By Kate Ashford | NerdWallet

More than 338,000 Americans moved for retirement in 2023, according to a January study from HireAHelper, a moving-services marketplace. And a quarter of them changed states, the study found.

Relocating in retirement isn’t simple. There are things to ponder, like whether you need new health insurance, how your new state taxes your income, whether a city has good health care and whether the culture is a match.

Kyle Newell, a certified financial planner (CFP) in Winter Garden, Florida, has a client who moved from Tampa, Florida, to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts, where she lived for six months before deciding she wanted to move to Minnesota to be closer to family.

Thankfully, she made money on all the buying and selling, says Newell, who encourages clients to spend time where they plan to move to make sure it’s the best spot for them. It could be that you love the feeling of a certain place, he says, but it’s because you associate it with being on vacation, and living there is different.

Here are some things to think about before you start bubble wrapping your breakables.

1. Income taxes are just the starting point

Clients often ask David Berman, a CFP near Baltimore, about moving somewhere cheaper in retirement.

“It usually starts off very benignly: ‘Oh, you know, Florida doesn’t have an income tax and Maryland’s is eight and a half,’” Berman says. But when they do the math, taking into account things like property taxes, cost of living and even estate taxes, the difference often isn’t as large as clients expect.

Berman recommends talking to a professional before making a state jump, especially if you’re making other transactions before or after, such as the sale of a business. “Some states are more aggressive than others about chasing after their residents who are establishing residency elsewhere,” he says.

This also applies to people buying a second home and trying to declare residency there. If you live in a state like New York or New Jersey and try to establish residency at a second home in Florida, expect an audit, Berman says. “They are definitely looking for people who are fudging it,” he says.

2. You could get a Medicare do-over

If you have Medicare Advantage and you move out of your plan’s service area, you get a chance to reset your Medicare coverage. You can choose another Medicare Advantage plan or return to Original Medicare and — here’s the kicker — get another shot to sign up for Medigap. You typically have to sign up during Medigap open enrollment, which only lasts six months after you’re 65 and have Medicare Part B. (And Medigap can be tougher to buy later if you have health issues.)

“We call this the nuclear option because this is one of the few ways to get out of a Medicare Advantage plan later in life if a Medicare Advantage plan is no longer working for you,” says Melinda Caughill, co-founder and CEO of 65 Incorporated, which offers Medicare guidance. “You will have a guaranteed issue right to get a Medigap policy.” This means companies must offer you a plan at the same pricing as everyone else, regardless of health issues.

If you have Original Medicare with a Medigap plan, in most cases, that Medigap policy will follow you and take on the policy pricing of your new area. If you have a Medicare Part D prescription drug plan, you will need to choose a new plan if you’ve left the service area. And don’t forget to notify all the companies involved in your health care and/or dental coverage, as well as the Social Security Administration, about your move.

3. Renting first might be smarter

Unless you are super familiar with a location — in all seasons — be cautious about buying a home right away. “We try like crazy to talk our clients into renting for a year,” Berman says.

If you buy a house and have to sell it a year and a half later because you made the wrong choice on a city or neighborhood, the transaction costs will be substantial, Berman says. You’ll also owe capital gains taxes on any profit on the home sale if you’ve lived there for less than two years.

Thomas Cook, a CFP in Knoxville, Tennessee, has retired clients who recently moved to the state but are thinking of leaving. “They ultimately decided that Tennessee was not the right fit for them,” he says. But since they bought their home and prices have climbed since their purchase, they face paying capital gains taxes if they sell too soon.

4. The health care system needs a look

Access to health care should be a variable on your list. Crystal McKeon, a CFP in Houston, has a retired client who moved abroad and was diagnosed with cancer six months later. The country in question is equipped to handle it, but “it could’ve been very bad,” she says.

It’s important to think about not just your primary care doctor but also the general medical facilities available to you. “Otherwise, you could end up traveling pretty far to get good health care,” McKeon says.

5. Culture is important

Retirement happiness is also about the intangibles. Retirees who consider themselves happy spend significant time on interactive and social activities, according to a March report from life insurance company MassMutual. What’s the culture like? Will you be around people you enjoy?

Berman recalls a client who moved from Maryland to Arizona about five years ago — and is moving back due to the weather and the social climate. “One of the things to consider is the political dynamic, because it’s so contentious in today’s world,” he says. “What makes life enjoyable? The people around you, and the environment, and feeling good and safe. It’s definitely an issue.”

