IT IS customary, at the start of an Olympics, to say, ‘Let the Games begin’.
But the Olympics news cycle is already up and clocking up serious RPM.
We have had a spying scandal resulting in the removal of the head coach of Canada’s women soccer team and the expulsion of a British equestrian competitor for beating a horse.
We have even had the first disappointment for the much-lauded Team Ireland with Thursday night’s quarter-final defeat for the men’s Sevens rugby team.
Despite being the home of haute cuisine, there have been complaints about the quality, and shortage, of food in the Athletes’ Village. Apologies if anyone has previously suggested this but let them eat cake maybe?
There are always scare stories. In Beijing it was the fog. In Rio it was Zika virus and crime, although, ironically, Brazilian football legend Zico was relieved of €500,000 worth of cash and valuables when his suitcase was nicked from the back of a taxi here on Thursday night.
Admittedly, there was some substance to the stories about the disruption Covid-19 could and would cause to the Tokyo Games, which took place behind closed doors 12 months later than planned.
But, generally, things turn out to be all right on the night, even if yesterday morning brought news of a coordinated sabotage of France’s TGV network.
Perhaps it was just jealous Irish people who feel that if we cannot have high-speed trains then nobody else should either. And, along with the expectation that accompanies any major sporting event, comes the dread of a terrorist attack.
It has led to the largest peacetime security mobilisation in Paris with last night’s Opening Ceremony on the Seine a particular concern.
It prompted one cheery colleague to note that he could write an upbeat colour piece on how wonderful it all was only for something sinister to happen later, after his print deadline, which would make it a jarring read this morning.
It is the sort of observation to which a Gallic shrug seems the appropriate response.
And that is certainly the reaction of some locals to having the Games take over their city. Remember that this is the second major sporting event it has hosted in the last ten months, albeit the Rugby World Cup was on a much smaller scale.
In some cities — I am looking at you Dublin — this would be seen as an opportunity to shake visitors down for all they are worth.
It is true accommodation is dear but prices did start to come down in recent months.
And you cannot walk down any side street off one of the main thoroughfares without noticing the handwritten sign on the door of many small restaurants defiantly informing you they are closed for holidays for anything up to a month. Vacances > bank balances.
Still, the vendors at the venues will happily take up any slack, at €13 for a slice of pizza, provided you have Visa, the only card accepted.
For all the challenges, extortion, menaces — real, imagined or over-exaggerated — there is much to be excited about, both from an international and an Irish point of view.
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The rivalry of Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Josh Kerr will make the men’s 1500m a gripping contest. Noah Lyles’ bid to win four golds on the track at the same Games will be another compelling story in athletics.
Gymnast Simone Biles’ comeback will be a must-watch, as will tennis great Novak Djokovic’s attempt to add an Olympic title to his collection of honours.
But there is more to look forward to from a parochial viewpoint than ever before.
A century on from our first appearance at the Olympics as an independent country, Team Ireland is made up of a record 133 athletes.
For some, being aboard boat 28 — shared with Iraq — for last night’s Opening Ceremony may prove to be the highlight, with getting to the Games the height of their realistic ambition rather than a stepping stone.
But, for others, they have already established their credentials in major tournaments in their own discipline. This is simply a chance to bring their sporting prowess to a wider audience.
For many, Olympics is about track and field, and swimming, but they have not been events where Ireland have tended to look for — let alone find — success. Silvers won by John Tracey in the marathon and Sonia O’Sullivan in the 5,000m are the only athletics medals won by Ireland since Ronnie Delaney’s 1500m gold 68 years ago.
But Rhasidat Adeleke and — perhaps depending on her participation in the events — the 4x400m mixed and women’s relay teams are in with a shout, as Ciara Mageean may be if she can dig deeper than she ever has before.
Michelle Smith has all of Ireland’s four medals from the pool but, given what happened next, she is not as fondly remembered as Daniel Wiffen would be if he can live up to his billing.
This is his second Olympics. In Tokyo he was already slashing serious times off his personal bests but from a low base with his performances barely registering with the wider public back home.
In the meantime, he has won three golds at the European Short Corse Championships last year and, in February, two at the World Championships, setting a world record in the 800m freestyle.
For these Games, he has set aside the 400m to concentrate on the 800m and 1500m but he is hardly taking it easy as he also declared his intention to take part in the 10km open swim, targeting a medal there too, despite never having raced the distance before.
In a country always on guard for someone getting notions, his self-belief can be unnerving but it works for him and, to date, he has walked the walk as well as talked the talk. If Wiffen is confident of adding a medal to Ireland’s current tally of 35 — 15 of which have been won in just the last four Games — Paul O’Donovan is bidding to up his percentage share.
Along with hammer thrower Pat O’Callaghan, Smith — whose legacy is tainted by a subsequent contaminated urine sample — and boxer Paddy Barnes, the rower is one of only four Irish people to have won more than one medal.
In what will be the last appearance of the lightweight pair discipline at the Games, he will bid to become the first competitor from this country to win a medal at a third Olympics, having partnered brother Gary to silver in Rio and Fintan McCarthy — who is again with him this time — to gold in Tokyo.
Eimear Lambe and Emily Hegarty survive in the women’s four from the boat which took bronze three years ago with their fellow medallists Aifric Keogh and Fiona Murtagh switching to the coxless pair where they could claim another podium finish.
Gymnast Rhys McClenaghan and Jack Woolley in taekwondo have less happy Tokyo memories to reflect on but have done more than enough since then to suggest they could have a better outcome this time around.
Kellie Harrington will attempt to defend her Olympic lightweight crown with Aoife O’Rourke and Jack Marley the most likely other medal contenders in a ten-strong boxing team.
What could possibly go wrong? Let the Games begin.