I have been watching the Olympics on television in Spain. Lots of coverage of Spanish athletes, as is understandable. There are two stations on the same free streaming service , rtve, providing coverage from early morning until the events are over at night, and a third (and sometimes a fourth) joins for evening coverage. Very little switching back and forth between events. If you are watching coverage of the final race in Skiffs, a sailing class, as I did this morning, you see the entire race (in which Spain won the gold and the US got the bronze, in part because Ireland, which was second after the other races, passed the starting line too soon and had to go back and start again.) No switching to other competitions (except occasionally with a Picture in Picture box); no interruptions in the middle of the action for commercials; and, most thankfully, no shots of Snoop Dogg.
As you can imagine, there was a lot of coverage of Rafael Nadal from his arrival to his eliminations, first in men’s singles and then in doubles (by the eventual American gold medalists) in the quarter finals.
But, last night that all changed. There was one channel that was, for all intent and purposes, the Simone Biles channel. They focused on her arrival at the venue, then on her warmups, then on her performances, and, in between, on her sitting and watching the other competitors. (When another performer who was a medal competitor was performing, Biles was shown in PIP.)
I never realized how huge of a sports figure she is in the rest of the world (I am assuming Spain is not some outlier). But, it’s pretty clear to me now that she absolutely is a world-wide phenomenon. If she wants to do it and is still in Paris, she absolutely has to be the flag carrier at the Closing Ceremonies. If she isn’t there, it’s gotta be Ledecky.
As you can imagine, there was a lot of coverage of Rafael Nadal from his arrival to his eliminations, first in men’s singles and then in doubles (by the eventual American gold medalists) in the quarter finals.
But, last night that all changed. There was one channel that was, for all intent and purposes, the Simone Biles channel. They focused on her arrival at the venue, then on her warmups, then on her performances, and, in between, on her sitting and watching the other competitors. (When another performer who was a medal competitor was performing, Biles was shown in PIP.)
I never realized how huge of a sports figure she is in the rest of the world (I am assuming Spain is not some outlier). But, it’s pretty clear to me now that she absolutely is a world-wide phenomenon. If she wants to do it and is still in Paris, she absolutely has to be the flag carrier at the Closing Ceremonies. If she isn’t there, it’s gotta be Ledecky.