Cook recommends that people use social media to help with this. “It could be helpful to join a Facebook group ahead of time to get a feel for the culture,” he says.

Kate Ashford, CSA® writes for NerdWallet. Email: kashford@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @kateashford.

The article Moving in Retirement? 5 Things to Ponder Before You Pack originally appeared on NerdWallet.

Katie Kelton | (TNS) Bankrate.com

Credit cards can be powerful tools to purchase things you need and build a strong credit history, but they can also be risky. The cost of carrying credit card debt is high. Even so, more Americans — 50%, according to new Bankrate survey data — are carrying a balance today than they have been since March 2020.

With interest rates at an all-time high, you might wonder why cardholders are carrying that balance. But it’s not a simple answer. Economic factors like inflation and interest rates are making it hard for some Americans to make ends meet, survey data shows. In some cases, people might be doom spending or going into debt for fun.

Bankrate’s key insights on credit card debt in 2024

—One-half of American credit cardholders carry a credit card balance from month to month. That’s 50% of cardholders, compared to 44% in January 2024 and 60% in March 2020.

—The likelihood of having credit card debt increases with age until the boomer generation. Forty-two percent of Gen Z cardholders (ages 18-27), 53% of millennials (ages 28-43), 60% of Gen Xers (ages 44-59) and 48% of boomers (ages 60-78) carry a balance month to month.

—Inflation and high interest rates are factors for many Americans. Thirty-four percent of debtors say inflation and 32% say high interest rates have made their credit card debt burdens worse since the beginning of 2022.

The number of Americans with credit card debt is at a four-year high

New Bankrate data tells a story about Americans’ debt: More people are carrying debt on their credit cards than they have since the early pandemic days. But that situation may or may not be by choice.

Fifty percent of credit cardholders carry debt from month to month. That’s up from 44% in January and is the highest figure Bankrate has observed since March 2020, when 60% of cardholders carried debt from month to month.

“Credit card balances fell sharply in 2020 as many Americans spent less during the pandemic and used stimulus funds to pay down debt,” explains Rossman.

He continues: “Since the beginning of 2021, however, credit card balances have been off to the races. According to Federal Reserve data, Americans owe 45% more now on their credit cards than they did in early 2021. And the credit card delinquency rate is at its highest point since 2011.”

No generation is free from the debt burden, but the likelihood of carrying a credit card balance does rise with age before dropping with the boomer generation. Forty-two percent of Gen Zers, 53% of millennials, 60% of Gen Xers and 48% of boomers with credit cards carry a balance from month to month.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the likelihood of carrying a balance falls as income increases. Fifty-eight percent of cardholders with annual household incomes under $50,000 carry a balance month to month, compared to 54% with annual household incomes between $50,000 and $79,999, 46% with annual household incomes between $80,000 and $99,999 and 43% with annual household incomes of $100,000+.

Credit card debt is persistent, with 3 in 5 Americans carrying it for more than a year

The length of time cardholders are carrying debt may be a sign balances have become more difficult to pay off. Three in 5 of those with credit card debt (60%) have been in credit card debt for at least a year, up from 50% in 2021.

The likelihood of carrying debt for at least a year gets higher as you get older but stays relatively consistent with income. Here’s how many credit card debtors have carried debt for a year or more by generation:

—51% of Gen Zers

—58% of millennials

—61% of Gen Xers

—65% of boomers

And here’s how many debtors have carried debt for a year or more by income:

—62% with annual household incomes under $50,000

—56% with annual household incomes between $50,000 and $79,999

—61% with annual household incomes between $80,000 and $99,999

—62% with annual household incomes of $100,000+

Debtors blame inflation and interest rates for making their debt burden worse

The survey data shows that Americans feel the economy isn’t helping their debt situation.

About a third (34%) of credit card debtors say inflation has made their credit card debt burdens worse since the beginning of 2022, which is when the Fed started raising interest rates to counteract increasing inflation.

A similar share (32%) say high interest rates have made their credit card debt burdens worse since the beginning of 2022. These themes intertwine.

If you think of your income as divided into slices, the slice for everyday expenses might have grown in light of recent inflation. For example, groceries are 25.1% more expensive than they were before the pandemic, gas is 28.4% more expensive and rent is 23.9% more expensive. Because of that, the slice of your income dedicated to debt repayment may have shrunk.

