Despite Olympic ratings soaring after the post-pandemic Tokyo slump, the Paris Olympics were certainly short of perfect and kilometers from achieving the grand Olympics of the past. Here’s 8 reasons why…
Security
Just hours before the Paris Olympics’ opening ceremony, a “massive attack” paralyzed part of France’s high-speed rail network, disrupting service for hundreds of thousands of passengers.
France’s national rail operator, SNCF, reported that a series of “coordinated” arson attacks had damaged several facilities and services, and another “malicious act was foiled” on the LGV Sud-Est line connecting Paris and Lyon.
At least 250,000 passengers were affected on the day of the opening ceremony, with 800,000 more over the weekend. Many services were canceled, and passengers were advised to postpone their travel plans and avoid going to the station.
In light of recent terror activity including a 40-year-old Russian who was indicted for allegedly planning to “organize events likely to cause destabilization during the Olympic Games,” one would have assumed mass transit security would have been at an all time high. Apparently, it was not.
The rail event was an ominous beginning that left the athletes and spectators on edge.
The Opening Ceremony Scandal
The Olympics drew harsh criticism for mocking the Last Supper in its opening ceremony. The ceremony featured drag queens reenacting the Last Supper with Jesus and his disciples.
The architect of the ceremony, Thomas Jolly claimed his wish wasn’t “to be subversive, nor to mock or to shock, most of all, I wanted to send a message of love, a message of inclusion and not at all to divide.”
If this depiction was intentional then of course it is a disgrace to the Olympics and should be taken as such. Whomever hired Jolly should be fired and the Olympics should issue a more comprehensive apology. However, if this was not intentional then the Olympics should be just as ashamed for selected an ‘artistic director’ who failed to recognize the parallels between his ceremony and one of the most recognizable pieces of art in the world. Either way, allowing a controversial political/religious issue to be injected into the opening ceremony was an astonishing failure.
‘Not at all to divide’
During the the men’s doubles badminton final against China, a supporter of Taiwan had her “Let’s go Taiwan” sign forcibly taken and torn apart.
Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry condemned the act, calling it violent and contrary to the Olympic values of friendship and respect. Additionally, a towel with a similar message was confiscated from another fan during the match, where Taiwan defeated China to win gold.
When asked about the incident, International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams said, “There are very clear rules. Banners are not allowed. You can see how this could lead to: ‘If that’s allowed, then why not this?’ That is why the rules are quite strict. We have to try to bring 206 national Olympic committees together in one place. It’s quite a tough ask.”
So much for ‘a message of inclusion.’
Genocide Olympics
During a soccer game between Israel and Paraguay, matchgoers displayed a sign that read ‘Genocide Olympics.’ They also allegedly booed during the national anthem of Israel and made anti-semetic gestures.
While the Olympic Committee did outright condemn these acts and ask for an investigation by the Paris prosecutors office, the idea that a group could brandish such a large sign for as long as they did is frankly unbelievable, considering the aforementioned story of the Taiwanese fan who had a small sign torn up in seconds.
This comes after at least three Israeli athletes have received death threats. “We would like to remind everyone that the Games are a time for harmony and tolerance” a Paris 2024 spokesman said.
The Seine
Concerns about the long-polluted Seine, where swimming had been prohibited for over a century due to bacteria-filled waters, were heightened when Paris organizers announced plans to host open water and triathlon swimming events in the iconic river that flows through the heart of the French capital.
In spite of a massive and costly cleanup effort, some tests still revealed unacceptable levels of illness-causing bacteria. As a result, the triathlon schedule was adjusted, and one of the two open water practice sessions planned before the men’s and women’s 10-kilometer races was canceled.
Despite all these attempts to make the Seine safe, three German swimmers became violently ill after competing in the open water races in the Seine. One of the swimmers, Leonie Beck posted to social media “vomited 9 times yesterday + diarrhea.”
Delightful!
Two men win gold in women’s boxing
Two fighters competing in the women’s boxing event are accused of being ineligible to compete against women. Imane Khelif of Algeria and Lin Yu-ting of Tiawan each won gold in boxing at Paris 2024 amid a global furor over whether they were truly eligible to compete in the women’s division.
The International Boxing Association reported that blood tests conducted on the two fighters in May 2022 and March 2023 “conclusively indicated” that they “didn’t meet the eligibility criteria for IBA women’s events.” The IBA later stated that both cases revealed the presence of male XY chromosomes, with President Umar Kremlev adding that the tests “confirmed they were men.”
Lin chose not to appeal the decision, while Khelif initially took her case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) but subsequently withdrew her appeal.
Khelif won in the round of 16 after Italian boxer Angela Carini quit the fight in 46 seconds after being punched in the face twice. The experienced Carini noted that she had never been punched like that. Khelif went on to win gold in the welterweight division after winning 3 bouts by unanimous decision.
Yu-ting also won gold in the featherweight division after beating all of her opponents by unanimous decision.
Why the Olympics at this point don’t test chromosomes on women athletes at this point is baffling. This issue has been around since the Cold War days. “Men” crushing lifelong dreams of female Olympians is shameful – and easily addressed.
Authentic Parisian cuisine
Athletes in the Olympic Village reported food shortages, particularly a lack of protein-rich options. The village’s restaurant, which served around 40,000 meals daily, offered one-third of its 500 recipes as vegetarian. Some athletes expressed frustration that the abundance of vegan options left them without sufficient meat, while others reported that organizers had imposed limits on the amount they could receive. Additional concerns included undercooked and bland meat, chicken shortages, and rationed breakfast eggs. British swimming star Adam Peaty also reported finding “worms” in some of the fish. A fresh French take on escargot! (And when the Brits are complaining about the cuisine, there’s an issue.)
Eco-friendly beds
Most of the Olympians stayed at the Olympic Village, where they were provided snuggly cardboard beds. The beds, produced by Japanese mattress manufacturer Airweave, have frames made of cardboard to facilitate recycling after the Games, according to Olympic organizers.
However, several athletes, including superstar gymnast Simone Biles, took to social media to express their problems sleeping on the paper mattresses. Biles, noted simply: “the bed sucks.”
Aleah Finnegan, a gymnast representing the Philippines, shared her experience with the cardboard beds in the Olympic Village on TikTok. She noted that the mattress was “not very soft” and described it as having a thin topper with a texture that “looks like hot glue.”
Similarly, Australian water polo player Tilly Kearns described the mattress as “rock hard” in her own TikTok video. Her roommate even mentioned that her “back is about to fall off” after just one night.
Years of training and sacrifice to wind up sleeping on a glorified Amazon box…Greta Thunberg for the win.
Despite cardboard beds, infested food, and the fecal filled Seine, the U.S. managed to top the leaderboard as usual, edging out out China in the gold medal count, while beating them soundly by 35 in the total medal count.
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