Brazil finished the Paris Olympic Games with 20 medals, one less than in Tokyo, but with only three golds, a far cry from the seven won both in the last edition and in Rio in 2016.
Strictly speaking, the country’s result (3 gold, 7 silver, 10 bronze) was only slightly better than that achieved in London in 2012 (3 gold, 5 silver, 9 bronze) and in Beijing in 2008 (3 gold, 4 silver, 10 bronze). A setback, in short.
There were many signs before and during the Games that Brazil would not repeat its good performance from Tokyo, but the news coverage, especially on television, did not reflect this situation. On the contrary, in a tone of constant excitement, it sought to keep the fans’ hopes of “medal chances” alive at all times.
It is true that the climate of optimism was also influenced by the fact that Paris-2024 represented a comeback after the Tokyo setback, marked by the coronavirus pandemic, the use of masks and empty stadiums. Everyone was excited — sponsors, media and the public.
As I noted at the beginning, in coverage of this type, a natural, uncontrollable and, at times, unbearable patriotism emerges. But it is impossible to ignore another, less organic aspect. Doing everything possible to keep the viewer tuned in is part of the deal.
The narrator Galvão Bueno, a master in this craft, once summed it up: “Sport is basically emotion. It’s my product. I try to sell it in the best way possible. Narrating is walking a tightrope. Using everything you can to convey emotion to the viewer without neglecting the truth of the facts, reality.”
Luís Curro hit the nail on the head here at Folha when he observed: “Sport is business, and praising Brazil’s campaign is part of a pre-established script, with the aim of not scaring away sponsors for the next Olympic cycle, that of Los Angeles-2028.”
The enthusiasm of narrators and commentators, sometimes without any basis in reality, led Brazilian viewers to suffer more than they needed to. Excessive expectations followed by disappointment became a painful routine in the experience of watching the Games on television.
Over the course of two weeks, everyone cried. Athletes, relatives of athletes, coaches and spectators. Sometimes it’s good, but it gets tiring. In the case of the narrators and commentators who got emotional on air, I had the impression that they unintentionally ended up stealing the spotlight that should have belonged to the athletes.
When evaluating in his autobiography the famous narration of the conquest of the fourth title in 1994, Galvão recognized that “that hysterical, out-of-tune thing”, in the company of Pelé and Arnaldo Cezar Coelho, “was ridiculous, but it was pure emotion”. Gustavo Villani’s shouting during the women’s beach volleyball final came close, and that is not a compliment.
Everaldo Marques, who had already shone in Tokyo, narrating skateboarding and surfing, once again showed in Paris that it is possible to balance emotion with common sense. The narrators Natália Lara and Renata Silveira confirmed, if it were still necessary, that football is not an exclusive territory for men. Milton Leite said goodbye on a high note.
CazéTV, as had already happened during the Qatar World Cup, was an alternative to Globo in streaming. There are many sponsors interested in occupying this space and there is a qualified audience willing to enjoy sports broadcasts in a more relaxed tone.
It is still difficult to say that it represents competition. The channel, for example, had peaks of 500 thousand views at the opening ceremony, compared to 36.4 million people on Globo, on open TV. A monopoly in sports broadcasts is always bad, and CazéTV represented a small crack in this situation in the Brazilian market.
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