be whether or not the Olympics is the pinnacle competition

(04:32):
in that respective sport, you know what I mean? And
if it's not, then perhaps leave it out. One of
the things that I think has been great about the
Games is just how well attended all of the events
have been. The crowds for everything have been massive, like
massive crowds at the judo, at the fencing, at the
sport climbing. I also love how refreshing it is to

(04:53):
hear from athletes who you know aren't like rugby players
have had every scintilla of life and personality beaten out
of them by overly protective media managers over the years.
Favorite athlete of the game, it's got to be some
own Biles. Surely she's the queen of the Paris Olympics.
And as for my favorite kiwi performance, well, we still
have that incredible contest and the women's k one to come.

(05:16):
It's gonna be amazing watsing Lisa Carrington and Amy Fisher
take to the water. And of course there are several
other kiwis who could be a chance tonight, But for me,
it is still going to be hard to beat our
very first medal of Paris twenty four, our very first goal.
There's something about the women's sevens team that just I
don't know, There's something, there's something they've got that expector.

(05:37):
There's something magic, don't you think. Tell you what, though,
I don't like Mondays at the best of times, but
I reckon this week and Monday of this week is
going to be really, really tough.

Speaker 1 (05:53):
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