At the same time, credit card interest rates are hovering at just more than 20%, so your credit card balance might be growing rapidly. It’s a double whammy, that could explain the uncertainty Americans feel about getting out of debt.

Roughly one in four Americans with credit card debt (24%) feel less confident in their ability to get out of credit card debt now than they did at the beginning of 2022. Furthermore, about one in six (17%) worry they might not be able to make their minimum credit card payments at some point in the next six months.

And just over two in five (42%) have a plan to pay off their credit card debt.

FAQs

—How do I get out of credit card debt?

Maybe you’re among the 50% of Americans carrying credit card debt. While it may feel overwhelming, “credit card debt won’t go away on its own,” says Rossman. “If you make minimum payments toward the average balance ($6,218, according to TransUnion) at the average credit card rate (20.71%), you’ll be in debt for 18 years and will owe more than $9,000 in interest.”To truly make progress on your debt, you’ll want to make more than the minimum payment. Start by looking at your budget — income and expenses — to see how much wiggle room there is for debt repayment. You may need to reduce expenses or start a side hustle to make the numbers work.Once you have money set aside for debt, you can consider using the avalanche repayment method (paying off high interest debt first) or the snowball method (paying off small debt balances first).Learn more about how to pay off credit card debt.

—How do balance transfer cards work?

For people who can qualify, a balance transfer card can help you save money on interest. These cards offer new cardholders a 0% intro APR for a set period of time on balances they transfer to the card. The balance transfer often requires a fee of between 3% and 5%, but cardholders could still come out ahead given what you stand to save on interest.“My favorite tip is to move your debt to a new card with a lengthy 0% balance transfer promotion; some of these last as long as 21 months,” says Rossman.Before doing a balance transfer, it’s a good idea to have a plan in place for paying off the balance you transfer — ideally before the intro period ends and the regular APR kicks in. After that, it becomes another interest-accruing card.

—How does credit card debt affect my credit score?

Credit card debt doesn’t directly impact your credit score, but it can have indirect effects.Your credit score is made up of several factors, like your payment history, credit utilization, length of credit history, new credit and credit mix. If you’re not always making minimum payments on your card balance, that can hurt your payment history. And if you’re using a lot of your available credit (more than 30%) by carrying a balance, that hurts your credit utilization ratio. Both of these can ding your credit score.“If you have a lot of debt or a lower credit score, nonprofit credit counseling is probably your best bet,” Rossman suggests.If you’re ready to begin rebuilding credit, consider a credit card for bad credit. These cards can help you boost your credit score and access better interest rates and terms in the future. But first, you’ll want to get any outstanding debt under control.

Methodology

Bankrate commissioned YouGov Plc to conduct the survey. All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. The total sample size was 2,437 U.S. adults, of whom 1,877 were credit card holders and 930 carry a balance on their credit card(s). Fieldwork was undertaken between June 24-26, 2024. The survey was carried out online and meets rigorous quality standards. It employed a non-probability-based sample using both quotas upfront during collection and then a weighting scheme on the back end designed and proven to provide nationally representative results.

March 2020 Long Term Debt Survey: All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2,526 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between March 4-6, 2020. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all US adults (aged 18+).

(Visit Bankrate online at bankrate.com.)

©2024 Bankrate.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Liberia needed a top-two finish in the 4×100-meter semifinals at the World Athletic Relays in May to clinch the relay team a ticket to the Paris Olympics.

But by the time anchor runner Joseph Fahnbulleh received the baton, Liberia was in fifth or sixth place, and out of contention for such a finish, or so it seemed.

“There’s always a chance,” Fahnbulleh said. “Anything could happen, so there’s always a chance.”

He snatched the baton and immediately set his sights on the next runner in front of him, then the next and the next.

“My main focus is trying to pick them off one by one. If a guy is two meters ahead, alright, cool, I can go get him. And then the other guy, and then the other guy. And at that point, cool, let’s just catch as many people as we can.”

The 2019 Hopkins High School graduate ran the relay split of a lifetime — he never got the actual time, but he believes it was sub-nine seconds.

“I think that’s the fastest I’ve ever gone in a race,” said Fahnbulleh, who will race in the individual 200-meter semifinals at 1:02 p.m. Central on Wednesday. “You try to emulate what you do in practice in an actual meet, and I feel like that’s the closest I’ve ever been. When you run for your other countrymen, you just have another gear.”

