PARIS, Texas — The 2024 Paris Summer Olympic Games are all about competition. Little do many people know, Texas had its own 2024 Paris summer Olympic games. However, you have to find it in Paris... Texas!
Nestled in Lamar County, about two hours from the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, Paris, Texas, has a population of an estimated 70,000 people in both the city and county.
Becky Semple is the tourism director at the Lamar County Chamber of Commerce. Even though the culture in Paris, Texas, is completely different from Paris, France, there's still some similarities with a twist.
The town is known for their Eiffel Tower, which has a red cowboy hat right on top and is one of Paris' most visited spots. It even has the same lighting variation as the real Eiffel Tower, big thanks in part to the chamber.
"In 2011, we went to Paris, France," said Semple. "We took a chamber group. We're looking at the tower and I say, 'We've got to light our tower. I don't know how, but we've got to light it.' It was just glistening and we were in tears. It was so beautiful."
Paris, Texas, has quite the history as well. One of the big events that tore the town up happened in 1916. A big fire ripped through Paris, scorching more than 260 acres, costing an estimated 11 million dollars in property damage.
"Everything else, gone," said Semple. "It took three lives and over 1,400 structures, homes, businesses, and downtown did not exist anymore."
Rebuilding began as quickly as possible when the townspeople collected relief funds, even opening their homes to the victims. Downtown Paris is on the National Register for a city that has most buildings built in the same time period because of the rebuilding.
The heart of downtown is home to so many events that Paris holds. However, 2024 gave them an opportunity to hold yet another event: The 2024 Paris Olympics Games.
Just like how they would in Paris, France, Paris, Texas, held their own Olympics with everything, including the medal counts, beginning with an opening ceremony.
"We've got the Olympics going on in Paris, France, right now," said Paul Allen, President of the Lamar County Chamber of Commerce. "We're the second largest Paris in the world. The former mayor had an idea to do something in relation to the Paris games that are going on in France. So, we decided just to host our own. "
This isn't your traditional type of Olympic games with gymnastics, track and field, or swimming. That's because you don't have to be a professional athlete.
"We wanted them to be fun because that's the whole purpose of this," said Allen. "It's getting our community together and people from outside are coming in as well."
Mayor Mihir Pankaj says this was one of his goals around the time he started getting involved with the city.
"One of my dreams, even before I got into city council, was to reach out to Paris, France and see if we could become their sister city and I still want to do that. It's awesome to pay tribute to the Olympic games. Walking around the square with our community felt empowering. It felt special."
The competition consisted of thirteen different games, scattered across town. Each game, just like the Olympics, had a winner that medaled in bronze, silver, and gold.
Bowling, shuffleboard and billiards were among some of the activities that kept the Campbell Soup Company competitive with other teams.
"Campbell's is super excited about being involved in our community," said Sara McCollum, with The Campbell Company. "We do a lot for the community and we love to be in everything that we can. This gives us a lot. It provides for our families, so we love to be involved."
The city has a pump track that is a fairly new feature to the town, where kids and adults can give their own wheels a spin.
"I ripped up my shoe and my legs wouldn't stop shaking, because we're all nervous just to have people watching," said Duane Henry, a local chicken farmer. "But it's so much fun. So, you just get out and do it, and you don't think. This is something I did in my teenage years, so. Just out at the pump track as an adult trying to stay in shape, I'm really thankful to Paris to be putting the track out here like this and hosting really cool games."
Next was one of the hottest sports that's been trending in recent years: pickleball.
"You're never going to play pickleball and not enjoy it," said Tanner Kinman, who won a gold medal with his teammate, Erika Holt. "We are undefeated and we took home goals, so I think it was a fun experience. There's a lot of layers to it. You have people supporting you, and then you have the competitive factor of it and they mix really well. Losing or winning? It's always fun."
For Kinman and Holt, who only began playing pickleball for less than a year, have found their love for the sport through competition.
"If you're just starting, everyone is welcoming and they're all going to help you and everything," said Holt. "I really like the niceness of it."
Meanwhile, another type of game was at play. One that doesn't require a lot of physical work but does require a big appetite.
"I've never done a hot dog eating contest before," said the hot dog winner, Tristan Fuller. He came out eating six hot dogs altogether while being timed. "I've always been a fast eater, so this was no pressure."
In the end, every winner was awarded a medal like a real Olympian. But the games aren't just about who can win the competition.
"I think it's cool because it brings more people into our town," said Holt. "But if you hear about the first one and it goes so well, then other people from out of town are going to want to come in and be a part of this."
It also brings another element that's worth more than the gold.
"We end up both family," said McCollum. "We love to be involved and we are very much a family. We love each other. We love what we do."
The Olympics on the world stage carry the spirit of solidarity, fair play, and friendship. If a small town like Paris can rebuild a whole community in two years, you'll know there's a type of spirit that always lives there.
"We really just are a special, quaint little town," said Mayor Pankaj. "We want people to know that there's some really neat things happening here and if it's not this year, next year, or the year after, you're going to know about Paris because there's so many great opportunities here. You see the importance of the games and you see how it brings people together. I felt that with our own community."
Through the games, the Paris community showed they can be faster, higher, and stronger together. All it takes is for this small town of Paris, Texas, to always reach a little bit higher.
Paris, Texas, said the community had so much fun at their first ever Olympic games, that they're looking at potentially making this an annual event.
To learn more about the City of Paris, Texas, click here.