Some athletes are even excited to have fans root against them because unlike in Tokyo, at least there's a crowd.NEW YORK — The biggest races, routines and games for many of this generation's Olympic athletes were contested in front of mostly empty stands, largely devoid of coaches to help them out or friends and family to cheer them on.
Willoughby and about 100 other U.S. athletes are doing interviews and photo shoots this week at the Team USA media summit at a hotel in Times Square — an event that itself was made impossible in the lead-up to the Tokyo Games in 2021 amid the coronavirus pandemic. Mostly, athletes are looking forward to the chance to soak in the feeling from the crowd, an element sorely missing in the cavernous and largely unfilled venues in Tokyo.
“The boys have been saying, ‘We want to play France in, like, the semifinals,’” rugby player Perry Baker said. “You just visualize how big that can be, and how fun that can be. Their crowd. Our crowd. We live for those moments.”Olympic track will be purple for the first time ever at Paris Games