1 00:00:07,173 --> 00:00:10,493 Speaker 1: You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack team podcast 2 00:00:10,613 --> 00:00:11,773 Speaker 1: from News Talks at B. 3 00:00:12,893 --> 00:00:17,653 Speaker 2: And yes it is upon us. We are exactly seven 4 00:00:17,693 --> 00:00:20,973 Speaker 2: minutes away from the conclusion of the opening ceremony of 5 00:00:21,013 --> 00:00:25,173 Speaker 2: the twenty twenty four Summer Olympic Games. We've just seen 6 00:00:25,573 --> 00:00:31,413 Speaker 2: an array of big name sports stars handling the baton, 7 00:00:31,573 --> 00:00:35,853 Speaker 2: passing the baton in the Olympic Flame, Zidan passing it 8 00:00:35,933 --> 00:00:39,933 Speaker 2: on to Rafael Nadal, who yes, isn't French but has 9 00:00:39,973 --> 00:00:42,853 Speaker 2: one a few French opens in his time. Serena Williams 10 00:00:42,933 --> 00:00:46,293 Speaker 2: coming up the scene as well. The opening ceremony is 11 00:00:46,853 --> 00:00:51,733 Speaker 2: a total cheese fest. Let's be honest, and I think 12 00:00:52,213 --> 00:00:55,853 Speaker 2: after this morning's opening ceremony about a third of the 13 00:00:55,893 --> 00:00:58,333 Speaker 2: athletes competing in these games probably will have caught a 14 00:00:58,373 --> 00:01:02,093 Speaker 2: cold from standing out in the rain for so long. Nonetheless, I, 15 00:01:02,213 --> 00:01:07,213 Speaker 2: for one, am absolutely fizzing. I love the Olympics. I 16 00:01:07,253 --> 00:01:10,373 Speaker 2: absolutely love them. I always have And even though of 17 00:01:10,453 --> 00:01:14,133 Speaker 2: course I can see clearly enough that they are an 18 00:01:14,133 --> 00:01:20,573 Speaker 2: obscenely commercialized orgy of hyper capitalism, consumption and junk food 19 00:01:20,693 --> 00:01:25,973 Speaker 2: sponsorship deals, I have never wavered in suspending my cynicism 20 00:01:26,013 --> 00:01:28,653 Speaker 2: for a few weeks every four years, and I doubt 21 00:01:28,733 --> 00:01:33,013 Speaker 2: I ever will. Usually the only things that get the 22 00:01:33,053 --> 00:01:37,893 Speaker 2: whole world's attention are bad things, right, think about it, 23 00:01:38,293 --> 00:01:43,653 Speaker 2: the whole world's attention. Usually it's usually it's war, maybe 24 00:01:43,653 --> 00:01:46,893 Speaker 2: it's terrorism, natural disasters. Those are the only things that 25 00:01:46,933 --> 00:01:49,893 Speaker 2: get the whole world's attention, the only things that unite 26 00:01:49,973 --> 00:01:53,373 Speaker 2: the attention of the entire world. But the Olympics are 27 00:01:53,373 --> 00:01:57,173 Speaker 2: about as close as humanity comes to a shared experience 28 00:01:57,333 --> 00:02:03,053 Speaker 2: of and shared interest in something good. It's about our 29 00:02:03,133 --> 00:02:11,093 Speaker 2: only truly shared collective celebration. I remember once filming alongside 30 00:02:11,093 --> 00:02:16,373 Speaker 2: a super conservative Mennonite community in rural Pennsylvania. This is 31 00:02:16,413 --> 00:02:21,373 Speaker 2: twelve years ago, and the Mennonites are similar to the Amish. 32 00:02:21,493 --> 00:02:26,293 Speaker 2: They essuw most modern technology and deliberately cloister themselves from 33 00:02:26,373 --> 00:02:28,973 Speaker 2: much of the rest of the world. Now. I remember 34 00:02:29,013 --> 00:02:31,093 Speaker 2: when I was filming, I asked a woman from this 35 00:02:31,333 --> 00:02:34,133 Speaker 2: community if she had heard of the Olympics, and she 36 00:02:34,213 --> 00:02:37,133 Speaker 2: told me that she'd never watched them, she'd never seen them, 37 00:02:37,813 --> 00:02:41,093 Speaker 2: but she did think she'd heard of them. She asked me, 38 00:02:41,173 --> 00:02:45,813 Speaker 2: was it something where people from different countries came together? Yeah, 39 00:02:45,893 --> 00:02:47,893 Speaker 2: I said, yeah, Yeah, that's