N    BC TV, operator of Peacock, never informed its subscribers, they became aware of this as the closing ceremonies were approaching, with 72 hours left to spare, and when previously recorded events started disappearing from the online dashboard with notices of impending removal suddenly appearing on the remaining recorded shows.

Many subscribers believed these recorded complete event playbacks would be available at least through the end of the month of August if not longer.

As of August 17th, most events playbacks were removed with only a smattering of highlights and select excerpts remaining for viewing.  For how long were these remaining highlights available?  Peacock did not elaborate nor inform its subscribers.

Needless to say, many viewers were grumbling their dissatisfaction to online forums.  A small sampler could be found when doing an online search at, of all places, Reddit.

Reddit moderators allowed some to express their surprise but knowing how Reddit works behind the scenes, from our own publication subscribers who formerly informed us Reddit systematically censors, suppresses and deletes most comments unfavorable to big media or to the Hollywood establishment.  What you might find there is most likely a tiny fraction of subscribers and viewers feeling slighted.

The problem is that The Olympics are basically overbooked in terms of competitions and events, and this overbooking did not start with Paris, it started a couple of decades ago.

This is not a French wrinkle, each official games hosting becomes the occasion for the IOC to extend a sport, not yet part of the Olympics, a demonstration invitation and then includes it as part of the competitions four years later. After sixty years of this model of inducting sports, the Games are super crowded in terms of lineups for viewers.

This summer the Paris 2024 Games featured breakdancing as a new Olympic sport on a demonstration basis but we learned after the closing ceremonies that “Breaking” will not be part of the 2028 Games in Los Angeles, a first for the IOC.

On the stage of Women Gymnastics, Arianne Biles Owens, known to most Americans as Simone Biles became the new Olympic sweetheart. Hailing from Spring, Texas, Biles has been on the athletic circuit for many years now.

On the Men Gymnastics front, Carlos Edriel Poquiz Yulo, from Manila, Philippines, joined her on the stage of media popularity and paparazzi frenzy, unlike Biles, not because of gold medals count, but rather because he was his country’s first to win at the Olympics and he took home the gold, twice.  Carlos Yulo became the surprise favorite, an unexpected dark horse to emerge into the spotlight, as opposed to Biles, already a known superstar before the Paris Games and an early favorite to shine at these games.

FYI, Simone Biles had garnered four gold and one bronze at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, plus one bronze at the 2020 Tokyo Games where a t temporary illness   prevented her from competing in most of the gymnastics events and she lost the opportunity to fetch more gold (Biles was expected to win four gold in Tokyo).

Qiu Qiyuan from Fujian, China, only 17 years old, and her first Olympics tournament, took home the silver medal on the uneven bars event. 

The history of Fujian is long stretching into all seven dynasties and it is the birthplace of many highly respected martial arts forms, including Wing Chun and White Crane.  Bruce Lee was a student of Wing Chun before creating his own style. 

Qiyuan, merely a year earlier, although only 16 years old, had already collected three gold medals at the international Singapore gymnastics competitions and one gold in Antwerp (Belgium).

It’s understandable if we were at the 2016 Rio Games, Biles is short in stature yet extremely powerful and she sports the kind of sweet smiles for cameras that plastered Retton’s face all over cereal boxes for years. 

The media back then dubbed Retton “America’s Sweetheart” and Biles certainly fits the mold but we are no longer in 2016.  Incidentally, Retton retired two years after touching gold at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. 

I don’t recollect anyone, any news report, and many did nationwide, covering the highly memorable traumatic injury of Samantha Cerio, the Auburn University gymnast who broke both legs at the knees in a gruesome accident while doing some floor gymnastic routines. 

I never heard of “the twisties” then and weeks later following intense coverage of her injuries and recovery efforts by the medical community.  Not one soul breathed the term “the twisties” in print or electronic broadcasts even just for reference of possible causes that could result in similar trauma.

Did Boss Biles have some kind of meltdown with her coach or other players on the USOC team and decided to withdraw from the games?  Yet not wanting to incur the wrath of her sponsors and supporters, out comes this story she was having a case of “the twisties”, a non-medical, never before used label to suggest some kind of unclear physical ailment.

And her final gold medal-fetching vault run was still a little off, with her landing suffering from a bounce and a drift.  In our opinion, Andrade should have received the gold medal for the vault, Biles the silver and Jade Carey the bronze.

You want to better dig into the details of the disappointing and dismal Men’s Gymnastics Performance at the Olympics? Access the Gold Members Edition with your Gold Membership and download bundles of original and exclusively created posters from West Coast Midnight Run™ for the Paris 2024 Olympics

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