{"id":39870,"date":"2024-08-15T15:18:35","date_gmt":"2024-08-15T19:18:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/?p=39870"},"modified":"2024-08-15T15:20:01","modified_gmt":"2024-08-15T19:20:01","slug":"cronkite-news-street-sports-on-display-during-olympics-in-paris","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2024\/08\/15\/cronkite-news-street-sports-on-display-during-olympics-in-paris\/","title":{"rendered":"Cronkite News: Street sports on display during Olympics in Paris"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9\">\r\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Zw03FldLxLw?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">Video by Mihir Sinhasan \/ Special for Cronkite News:\r\n<a href=https:\/\/youtu.be\/Zw03FldLxLw>Mental Health Support at the Olympics<\/a>\r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n<div class=\"h3-responsive font-weight-bold\">From skateboarding to basketball, Paris showcased its street sport culture during Olympics<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"date\">Thursday, August 15, 2024<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"byline\">By Scott Sandulli<\/div>\r\n<DIV class=source>Cronkite News<\/DIV>\r\n<DIV class=source-website><A \r\nhref=\"https:\/\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org\/\">cronkitenews.azpbs.org<\/A><\/DIV>\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nPARIS \u2013 Hosting the Olympics gives any city a chance to show itself off to the world. Paris, with the Eiffel Tower lit up at night among several glamorous visuals, hardly needed any introduction when the world converged upon the City of Light for the 33rd Olympiad.<P><\/P>\r\nEven in such a picturesque atmosphere, the distinct street culture survives the millions of tourists that flock to Paris every year. Graffiti lines many public spaces and is embraced as part of a cultural identity. Among the arrondissements, it might as well be their screaming crowd backdrop as they play against their friends and foes in a little-known, tight-knit community of Paris street sports. <P><\/P>\r\nThe culture of street sports are as prevalent in Paris as wine by the Seine. Fenced-in basketball courts and concrete slabs for skate parks can be found throughout the city, often filled with people from sunrise until after sunset. And when the city welcomed the Olympics, the different patriarchs of these families put on their own display for Olympic tourists.<P><\/P>\r\n<div class=\" content_cards_card content_cards_domain_indianz-com\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"content_cards_image\">\n\t\t\t\t<a class=\"content_cards_image_link\" href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2024\/07\/30\/cronkite-news-native-skateboarders-showcase-artistry-and-heritage\/\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/22\/native-skateboarding-07-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Cronkite News: Native skateboarders showcase artistry and heritage\">\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t<div class=\"content_cards_title\">\n\t\t<a class=\"content_cards_title_link\" href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2024\/07\/30\/cronkite-news-native-skateboarders-showcase-artistry-and-heritage\/\">\n\t\t\tCronkite News: Native skateboarders showcase artistry and heritage\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"content_cards_description\">\n\t\t<a class=\"content_cards_description_link\" href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2024\/07\/30\/cronkite-news-native-skateboarders-showcase-artistry-and-heritage\/\">\n\t\t\t<p>Skateboarding is thriving in Native communities, with many participants using it to showcase their tribal culture.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"content_cards_site_name\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/favicon.ico\" alt=\"Indianz.Com\" class=\"content_cards_favicon\"\/>\t\tIndianz.Com\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nJust steps away from the Eiffel Tower alongside the Paris Tourism Center sits a pop-up exhibition named \u201cSpot 24,\u201d which will run through December and where artifacts and stories of street sports are told to visitors as these disciplines begin to make headway into the Olympic Games. For the 2024 edition, athletes around the world competed for gold medals in 3v3 basketball, skateboarding, breaking, climbing and even surfing.<P><\/P>\r\nThis mini-museum, dedicated to the ascension of mere street sports to the height of international competition, was designed by curator Francois Gautret to display the culture deeper than the fashion and art on display downtown.<P><\/P>\r\n\u201cSpot 24 is an exhibition dedicated to urban sport. The idea of Spot 24 is to talk about the history of urban sport culture,\u201d Gautret said. \u201cThe spot is not only about sport, but also about social culture in general. It\u2019s really important at the top of urban culture. We need to have the museum to talk about all the sports as an opportunity for us. It\u2019s an opportunity to be on the big stage and it\u2019s a way of making social change and urban movement in general.\u201d<P><\/P>\r\n <a href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2024\/08\/15\/cronkite-news-street-sports-on-display-during-olympics-in-paris\/parisskateboarder\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-39874\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1411\" data-attachment-id=\"39874\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2024\/08\/15\/cronkite-news-street-sports-on-display-during-olympics-in-paris\/parisskateboarder\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/15\/parisskateboarder.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2048,1411\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Paris Skateboarder\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;Paris Skateboarder&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;A local French skateboarder practices his skills on a graffiti-filled park. Paris is committed to embracing its street sports culture. Photo by Spencer Barnes \/ Special for Cronkite News&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/15\/parisskateboarder.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/15\/parisskateboarder.jpg\" alt=\"Paris Skateboarder\"  class=\"size-full wp-image-39874\" \/><\/a> <figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">A local French skateboarder practices his skills on a graffiti-filled park. Paris is committed to embracing its street sports culture. Photo by Spencer Barnes \/ Special for Cronkite News<\/figcaption>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\nGautret, a break dancer by trade, has pioneered this movement on a mission of peace and community. Paris has been hampered in recent years by street crimes such as pick-pocketing and harassment that has made some tourists wary of venturing out beyond the city\u2019s iconic landmarks. For Gautret, it\u2019s his mission to rebuild a safe community for the locals by their own. His format of doing such? The very games and competitions the Olympics contest nearby.<P><\/P>\r\n\u201cFor me, the idea is to take back the streets for urban sports,\u201d Gautret said. \u201cBreaking, basketball, all these sports, take back the streets where it all began. It\u2019s our community, and it\u2019s made for the people, by the people.