WNY resident attending Paris Olympics as spectator gains international attention

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) -- The 2024 Paris Olympics are well underway with fans traveling all across the world to attend the games. One Olympic superfan from Western New York is living his best life at the games.

Jeff Toy of Elma has been planning his trip to the Paris Olympics for the last eight years. This year's trip came at a hefty price, but Toy said the memories are priceless. He said he has considered himself a superfan of the Olympics for as long as he can remember.

"Ever since I've been a little kid, I remember getting home, having a snack, and watching the Olympics from the time I was like 6 or 7," Toy said. "It's actually one of my earliest childhood memories."

Once he was able to actually afford a trip to the Olympics, he immediately jumped at the opportunity. He has already attended the 2012 Olympics in London and the 2016 games in Rio.

After spectators weren't allowed to attend the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Toy knew he had to start planning for the next Olympic games.

Getting tickets to the Olympics in Paris was a bit different compared to years before. In London and Rio, each country was designated a certain number of tickets, but for the 2024 games, it was not broken down by country.

Getting tickets to the Olympics in Paris was a lottery system. At one point, Toy set up 10 iPads and multiple computers hoping one would get the lottery invite to buy tickets, and one did.

"Wherever you were in the world, 10 a.m. Paris time, that's when you were able to get the tickets," Toy said. "I would set my alarm for 3 or 3:30 in the morning at least 10 to 12 times if not more."

Since arriving in Paris, Toy started his Olympic adventure by attending the opening ceremonies. Since then, he's gone to matches for many different sports including tennis, swimming, skateboarding and beach volleyball.

Like a lot of the United States, Toy is also a huge fan of the G.O.A.T. of women's gymnastics, Simone Biles.

_{Photo: Jeff Toy}

"In 2016, we were in Brazil at the Olympics, and we watched team finals. We watched Simone and her team kill it," Toy said. "We were like 'Wow she really has something going for her.' At that time, she was known, but not like we know her today."

Even in France, Toy is always donning the stars and stripes, which has been getting him a lot of attention. He said he poses for hundreds of pictures wearing USA-themed outfits every day.

_{Photo: Jeff Toy}

He's had the opportunity to meet celebrities at the 2024 games including Peyton Manning, Hoda Kotb and NFL player Jonathan Owens. He also got several custom big heads created of every U.S. athlete he knew he was going to be watching. The big heads have led him to have conversations with Olympian parents such as gymnast Jade Carey's mom and dad.

Toy has also been featured on several social media platforms including NBC News, ABC News, the New York Times and Vogue Magazine.

Toy got the opportunity to support some Western New York natives competing in the games. He said he watched Matt Anderson, who is on the men's volleyball team.

"We live in a world where there is such negativity, and you come to the Olympics and for the most part everybody is happy," Toy said. "That's the best part of the Olympics. It brings the world together."

On Thursday, Toy will be heading to the Women's Gymnastics All-around Final before heading back to the states on Saturday.

Trina Catterson joined the News 4 team in 2024. She previously worked at WETM-TV in Elmira, a sister station of WIVB. See more of her work here.