Every four years, the international sporting event, the Olympic Games, takes place. This year, it’s being hosted in Paris, France, and almost 150 athletes from Mzansi have been selected to represent our nation in Team SA.
While watching the Games is riveting enough, it can be made even more exciting when you add some alcohol to your viewing parties. Here are five drinking games that will bring celebration and cheer to the 2024 Olympics.
1.Opening Ceremony Celebration
The Olympic Games opening ceremony is on Saturday, 26 July, and is being broadcast on SABC TV. It can also be streamed for free on the SABC+ video streaming service. You should watch it not just because it’s rumoured to be a spectacular production but because it also makes for a fun drinking game.
Take a sip (or a shot if you’re in the mood to party hard!) when:
- Paris or France is mentioned.
- You see shots of historic landmarks, like the Eiffel Tower or the Louvre.
- A country with less than 10 athletes enters.
- You see any fire, such as the Olympic torch or pyrotechnics.
- Team SA makes their entrance!
2.Shotgun Relay
If you and your friends also want to challenge yourselves physically (but not quite to the extent of the competing athletes!), why not create two teams and have a beer-drinking relay by shotgunning your drinks?
How? To shotgun a beer, it needs to be in a can. Use a sharp object to puncture a hole near the bottom of the can (but not underneath). Then hold it sideways, pop open the tab and gulp it down using the bottom hole. This allows you to down a drink quickly.
Make sure each person has a beer. Once the first person in a team is finished, the next person can begin, and so forth. The team that finishes first are the champions!
3.Live Event Libations
Of course, the best part of the Olympic Games is watching the events happen live. And yes, this activity can also be made into a drinking game. Again, it’s up to you to decide whether you are going to go slow with small sips of a regular drink or if you want to take your celebrations up a notch with something stronger.
Take a sip or have a shooter when:
- An athlete breaks a personal record.
- Paris or France is mentioned by the commentator.
- You see a close-up of a famous Parisian landmark.
You can also take bets before an event as to which country is going to win. The winner (or loser!) of the bet then has to take a sip or shot.
4.Bloopers and Bevvies
The Olympic Games are all about the world’s most prestigious athletes coming together to compete and show off their impressive skills. But athletes are, at the end of the day, only human, which means that there will be many tumbles, fumbles and falls throughout the event.
If you and some friends are in the mood for some laughs with your drinks, host a viewing party for an event that is known for athletes falling a lot, which can be anything from soccer to hurdle races to gymnastics. Each time someone goes down, you can take a sip or a shot.
5.Beer-can Bowling
When you are playing drinking games, there are often a lot of empty containers lying around. Before you put your cans out for recycling, recycle them at home to play *another* game (just one more!) – Beer-can Bowling.
All you need are 10 empty beer or drink cans, which should be lined up in one line of four, then one of three, then two and then one so that they form a triangle shape. Then, use a ball, aim and roll to see how many you can knock down. The person with the most down at the end of a few pre-determined rounds is the winner.
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