Post-Paris Olympic blues? 10 tips on how to battle it

The Paris Olympics are done and dusted, and many athletes and fans around the world are feeling a bit lost after an intense period of sports.

According to The Athletic, post-Olympic blues are a real phenomenon that athletes suffer from, with Michael Phelps, Simone Biles, and Keely Hodgkinson all stating the past they have suffered following an Olympic Games.

For us, the viewers, the experience may not be quite the same given we haven’t been training every hour of every day to peak for the Paris 2024 Olympics. But still, what are we supposed to do now there’s no handball or dinghy sailing happening in the middle of the day? Well, here are a few ideas that might help ease the Olympic blues.

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All of us watching presumably thought at some point during the Games, “I can do that,” which is almost certainly delusional, but now is your opportunity to give it a go. Whatever sport took your fancy in Paris, find a local team or club and try it out. Maybe you were right all along, and you’ll be in Los Angeles in four years time.

The Paralympics are just a couple of weeks away now, so fortunately we don’t have to wait long to get our fill of elite sport constantly churning away in the background.

All across Europe, football leagues are restarting, with the Premier League just days away from kickoff. Whether you are a longterm viewer or just getting into, there are matches across the weekends, giving you at least some respite from a sports-less TV.

On the same theme, the MLB is healing up, with all-important playoff positions still up for grabs in most divisions. If there’s one thing no one has ever said it’s “there isn’t enough baseball,” so again, your afternoons and evenings can be filled with America’s pastime to help keep those post-Olympic blues away.

Maybe sports isn’t your thing, maybe you don’t think running 1500m in 3 minutes 27 seconds doesn’t seem feasible for you even with 4 years of training. Fortunately, there are thousands of options to take your mind off there being no watchable sport-climbing on. Whether it’s cooking or knitting or both, there must be something you can find to take your mind off the end of the Olympics.

The great thing about the Olympics is watching sports you wouldn’t otherwise get to see, but in most cases, they are broadcast, just perhaps not on traditional media. If there was a sport or event that really stuck with you, look it up, there’s a decent chance the next meet will be shown on YouTube or similar.

For us, our plans over the next few weeks involve watching hours of highlights from the Games. Whether it’s Noah Lyles’ incredible comeback in the 100m final, Katie Ledecky’s dominance in the 1500m freestyle, or Remco Evenepoel’s cinematic celebration in the men’s road race, there were infinite moments that are worth watching time and time again.

Few sporting occasions lend themselves more to montages than the Olympics, with the BBC’s wrap-up montage leaving almost no viewer with dry eyes. Simply showing great moments in slow motion with some sort of heart-wrenching music is enough to bring most sports fans, or indeed otherwise, to tears.

Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the Summer Olympics, we forget we are just 18 months away from the Winter Games in 2026. The hosting will be split between Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, per NBC News, so there’s still plenty of time to learn all about the luge, ski-cross, and snowboard half-pipe events!

Los Angeles 2028 is next up in the Summer Olympic calendar and given Tom Cruise, Snoop Dogg, and Dr. Dre were all involved in the Paris 2024 closing ceremony, we can expect a star-studded Olympics in the City of Angels!

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