it. That's it. 40 00:02:47,893 --> 00:02:48,213 Speaker 1: It is. 41 00:02:49,933 --> 00:02:53,373 Speaker 2: My favorite Olympic events are the primal ones, ones where 42 00:02:53,533 --> 00:02:58,413 Speaker 2: you don't need crazy specialized equipment, ones where the barriers 43 00:02:58,413 --> 00:03:01,773 Speaker 2: to entry are relatively low. You know, who can swim 44 00:03:01,813 --> 00:03:04,773 Speaker 2: the fastest, who can sprint the quickest, who can jump 45 00:03:04,813 --> 00:03:08,933 Speaker 2: the highest, do the most impressive flips. Outside of New 46 00:03:09,013 --> 00:03:13,653 Speaker 2: Zealand's medal prospects and competitors, these are the three events 47 00:03:13,653 --> 00:03:15,973 Speaker 2: and athletes that I are most excited about at these Games. 48 00:03:16,413 --> 00:03:20,533 Speaker 2: Number one, the fifteen hundred meters an absolute classic. I 49 00:03:20,533 --> 00:03:24,213 Speaker 2: don't know, maybe it's the legacy of Snell and love Lock, 50 00:03:24,253 --> 00:03:27,573 Speaker 2: et cetera. But the thing that I love about the 51 00:03:27,573 --> 00:03:30,613 Speaker 2: fifteen hundred meters is it is the shortest running race 52 00:03:30,693 --> 00:03:34,653 Speaker 2: to be properly tactical. At the same time, I was 53 00:03:34,693 --> 00:03:37,813 Speaker 2: in the front row of the stands at the Olympics 54 00:03:37,813 --> 00:03:41,653 Speaker 2: in Rio, and I remember I remember just how shocking 55 00:03:41,693 --> 00:03:45,733 Speaker 2: it was seeing how fast the fifteen hundred meters runners 56 00:03:45,733 --> 00:03:48,293 Speaker 2: were moving. And I know this seems obvious, but like 57 00:03:48,413 --> 00:03:52,173 Speaker 2: TV gets you close, but you still lose something in perspective. 58 00:03:53,173 --> 00:03:56,493 Speaker 2: And the men's contest this year, the favorite is Norway's 59 00:03:56,573 --> 00:04:00,453 Speaker 2: defending Olympic champion, and if jakub Ingerbritton, which is his name. 60 00:04:00,493 --> 00:04:04,413 Speaker 2: If he wins it again, I think most middle distance 61 00:04:04,493 --> 00:04:07,973 Speaker 2: running fans will probably consider him the greatest men's fifteen 62 00:04:08,013 --> 00:04:08,813 Speaker 2: hurr a meter runner. 63 00:04:08,813 --> 00:04:09,013 Speaker 1: Ever. 64 00:04:10,413 --> 00:04:12,733 Speaker 2: The second event I'm really excited about is another running 65 00:04:12,813 --> 00:04:17,213 Speaker 2: race and another all time great. Aliob Kubchogi is the 66 00:04:17,253 --> 00:04:20,053 Speaker 2: boss of Olympic marathoning. So he was Olympic champion in 67 00:04:20,053 --> 00:04:24,613 Speaker 2: twenty sixteen, Olympic champion again in twenty twenty, but his 68 00:04:24,733 --> 00:04:27,613 Speaker 2: pursuit of a third consecutive title puts him in a 69 00:04:27,613 --> 00:04:31,373 Speaker 2: real master versus apprentice clash. And again TV's good, but 70 00:04:31,613 --> 00:04:35,173 Speaker 2: you just can't appreciate how fast they're actually running until 71 00:04:35,213 --> 00:04:39,213 Speaker 2: you see it right. And finally, the athlete I'm most 72 00:04:39,293 --> 00:04:41,973 Speaker 2: excited about at these games outside of the kiwis, of course, 73 00:04:42,693 --> 00:04:49,773 Speaker 2: is Simone Biles. There they just aren't really sufficient descriptors 74 00:04:50,293 --> 00:04:54,053 Speaker 2: for what she is capable of doing. But seeing her 75 00:04:54,133 --> 00:04:57,693 Speaker 2: at her best spinning and flipping and a kind of 76 00:04:57,813 --> 00:05:05,333 Speaker 2: blur throwing herself into unbelievably complex and dangerous contortions, really 77 00:05:06,813 --> 00:05:10,293 Speaker 2: it really pushes my ingrained understanding of what the human 78 00:05:10,333 --> 00:05:14,453 Speaker 2: body is actually capable of. Like I see Simone Bials 79 00:05:14,493 --> 00:05:18,453 Speaker 