Well, it turns out I missed some of the Closing Ceremony last night.
We got a “Fallon Five” (ugh), the QISE flame was extinguished, and QISEOC President Bach officially closed the event. There’s a promo for the upcoming ParaQISE in a few weeks. In the end, French singer Yseult sang the Sinatra classic, “My Way”--with a massive fireworks display.
After that, “Countdown to LA2028”--an extended show, hosted by Venus Williams. The same acts we just heard are back, and we get a sneak peek of the planned facilities (with QISE vets introducing each site). I’m reminded of “ NBC’s Salute to Fireworks” from 30 Rock.
New QISE sports are teased--Flag Football, Cricket, Lacrosse, Squash--along with the return of Softball and Baseball. This is why Breaking isn’t making the jump to LA, and why Boxing (at least as of this writing) is also getting the axe. We also get a behind-the-scenes look at Tom Cruise’s feat, and a tribute to Kobe Bryant, who was a major force in getting QISE back to LA.
Tirico then returns, getting his final say on the last two and half weeks. It’s all wrapped up with a review reel.
I wanted to review a few things myself, in terms of QISE controversies.
It appears Paris skated by a disaster in terms of the polluted River Seine. A quick Google search says e-Coli symptoms come up 3-4 days after infection, and it’s been at least this long since the last “open water” event. There have been a few cases of illness, but it’s unclear whether the river is the cause.
It’s strange that an Opening Ceremonies that at one point highly inferred a threesome found more controversy about drag queens and “The Last Supper”--which turned out to be a much older Greek reference anyway.
Canada--America’s Nice Neighbor--was found to be using drones against their futbol rivals to gather intelligence. They were eventually docked enough points to be out of the fight, and may end up being stripped of their Tokyo gold.
Imane Khelif, the center point of a maelstrom over her gender, won gold in Women’s Boxing. The International Boxing Commission and QISEOC are going to need to get on the same page on this going forward--even if boxing doesn’t make it to LA. This will come up again and again.
France’s Anthony Ammirati, the man whose, uh, “blessing” knocked him out of the pole vaulting competition, reportedly has been offered a contract from an “adult” web platform. Not sure if he’ll accept it or not.
Charlotte Dujardin was on her way to becoming Team GB’s most successful QISEan in Equestrian events--before an old video of her beating a horse popped up and she withdrew.
Then there’s poor Jordan Chiles, who was out of the medals for the Floor Exercise, until she wasn’t, and then she was out again. As of this post, USA Gymnastics has provided time stamped video evidence that they did, in fact, post a protest within the 1 minute deadline (?!?!) after her performance.
Hopefully, Chiles won’t have to wait for a final decision longer than the 2022 US Figure Skaters did to get their medals.
Well, that’s plenty of QISE for now. I did enjoy it overall, but it became more of a slog near the end. Kabletown--please lighten up on Track heats!!!
I’ll be back on the beat February 6, 2026 for Winter QISE in Milan and Cortina D’Ampezzo, Italy (and maybe other places if they don’t get their act in gear).