A few thoughts about the Paris Olympic Games of 2024

The Paris Olympic Games 2024
By Paul McCann.

One hundred years ago , in the same place , the best athletes around the world came with the hope to win a gold medal at the 1924 Olympics in Paris . Nothing much has changed since then , most of the athletes who have come to Paris have a dream of winning a medal .
Some of the elite have a chance of winning more than one while others are ehappy just to have made it there . Representing your country is a great honour for everyone and many have struggled for years to teach that level in their sport .
To achieve success at the top level in any sport takes perseverance , dedication , self-belief , determination and courage to make it through .
All over the world many athletes will represent their country with the hope that they would become an Olympic champion .
History books are full of names of the winning athletes who have represented their countries in the Olympics . There are others who gave their best and although they may not have won a medal their prize was a personal victory just to have made it to the Olympics ,

There have been some memorable images from previous Olympics that are hard to forget like images of marathon runners crawling on their hands and knees in a packed stadium with the crown cheering them on . Their names have been written on the walls of fame in the halls of history . This Olympics will have many such images for us all to remember . As the crowds of spectators will soon be gathering , there will be many expectations big and small , there will be many feelings of joy and despair , lots of emotions and feelings to make us proud of our country and united with others under the banner of the Olympic flag .

Boxers will hit the canvas and get up again to fight on , basketball players will stand seven feet tall with their back to the wall , throwing the ball through a hoop , the track and field will see new champions rising above their personal best to achieve victory . Stories of heartbreak and happiness will be seen , there will be statements made , from people who made the grade that will remind us of those other athletes who came in previous Olympic games . Sometimes its good to look back on the past so we can see where we’re at and as we remember some of the names and faces of those who won games and races , there’s a reason why we compete or a reason why we enjoy watching others compete that keeps us focused on our dreams .
100 years ago Bill Havens was an American who was to compete in the 1924 Paris Olympics as part of the rowing team . Just before he left for France Bill asked to be dropped from the team because his wife was expecting their baby and he wanted to be with his wife for the birth . His wife begged him to go , but Bill stood firm .
The rowing team went to Paris without Bill and took out the gold medal with a very comfortable performance . 28 years later Bill received a telegram from his son Frank .The telegram said " Thanks for waiting around when I was born ,guess what Dad . what . I'm coming home with a gold medal "
At the Helsinki games Frank Havens won the Olympic title in the Canadian singles 10,000m canoeing championship .

When it comes to Gold keeping it in the family has its own hallmark of greatness .
At the Berlin Olympics in 1936 two brothers and a sister from Britain competed . Godfrey and Ralph Brown with their sister Audrey Godfrey won Gold in the 4x400 relay race and he also took out a silver in the 400m individual race . Audrey was a member of the team who came second in the 4x100m relay .

At the 1936 games in Berlin the winners of Gold medals were each given one year old oak seedling plants . They were presented in pots with the inscribed words ,
" Grow to the honour of victory
Summon to further achievement "
In a very short time the 2024 Olympics will begin . Some will compete , some will not some will remember what we forgot , some will achieve what they believed they could do . We shall the champions standing tall with gold around their necks as anthems play for the heroes of the day..



By Paul McCann
The End