It’s the first of July today, and that means that now, we can officially say we’re heading to the Paris Olympics this month. OH, BOY. That fills me with both an absolutely ridiculous amount of kid-before-Christmas overexcitement, but also, it sort of gives me the fear: in the space of the next few weeks there’s a tonne of paperwork to get done, content plans to create, form guides to finalise, numbers to crunch, client contracts to tie up, projects to start, projects to finish, and road-trip playlists to plan (the most important job, I think). But who am I kidding? None of this stuff bothers me even a little bit. Every time I have to fill out some really tedious form on the Paris media hub it thrills me. You want me to submit my car’s license plate to the Paris Transport committee? You spoil me! I’ll be grabbing at every last morsel of joy over the next six weeks or so and spreading them as far and as wide as I can. I hope you’re ready!
In the pursuit of all that Paris excitement, we’re going to do a bit of an Olympic themed News & Notes today, with some updates from across the disciplines and a peek into how it’s all coming together. All together now: AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
National Holiday: It’s Canada Day! Good tidings to our friends north of the border.
U.S. Weekend Action:
Bouckaert Equestrian H.T. and Area III Eventing Championships (Chattahoochee Hills, GA): [Website] [Results]
Full Moon Farm HT (Finksburg, MD): [Website] [Results]
Inavale Farm HT (Philomath, OR): [Website] [Results]
Larkin Hill H.T. (North Chatham, NY): [Website] [Results]
Summer Coconino H.T. I (Flagstaff, AZ): [Website] [Results]
Twin Rivers Summer H.T. (Paso Robles, CA): [Website] [Results]
European International Events:
SemaLease Kilguilkey House International 1 (Ireland): [Website] [Results]
Your Monday Reading List:
Following his exceptional start in Tokyo, Snoop Dogg is putting his sports journo hat back on in Paris. He’ll be the Special Correspondent for NBC, and yes, I will absolutely be trying to meet him the whole time I’m out there. In the meantime, he’ll be trying to meet Suppenkasper, Steffen Peter’s dressage superstar, who went down in viral history as the ‘crip-walking horse’ in Tokyo, thanks to our favourite hip-hop dynamo. “I’m definitely trying to meet him. Hopefully he’s in the Olympics so I can say, ‘What’s happening?’ to him. Bring him a couple of carrots, some apples or somethin’, know what I’m saying?” says Snoop. Check out the full interview here.
Speaking of dressage-land, Charlotte Dujardin is a woman on a mission. The British equestrian is aiming to become her country’s most decorated female Olympian of all time. With six medals to her name already, she’s sharing top spot on the list with cyclist Dame Laura Kenny, so all she needs is one medal, of any colour, to make it happen and truly cement herself in the lore of her country. Here’s the full story.
Actually, let’s stay with dressage for a moment longer. It’s all kind of kicking off in Canada, where a successful appeal has been lodged by a reserve rider on the grounds of a conflict of interest of a selector. It all played out like this.
Here’s a great missive on women’s winning streaks in Olympic equestrian sport. Every day, I feel so grateful to be part of a world in which we actually have something like gender parity – and rightly so.
Need a great listen to start your day off right? This episode of the Olympic podcast is it. It focuses on the Olympic Refugee Team, which will have 36 members representing in Paris. If you’re not familiar with the team, prepare yourself to find your new favourite athletes while tuning in to the pod — because each and every one of these extraordinary competitors has also completed the Herculean task of getting themselves to safety from home countries that have become inhospitable. If anything encapsulates the intended spirit of the Olympics, it’s this. Listen here.
Morning Viewing:
The Champs-Elysee is closed to cars for the first time in – well, we can’t remember how long! The Place de la Concorde has been reshaped as the home of breaking. The Seine’s waters are clearer every day. There’s a tonne of change underway à Paris – here’s a look at how it’s all coming along.
