Athletes who competed at the last Summer Olympics remember the sadness and longing of having almost no one in the stands because of pandemic-era restrictions imposed in Tokyo three years ago.
Only there were no fans and the stadium was silent, which was bad enough. Maybe even worse? There were no parents or siblings. There were no lifelong friends or childhood coaches. The people who helped raise and shape Olympians and Paralympians. The ones who paid for classes and drove to practices at 5 a.m. or bought ice cream after a big win and offered a comforting hand on a sagging shoulder after a failure.
At the Paris Games, which begin this month, they can all get involved, and offer something that wasn’t there last time: a support system that can help improve results, get through tough moments and celebrate the best moments.
“I may have been alone on the start line, but I didn't get there alone,” said Oxana Masters, winner of 10 medals across four sports at the Summer and Winter Paralympics. “So for them to be there and experience it together, that's the moment I'm looking forward to in Paris.”
This is a common feeling.
“I'm just looking forward to my friends and family and the people who go on the journey with you being a part of it. That's the most exciting thing – crossing the line and being able to see the people you care about,” said Alice Willoughby, who qualified for her fourth Olympics in BMX racing. “Not having a network in Tokyo was really hard. It felt like you were back at a local night of racing when you were a kid, where you could hear a parent screaming really loudly for their child.”
But there are other motivations behind it too.
“You're not doing it for the money. You're not doing it for the fame. You're doing it for your loved ones. You're doing it for your country. You're also doing it for yourself. You're doing it for your teammates, your team, the team behind the team,” said Maggie Stephens, a three-time gold medalist in water polo. “Family is everything to me. My mom, my dad and my three older siblings really (challenge me), (teach) me like they're the real coaches. Your family, they're the real cheerleaders; they're the ones who are sponsoring you. … And it's almost like: I wish they could wear the water polo cap with me and experience this.”
That feeling is why artistic swimmer Megumi Field, 18, describes going to the Olympics as “my dream … but also their dream.”
This also explains why many people associated with the Olympians are excited to travel to France this summer, especially after the lack of a shared experience in 2021.
US men's water polo captain Ben Hallock described it this way: “Everybody was saying, 'I'm booking! I'm coming!'”
Or, possibly, a burden.
“I owe it to everyone who supports me — my sponsors, my friends, my family, my coaches — to do my best and win a medal,” said Gabby Thomas, a sprinter who won bronze in the 200 meters in Tokyo and made the U.S. team in the same event again for Paris.
Diver Andrew Capobianco, who is competing at his second Olympics, hopes his mother and father, his twin brother and another brother, two of his childhood diving coaches and his old gymnastics coach will also make it to France.
That would be awesome, because, Capobianco said, “they all have a huge role in what I’m doing.”
and yet …
“It's kind of like a double-edged sword. Last time, there were definitely less distractions with no people there. And so I was able to just focus on what I needed to do,” he explained. “But this time it's going to be a lot different. There's going to be distractions. There's going to be a lot more hype and excitement. And so for me, I'm not really a person who thrives in that environment. I love that feeling, but I also need to stay very balanced. If I get too excited or too depressed, my performance can suffer.”
Victor Montalvo, a breakdancer who competes under the name B-Boy Victor, remembers that his father built a studio in their backyard for him and his siblings “because he wanted us to stay out of trouble.”
“He didn't have the money for rent, but he somehow found a way to borrow the money to build this studio,” Montalvo said. “He even bought me my first passport … to go to one of those shows I loved so much as a kid. And he didn't have the money for that either.”
Another breaker, Sunny Choi – aka B-Girl Sunny – used to think she could do everything on her own, but now she realises that it’s the love and belief of the people around her that makes all the difference.
“On the days when it's hard to get out of bed, they're there to help you,” he said.
That's why Choi is thrilled to bring a “big team” to Paris for her sport's Olympic debut: her mother and father, three brothers with their significant others, four nieces, her boyfriend, her agent, a strength coach and a massage therapist.
Maybe even more than that.
“Someone once told me: ‘Imagine you win something and then you leave and there’s no one to tell you,’” Choi said. “So having everyone there — whether you win or lose — is just going to be amazing.”