Brazilians tower at the Eiffel, leaving Aussies beached

The must-see venue of the Paris Olympic Games has made beach volleyball the accidental must-do sport here.

All you really need to know is that it’s called the Eiffel Tower stadium. They’re three words that paint a picture. Of course, it’s not really a stadium. It’s so temporary that when the crowd danced and clapped at a change of ends, the place shook.

The Eiffel Tower stadium has provided one of these Games’ most stunning backdrops. Credit: Getty Images

Matching sights to sites has been the Paris Olympics’ master-stroke and the volleyball stadium is the crème de la crème. Taliqua Clancy, who is originally from Kingaroy in outback Queensland, was literally lost for words. “It’s incredible. It’s so beautiful, it’s hard to put it into words,” she said. “It’s beautiful.”

Being there is one thing, playing there another. On Thursday night, Clancy and Mariafe Artacho del Solar lost a semi-final to Brazilian pair Ana Patricia Silva Ramos and Eduardo Santos Lisboa in hard-fought, high-quality three sets.

Their brave smiles could not mask their burning disappointment. Three years ago, they lost the Tokyo Olympic final to the US. The top-ranked Americans were bundled out of this tournament in a quarter-final, leaving the gold medal match against Canada wide open. But the Australians will play Switzerland for bronze instead.

Artacho del Solar was lost for words in a different way. “That’s the beauty of sport,” she said. “You can play the best f…ing game of your life, and you can still lose.”

Mariafe Artacho del Solar gave her all, but it wasn’t enough.Credit: Getty Images

She was both blunt and right. “I think it was little, small moments,” she said. “I don’t think they went our way. We definitely created opportunities.” The lanky Silva Ramos blotted them out. She was, well, a tower.

On Thursday night, the Eiffel Tower stadium was literally rocking, but next Monday, the dismantling will begin, and before anyone can say bon voyage, it will again be the Champ de Mars, a place for Parisian revellers on Bastille Day and at New Year.

This makes it iconic in two ways. The image of the sandy arena, variously sun-drenched and flood-lit beneath the Eiffel Tower, will live on in television footage, a million smartphone cameras, and postcards – if anyone makes them anymore.

But it is also characteristic of an ephemeral quality about the Olympics that adds their magic. Were we really there? Did it really happen? Soon, only X will mark the spot.

Beach volleyball in London in 2012.Credit: AP

The precinct has become an incidental study in the nature of permanence. The tower itself, remember, was only ever meant to be temporary, but 137 years later, is more with us than ever. The stadium will soon be gone, but memories of its brief lifetime will endure as long as the Olympics last.

Only two of the eight beach volleyball Olympic tournaments have been staged on actual beaches. Sydney might have thought its venue on Bondi Beach was peerless until Rio trumped it with the Copacabana. But Paris might have kicked sand in both their faces.

Atlanta’s venue is now a park and entertainment centre, Beijing’s a recreation zone and Tokyo’s a waterfront park sans beach. London’s were returned to the horse guards for their parades.

Athens’ is the saddest, and something of a parable of those Olympics. After it fell into dereliction, a plan was put forward 10 years ago to transform it into a courthouse, but was never acted upon. It is still a ruin. At least it doesn’t look out of place in Athens.

The Eiffel Tower stadium will be spared that fate. It will disappear entirely and live on forever.

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