Grit & Gravel is a Glass column that delivers you the daily discussions you hear circling around your social cliques. Alike friendly discussion, it offers holistic opinions to better understand this strange life that we live.
This edition is a cultural summary of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games and the expectations for Brisbane when it takes on the role as host for the Games in 2032. This article is tied in with the Just To Be Clear podcast episode entitled Olympic Flames and Pop Culture Burning Bright, with Ben Steele and Matilda Lees.
Another quartet, another Olympic Games overwhelming our cable network television channels, social medias, and the conversations of people around us.
Now at the end of the buzz, there is much to reflect on. The 2024 Paris Olympics provided an entertaining broadcast – both to do with the events and occurrences outside of competition. Many athletes were on full display this year, became internet sensations or memes overnight. While not always positive, what happened at this year’s Games was discussed daily. Back home, it was a constant reminder that there is only eight years until the Olympics will be brought to Brisbane. It is without a doubt that Australia observed from afar how Paris ran the Games. It is now that we begin serious discussion as to what the city’s plan is to host an international audience, and potentially be the home to a new number of memeable moments.
So, in conjunction with the joint episode of Just to be Clear with Glass editor Ben Steele, here are some pop culture moments mentioned in our conversation – and some extras that didn’t make the cut:
Diamonds Are An Olympian’s Best Friend – The Best of Fashion at The Games
While it is safe to say that every Olympian wants to attend the closing ceremony with a medal of any sort, what cornered the attention of these athletes were not only the medals they would bring home, but the jewellery and fashion they showcased. While praised for aesthetic, these extra pieces often reflect an athlete’s “heritage, personal pride, and motivational symbols” which can not only capture the attention of you and I, but also boost confidence in the ritual of accessorising oneself.
When it comes to hair, Great Britain’s Emily Campbell sold the show. The weightlifter has a motto: if you look good, you perform good. And it seems to reign true, with Campbell taking home bronze in the Women’s +81kg Weightlifting. Her signature bun look had the British colours of red, white, and blue threaded through, with an additional set of Olympic rings threaded through the back of her hair. The look took three hours to perfect and took over the media.
Nail art was also painted on to nearly every athlete. Our own Ariarne Titmus sported fluorescent green gold nails that delicately cut through the water with each stroke. Columbian swimmer Stefania Gomez Hurtado sported nail art that was a tribute to Paris – the Eiffel Tower, Olympic rings, and Paris’ own Phrygian hat mascot, Phyrge. And the notable queen of manicures on the athletics stage, Sha’Carri Richardson, did not miss with a maximalist’s dream of gems and every colour possible on a set of long nails.
On jewellery, a personal favourite would be German basketball player Nyara Sabally, who was seen sporting a custom set of 14k gold grills with bedazzled Olympic rings. Simone Biles was even caught with a necklace of a custom 14k white gold, 3D bedazzled goat, made hand set with 546 diamonds. The pendant took two months to create for the proclaimed greatest-of-all-time gymnast who showed the world a wonderous return to the Olympic stage. Which brings us to…
Simone Biles Proving That Mental Health Conquers All
When talking about the Olympics we must discuss champions like Simone Biles – and when given a platform to speak about Biles on Just To Be Clear, you may reveal your love for Biles a little too intensely (coming from personal experience).
Circa July, Netflix released Simone Biles Rising – a documentary detailing the moments from the 2020/2021 Tokyo Olympics and beyond, from when Biles pulled out of the Games and dedicated the next three years of her life to working on her mental health and mental strength. What audiences can gather from the documentary is that mental health is an incredibly important topic not only among everyone but especially among professional, elite athletes on international stages, and the risks that can occur when this is not prioritised or protected.
Without any spoilers, the documentary never reveals one thing that led to Biles’ mental decline (although there never has to be a reason), but a plethora of events that mixed into the equation. What we do focus on is what many gymnasts call ‘twisties.’ Biles’s former coach Aimee Boorman explains twisties in the documentary as “when the brain stops communicating with the body, and the body starts doing one thing and the brain wants to do another, so the athlete feels out of control”. This can be an extremely dangerous route for gymnasts, especially ones like Biles who are known for their incredible twists and turns and jumps that are done in such speed.