But was it enough?

“My expression was pure — I had no idea,” Fahnbulleh said. “It was close, and I actually dipped this time. It wasn’t like NCAAs, where I just ran through the line. This time, I dipped, and I was like, ‘Ah, I don’t know.’ ”

“Nobody really knew the time,” Liberian teammate Emmanuel Matadi said.

That question hung in the balance seemingly forever, though it was more like 30 seconds. Germany won the relay, but the second spot was determined by a photo finish between Liberia and Switzerland.

Then the name popped up on the board by the number 2: Liberia.

A new national record time of 38.65 seconds sent the Liberian relay to the Olympics.

Fahnbulleh’s face was overcome with shock as he darted toward his teammates, who immediately entered a state of euphoria.

“Being a part of that relay was really historical,” 2015 North St. Paul grad Akeem Sirleaf said. “I can’t find the words, but being a part of that relay and having those three other guys on the relay, it just meant a lot to me, because we never had a relay on the biggest stage. We put together everything on that day just to make everything happen. It still feels surreal.”

Matadi, a 2009 St. Paul Johnson grad, is generally known for his stoicism, but that wasn’t an option in the race’s immediate aftermath.

“In that moment, it overcame me when I seen the guys were extremely, extremely happy,” Matadi said. “It was unreal, really.”

In more ways than one. Yes, Fahnbulleh’s finish was hard to believe. But just as fairytale-like has been the Olympic program’s rise.

When Matadi qualified for the Rio Olympics in 2016, he was one of two Liberians to compete in the games. Five years later, Fahnbulleh and Matadi were the only two Liberian male athletes in Tokyo. Matadi wanted more for his home country. Liberia has never won an Olympic medal.

It’s a big reason why he’s still running at age 33 — years after many sprinters retire. He feared if he hung up his shoes too early, there was potential for another long gap between athletes.

“No one wants to be the first and the only one doing something,” Matadi said. “So I think, for me, it was like, ‘OK, last long enough, be able to do well enough to make it an attractive thing to do, a cool thing to do to be able to come and represent your home country.’”

He not only competed for the team, but he contributed to its evolution. The two-time Olympic flag bearer for the nation in the Opening Ceremony connected the team with famous designer Telfar Clemens, a fellow Liberian American who has since designed the country’s Olympic gear.

And Matadi has played a large role in recruiting other athletes to the delegation.

“I got here when the ball was already rolling,” Fahnbulleh said. “Matadi got here from Ground Zero — there was no ball. There was no sponsor, there was no anything. It was just him. He had to thug it out the whole way through and learn on the fly.”

Part of his challenge was to recruit others to the team. That involved a number of conversations usually centered on trying to build something together for a nation.

“Trying to get like-minded Liberians. That’s the only way it works, right? People that are like-minded and after the same goal,” Matadi said. “So that was the process, really. Just having conversations with people who were running, figuring out who was Liberian that was in college or pros running. So it was a whole process, but it worked out.”

Funnily enough, many of the right fits happened to, like Matadi, have strong Minnesota connections. Sirleaf, Fahnbulleh and Matadi all grew up in the metro. The fourth member of that 4×100 at the World Athletic Relays was Jabez Reeves, who is from Virginia but now attends Minnesota State Mankato, Matadi’s alma mater.

“The Minnesota 4×100,” Matadi joked.

Sirleaf is an alternate for the Olympic relay — the first round of which begins at 4:35 a.m. Central on Thursday, with the final set for 12:47 p.m. Friday — after suffering an Achilles injury. The fourth runner in Paris is set to be John Sherman, a Tennessee product. But that there’s such a strong Minnesota influence on the Liberian relay isn’t a surprise. Minnesota has the largest Liberian population in the United States, many of whom were refugees who fled their home nation during the 1990s and early 2000s when the country was in the midst of civil war.

“It makes sense why we all have ties from there,” Fahnbulleh said.

What’s interesting is that, while Fahnbulleh, Sirleaf and Matadi all ran high school track in the metro, they didn’t know one another ahead of this experience. Sirleaf noted he believes he saw Matadi race for Johnson, but he’s not even sure of that. Matadi is 10-plus years older than Fahnbulleh. But they’ve formed a strong bond through this process. Matadi said there’s a group text chat that keeps them all connected. The Minnesota bonds surely help, but the sprinters agree more so it’s the tight-knit feeling of Liberia’s small delegation.

