One week into the 2024 Olympic Games, there has already been a catalogue of high profile controversies in Paris.
After an error-stricken opening ceremony last week, Emmanuel Macron and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will have been hoping for a steadier start to the actual competition.
However, concerns over the inclusion of a convicted child rapist as well as women who had previously failed to meet gender eligibility criteria reared their heads when these athletes took to their respective arenas.
Though the IOC has stood firmly behind its decision to allow all these competitors at the Games, it has not helped create a positive momentum for an Olympics which thousands of fans were already threatening to boycott.
With over a week still to come, Paris 2024 is in danger of becoming the most weird and controversial Olympic Games ever.
Child rapist selected for Netherlands volleyball team
A concern which was already being raised by many critics before the start of the Games was the inclusion of Steven Van de Velde on the Dutch beach volleyball team.
Van de Velde was sentenced to four years in prison in Britain in 2016 after admitting to the rape of a 12-year-old girl two years earlier when he was 19.
He spent 13 months in prison – one year in Britain and one month in the Netherlands – before being freed there after what he did was re-classified under Dutch law as a lesser offence of ‘committing indecent acts’ and his sentence was reduced.
Since 2017 he has been playing volleyball again, leading up to his selection for Paris 2024 aged 29.
But he was met with hostility on his debut at the Eiffel Tower Stadium on Wednesday, being booed by the crowd every time he served in a 2-0 win over Chile.
However, the IOC had already made clear they had no intention of disqualifying the Dutchman, with spokesperson Mark Adams telling a press conference: ‘We have made it clear we have been in long conversations with the Dutch National Olympic Committee. A crime occurred 10 years ago, a great deal of rehabilitation has taken place and strong safeguarding is in place.’
Gender row in women’s boxing
More uproar came when Algerian boxer Imane Khelif stopped Italian opponent Angela Carini after just 46 seconds of their first round bout in the women’s competition.
Khelif, who has lived since birth as a female, was thrown out of last year’s world championships in New Delhi after failing to meet gender eligibility criteria according to IBA president Umar Kremlev.
Carini, 25, was hit twice in the fight, suffered a suspected broken nose and barely threw a punch before telling her corner: ‘It’s not fair.’ She then sank to her knees, beat the canvas in frustration and refused to shake Khelif’s hand.
After the one-sided 66kg category bout ended Carini said she quit the bout to ‘save my life’.
Olympic bosses quickly defended Khelif, slamming the ‘aggression’ and ‘discrimination’ from critics.
Khelif was one of two women disqualified by the International Boxing Association (IBA), but the details of this test are unclear. The IBA president said whatever method was used ‘proved’ the pair had XY chromosomes.
However, it has been speculated that Khelif was born with differences in sex development (DSD), which would mean that though she is not male, she was born with a combination of both female and male biological traits.
According to the United Nations, up to 1.7 per cent of people are born with intersex traits.
The other woman disqualified by the IBA was Taiwan’s Lin Yu-Ting, 28, who is top seed in Paris and will open her campaign for gold today.
Khelif’s dominant display, only her fifth knockout win in 46 fights, sparked outrage, with high profile figures including former GB medalists Nicola Adams and Sharron Davies calling for the Algerian’s removal from the competition.
However, former world champion Amy Broadhurst who beat Khelif in 2022 tweeted: ‘Personally I don’t think she has done anything to “cheat”. I thinks it’s the way she was born and that’s out of her control.’
Opening ceremony X-rated wardrobe malfunction and Christianity row
In an opening ceremony which seemingly set the tone for the Games, one performer suffered an embarrassing X-rated wardrobe malfunction during a drag performance.
Eagled-eyed viewers on X, formerly Twitter, noticed the dancer’s testicle appeared to be hanging out of their underwear as the cameras panned across one of the boats which made its way down the Seine.
It looks as though the performer’s shorts had managed to ride up his leg and thus lead to the embarrassing wardrobe malfunction.
The segment, amid the pouring rain, put something of a dampener on a ceremony which was concluded by a spectacular light show at the Eiffel Tower and Celine Dion’s first performance since she was diagnosed with stiff person syndrome in 2022.
The same performance included a scene which bore resemblance to the classic depiction of The Last Supper, most notably painted by Leonardo Da Vinci.
