Canadian athletes revel in spectacle of Olympic venues

Inside Paris La Défense Arena, Canadian swimmer Finlay Knox stood behind the blocks and soaked in the feeling of hearing more than 13,000 cheering fans.

Sharing the pool for a couple of races with French swimming sensation Léon Marchand, who won four gold medals and a bronze at the Paris Olympics, Knox estimated the crowd was 10 times louder than normal.

Even though the French fans may not have been cheering for Knox specifically, he drew energy from them.

"It was a truly incredible moment for me, and something that I had never experienced in my swimming career," Knox told reporters on Sunday.

With the last two Olympic Games staged during a pandemic emergency, Paris has marked the return of fans.

Organizers promised a spectacle, and so far, it's lived up to that promise, from the venues to the celebrities in the stands.

Take the women's road cycling event, which Olympic organizers say drew about 400,000 spectators to the street.

Even sports where athletes may be accustomed to drawing smaller crowds are noticing some extra energy.

Competing in her fifth Olympic Games, Canadian tennis table player Mo Zhang said it was easier to focus in Tokyo without fans. A quiet venue makes it easier to hear your competitor hitting the ball.

Even with the extra noise, Zhang enjoyed the atmosphere inside South Paris Arena, where table tennis matches were held.

"The crowd didn't affect me at all," she said. "I was focused only on playing."

One of France's best known landmarks, the Grand Palais, played host to fencing. More than 6,000 fans could feel like they were back in another time, watching a duel inside the structure built for the Paris Universal Exhibition nearly 125 years ago.

Like table tennis players, fencers don't always compete