“We’re able to connect easier than having a big team like a Team USA or a Team Jamaica,” Sirleaf said. “Because we have a small team, we’re able to bond easier, bond faster and just have a relationship outside of what we do.”

The common goal helps, as well.

“It’s really nice just seeing from where we started — Ground Zero — to where we are now and how far we can go and take it,” Fahnbulleh said.

And Matadi is the forefather of it all. The other runners feel that, and seemingly want to perform for him. As they got ready to head out for the semifinal race at World Relays, Sirleaf looked at Matadi and said, “I got you.”

Matadi takes “a lot of pride” in Liberia reaching the point where it can run a relay in the Olympics.

“And yeah, I did play a role, but I don’t really see it like that,” Matadi said. “Obviously, I did have my part to do with it, but I really just see it as people trying to go get it. Everything just aligned, the stars aligned.”

All the athletes shared the feeling that comes with running with and for your fellow countrymen. This is the fun part. Fittingly, this relay will be Matadi’s final Olympic race.

“It’s different when you can share your joy. I always say to my friends and to my people, ‘If I can share my experience with you, then I will.’ Because a shared joy is better than alone. It’s a feeling that’s like no other,” Fahnbulleh said. “And especially to do it when the team lead (Matadi) is in his last year. It just meant a lot more.”

“Yeah,” Sirleaf said, “it’s going to be pretty special.”

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We’re more than midway through the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris and the games have been full of drama, both good and bad. Airing on NBC and its streamer Peacock, the games are combination of popular events and those we only get a chance to see televised every four years. Tune in and suddenly you’re invested in a sport you knew little about minutes earlier. I’m not even interested in the medal count between countries, I’m just thrilled to see athletes who are this talented compete against one another.

So here’s a non-comprehensive look at the games so far, not from a sports writer but from from the point of a view of a critic taking in the storylines of this year’s extravaganza via TV and social media. Be sure to also check out all the stories by the Tribune’s Stacy St. Clair and photos by Tribune photographer Brian Cassella, who are in Paris covering athletes and events with local connections.

The highlights

A view of singer Celine Dion performing on the Eiffel Tower during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. (Screengrab by IOC via Getty Images)

The opening ceremony, which took place along the Seine, may not have been universally loved, but at least it wasn’t boring. I found the headless singing Marie Antoinette in the windows of the former prison, the Concierge, to be a timely if cheeky reminder that wealth hoarding is, in fact, bad. And who wasn’t moved to see Céline Dion, who has a medical condition called stiff person syndrome, which threatened to halt her singing career altogether, belt out a gorgeous rendition of “Hymne A L’Amour” from the Eiffel Tower? That she was able to perform at the Olympics mirrors the experiences of so many Olympic athletes, a fitting bit of symbolism to kick off the games.

Gymnastics has always been a popular draw and this year has offered so many incredible storylines and performances, including Team USA’s pommel horse specialist (and noted glasses wearer) Stephen Nedoroscik, who helped the men’s team clinch the bronze before winning one for himself in the pommel horse individual event. Nedoroscik’s self-deprecating charm and talent can be seen in a nine-minute documentary from a few years ago where he says: “The horse guys are their own thing. And that just comes down to horse people. They’re usually an engineer or someone who’s smart, goofy.”

I think I’ve cried watching every women’s gymnastics event. Many of these gymnasts have such tremendous backstories, from American Suni Lee’s recovery from a recent kidney disease diagnosis, to Kaylia Nemour becoming the first gold medalist in gymnastics for an African country (Algeria, the country of her father’s birth) after a dispute with France’s gymanstics federation over her return following an injury. Team USA won the gold, with more individual medals for Jade Carey, Jordan Chiles and Lee (bronze) and Simone Biles (gold and silver).  If you haven’t watched the first two episodes of the Netflix documentary “Simone Biles Rising,” it gives the comprehensive backstory on the disorientation she experienced in Tokyo that caused her to pull out. The final two episodes are filming now, though Netflix hasn’t said when they will premiere. It’s been thrilling and magical to witness Simone Biles’ career.

Also, if you’re wondering how the bottoms of their leotards stay in place (I did), apparently there’s a sticky spray some gymnasts use to ensure the fabric doesn’t inch into wedgie territory.