&#8221;<P><\/P>\r\nBasketball is arguably the most iconic of all street sports that has rapidly risen in popularity in the last few decades, and generates the most publicity of the Summer Games every four years. Although commonly dominated by the United States on the international stage, this sport specifically has given the French people, and the street sport community, their representative in the mainstream of the NBA.<P><\/P>\r\nFormer No. 1 overall draft pick and reigning NBA Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama is a product of Paris streetball, having grown up on the same courts where local youth hoop deep into the night. As he represents Le Bleu in their chase for glory, and the French 3v3 men\u2019s team already claimed a silver medal in these Games, the camaraderie and competition formed underneath the chain-link nets are now as strong a proving ground to become an established star in the game as any NCAA All-American.<P><\/P>\r\n <a href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2024\/08\/15\/cronkite-news-street-sports-on-display-during-olympics-in-paris\/parispark\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-39876\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1365\" data-attachment-id=\"39876\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2024\/08\/15\/cronkite-news-street-sports-on-display-during-olympics-in-paris\/parispark\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/15\/parispark.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2048,1365\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Paris. France\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;Paris. France&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;In the heart of Paris near the Canal Saint-Martin sits a popular park where many people gather to play basketball or simply socialize. Photo by Spencer Barnes \/ Special for Cronkite News&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/15\/parispark.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/15\/parispark.jpg\" alt=\"Paris. France\"   class=\"size-full wp-image-39876\" \/><\/a> <figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">In the heart of Paris near the Canal Saint-Martin sits a popular park where many people gather to play basketball or simply socialize. Photo by Spencer Barnes \/ Special for Cronkite News<\/figcaption>\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nLuyengo Yoana, followed by 45,000 on Instagram, is regarded by many locals as the king of streetball in Paris. Even though NBA prospects such as Wembanyama and Alexander Sarr have come through here, Yoana still takes pride in being a big brother to every young baller that comes through.<P><\/P>\r\n\u201cEverybody can play. It\u2019s like a big family,\u201d Yoana said. \u201cIt\u2019s not just about basketball (or any other sport). It\u2019s about community. Kids decide to play young and they look at grown people like myself for community, family, how we can help each other in life.\u201d<P><\/P>\r\nEven for those who won\u2019t win gold medals or make millions playing these sports, they\u2019re a way of building commonality and giving everybody a place to belong in a city where communal values are harder and harder to maintain. With the sporting world\u2019s eyes trained on Paris, these everyday people need not find themselves in fame, but in family.<P><\/P>\r\n\u201cYou can meet people from everywhere and every social class,\u201d said Donald Efouba, a local skater. \u201cThe Olympics brings our community visibility.\u201d<P><\/P>\r\n<div class=\" content_cards_card content_cards_domain_indianz-com\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"content_cards_image\">\n\t\t\t\t<a class=\"content_cards_image_link\" href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2024\/08\/09\/cronkite-news-breakdancing-debuts-at-2024-olympic-games-in-paris\/\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/22\/teamusa.jpg\" alt=\"Cronkite News: Breakdancing debuts at 2024 Olympic games in Paris\">\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t<div class=\"content_cards_title\">\n\t\t<a class=\"content_cards_title_link\" href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2024\/08\/09\/cronkite-news-breakdancing-debuts-at-2024-olympic-games-in-paris\/\">\n\t\t\tCronkite News: Breakdancing debuts at 2024 Olympic games in Paris\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"content_cards_description\">\n\t\t<a class=\"content_cards_description_link\" href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2024\/08\/09\/cronkite-news-breakdancing-debuts-at-2024-olympic-games-in-paris\/\">\n\t\t\t<p>Snoop Dogg isn\u2019t the only one looking forward to breaking\u2019s debut at the 2024 Olympics.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"content_cards_site_name\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/favicon.ico\" alt=\"Indianz.Com\" class=\"content_cards_favicon\"\/>\t\tIndianz.Com\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\r\n<P><\/P>\r\nWith their passions televised on a world stage, Spot 24 represents the street sport culture that spans far outside of Paris, and means something to millions of people.<P><\/P>\r\n\u201cIn such an Olympic exhibition, with nations from all around the world participating in the sports, it\u2019s really a new way to prove to the people that now it\u2019s something important and can allow people to gather around and share communal values,\u201d Gautret said.<P><\/P>\r\n\u201cIt\u2019s something really global.\u201d<P><\/P>\r\n\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n<STRONG>For more stories from Cronkite News, visit <A href=\"https:\/\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org\/?utm_source=referral&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=client\">cronkitenews.azpbs.org<\/A>.<\/STRONG>\r\n<P><\/P>\r\n<HR><EM>Note: This story originally <a href=\"https:\/\/cronkitenews.azpbs.org\/2024\/08\/14\/skateboarding-basketball-paris-street-sport-culture-olympics-2024\/\">appeared on Cronkite News<\/a>.  It  is published via a <A href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/3.0\/\">Creative  Commons license<\/A>. Cronkite News is produced by the <A href=\"https:\/\/cronkite.asu.edu\/\">Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication<\/A> at <A href=\"https:\/\/www.asu.edu\">Arizona State University<\/A>.<\/EM><HR>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hosting the Olympics gives any city a chance to show itself off to the world.","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39874,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,21,23],"tags":[1252,5239,46,4600,349,3665],"class_list":["post-39870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","category-sports","category-world","tag-basketball","tag-breakdancing","tag-cronkite-news","tag-france","tag-olympics","tag-skateboarding","no-wpautop"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/15\/parisskateboarder.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcoJ7g-an4","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39870"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39870\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39881,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39870\/revisions\/39881"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}