Excited spectators splashed through puddles Saturday to reach the most spectacular venue of the Paris 2024 Olympics as the first beach volleyball matches began in the shadow of a just-visible Eiffel Tower.
After a rain-soaked opening ceremony on Friday, the first full day of sporting action in Paris was equally wet and crowds at the purpose-built stadium huddled under umbrellas, hats and raincoats.
The waterlogged park was supposed to be the standout venue of the Games but the rain lashed down as men’s teams from the United States and Cuba took to the sand for the opening match.
The skateboarding competition was postponed earlier Saturday but beach volleyball is rarely called off for rain, only for storms.
Athletes warmed up on practice courts in a mixture of tracksuits and shorts, and women players donned leggings or long-sleeved tops rather than the signature bikinis the sport has become known for.
Outside the stadium, wooden walkways swayed under muddy puddles and fans wearing their national flags covered up under an array of ponchos, berets and Paris 2024 baseball caps.
“It’s horrible, but it’s Paris,” said Thibauld Fournes ruefully, visiting from northern France. “I don’t think it will stop me having a good time.”
Beach volleyball has grown to become one of the most popular events at the Olympics since its inclusion for the first time in 1996, and stadium stands were largely packed.
“I don’t think the weather will ruin it at all — it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” said Sonya Chiu, 44, from New York. “Even though it’s raining, pouring, everyone is in good spirits.”
Temperatures in Paris are set to soar in the next few days and many tourists were carrying an array of all-weather accessories.
“We bought sun cream and sun hats — haven’t used them at all. But we spent five euros each on ponchos yesterday and they were great,” said Sydney Swanson, 31, from Texas.
“Best five euros I’ve ever spent,” agreed her husband, Axel.
On the court, Cuba’s Noslen Diaz Amaro and Jorge Luis Alayo Moliner easily won the first match of the day against US pair Miles Partain and Andrew Benesh.
The United States are the current Olympic women’s champions but have not won men’s gold since Beijing in 2008.
Next on the sand were the top-ranked Swedish pairing of David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig, both aged 22, who eased to victory against Australians Mark Nicolaidis and Izac Carracher.
The pair used an aggressive playing style known as the “Swedish jump-set”, which adds an element of unpredictability to attacking play and helped them win the day’s second match in straight sets in under 40 minutes.
“A lot of people didn’t believe that it would work so well but I think we proved a lot of people wrong,” said Hellvig.
The women’s competition started with a close match between Asian champions China’s Xue Chen and Xia Xinyi and Tokyo 2020 silver medallists Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy of Australia.
After a tight battle that ran to three sets, Australia managed to get over the line, winning 16-14 in the decider.
“China is such a great team so it was never going to be an easy match,” said Clancy. “I think everybody (in the crowd) definitely got their value’s worth.”
Twenty-four teams start in both the men’s and women’s events, before being whittled down to 16 for the knockout stages, with the finals taking place on August 9 and 10.