U.S. sprinter Noah Lyles has insisted he’s the world’s fastest man — some thought he might live to eat those words — but he ended up winning the 100-meter track race in a true photo finish by five thousandths of a second. “I was shocked,” he said afterward. “I thought I was going to have to swallow my pride on this one … and then my name came up and I was like, oh shoot, I’m incredible.”

In swimming, Katie Ledecky has been breaking records (she won her first gold medal as a 15-year-old at the London Games in 2012) but it was her gold-winning swim in the 1500-meter freestyle final that was so remarkable: She was 10 seconds faster than the second place swimmer, which looks like an eternity when you see it on your screen. Over the weekend, with her gold in the 800 freestyle, she became the second swimmer to win an event at four straight summer games in a row. She has a memoir called “Just Add Water: My Swimming Life” where she talks about being diagnosed with POTS in 2016 and how that’s affected her athletic career.

Technically, Snoop Dogg’s title is Special NBC Olympics correspondent, but he’s more of an exuberant ambassador, bringing curiosity and enthusiasm to each event he attends. Meanwhile, Flavor Flav has brought a similar joie de vivre to the games as the sponsor of both the men’s and women’s water polo teams. And he stepped up and cut a check when discus thrower Veronica Fraley posted to social media last week: “I compete in the Olympic Games tomorrow and I can’t even pay my rent.”

US actor and rapper William Jonathan Drayton Jr. known by his stage name Flavor Flav (R), gestures during the women’s water polo preliminary round group B match between USA and France during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Aquatics Centre in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, on August 2, 2024. (Photo by ANDREAS SOLARO/AFP via Getty Images)

Few things are as moving as competitors extending human kindness, even in the most stressful circumstances. It costs nothing and it tells us so much about their character. In the preliminary heat of the women’s 100-meter, runner Lucia Moris fell down on the track in pain, unable to get back up. Silina Pha Aphay, a sprinter from Laos, immediately went over to her. “Standing beside Moris, Pha Aphay called out for help,” according to NPR. “Once medics arrived, Pha Aphay continued to stay on the track, holding Moris’ sneakers while medics prepared to put Moris on a stretcher. Another competitor, Salam Bouha Ahamdy of Mauritania, later also appeared to support Moris.”

Olympic athletes belong in a category of accomplishment all their own, but that goes extra for those with intense academic interests and accomplishments. American Lee Keifer won the gold medal in fencing and after the Olympics she will … return to medical school. British gymnast Bryony Page, the gold medalist in trampoline, studied paleontology and wrote her dissertation on the “acoustic signalling” in dinosaurs (she theorizes they probably didn’t roar).

Lowlights

COVID-19 has been making its presence known at the Olympics. According to Time magazine:  “In Paris, the fans are back, virtually none of them wearing masks, and there is no regular testing of athletes.” It comes as no surprise, then, that “nearly a dozen swimmers, including several members of the Australian women’s water-polo team, have tested positive, raising questions about how widely the virus is spreading, especially in the pool.” And likely elsewhere.

The Canadian women’s soccer team was rocked by a drone-spying scandal early in the games, leading to a six-point penalty against the team’s standing, and the news is only getting worse. According to AP: “Canadian soccer officials admitted in evidence to FIFA that spying on opponents was routinely done, for the men’s national team as well as the women’s team.”

It’s supposed to be a privilege to compete in the Olympics. That means top athletes who don’t cheat. But also people who aren’t convicted of physically harming another person. That seems like a low bar to clear. And yet convicted child rapist Steven van de Velde was indeed invited to play for the Dutch on their beach volleyball team. At least the crowd let their feelings be known, audibly booing him every time he served the ball.

Bad sportsmanship is supposed to have no place at the games. According to the Olympics’ own website, Olympic values are excellence, respect and friendship. I get choked up when competitors embrace and appreciate one another’s efforts once the results are in (gymnasts Biles and Chiles on the podium offering a loving bow to Brazil’s floor exercise gold medal winner Rebeca Andrade) which makes the lack of common courtesy stick out even more, from gold medal-winning French swimmer ​​Léon Marchand (caught on camera ignoring a Chinese coach’s extended hand for handshake after the medal ceremony) to American tennis player Emma Navarro (at the net after losing her match to Qinwen Zheng of China, “I just told her I didn’t respect her as a competitor”).

