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Get set for chants of “USA! USA! USA!” that have nothing to do with politics — and just in time.
For two weeks, Americans will have something to unify and inspire us all as we cheer for Team USA at the 2024 Olympics.
Worldwide, the Games opening Friday in Paris are a return to normalcy after the pandemic disrupted the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo.
America can certainly use some normalcy now, after the attempted Trump assassination, last Friday’s cyberdisaster and the drama surrounding President Biden’s decline.
Friday’s opening ceremony will feature an armada of international athletes floating down the Seine — with the Eiffel Tower and other spectacular backdrops.
Four-time NBA champion LeBron James and either Katie Ledecky or Simone Biles will serve as the US flag-bearers leading nearly 600 American athletes for the opening ceremony.
James leads a star-studded Team USA hoops squad; Biles will add to her seven gymnastics medals (four gold) won at her first two Olympics; Ledecky, to the seven swimming golds she’s earned in three Summer Games.
Other expected stars include runners like New Jersey’s Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Sha’Carri Richardson and Noah Lyles.
A local angle: Breaking, a k a breakdancing or b-boying, which was born in The Bronx in the ’70s, makes its Olympics debut as a dance sport in Paris.
Cheers to coming together to root for the red, white and blue on the world stage. USA! USA! USA!