This month, athletes from around the world head to Paris in hopes of inscribing their names in the annals of history during the Summer Olympics. Events will take place in and around the City of Light (the furthest out among them being in Teahupo’o, a village in Tahiti, French Polynesia, where surfing events will be held), transforming the city’s landmarks and surrounding areas. Temporary outdoor arenas will include the Château de Versailles for equestrian events, a development that nods to King Louis XIV who transformed the grounds between 1679 and 1682 to house his impressive fleet of horses. The Eiffel Tower will be the backdrop for beach volleyball; breaking will make its debut as an Olympic discipline on the Place de la Concorde, the city’s largest public square; while the gardens of Trocadéro will host men’s and women’s road-cycling races.
From track-and-field paragon Florence “Flo-Jo” Griffith Joyner breaking the 200-meter world record twice in two hours in Seoul 1988 to the homecoming Games of Athens 2004, as captured in the black-and-white portraits that fill Last Heroes: A Tribute to the Olympic Games, the quadrennial trials bring the stuff of legend to each attendant and onlooker. Here, an ode to the trials, in equal parts Parisian flare and sportif exaltation, as a fresh crop of competitors ascend to the mount.