Around the time when Biles pulled out of the Games, there were many mixed reactions. News segments the documentary shows reveal articles claiming she was ‘abandoning’ her team with headlines like “Simone Biles and the Cult of the Quitter” – creating a false narrative of a big-time athlete who just decided to up and leave. There was also scepticism around the reason behind her leave, with news anchors like America’s Jason Whitlock publicly denouncing her, calling her a “coward” and stating he “won’t accept mental stress” as a reason from Biles.
What I will spoil is this: Simone Biles returned with a stellar performance in Paris which earned her three gold medals and a silver, and is now the most decorated U.S. gymnast in Olympic history with eight medals to her name. And most importantly, she’s proud of herself.
Henrik ‘Muffin Man’ Christiansen & An Insight Into The Olympic Village
Never until recent Olympic games have the public ever been able to witness the insights into the Olympic Village with this much authenticity and truth – and essentially, with this much access. It’s as if audiences from around the world watching the games on streaming, television, and phones have been handed an Access All Areas (AAA) pass, lifting the rope for us to duck under and revel in what lies behind the curtain backstage.
Although, I don’t believe this is exactly what we pictured.
Henrik Christiansen – a Norwegian swimmer who participated in the 800m and Freestyle, as well as the 10km Marathon Swim – has gained not only a place to represent Norway at the largest international sporting stage, but also interest from the public eye. Christiansen has been dubbed all over the internet as the ‘Olympic Chocolate Muffin Man,’ and he seems to be taking the title seriously. Since reviewing the chocolate muffins that were supplied to athletes at the village, Christiansen now has 44.2k followers on Instagram and has amassed on TikTok to a total of 507.6k followers
And he’s not kidding. Many other Olympians jumped on the bandwagon to have a taste of the now-famous Olympic chocolate muffin, also on TikTok. Including ‘Pommel Horse Guy’ Stephen Nedoroscik, who also took a liking to the dessert.
These videos that athletes are posting to their social medias has provided audiences with an almost behind-the-scenes look into not only the Olympic life, but the setup and organisation of the Games outside of the events. It is not only the muffins we are curious about, but the fact that it is an experience that most of the world’s population will never experience. It is now accessible for athletes to share their experiences and for us to observe a life that is not ours. Even if that means we must watch Christiansen’s entire backlist of chocolate muffin appreciation TikToks.
The Question of Égalité: The Hijab Ban
‘Liberty, Equality, Fraternity’ is the English translation of founding roots of France’s lifelong motto, its seeds originating from the French Revolution in 1789. But as the Paris Olympics approached, the French government did come under fire well before the city gave us their Opening Ceremony. In September of last year, the French government came out with a ban against its athletes wearing any religious affiliated clothing or attire, including the hijab. According to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) women are free to observe the hijab. However, as the French are thought to be civil servants, the athletes were told to follow the new ruling when on the Olympic public stage. Liberty, Equality, Fraternity – without the equality.
The IOC told Time that “this means that [French athletes] must respect the principles of secularism and neutrality, which, according to French law, means prohibition from wearing outwardly religious symbols, including the hijab, veil and headscarf when they are acting in their official capacity and on official occasions as members of the French national team.”
French athletes that were affected by the ban include sprinter Sounkamba Sylla and basketball player Diaba Konate, both Muslim women who observe the hijab. Sylla was told she couldn’t wear the hijab for the Opening Ceremony, instead being allowed to wear a cap to cover her hair. Konate didn’t even get to compete due to the conflict. Heartbroken, she responded by calling France hypocritical for “call[ing] itself the country of freedom, of human rights, but at the same time not allowing Muslims or their citizens to show who they are.” For an event that possibly meant a lot to Konate, this ban took that dream away. Eyes are now on Los Angeles, the 2028 host country, in hopes they don’t exclude any future athletes and potential Olympic medallists.
Arisa Trew’s Life Post-Olympics: A Pet Duck & A Netflix Documentary
Gold Coast’s Arisa Trew became Australia’s youngest recipient of the Gold Medal by roughly 100 days at 14 years and 86 days; the previous youngest Australian swimmer Sandra Morgan won gold at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics at 14 years and 184 days old. As a bet, her parents promised her to present her with her dream pet if she brought home gold – a pet duck.
