Olympic Games Political and Social Issues, Early Update
Foreign Policy Brief #150 | By: Reilly Fitzgerald | July 31, 2024
Featured Photo: www.healthnews.com
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The Paris 2024 Olympic Games held their opening ceremony a little over 24 hours ago. In the opening day or two of the games there has already been criminal activity attempting to disrupt the Games, a doping scandal, water quality tests and checks of the Seine, and the misidentification of South Korea as the “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea” (otherwise known as North Korea). It has been a busy, and eventful opening to a historic and monumental Olympic Games. There have also been several medals awarded, including a few for Team USA.
Analysis
Paris 2024, in the build up to the Games, was pegged as being a monumental opportunity for the world as the first post-pandemic Olympic Games. It has been made into a transition point for society to move beyond the pandemic and get back to normalcy. The Games held their historic opening ceremony with the parade of nations taking place on the Seine; making it the first time an opening ceremony has been held outside of a stadium (let alone on a series of boats moving down one of the most famous rivers in the world).
Security has been a large question at these Olympic Games, and early in the day, before the Opening Ceremony, there were concerns about security as railway lines in and around Paris were the target of, what appears to be, criminal arson. The ceremony is also drawing criticism from right-wing media outlets in the United States for a depiction of The Feast of Dionysus (or Bacchus), the Greek god of wine, due to the false interpretation that it was depicting the The Last Supper painting of Jesus and his apostles. The criticism is largely due to the presence of “drag queens”, as the Associated Press stated, and many icons of the LGBTQ+ community to represent the inclusivity of French society.
Also during the Opening Ceremony, the Olympic officials introduced The Republic of Korea (otherwise known as, South Korea) as the “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (also known as, North Korea) – which has seemed to lead toward a diplomatic issue, and an official apology from the IOC President Thomas Bach to the President of South Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol, according to ESPN.
The Seine has also been the cause of controversy, and concern, due to the water quality of the river. There are several events set to take place in the river, such as the Olympic Triathlon and other open-water swimming events. For months there have been concerns of these events being altered or canceled due to higher levels of E. Coli. Olympic and city officials have been working on lowering these concerns, the mayor of Paris – Anne Hidalgo – took a swim in the river just about a week ago.
When it comes to the Olympics, and many other high-level sporting tournaments, doping is always a concern; especially, after the Olympics in Sochi where the Russian Federation created a state-sponsored doping program for many of their athletes across all sports. Very early on in the Games, an Iraqi judoka, Sajjad Sehen, tested positive for various steroids – marking the first positive test at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. As the opening days have gone on, a Nigerian boxer, Cynthia Ogunsemilore, tested positive for furosemide. Furosemide is a banned substance in international sports, and is often used for two different purposes: the first being to mask other substances that may be discovered via testing a urine sample, and the second would be to help lose weight via loss of water/fluids, as it is a diuretic. According to NPR, the Chinese swimming team is under the microscope and are denying accusations of doping. Prior to the 2021 Games in Tokyo, there were 23 swimmers who had positive tests for performance-enhancing drugs; of those 23 athletes, 11 of them are competing in Paris. Adding to the drama and accusations, is that some of those 11 swimmers (who tested positive at the previous games) have already won medals in Paris. China also is leading the medal count at the time of my writing this brief; and Team USA is sitting in fifth place.
Engagement Resources:
- World Anti-Doping Agency’s Prohibited List 2024 – https://www.wada-ama.org/sites/default/files/2023-09/2024list_en_final_22_september_2023.pdf
- Olympics Live Updates – https://olympics.com/en/paris-2024
For more on the Olympics, check out USResistNews.org/Olympics.
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