Covering the women’s all-around final in gymnastics at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games was a night I’ll never forget. There was the historical magnitude of the competition itself. Simone Biles, returning from her struggles in Tokyo to reclaim an all-around gold medal, breaking records and rewriting the history books. Suni Lee overcoming serious health issues and the expectations put on her by the rest of the world to find herself back on the all-around podium after her gold in Tokyo. Being there for that moment was truly full circle, as I remember begging my parents to put me into gymnastics after watching the 2008 all-around final where Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson made history, marking the first time two American women medaled.

But there was another reason that night will stick with me for a long time.

While falling is common in the sport of gymnastics, there was one specific fall I was not expecting. This fall did not occur during the meet or even on the competition floor. And it was not a gymnast that took a tumble… it was me.

Allow me to set the scene. Gymnastics is held in Bercy Arena where a section of the seating has been converted into a media tribune. In this section, there are platforms instead of traditional arena seats. On these platforms sit long white tables accompanied by plastic chairs smushed closely together to create as much seating as possible. While maximizing the number of media members that can sit at these tables and work is excellent, there is a slight design flaw. On each end of the table, the chairs sit very close to the edge of the stairs that lead up to the seating. A little too close.

With the women’s all-around final being such a high-profile event, there were very few seats left to choose from when I arrived over two hours before the competition started. I quickly claimed the first open spot I found, which happened to be right on the edge of one of the rows. As I went to sit down, I politely asked the woman next to me if she could shift down a little bit, explaining my chair was a little too close to the edge. She happily obliged, agreeing that keeping the chair that close was not the best idea. As we adjusted our seating situation I joked, “If anyone would fall, it would be.”

The next hour or so was uneventful. I prepped for the story I was going to write, got some food and waited anxiously for the meet to begin. As they were about to bring out the gymnasts to compete, I placed a charger my in backpack and adjusted my chair so I could tuck my bag under the table. But as I finished shifting my chair the world began to tilt. My view of the arena was replaced by the base of the table which soon turned into a series of black steps. My brain processed what was happening in slow motion… I was falling down the stairs… at the Olympics.

I could hear my chair tumbling with me, and at some point on the way down my backpack flashed in and out of sight. My adventure down the stairs felt like it took one year but also one second. As I reached the base of the steps a volunteer quickly rushed over, asking if I was okay. I told him I was just fine, trying to hold back my laughter about the events that just transpired.

The woman I was sitting next to rushed down. I smiled and simply said, “I told you.” I don’t think she was as amused as I was.

Thankfully, there were no urgent physical ailments that resulted from the fall. I told the volunteer that I was okay and began to make my way back to my seat. He followed behind, carrying my chair that had joined me on the way down. As I sat down, I could feel a spot under my right eye was beginning to feel sore and puffy, so I figured it would probably be best to get some ice just in case.

I wandered out to the nearest concession stand, asking for a bag of ice. The redness forming under my eye must have caught their attention as they pointed me to the medical area. The meet was about to start, so I rushed over and asked for a bag of ice. They asked why I needed it, so I explained that I had fallen. They asked how… great.

Apparently when you tell the medics at the Olympic Games that you fell down the stairs, they won’t simply give you an ice pack and send you on your way.

They took me to a training table in the medical room and checked to make sure I was alright. As the medics wrapped up, agreeing that other than a couple of bruises I was just fine, I joked with them that I was very clumsy. They looked puzzled. Realizing I didn’t know how to say “clumsy” in French, I tried again, telling them I was accident prone. That one didn’t land either and I was met with the same questioning looks. Trying to convey the message the best I could, I simply stated, “I fall down a lot.” That one was met with chuckles across the room.

A quick side note: My lack of coordination always seems to make an appearance at the same time each year. For the past several years I’ve found myself with some type of illness or injury in the month of August. As I sat in the medical room, I came to the realization that the date was, in fact, August 1. This situation only seemed right.

With an ice pack as a souvenir, I was finally on my way back to my seat, hoping I wasn’t missing much of the meet. Walking briskly through the concourse, holding an ice pack to my face, I noticed a familiar tall figure standing in my path. It was none other than Kevin Durant. I tried to avoid eye contact with KD as I rushed by, ice pack in hand, and I succeeded. I updated the volunteer that helped me, then headed up to my spot.

As I settled back into my seat — with the chair far from the edge this time — I realized I had missed the vault portion of the meet. Trying to catch up on what I missed I turned to the woman next to me who immediately asked how I was doing. “I’m just fine,” I quickly replied with a smile before getting to the more pressing issue:

“Did Simone do the Yurchenko double pike?” I asked urgently. She responded with a chuckle and a nod of the head.

“Great, thank you,” I answered as I returned to my notes. After all, there was history to write about.

By Hanna Barton | @Hannakbarton00