Ron Isbell has done something many people will never accomplish. He has made it to 12 Olympics. Summer or winter, he doesn’t care, he just loves the competition and loves what the Olympics stand for.
His first was in the Seoul Olympics in the summer of 1988.
Recently, Isbell and more than two dozen North Texas Olympic super fans met to discuss and get even more excited about the Paris Olympics that start with the Opening Ceremony on July 26.
“We are on a Facebook group page for people going to Paris and it includes embers from all over the world. There are about 43,000 members. We just planned to meet and talk about our plans for Paris and compare event tickets that we have,” Isbell said. “It felt like a high school reunion even though only a few of us knew each other before meeting that day.”
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Speaking of those event tickets, Ron said that he is headed to 40 events, with tickets already in hand. How does he keep it all straight?
“Well, I have a spreadsheet. It shows me all the places I am going. I also got selected for five events where I’ll be sitting in the fan section. They have told us that we will be a cheering section and should be closer to the action to be possibly seen on camera,” Isbell said.
His excitement has been building for years now, considering he missed out on the chance to go to the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Fans were not allowed in the stands, which meant that for the first time in decades, Isbell had to watch the Olympics from his home and not in the stands where he really wanted to be.
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He also said he is staying very close to the Eiffel Tower to ensure he misses none of the action.
