Paris Olympics 2024: Beach volleyball under the Eiffel Tower the place to be for fans

The stands were shaking and the lights of the Eiffel Tower were sparkling. The beach volleyball on Monday night was a captivating event, but not just because of what was happening on the sand.

PARIS, FRANCE - JULY 29: Mariafe Artacho del Solar of Team Australia digs the ball against Team United States during the Women's Preliminary Phase - Pool B match on day three of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Eiffel Tower Stadium on July 29, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

It’s the modern-day colosseum that has become an unassuming symbol of the Paris Olympics.

The beach volleyball arena, nestled under the shadows of the iconic Eiffel Tower in the Champ de Mars, is already a social media sensation. Pictures of the venue highlighting the stunning view from the temporary rafters towards the Trocadero have regularly gone viral.

Under the lights on Monday night, two Australians got to feel the stadium at its very best. The sparkle, the noise, the atmosphere – it had everything.

For Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy, the result might have not gone their way as they fell to a straight-sets defeat to the American pair of Nuss and Kloth, 21-16 21-16. But their match almost became a sideshow to what was happening around them.

The party-like atmosphere of the beach volleyball arena have made it one of the most iconic Olympic venues in recent history. Picture: Patrick Smith/Getty Images

The crowd was already heaving after witnessing a stirring French win only 10 minutes earlier. But as the shimmering lights of the Eiffel Tower lit up the twilight sky, it was a party everywhere the eye could see in the stands.

It felt like an earthquake had hit Paris when fans stomped their feet on the metal flooring, with tables shaking at every stroke of the keyboard. The ‘monster block’ gesture which has become a staple in the arena makes it feel more like a rave than a professional sporting match.

And then there’s the sensory overload of dancefloor classics like the Macarena being mixed with a live trumpet and vocal hordes of Americans chanting ‘USA, USA’.

“It’s awesome to have the crowd again for sure,” Clancy said post-match, directly in reference to the empty stands they played in front of as they won silver at the Tokyo Olympics.

“But it’s a pretty tricky environment which is also good. It makes the games really exciting.

“It’s definitely no fault of the stadium, the vibe is absolutely amazing. But we’ve got to recover now and we get a couple of days off to prepare for our last pool match.”

The Americans outplayed the Aussie pair under lights with their tactics to target Artacho del Solar proving successful. Picture: Michael Reaves/Getty Images

The Aussies are still well and truly alive in this tournament after winning their first game against China. But if they want to be in a strong position for the knockout stages, they desperately need a win against the Canadian pair of Bansey and Bukovec, who they have never faced before.

They were comprehensively outplayed in large facets of the match on Monday night. And although they won’t dwell too much on the result, they know they have to switch on otherwise their tournament, and hopes of going one better than Tokyo, will be over.

“We probably didn’t find our flow as much tonight but we just take the lesson, recover and move forward,” Clancy said.

“We know that we can play better than that. So yeah, it’s good to know that it’s all in our control. So we just move forward and onto the next match.”