- This year’s Games sparked discussions before they started with the safety of the river Seine and continued when a Hong Kong fencer won gold
Silver medalist Simone Biles, left, and Jordan Chiles, right, both of the United States, bow to gold medalist Rebeca Andrade of Brazil during the medal ceremony for the women’s artistic gymnastics individual floor finals during the 2024 Summer Olympics. Photo: APIt has been a crazy couple of weeks at the Paris Olympics. From highly contested medals to social media igniting with unhinged discourse, this year’s Games might be one of the most controversial in recent memory. Now that the closing ceremony is over, let’s look at some of the wildest moments from the last few weeks.
Safety of the Seine
Controversy began even before the Games following reports that France spent US$1.5 billion to make the Seine safe to swim in, as previously the river had unsafe levels of pollution and even E coli. Even after these efforts, studies still found the Seine to be unsanitary.
French President Emmanuel Macron and Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, promised to swim in the river to prove it was clean. As a result, French protesters hatched plans to defecate in the river on the day Macron swam, but all these ideas fell through. More problems popped up during the Games, as events were scrapped due to unsafe levels of pollution, and several athletes got sick after swimming in the river for the triathlon.
Opening ceremony
The Olympics opening ceremony was held on July 26, and what better way to mark the start of the Games than to make people mad online? Controversy arose over a segment involving drag queens at a formal dinner setting that some said looked like Leonardo DaVinci’s painting The Last Supper. One user on X, formerly known as Twitter, said they “felt insulted by this drag queen parody of the Last Supper”. However, an Olympic spokesperson stated that this was a parody of a pagan festival celebrating Dionysus, the Greek god of wine.
Hong Kong v. Italy
Hong Kong fencer Cheung Ka-long’s historic win over Italy’s Filippo Macchi secured his second consecutive gold medal and kept us at the edge of our seats. The score was tied at 14-14, and on the very last point, several video reviews were required before Cheung was eventually given the edge. Italian representatives were unhappy with the results and launched a formal complaint, with some calling the judges biased. The incident led to people online trolling each other in comment wars. Pizza Hut’s Hong Kong franchise even weighed in on the controversy by offering customers free pineapple on their pizza – which many Italians consider a crime against food.
Bad news for Coco Gauff
The 2024 Olympics were one to forget for American tennis star Coco Gauff, who was upset by Croatia’s Donna Vekic in the 3rd round of the women’s singles event. The biggest story from the game came from her argument with the umpire halfway into the second set. The ball was hit to Coco, and the linesman called the shot out. However, the umpire overturned the decision, giving a point to Vekic. In response, an emotional Gauff spoke to the umpire, saying, “This isn’t fair ... I feel like I’m getting cheated on constantly” and “It always happens to me on this court,” as she dealt with similar situations on the same court during the French Open earlier this year.
Sustainability woes
Paris 2024 aimed to be the most sustainable Olympics ever, and one measure that organisers introduced was making one-third of the food plant-based, with fewer meat options. This sounds like a good idea until you realise that these are the best athletes in the world who are very strict about their diets. As a result, eggs and meat had to be rationed, and it got to the point where athletes from Great Britain flew in chefs to cook for them. Many people also complained about the small portion sizes. These issues, along with the infamous cardboard beds and a lack of air conditioning, resulted in a less-than-optimal stay at the Olympic Village.
Beijing, John Lee praise Hong Kong Olympians for their historic performance at the Games
Jordan Chiles wins, then loses, medal
Team USA’s Jordan Chiles made history when she won her first-ever medal; it was also a key moment in gymnastics, as it was the first time that Black athletes won all three spots on the podium. However, this moment was short-lived, as she was soon stripped of her bronze medal.
Originally, Chiles had the 5th best score. However, her coaches challenged the difficulty score the judges gave her, giving her an additional 0.1 points and securing the bronze medal. The Romanian Gymnastics Association challenged this revision, stating that Jordan’s coaches took more than one minute to request an inquiry, per the rules. The revision was voided, and Chiles’ medal was given to Romania’s Ana Barbosu. There may be more to come in this saga, as Team USA has recently said they have timestamped video evidence they may use in an appeal.
Noah Lyles runs with Covid
Runner Noah Lyles made news a few times during the Games; in one event, the representative from Team USA went from being dead last at the 40m mark to winning by five-thousandths of a second. Aerial images of the event raised eyebrows, as it appeared that several other racers’ feet had crossed the finish line first, but the rules stated that the winner was the person whose torso crossed the line first – making Lyles the winner.
Additionally, following the 200m race, where he won bronze, he revealed that he had tested positive for Covid-19. Many people were upset that he still competed, knowing he had coronavirus, while others have questioned the legitimacy of his illness, as Lyles reportedly seen in a nightclub in Paris was seen in a club in Paris not long after.
Imane Khelif faces cyberbullying
Italian boxer Angela Carini threw in the towel just 46 seconds into her round against Algeria’s Imane Khelif, saying she withdrew for her own safety and that she “had never been punched so hard in her life”. Rumours regarding Khelif’s gender began after it was revealed that she had been disqualified from the 2023 world championship after failing gender eligibility tests by the International Boxing Association (IBA).
However, many have pointed out that the Russian-owned IBA is notoriously corrupt, and her disqualification came after beating a then-undefeated Russian boxer. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) defended Khelif, saying she was born female and identified as female. The IOC also stripped the IBA of recognition as the governing body of boxing before the Paris events.
Still, the incident led to wild speculation on X, with famous names like Harry Potter author JK Rowling, YouTuber Logan Paul, and Elon Musk all weighing in with their comments, claiming Khelif was biologically male and shouldn’t have been allowed to compete in women’s boxing. She has since won a gold medal and is now in the process of filing a lawsuit for cyber harassment.
RayGun confuses with breakdancing moves
In the first-ever Olympic breakdancing competition, Australia’s Rachael Gunn (stage name RayGun) deployed epic moves such as swimming on the floor, hopping, rolling and sliding on stage, and a kangaroo pose. She was given an astounding zero points and eliminated, with many making fun of her performance – which has gone viral on social media – and wondering how she qualified for the competition.
The Olympics will not include breakdancing as a competition in 2028, meaning that – for better or for worse – we may never see a performance like this again.