Some religious groups condemned the ceremony, including France’s own Catholic Church who said it included ‘scenes of derision and mockery of Christianity’.
Paris 2024 organiser Anne Descamps felt compelled to apologise for any offence caused in the following days, saying the ceremony intended to ‘celebrate community tolerance’.
‘Clearly there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group,’ she said. On the contrary, I think Thomas Jolly did try to intend to celebrate community tolerance. We believe this ambition was achieved, if people have taken any offence, we of course are really sorry.’
Turkish athlete compared to hitman
In a less calamitous but equally viral moment, Turkey’s shooting silver medalist Yusuf Dikec took social media by storm for his nonchalant approach to his event.
In a field of competitors wearing specialist headgear and ear protection, Dikec seemed to stroll up to the mark and even had a hand in his pocket as he lined up his shots.
The image set social media alight with reaction, with X owner Elon Musk even wading into the incredible moment.
And Dikec has revealed the real reason why he opts not to use the typical gear after making headlines all over the world in his fifth Olympics appearance.
‘I never needed that equipment,’ the 51-year-old told Haber Turk.
‘I am a natural shooter. That’s why I don’t use many accessories.’
Dikec and his partner Sevval Ilayda Tarhan claimed silver in the 10-metre air pistol mixed team event in Paris on Wednesday.
Olympic flag raised upside down
It was a sense of déjà vu for many sports fans after French officials were left red-faced when the Olympic flag was hoisted upside down at the opening ceremony.
‘Those who managed to stay awake [during the ceremony] were treated to the Olympic flag being flown upside down,’ journalist Dan Wetzel tweeted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
‘If you are having a bad day at work, it could be worse. You could be the flag team that hoisted the Olympic Flag upside down at the Opening Ceremony,’ posted another Games fan.
At the 2000 Games, Aussie sporting legend Cathy Freeman – who later won gold on the track in the 400m – was given the honour of lighting the cauldron.
Rather spoiling the picture, though, were the inverted rings on her bodysuit.
Squalid Seine causes triathlon chaos
Like the participation of Van de Velde, the cleanliness of Paris’ river was an issue foreseen long before the Olympics began.
As well as the opening ceremony, the Seine was also lined up to host both the men’s and women’s triathlon events.
However, concern grew over the river’s suitability for humans to swim in as the Games approached and Paris’ mayor Anne Hidalgo even swam in it herself to prove it was safe after a £1.2billion cleanup operation.
Despite this, the men’s event was pushed back as organisers deemed the water quality to not be good enough for the competition.
It was not confirmed that the races would be able to go ahead the next day until the early hours, with the men shoehorned in after the women’s race.
That meant the conclusion of the men’s race coincided with a rise in temperatures, adding to the difficulty for the competitors.
The 1.5km swim, 40km bike ride and 10km run proved too much for some of the field, leading to a viral picture at the finish line after Brit Alex Yee sprinted to a memorable victory.
One triathlete, Canada’s Tyler Mislawchuk, even vomited while the cameras were still rolling after finishing the race in ninth.
He later revealed he had actually vomited 10 times as the brutal race took its toll. ‘I didn’t come here to come top 10 but I gave it everything I had,’ he told Canadian media afterwards.
Mislawchuk was among a field of athletes who were colapsed just after the finishing line in images which were compared to renaissance artwork.
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT BELOW
South Korean team introduced as North Korea
Olympic bosses also had to apologise after another opening ceremony blunder saw the South Korean team introduced as North Koreans as they sailed through the French capital.
The announcer declared them the ‘Republique populaire democratique de Coree’ in French, then ‘Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’ in English.
North Korea was correctly introduced with the country’s official name.
A swift apology followed the next morning on social media from the IOC, and South Korea’s National Olympic Committee made plans to meet with the Paris Olympics Organising Committee and the IOC to voice their protest, request measures to prevent a recurrence, and send an official letter of protest under the name of the head of its delegation, the sports ministry said.
South Korea is technically still at war with its northerly neighbour, with relations between the two countries at one of their lowest points in years, as the North bolster military ties with Russia while sending thousands of trash-carrying balloons to the South.
In response, Seoul’s military blasts K-pop and anti-regime messages from border loudspeakers and recently resumed live-fire drills on border islands and near the demilitarised zone that divides the Korean peninsula.