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I had chosen as my first event of these
Olympics the beach volleyball session starting at 10 p.m. just to have a
wide margin to get there: I was supposed to land at 2.30 p.m., so the idea was
also to try to see a bit of the road cycling time trial, with Ganna starting at
5.20 p.m. I had a good chance of making it. The reality was different.
Arriving at the airport, I discover that the
flight, compared to my booking (11 months old) has been anticipated and
that I have now missed it. I manage to get a seat on the 5.10 p.m. flight with
a small supplement: I feared worse. I realise, however, that I will arrive so
late that I don't know if it will still be worth going to see the beach
volleyball: I decide to try anyway, also considering that the second match is
that of the Italian couple Cottafava-Nicolai, opposing the Qatari couple
Cherif-Ahmed (before that there is a women's match between two Americans and
two Canadians). The plane is not very full, and not many people seem to be
going to the Olympics. It also arrives a little late.
I only manage to catch the RER from the airport
at around 8.30 pm, after struggling a bit to understand how the ticket works on
my mobile phone (there is no barcode or QR and there is nothing like an image
scanner at the turnstiles, but it works anyway). The hotel is in the suburbs,
on the opposite side of the airport, by the time I arrive it is already 10pm or
almost. Of course I consider going directly to the stadium, but I discard it
for two reasons: I would have to leave my luggage somewhere (but I could try
Gare du Nord, which is on the way) and I would arrive at the hotel too late.
The RER railway passes by the Stade de France, where some French rugby 7 fans,
who have just won gold, are getting on (and I see that there are plenty of them
waiting to get into the station).
Eventually I leave the hotel at 10.10pm. To get
to the stadium I have to take two lines of transport: I get off at the first of
the two suggested stops, then follow the signs, but as it is the Stade Tour
Eiffel it should be easy to spot. After a while I start to see the top of the
tower, but there is still a long way to go before I am in front of it. I arrive
in front of the Eiffel Tower lit up in yellow and with the five rings and there I
realise that I am really, finally at the Olympics. Everything beautiful, but
the stadium? You can't see it: following the flow, I arrive on the other side
of the tower and finally find the entrance to the stadium. Surprise: I am not
the only one to enter more than an hour late, there are two others in front of
me. After passing through the first gate, with the police checking tickets and
backpacks, I realise that I have no clue of where my seat is, I haven't had time
to look. Fortunately, my entrance is the first one I encounter: there is
another check first of the tickets, then of the backpacks, this time by
stewards. It takes me a while to figure out where my sector is, but they are
all close by anyway.
I enter that the Italians' game has already
started, and they are down 8-4. A time-out is in progress, so I have more time
to look for my seat, which in any case is fairly easy to spot: it is the only
empty one, at least in the area. You can see everything very well, after all
the court is small and the stands are close. Two rows in front of me is a
Qatari fan, two rows behind, a couple of Canadians with a maple leaf on their
cheek. In the other stands I see a couple of Italian flags, one of Qatar, one American
and even one German (Germany is not present in this session). At the first
side change I see (they changee every 7 points) there is a human pyramid. At the
changes and sometimes even between rallies they put on music, from the Macarena to
the Addams Family, and people dance. Even the most beautiful points,
especially if by a block (‘great block’) are celebrated with a dance. I struggle
to get caught up, I am too tired.
After my arrival the Italians rally and
reacd a tie at 12-12. Immediately afterwards, however, they make a serve fault and lose two more points in a row. The Qataris thus keep the lead until the
end: they waste the first set point with a serve fault, but soon after the
Italians fault too and it ends 21-19. The second set is more
balanced, but above all much more beautiful, with many hard-fought rallies.
In the middle part the Italians score some good points, especially with
Nicolai, and take the lead, but never more than by one point. The announcer
reminds, also for me, that Nicolai is the defending silver medallist. The turning
point, however, is a very long and beautiful rally, greeted at the end by a
long applause, in which the Qataris took an 18-16 lead. They get to have three
match points: the attendance almost all stand up. I would like to avoid it,
being so tired, but when the one in front of me stands up I have to do so too.
On the second match point our opponents close with a beautiful spike: 21-18.
And so, my first experience in this Olympics,
and my second in a summer Olympics, lasted just over half an hour, but it was
worth it. It's always worth it.
As I leave the stadium, I realise that I haven't eaten. There are some kiosks inside the perimeter, but I don't stop
because they only sell snacks: at the end I will eat snacks from the
vending machines in the metro. On the way out, I find signs for the RER stop
next to the one I came from, but I go the other way trying to get back the way
I came. It's not easy, because you can't take exactly the same route, and in
the end I get lost. The RER is crowded, but not at the level of Rome at rush
hour, and anyway it's only one stop, then I switch to the metro, where there
are few people.
I arrive just before 1am. Tomorrow I have white water canoeing.
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