French swimmer Leon Marchand. (Photo by Adam Pretty/Getty Images)

The nastiest of them all occurred in boxing. I’m assuming everyone who participates understands hard hits are part of the deal, but apparently this was news to Italian boxer Angela Carini. She lasted just 46 seconds before abandoning her bout against Algerian fighter Imane Khelif after a hard hit left her in pain and unable to breathe. She refused to shake her opponent’s hand, fueling hate speech and deeply ugly transphobia in the aftermath, all in her name. Carini later offered contrition. “All this controversy makes me sad,” she said. “I’m sorry for my opponent, too … If the IOC said she can fight, I respect that decision.” She claims that in the heat of the moment, she was “angry because my Olympics had gone up in smoke. I don’t have anything against Khelif.” I understand the power of disappointment. But we expect Olympians to not just be great athletes, but at least humanly decent in defeat. For her part, Khelif gave an interview on Sunday night, saying “the wave of hateful scrutiny she has faced over misconceptions about her gender ‘harms human dignity,’ and she called for an end to bullying athletes after being greatly affected by the international backlash against her.”

As global warming worsens, that’s going to affect the Summer Olympics. Sleeping on an unfamiliar bed is probably an adjustment all its own, but at the very least, athletes should be sleeping in accommodations that have air conditioning going forward, which is not the case at the Olympic Village in Paris this year.

Random observations

Bronze medalist Simone Biles (L) and silver medalist Lauren Hernandez (R) of the United States pose for photographs after the at the medal ceremony for the Balance Beam on day 10 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at Rio Olympic Arena on August 15, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

I am anti-gimmick. I don’t need to know the heartrate of family members in the stands, or which celebrities are there (if I were lucky enough to get tickets to the women’s vault finals, like Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling, I probably wouldn’t watch through sunglasses). I don’t even need some of the announcers, although first-timer Lauren Hernandez, a 2016 Olympic gymnast, has been terrific.

Maybe the most surreal moment was during a cycling event when one of the commentators started free associating over drone footage: “And another one of the chateaus from the Middle Ages. And this always fascinates me … did they call it the Middle Ages themselves, because back then they weren’t in the middle of anything.” He kept going: “It’s kind of like King Louis the Great, who we talked about earlier with the statue at the Palace of Versailles, and you always hear about Alexander the Great, Louis the Great — at that time, did they call them ‘the great’? Or was it just in retrospect that we decided they were great. So many philosophical questions to answer when you have a six-and-a-half-hour race like this!”

Social media can be a cesspool, but also a source of exuberance and real laughter. Exhibit A: “Suni Lee’s smile after her first tumbling pass has inspired a patriotism in me that I haven’t felt since my mom bought me my first Old Navy 4th of July T-shirt.”

Archery: They’re standing a lot further away from the target than I realized. I can’t even hit the garbage can successfully most days. That is all; archers are just really impressive, full stop.

Kayak cross is wild. I didn’t not know they start by being tipped into the drink. It’s like white water rafting but going around gates at the same time? There’s something called the roll zone??

Yaroslava Mahuchikh of Team Ukraine relaxes during the Women’s High Jump Final on day nine of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Stade de France on August 04, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Absolutely charmed by gold medal-winning Ukrainian high jumper Yaroslava Mahuchikh climbing into a sleeping bag between jumps, closing her eyes and … letting her mind wander. “I feel comfortable when I lay and sometimes I can watch the clouds,” she told Time magazine.

The Velodrome, the bowl-shaped indoor bicycle racing track, isn’t air conditioned because 82 degrees is apparently the optimal temperature for the fastest speeds. I salute all attendees.

Thoughts I had during equestrian events: Do horses experience jet lag? Are they thrilled to be jumping, the way dogs are thrilled to be chasing tennis balls? Is jumping fun … or? Also, they wear little caps? Sorry, the technical term is ear bonnet. Anyway, a jaunty look!

Watching track and field, it occurred to me that an “Avengers”-like assemblage of athletes coming to the rescue could be a great premise for a heist or revenge movie — just think of the real-world missions that would require the services of a shot-putter, a sprinter, a long-jumper, a pole vaulter and hurdler. Just picture a gold medal-er in the decathlon assembling a top-notch team to take down one injustice or another.

Nina Metz is a Tribune critic.