Paris Olympics Woke or A Mess? From Controversial Opening Ceremony Parody to Female Boxing Gender Scandal And More

It's been less than 10 days into the 2024 Paris Olympics and we have seen so much drama already. There have been scandals after scandals, a bunch of controversies, and a lot of mixups everywhere across the tournament. Some say all the mess is just a taste of Parisian (French) “sense of relaxation” while others have branded the global event one of the worst in the history of Olympic games. Keep reading to find out some of the incidents that have raised eyebrows in the tournament so far!

The opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics took place on 26 July. A part of the opening ceremony that featured drag queens received criticism from religious leaders, politicians, and social conservatives who termed it as The Last Supper parody meant to mock Christians.

Paris Olympics Organizers said the incident was not inspired by the 'Last Supper' and the intention was not to offend or mock anyone. They also apologized for the criticism triggered by  the 'Last Supper' parody.

Another controversy at the Paris Olympics was the female category fight between an Italian and Algerian fighters. Italian boxer Angela Carini walked out of the olympic fight at 46 seconds after Imane Khelif, an allegedly ‘biologically male’ Algerian fighter defeated her. According to Carini, she quit the fight to ‘save her life’ after receiving two heavy punches and feared she broke her nose. Even though Khelif did not pass the testosterone test in the 2023 World Championship in Delhi, she was allowed to compete at the 2024 Paris Olympics. 

Canadian triathlon athlete Tyler Mislawchuk vomited live on live TV after crossing the finish line for his triathlon event, securing a ninth position. The race featured a 40 km bike ride, 10km run, and 1.5 km swim in the River Seine amid worries about pollution. Mislawchuk did not vomit once but 10 times. The men’s triathlon had been postponed some hours before taking place because of high pollution levels.

The Seine River hosts two olympic events: open-water marathon swimming and part of triathlon. The river was used during the 1900 Paris Summer Olympics but was banned in 1923 because of unsafe bacteria. Some months before the 2024 Olympics, heavy rainfall brought polluted overflow in the river raising alarm on the water safety. Despite the river failing several bacteria-level tests, organizers insisted the river was safe to use for the events.

The French and English presenters introduced the South Korean delegation as North Korea during the opening ceremony. However, the sub-title on the TV broadcast had the correct title. What seemed a small error brought displeasure among South Koreans, bearing in mind that the two countries have been at war for many years. Since World War II, North and South Korea have remained divided, and tensions between the two countries have escalated recently.

The International Olympic Committee apologized after the mistaken introduction. The apology was made on IOC's official Korean language X account.

We would like to offer a deep apology for the mistake that occurred in the introduction of the South Korean delegation during the opening ceremony.

IOC

During the Olympic men’s basketball match between South Sudan and Puerto Rico in the Pierre Mauroy Stadium, Olympic organizers played the wrong national anthem for Sudan. The Sudanese national anthem was played instead of South Sudan. Fans booed the wrong anthem and the South Sudan men’s basketball team said they felt disrespected. The Paris Olympic game organizers apologized for the ‘human error ’ in a statement they released.

After many years of civil war, South Sudan gained independence in 2011. The country made it to its first Olympics in 2016 and their men’s basketball team qualified in the 2024 Paris Olympics for the first time.