BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) – It’s easy to get swept up in the Olympic spirit when watching the games on TV, but imagine being there in real life.
A Bismarck family got to experience that as they spent more than two weeks in Paris this summer, soaking in everything about the Olympics.
The family said watching the games in person is an experience they’ll never forget.
Eight-year-old Ellie Nelson is pretty proud of her pins. She and her sister collected them all at the Olympics in Paris. It was one of many big memories the family made while at the Olympics.
“It was so cool and amazing,” said Ellie.
Attending the Olympics was a bucket list item for their mom, Heather.
“I’ve always loved the Olympics,” she said.
The Nelson’s Olympic dream started when on a whim, they put their names in for tickets.
“It’s a lottery system and they only release so many,” explained Heather. “We were drawn for the lottery, so it was like, ‘Well now we have to go!’”
The Nelson family spent 18 days in France, taking in as many Olympic events as they could.
“We got to see a lot of gold medals and a lot of really great competition,” said Brian.
“It was so fun. We got to see a lot of sports,” added 11-year-old Avery.
A lot of sports including the U.S. women’s gold medal soccer match.
“It was super cool. And we got to see the medal ceremony for that,” said Avery.
“I was almost in tears just watching them play and win,” said Heather.
The Nelsons made time to see some other famous landmarks while in Paris, including three-year-old Henry’s favorite, the Eiffel Tower.
“I wanted to stay there,” said Henry.
“I never thought I was going to be able to go see it,” added Ellie.
But thanks to a little luck, these kids have already checked off some pretty big bucket list items of their own, and their Olympic dreams are just getting started.
Ellie and Avery said they’re definitely interested in going to the 2028 summer games in Los Angeles. Their parents said they haven’t ruled it out.
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