I recall sitting in Tokyo’s Olympic stadium, not too far back from the track, as the men’s 100m final was about to start. The only sounds that could be heard were the slapping of thighs and chests as the eight finalists lined up. And the whirring of air-conditioners, cooling down the camera crews and catering staff on the level above me.

In Paris, from a similar spot in the magnificent Stade de France, the entire stadium was shaking, noisy and vibrant, with a dazzling display of lights whipping the 80 000-strong crowd into even more of a frenzy. Yes, lights, cameras and action.

The sporting side of an Olympics is one thing – watching Armand Duplantis vault a world-record 6.25m is something that sticks in my mind – but it’s the other side that determines the overall success of a Games.

Simply put, it’s the crowds, and the volunteers. Never in all my travels of attending all but one Games since 1992 have I come across a nation as passionate about their Olympic sport as the French.

Whether it was the 80 000-seater Stade de France or the 8 000-capacity basketball arena, whether it was morning, afternoon or evening, or whether it was a Tuesday or a Saturday, the stadiums were full. And they shook from the noise.

The French appetite for the Olympics was unique, and while the volunteers – the heartbeat of any Games – might not have been perfect, they never gave anything less than 100%.

Our own 2022 Women’s Open champion, Ashleigh Buhai, said she’d never played in front of such big crowds, with the golf taking place at the demanding Le Golf National outside the city. Erik van Rooyen had tears in his eyes as he spoke of the pride of representing his country at the Games.

Does golf deserve to be included in an Olympic Games programme? Ask any of the 160 golfers from 65 countries that question and you’ll only get one answer. Scottie Scheffler and Lydia Ko winning the gold medals further entrenched the credibility of the competition and underscored the strength of the event.

Walking around Le Golf National the one comment heard often was that the Olympics golf competition needs to be a team event and not just an individual one. It’s a fair point, whereby the scores of each of the countries’ two players in each of men and women – it can be a maximum of four if all four are ranked in the world’s top 15 – count towards a team medal. The counter-argument, also heard often, was that if you wanted to watch team golf, switch over to LIV. Ouch.

Team South Africa’s medals return was six, double that of Tokyo but less than the record 10 of Rio 2016. The next Games are in Los Angeles in 2028. Don’t expect the medal haul to be much different, it should land somewhere between three and nine.

Why? The short answer is funding. It’s undeniable that money spent on a sport and its individuals translates directly into medals. Team South Africa have an “Operation Excellence” programme, funded by Bidvest, to assist with travell, accommodation and incidentals. That investment totals R66-million ($3.7-million) and is spread over four years. Buhai is the only golfer on the programme.

Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture, Gayton McKenzie, has promised to address the issue of funding, stating: “We will have no excuse in 2028. The preparation is starting now in earnest.”

The USA, who won 40 gold medals in Paris, are represented by some 600 athletes and bring additional staff that includes security, chefs, DJs, a mobile gymnasium and at least one official team media representative per sport. Bigger is indeed better and yet the USA had to wait until the final afternoon of their Games to get the 40th gold medal (women’s basketball) that saw them edge China to the top of the table.

Expect Team USA to throw everything at making Los Angeles 2028 the biggest and the best, ever. The opening ceremony is going to be out of this world, perhaps even literally. But will they be able to match the passion the French brought to 2024? And will it have the same visual romanticism?

Gallery below

IMAGES: TRACY WILCOX/CHRIS CONDON/BEN JARED/TRISTAN JONES/PGA TOUR/IGF