2: at her best, and I think I sincerely did not 80 00:05:18,693 --> 00:05:24,653 Speaker 2: know that Homo sapiens were capable of doing that. I 81 00:05:24,773 --> 00:05:27,333 Speaker 2: was team Simone when she pulled out of the last 82 00:05:27,453 --> 00:05:30,853 Speaker 2: Olympic Games. You know, how could you throw yourself into 83 00:05:30,853 --> 00:05:35,093 Speaker 2: the stuff she does without absolute supreme confidence? And I've 84 00:05:35,133 --> 00:05:38,733 Speaker 2: watched all of the redemption documentaries. I've followed her in 85 00:05:38,773 --> 00:05:41,693 Speaker 2: the years since the last Games. I know she's getting 86 00:05:41,733 --> 00:05:44,413 Speaker 2: on a bit in gymnast years, but she is clearly 87 00:05:44,453 --> 00:05:48,373 Speaker 2: an all time great and I am desperate, absolutely desperate 88 00:05:48,413 --> 00:05:52,333 Speaker 2: for her to pull off a gold or you know, 89 00:05:53,053 --> 00:05:57,413 Speaker 2: five jack team ninety two. Ninety two is our text 90 00:05:57,493 --> 00:06:00,413 Speaker 2: number if you want to flip me a message Jacketnewstalks 91 00:06:00,573 --> 00:06:02,533 Speaker 2: b dot co dot in z ed is the email address. 92 00:06:02,533 --> 00:06:04,493 Speaker 2: Don't forget that if you are sending me texts. The 93 00:06:04,573 --> 00:06:08,053 Speaker 2: standard text costs applay. The opening ceremony of the Olympic 94 00:06:08,133 --> 00:06:10,573 Speaker 2: Games has been going for a long time now. If 95 00:06:10,573 --> 00:06:14,053 Speaker 2: you haven't seen any of the images, it's been fairly impressive. 96 00:06:14,453 --> 00:06:16,933 Speaker 2: Plenty of kind of schmalty, cheesy stuff in there. When 97 00:06:16,973 --> 00:06:22,413 Speaker 2: I started watching this morning, they had various athletes coming 98 00:06:22,973 --> 00:06:25,253 Speaker 2: via the SEIN, so they were coming on boats down 99 00:06:25,293 --> 00:06:28,733 Speaker 2: the Seine one by one. It was absolutely pouring with rain. 100 00:06:29,293 --> 00:06:32,813 Speaker 2: They had some breakdancers and people on bmx's kind of 101 00:06:32,853 --> 00:06:37,293 Speaker 2: doing stunts nearby to try and entertain everyone, and of 102 00:06:37,333 --> 00:06:40,733 Speaker 2: course the New Zealand team was looking great, but it 103 00:06:40,733 --> 00:06:42,813 Speaker 2: has to be seen that almost all of the athletes 104 00:06:42,813 --> 00:06:47,493 Speaker 2: looked absolutely completely nutterly drenched, which I'm not sure was 105 00:06:47,853 --> 00:06:52,213 Speaker 2: kind of ideal preparation for the start of competition. But 106 00:06:52,293 --> 00:06:54,973 Speaker 2: since then they've had various speeches and things, and they're 107 00:06:55,013 --> 00:06:58,733 Speaker 2: at the absolute end of the opening ceremony. Now Tony Parker, 108 00:06:59,213 --> 00:07:02,493 Speaker 2: who is the French basketball champion, is currently carrying the 109 00:07:02,893 --> 00:07:09,893 Speaker 2: Olympic torch past that amazing triangular edifice that marks the 110 00:07:09,933 --> 00:07:12,533 Speaker 2: opening to the Louver Museum. So he's doing that at 111 00:07:12,533 --> 00:07:14,573 Speaker 2: the moment. I'm sure they will light the Olympic torch 112 00:07:14,693 --> 00:07:17,693 Speaker 2: and the Games will officially be underway. Kevin Milner, there's 113 00:07:17,693 --> 00:07:19,653 Speaker 2: whe u's next on Saturday morning. Right now, it's called 114 00:07:19,653 --> 00:07:22,413 Speaker 2: a quarter past nine. You're with Jack Tame. This is 115 00:07:22,493 --> 00:07:23,173 Speaker 2: News Talk's EDB. 116 00:07:24,013 --> 00:07:27,133 Speaker 1: For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame, listen live 117 00:07:27,213 --> 00:07:30,533 Speaker 1: to Newstalks EDB from nine am Saturday, or follow the 118 00:07:30,573 --> 00:07:31,973 Speaker 1: podcast on iHeartRadio.