PARIS — It may have been unrecognizable from the blue skies of promotional photographs. But even the days-long rain that drenched Paris 2024 failed to harm the Games’ most epic venue, the Eiffel Tower Stadium, which hosted its first beach volleyball events on Saturday.
What makes this temporary location so visually stunning is also the reason it is so exposed to the elements. Its 11,800 seats are not impeded by any roof or awning, so every seat in the house can see the backdrop of the Eiffel Tower looming over them.
This also meant everyone got soaked.
Not that many people seemed to care. Even a defeat for the United States against Cuba could not dampen the spirits of the crowd, which was filled with fans who proudly praised the American colors.
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Miles Partain and Andy Benesh, the youngest American volleyball duo in US history, were defeated in straight sets by Nolsen Diaz and Jorde Alayo of Cuba in the first match of men’s Group D. sets ending 21-18 narrow.
“I’m proud of how we fought and we’ll get better next time,” Benesh told his sport’s national governing body then, looking forward to the next game against Egypt, on Tuesday.
The second game of the day saw top-ranked pairs, Swedes David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig, defeat Australians Mark Nicolaidis and Izac Carracher in Group A.
In the last women’s preliminary match of the day, Americans Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss beat Canadians Heather Bansley and Sophie Bukovec.
Australia beat China in the women’s Group B match, and Brazil defeated Morcco in the men’s Group D match.
Some viewers unfamiliar with the sport may have assumed it would be canceled amid the torrent. After a light rain in the morning, the dark clouds over the Eiffel Tower waited until kick-off at 2pm to really start to detonate.
However, it takes more than a little rain to keep beach volleyball players away. And all of his serves, blocks and “digs” – where a player somehow manages to keep the ball in play after an opponent’s shot – were met with gasps, screams and applause.
During downtime, the muddy crowd under ponchos and umbrellas kept spirits high with Mexican waves, chants and noise, unified beats in the temporary stands.
“We didn’t really know what was going on with all the changes, but we went along anyway,” said Garrett Gravesen, 43, an Atlanta consultant who defied the deluge with his stars-and-stripes suit and tie and red sunglasses. and paste. “We had a lot of fun!”
Brighter days are ahead. The rain is expected to stop on Sunday, and there will be beach volleyball games here every day until the men’s gold and bronze medal matches on August 10.
The other American men’s pair is Chase Budinger and Miles Evans. Kloth and Nuss, alongside favorites Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes, make up the US women’s teams. Cheng and Hughes in particular are hoping to defend the gold medal won by Alix Klineman and April Ross at Tokyo 2021.
They will do so in front of one of the most spectacular settings in world sport – hopefully while the sun shines.
“For Americans, we always want basketball tickets, but this time these were the tickets we wanted,” said Blake McCall, 38, who runs spas and hair salons in San Francisco. “Just for the location and the view of the Eiffel Tower. It’s so special.”
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
