Less than a week to go


The last image from the first Summer Olympics I attended, three years ago at Tokyo's Closing Ceremonies.


Last night marked one week until I head to Boston for the flight to Amsterdam and on to Paris for my fifth Olympics experience, my second time covering the Summer Olympics after the COVID-delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics in the summer of 2021.

The leadup to this Olympics seems to pale in comparison to what I had to go through for the Tokyo and Beijing Olympics over the last four years or so. With both of them held during COVID, the amount of paperwork, testing and more was overwhelming in so many ways. There were times within a week leading up to the Games that I didn't even know if I was going to be able to leave the airport when I arrived in Tokyo. There were major problems transferring money. It was a pretty stressful time in all honesty. Thankfully, this time around things have gone relatively smoothly and one week out from flying to Paris, I feel like the ducks are all in a row.

I am thankful to the people who have shared some local connections to these Summer Olympics with me so I can find some folks in Paris who have connections to our local areas. Rower Chris Carlson of Bedford is a Brewster graduate and will be competing in the men's eight event while fellow Brewster graduate Melvin Ejim is playing for Team Canada basketball. Triathlete Seth Rider is the nephew of a reader in Belmont and then there are the New Hampshire connections that I saw in Tokyo, including diver Jessica Parrotto of Dover and runner Elle St. Pierre, who was star athlete at the University of New Hampshire. And Alton doctor Tamara Lovelace will be in Paris again as part of the US Cycling program, her third Olympics.

This past week has been spent trying to button things up a little bit. I've written a few stories that will run in the issues of the paper that come out while I'm just getting settled in Paris. I've registered on the Arrivals and Departures web site that helps media get from the airport to our accommodations and I've downloaded the transportation app on my phone, which will be key in moving between venues in Paris. We will be using public transportation for portions of our travel throughout the city in addition to the usual bus service that brings us between venues. I also registered and downloaded the SEAT application, which will be the service that we use to request and receive high-demand tickets. These are tickets that we receive from our NOC (US Olympic and Paralympic Committee on my end) for events that Paris 2024 deems will be high demand for press. There are obviously limited seats in many venues, so we have to register for those tickets in advance. I have already made my request for an opening ceremony ticket with Bill Hancock, the USOPC's high demand ticket guru, who has been more than helpful in my last few Olympic experiences.

The coming week will involve writing a few more stories, covering a few events and eventually packing for the trip. The flight leaves for Amsterdam next Monday night and I fly overnight before a three-hour layover the next morning and a flight on to Paris, arriving around noon.

Thank you to everyone who has reached out with Olympic connections and words of encouragement as I gear up for this fifth trip to the Olympics. I appreciate everything.


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