Take your pick. Tom Pidcock coming back from a puncture and surging through a seemingly impossible gap to clinch the mountain biking gold. Andy Murray and Dan Evans winning their tennis match from five match points down. Swimmer Adam Peaty missing his third consecutive victory by a fingertip or 0.02 of a second.
And that’s just the first few days. And that’s from an admittedly patriotic Team GB perspective. As time goes on there will be many more, and every country will have its own heroes, its own tales to tell.
There may be wars and conflicts, economic crises, climate change, natural disasters – yet somehow the Olympic Games manages to rise above all that, providing joyous relief from the rest of the world for three magical weeks.
It’s true that Paris 2024 did not get off to the best of starts, with the torrential rain and technical difficulties with the sound producing awkward moments. But then there was the spectacle of the Eiffel Tower and the voice that is Celine Dion. The Opening Ceremony came good in the end, and of course, once that is over, there is the sport.
Alongside the football World Cup, the Olympics is the world’s largest sporting event. There are bound to be problems and issues, boycotts, walkouts, incidents of doping and cheating, claims of commercialisation, budget overruns and more. However, like clockwork, every four years, overall it generally manages to deliver, producing something that is bigger than sports, that for a few weeks achieves something remarkable in uniting the world, with all its differences, in a way that other occasions simply do not.
What’s responsible is finely-honed branding. Strangely, the organising International Olympic Committee or IOC receives a more negative press than the event itself. The IOC is regularly at the centre of disputes and accusations of playing geopolitics, favouritism and corruption. That is not the case with the actual competition.
There, once the starting gun is sounded, it’s all about endeavour and brilliance. Who cannot delight in the sheer grace and athleticism that is Simone Biles? The US may be divided socially and politically, much of the world has an anti-American bias, but surely, no one can fail to be awestruck at the genius of the country’s star gymnast.
Ever since the Olympics was resurrected in 1896, and the ‘Modern Games’ began, the Olympic Movement has crafted an image that is an example to others. There may be major, world commercial brands but none match the Olympics for the way in which its symbolism and messaging fit and work together. It really is a triumph of branding and marketing.
Key is the Olympic Brand Guidelines. “Our vision is to build a better world through sport. To inspire, by being the best that we can be. The best of what we can achieve. Together.”
The Paris 2024 Olympic Games opening ceremony – in pictures
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Spectators in the Trocadero watch a light show on the Eiffel Tower during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. EPA -
Former France international football player Zinedine Zidane, left, hands over the Olympic flame to Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal, who won the French tennis Open 14 times, at the Trocadero Stadium during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. AFP -
The cauldron, with the Olympic flame lit, lifts off while attached to a balloon as the torchbearers French former sprinter Marie-Jose Perec and French judoka Teddy Riner stand in front during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Jardin des Tuileries (Tuileries Garden) in Paris. AFP -
A balloon carrying the lit Olympic cauldron lifts off with the Eiffel Tower in the background during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. AFP -
South Korean athletes in raincoats enter the Trocadero plaza, the venue of the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics. EPA -
France's President Emmanuel Macron, right, and Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee, arrive at the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. AFP -
Members of the Chinese delegation sail along the river Seine during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. AFP -
Torchbearers run during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. AFP -
French President Emmanuel Macron, centre, and his wife Brigitte Macron receive Guinea's Prime Minister Amadou Oury Bah, left and his wife Fatimatou Diallo Bah, right, prior to the Olympics opening ceremony at Elysee Palace in Paris. Getty Images -
Crowds gather for the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. AFP -
The Eiffel Tower is illuminated with a light show during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Getty Images -
Zinedine Zidane, former French football player, carries the Olympic torch. Getty Images -
French President Emmanuel Macron declares the Games open. EPA -
Rafael Nadal of Spain carries the Olympic torch during the opening ceremony. Reuters -
The Eiffel Tower and the Olympics ring light up. AP -
The Olympic flag is presented by the The Horsewoman at the Trocadero. Getty Images -
Volunteers in the parade of flags. AP -
The Horsewoman, wearing the flag of the International Olympic Committee, appears on a metal horse at the Trocadero. PA -
An orchestra performs at the Trocadero. PA -
France's flag bearers Florent Manaudou and Melina Robert-Michon sail below the Eiffel Tower. Getty Images -
Heavy metal musicians perform during the opening ceremony. AFP -
Models present creations while walking a catwalk along the Passerelle Debilly bridge. AFP -
Athletes head towards the Trocadero during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. PA -
