The Paris Olympics had it all: dramatic defeats, great stories of overcoming, sensations, sweet moments and tragic situations. The 2024 Olympics were not without scandals.
We’ve rounded up 10 of the most controversial stories that sparked the biggest public outcry during the Games.
Participation of Russians and Belarusians.
This story began in February 2022 and remains relevant to this day. Athletes from Russia and Belarus were allowed to attend the Paris Games only in neutral status according to certain criteria.
Many athletes were not satisfied with such conditions, so they refused to go to the Olympics. As a result, only 15 Russians managed to get to Paris, but they also found themselves in a difficult situation. Neutrals were offended both in Russia, calling them traitors, and at the Games, depriving them of certain rights.
Evgeny Somov told how he was treated at the Olympics:
“I haven’t been to Russia for three years. They have forgotten me there already.” Somov’s first words at the Olympics.
Despite this, our athletes managed to take home a medal from the Games: Mirra Andreeva and Diana Schneider took silver in tennis doubles.
Hijab ban for French women
Before the start of the Games, the reason for discussion was the ban on French women wearing the hijab at the Olympics. This is due to the decision of the French authorities to create a society as secular as possible. Many Muslim women in the French team were not happy about this. For them, we had to find alternatives to the hijab, for example, closed caps.
Fortunately, this ban did not apply to members of other teams.
Why do the French have this attitude towards the hijab?
There is a new scandal at the Olympic Games over the hijab. The athlete was not allowed to attend the opening ceremony.
Opening Ceremony
The Games organisers were also embroiled in a religious scandal over the opening ceremony. Believers were offended by a parody of Leonardo da Vinci’s painting “The Last Supper” featuring drag artists. Questions were also raised over the naked man depicted in the caricature of Dionysus.
What was wrong with the opening of the Olympic Games?
What’s wrong with the opening of the Olympic Games? Here are some of the most scandalous moments.
The opening ceremony also caused outrage in another way: the organizers called South Korea the DPRK. Given the tense relations between the countries, this mistake was quite unpleasant for the South Koreans.
Poor conditions in the Olympic Village
Many athletes complained about the conditions of the Olympic Village. This was due to the desire of the Games organizers to make nutrition healthier and more vegetarian, which led to the absence of animal protein even before the start of the competition.
The problems of meat and egg shortages were resolved fairly quickly, but athletes continued to complain about nutrition.
The athletes were also outraged by the stuffiness in the rooms. In an attempt to reduce the carbon footprint, the organisers have removed air conditioning in the halls. Because of the stuffiness, Olympic swimming champion Thomas Ceccon even slept on the street, under a bench – he felt more comfortable there than in his room.
Chekkon organized a real protest:
The Paris Olympic champion slept on the street under a bench. The Italian was raised by the organizers
Workers’ strikes
Not only athletes, but also workers at the Games expressed their indignation at the conditions of detention. Construction workers were unhappy with the low wages for such a dangerous occupation. The unequal wages did not suit the artists of the opening ceremony either. Both public transport drivers and train drivers were outraged by the working conditions.
As a result, everyone periodically went on strike or spoke out about their hard and unfair work to the media.
The organizers of the opening ceremony had serious problems with the artists:
A unique opening ceremony of the Olympic Games will take place in Paris. It is already being called historic
Security issues
At the start of the Games, many were shocked by the news that the Argentine football team was assaulted during training prior to the match against Morocco. On July 25, the team’s coach Javier Mascherano reported that his athletes had been robbed of their personal belongings, including expensive watches. The Argentine Football Federation filed a police report. The case is under investigation.
Scandal in the match between Argentina and Morocco
In football, passions did not subside even after that. In the group stage match against Morocco, Argentina equalised the score in the last minute of added time (2-2). At that very moment, a crowd of fans invaded the pitch, so the players had to be moved to a room under the stands.
The athletes waited almost two hours for their match to officially end. As it turned out, Argentina’s decisive goal was scored from an offside position, which the system could not immediately register due to the exhaustion of the crowd. The Argentine goal had to be disallowed and the match was restarted. Three minutes later, the Moroccan team won 2:1.
Never in the history of VAR has a look been so long:
The last VAR decision in history. Argentina’s scandalous goal at the Olympics was taken away from them after 2 hours
Pollution of the Seine
Other athletes also had difficulties. The triathletes were unable to train before swimming because the swimming events were cancelled due to the water quality of the Seine. During the training days, an increase in the number of E. coli colonies in the river was observed.
The athletes had to swim “from scratch” while worrying about their health. According to some media reports, some ended up falling ill after swimming in the dirty Seine. Although the organizing committee of the Games denied all this.
Some athletes ended up feeling ill after swimming in the Seine:
Olympic Games victim: Athlete infected with E. coli after swimming in the Seine.
Boxers who failed the gender test
The gold medals in boxing in the 57kg and 66kg categories in Paris were won by boxers who failed the gender test at the 2023 World Championships. Many rivals of China’s Lin Yuting and Algeria’s Iman Khelif doubted the gender of the athletes due to the presence of Y chromosomes. These athletes also noted that they had “never been hit so hard”.
The IOC said Khelif and Yuting are girls whose testosterone production is impaired.
Khelif herself does not care about the prejudices of others:
The most hated athlete in Olympic history? Iman Khelif doesn’t care about the critics
Bronze in gymnastics
Perhaps the most notorious scandal was the story of the bronze medal in floor exercises in artistic gymnastics. The jury awarded third place to Romanian Ana Barbosa. While the athlete was celebrating her medal, the award was taken away and given to Jordan Chiles. This happened because the Americans lodged a protest against the evaluation and the athlete’s points were questioned.
The Romanian Federation filed a petition with the CAS, which claimed that the medal should be returned to Barbosa, because the appeal was filed four seconds later than planned. But the Americans do not agree with this: they have already filed their claim with the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
With the bronze in gymnastics, the real Santa Barbara happens:
A deafening scandal at the Olympic Games: an American gymnast was stripped of her medal already awarded