Trew stated that her parents didn’t allow her to have a dog or cat due to her busy schedule competing in international tournaments, but thought “a duck might be a little easier” to take care of. She promises to take it on walks to the skate park, and to “definitely” teach her future duck to ride a skateboard.
What has also cornered people’s attention is that actor and producer Reese Witherspoon has also expressed being a fan of Trew, to the point of featuring the skateboarder in a documentary that is partnered with Netflix and her production company, Hello Sunshine, that is said to be released in October. It is expected that we will see more of Trew in the following year on our television screens.
Breaking and Skateboarding – What else will the IOC do for the attention of Gen Z?
Skateboarding was brought into the Olympics in Tokyo, when Trew was just 10 years old beginning to take her new interest seriously. Macintosh Ross says in his article From Outlier To Olympic Sport: “The IOC’s interest in skateboarding, of course, is financial. Like a greedy vampire, it scans the sports cape in search of popular, youthful sports, capable of revitalizing its viewership.” With Skateboarding’s athletes being between the ages of 14 and 24 (from Paris), it showed an opportunity for younger audiences to watch the Olympics.
Breaking was brought into the Olympic stage for the first and last time at Paris, with Los Angeles expected to bring in new sports for 2028. According to Jean-Laurent Bourquin, former senior manager of the IOC, Breaking was also thought to reconnect younger audience to the Games, to intrigue and entice Gen Z to boost viewership and general interest.
So why is the IOC so interested in Gen Z, and what does it plan to do bring in next?
One of the events Los Angeles plans to bring in Para Climbing, which might be due to the recent spike of interest over the last couple of years among young people, including indoor rock-climbing. It seems as if both Los Angeles and Brisbane will be guinea pigs for introducing new events to create a sense of intrigue for younger generations.
A Brief Enquiry into 2032: Brisbane’s Proposal
Which all leads us to here, our home city. It is somewhat a strange thought to picture Brisbane being broadcasted across the seas – a small city that is usually forgotten by many artists and musicians on ‘Australia tours’ suddenly having all this international attention. Even so, when Sydney hosted the Olympics in 2000, the government transformed the city to prepare its locals for the influx of attention it would receive.
So, how will Brisbane do?
To begin with – as someone who is not a resident but a visitor of Brisbane – the reception of Brisbane’s road map and systems will be an interesting spark of debate. Every time I open Maps on my phone, there’s always a direction from Siri that tells me to be in the left lane to turn right; a one-way street that has five lanes; a turnoff that happens to be on one side of the road even if I entered the main road from the other side. It is a confusing setup for someone who doesn’t know the streets like the back of their hand, and I am curious to witness the international reception to the city’s landscape.
What was notable in Paris prior to the Olympics was the state of the subways. On a trip to Paris last year, I had noticed that the stations were completely cardless, instead sticking to pre-tap-and-go with tickets that you purchase at machines that are different per station and can be confusing for tourists if not used to its systems. How France combatted this was by temporarily introducing a multi-use Paris Travel Card for the Olympics and Paralympics.
Considering that Brisbane is Australia’s most expensive city to park, public transport will be the go for tourists and locals alike. To combat both the road and transport problems, the Brisbane Olympics website details a pitch to what they plan to achieve before 2032. Additional services are planned – a usual tactic. The city also proposes to add dedicated Olympic and Paralympic lanes “to ensure smooth and efficient travel” and “to alleviate traffic congestion.” These additional lanes also include bike-sharing services and walkways. As for the plan for fares, it is still up in the air.
And whether we see an incident with an ibis or not that gains international attention (Ben’s prediction), one thing is for certain: the time zone will make things easier for those in the Southern Hemisphere to tune in to their favourite events.
Matilda Lees is a writer and filmmaker living on Yugambeh country (Gold Coast) with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Queensland University of Technology. Tending to think too much about society and the way we live, her practice is influenced by just that and often explores the human experience, alignment and intimacy, and nostalgia in all its twisted being. If you require her attention, simply mention Greta Gerwig, Sally Rooney, Mona Awad, or Sylvia Plath in your conversations.