Athletes from the US travel by boat down the Seine. AP -
Mezzo-soprano Axelle Saint-Cirel, standing on the roof of the Grand-Palais, sings the national anthem of France. EPA -
Representatives of the French armed forces carry the national flag of France. Getty Images -
Palestinian flag bearers Wasim Abusal and Valerie Rose Tarazi travel with teammates along the Seine. AP -
Performers dance along the banks of the Seine. AFP -
The Institut de France is illuminated with fireworks. AFP -
The torchbearer runs past Pont Neuf during the opening ceremony. AFP -
Acrobats perform. AP -
Smoke in the colours of the French flag explodes over Pont d’Austerlitz. Getty Images -
Smoke billows near windows as performers participate in the opening ceremony. AP -
American singer-songwriter Lady Gaga performs at Square Barye during the athletes’ parade. Getty Images -
UAE athletes aboard a boat in the floating parade. Reuters -
Actors perform during the opening ceremony. AP -
Dancers perform on a roof. Getty Images -
Tightrope walker Nathan Paulin performs on a high rope during the athletes’ parade. Getty Images -
A heart created during a aerial display. Getty Images -
An aerial view of the Eiffel Tower and Trocadero at the start of the opening ceremony. Getty Images -
Athletes from the Refugee Olympic Team's delegation sail on a boat along the Seine during the opening ceremony. AFP -
Team Great Britain athletes sail on a boat as they pass under a bridge on the Seine. Getty Images -
The Olympic Torch is seen at the beginning of the athletes’ parade on the Seine. Getty Images -
Olympics fans wearing rain capes as they take their seats for the opening ceremony. Getty Images -
A maintenance worker sweeps water off a skateboard ramp installed on a floating platform in the Seine river. Reuters -
US singer-songwriter, rapper, artist and designer Pharrell Williams and French actress Laetitia Casta stand next to the Olympic torch in Saint-Denis, northern Paris. AFP -
French gendarmes patrol in front of the Louvre before the opening ceremony. Getty Images -
Performers practise near the Seine. Reuters -
French police officers secure the perimeter before the opening ceremony. EPA -
People start queuing to enter the venue of the opening ceremony. AP -
Security officers from the UAE border force on patrol in front of the Louvre. AFP -
French special forces patrol the Seine as the security perimeter for the opening ceremony is put up. Reuters -
Workers prepare the red carpet before the arrival of heads of state at the Elysee Palace in Paris. AP
The brand framework is built on five values: “hopeful,” “universal,” “inclusive,” “vibrant” and “progressive.” That same five is repeated in the five Olympic rings. Each ring represents one of the continents competing in the Games. Each country’s flag is contained in the colour of the rings.
Every single part of the brand has a purpose. Everything is fully integrated – it all relates back to that vision statement. Discipline is tight, the narrative is rigorously maintained.
The Olympics reaches a vast, global audience across different age groups, demographics and languages. That requires an incredible effort by a PR, communications team knowing how people consume their media and what appeals to them. They produce tonnes of curated content for digital and traditional media, scouring events for stories of human endeavour.
It’s designed to connect, to pull at heartstrings, drawing the audience in – and critically, emphasising the brand messaging.
Tellingly, so often the athletes without thinking evoke those values themselves. There is GB’s Peaty in the pool, suffering the crushing disappointment of being denied a third successive gold by the narrowest of margins. What does he do? Rush to congratulate the Italian winner. Brilliant, directly on message and in front of the watching millions of TV viewers.
It helps of course where the Games are held. Some cities lend themselves to playing host, blending the splendour of the surroundings with the beauty of the sporting pageant. The combination makes for a magical, memorable occasion. Paris, Athens, London spring to mind as recent locations that fell into this category.
Aiding the headiness of the mix is how much the nation and city want the Games. London in 2012 took to hosting, recruiting thousands of happy volunteers, putting on concerts and effectively turning holding the Olympics into an excuse for one mass, ultimately exhausting party.
Paris is similar. Emmanuel Macron was desperate for the Games, as was the Paris mayor, Anne Hidalgo. The French, too, have embraced them. Alas, they’ve coincided with the president suddenly appearing weak in the face of political turmoil – ironically that he chose to exacerbate by calling a snap election.
Hidalgo, too, has her difficulties. A week ago, she pronounced the Seine clean enough to swim in, and demonstrated as much by somewhat clumsily diving in herself. Now, the wet weather has caused the return of pollution and the triathlon has had to be postponed. This, after spending £1bn cleaning up the river so it could be used for the Games and afterwards by Parisians.
Fortunately, her enthusiasm and that of Macron have not been dampened. Hidalgo is proposing adorning the Eiffel Tower permanently with the five rings. She also hopes a hugely popular hot air balloon tethered to the Olympic cauldron will find a permanent home in Paris, as could the statues of 10 French women that were part of the opening ceremony.
“We should explore possibilities for these three symbols,” Hidalgo said. “These three artistic, symbolic and magnificent objects deserve our full attention.” It’s no surprise. The Olympics has that effect on people.
