Editor’s note: Anna Laible of Lehighton is covering the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, with a team of fellow journalists from the University of North Carolina. She is reporting regularly on her experience there for the Times News.

Day 11

Thankfully, I was able to get some much needed sleep and then I started the day going to the Paris Media Center, and they even gave me a gift bag with a water bottle and some other goodies.

Afterward, I had lunch and a nice margarita pizza before taking the metro to the indoor volleyball venue. The atmosphere at the Brazil-Dominican Republic game was so awesome and I really enjoyed getting a chance to see it!

After, I made my journey to track where I worked on different stories before the racing got underway. It’s hard to pick a favorite, but there is just something special unlike any other venue at the Stade de France with the sellout crowd and electricity for every single race that I just love.

It’s so cool to see how much the home country fans from France get into every race with any France athlete, especially after these athletes didn’t have a chance to have any sort of crowd in Tokyo. It was also neat to see Sydney McLaughlin Levrone, one of the world’s top track stars, compete in person for the first time.

The one thing that differentiates track from all of the other sports I’ve had the opportunity to cover is that there are multiple things happening simultaneously — every way you look there is a different event. Tonight, they had the long jump final, women’s hammer throw final, and women’s 400 meter hurdles semis happening all at once!

I was able to interview Anna Cockrell after her semifinal race and then had a blast watching the women’s 200m final where Gabby Thomas won to finish off a huge night for the United States at track!

Day 12

Today started bright and early as I headed back to Saint-Denis, France, not for track but rather for 3-meter men’s diving semifinals. After watching the competition and finishing up my story, I headed back to MPC and grabbed lunch.

I tried to get on a media tour, but it was all filled up, so I pivoted and went to men’s indoor volleyball instead. The atmosphere at the Team USA-Poland game was incredible and a thriller all the way until the end in front of a sellout crowd.

Later on, I made my way to dinner with my roommate, Kyla, and outlet partner, Maya, before we made the trek to Bercy Arena, this time for basketball. It was cool witnessing the world’s best female basketball players in-person for the first time and getting the chance to talk with A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart after their victory.

Sadly, my time here in Paris is slowly coming to a close, but I’m excited to see beach volleyball under the lights tomorrow and follow UNC diver Aranza Vazquez as she chases her first Olympic medal.