Yahoo Sports · Jul 23, 2024
Welcome back to the Olympics — a real one this time
After 2 Olympic Games clouded by COVID, controversy and absurdity, Paris 2024 is a return to normalcy
PARIS — It was a cold night in an outdoor stadium in the mountains of South Korea, the closing ceremony to the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Athletes walked in the Parade of Nations, all with beaming smiles, some wearing shiny medals around their neck. A K-pop boy band performed. So did a local children's choir. International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach declared the prior 16 days a grand success, dubbing them “The Games of New Horizons.”
Little did anyone know what was on that horizon.
COVID-19. Controversy. Isolation. Absurdity.