In the summer of 1976, the Olympic Games were in Montreal, and it was our country’s Bicentennial. What better time for a group of college friends to travel from California to the East Coast. After a few days in our nation’s capital and Philadelphia, we were off to Montreal. Olympic tickets were cheap then, and we attended events almost daily. We saw some great ones, including Bruce Jenner, Nadia Comaneci and Team USA men’s basketball take the gold. We met fans from around the world, swapped Olympic pins and vowed to return. 

In later years I attended the Olympics in LA (1984) and Atlanta (1996) but had not been since. My husband and I attended several World Cup games for soccer in the intervening years. So it was with much anticipation that we arrived in France for the 2024 Olympics. Our first stop was Nice, followed by Marseille, where we attended three women’s soccer games; Team USA exited the group play winning all three games. We traveled to Lille in northern France to watch USA women’s basketball against Germany. After a slow start, the Americans pulled ahead and never looked back. Brittney Griner played in the game, and it was exciting to watch her.

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Our last stop was Paris as the end of the Olympics neared and medals were up for grabs. We watched the USA women’s volleyball team take on Brazil in the semi-finals. Brazilian fans are notoriously loud and energetic, and they did not disappoint. The arena was explosive as each team won two matches and went neck to neck in the final tie-breaker set. Team USA volleyball won and moved on to play in the gold medal game. 

Meanwhile, Team USA women’s soccer won the quarter finals and semifinals and advanced to the gold medal game, which we were fortunate to have secured tickets to. Again we were up against the Brazilians. The stadium capacity is 48,000, and there was not an empty seat or quiet moment. It was a nail-biter game, and USA won the gold 1-0. The game was followed by the medal ceremony, which was thrilling to see.

We didn’t attend, but USA women’s basketball took the gold medal and volleyball the silver, along with many, many other medals that team USA won.

As exciting as the games were, a unique experience of attending in person is seeing all the fans from around the world decked out in their country’s colors and getting to know a handful of them. As it’s customary to swap pins, the collection of pins on my Olympic hat was a conversation-starter. Attending the Olympic games was such an enriching experience, and I cherish the memories. 

Bobbie Erb