Above photo: Palestinian Olympic athletes during the closing ceremony, Aug. 11, 2024. BeIn Sports.
The 2024 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad, in Paris, France, officially ended on Aug. 11.
There were certainly some historic moments achieved by athletes who hail from the Global South. These included gold medal winners Julien Alfred from St. Lucia, Marileidy Paulino from the Dominican Republic and the legendary Cuban boxer, Mijain Lopez, the only athlete in Olympics history to win gold medals in five successive games.
In another historic moment, North and South Korean athletes took collective selfies together during the table tennis medal ceremonies in a show of unity. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea won six medals despite decades of imperialist attempts to isolate and economically strangle the socialist North.
These victories took on even more significance since so much of the global coverage of these games, dominated by the live streaming from the U.S. networks NBC and Peacock, focused more attention on athletes from the richer capitalist countries in the Global North.
Despite these uplifting moments, controversy dominated these games before and after the opening ceremony on July 24 and will no doubt continue in the aftermath of the games.
Firstly, there was the fact that Israeli athletes were allowed to compete in the midst of a horrific genocide being carried out by Israel’s fascistic occupying force against the people of Gaza since October 7. Pro-Palestine activists raised the question of why Israel was not banned from the Olympics, while athletes from Russia and Belarus were not allowed to represent their countries due to the U.S.-NATO proxy war in Ukraine. Athletes from Russia and Belarus could only compete in the Olympics as “Independent Neutral Athletes.” Why the double standard?
During the opening ceremony, 88 Israeli athletes were rightfully booed by the audience as their delegation sailed down the Seine River while a small group of 12 Palestinian athletes were cheered as they flew their flag. Over 250 Palestinian athletes have been murdered by Israel since October 7.
Algerian boxer comes under gender attack
Secondly, there was the unfounded controversy around the Algerian boxer Imane Khelif. This talented athlete, who was assigned female at birth, was heavily scrutinized and questioned about her gender by bigots as she earned the gold medal for boxing in the welterweight category. Before her victory, she stated, “I have been boxing for years in the International Boxing Association, which has committed injustice towards me. But I have Allah with me, Allahu Akbar.” (@ShaykhSulaiman, Aug. 3) She draped the Palestinian flag on her shoulders following her win.
After she became an Olympic champion, Khelif publicly stated: “I was born a girl, I grew up a girl, I studied as a girl, and I fought like a girl. Those who attacked me? Of course, they were enemies of glory. But, without them, my victory would not have been so satisfying.”
When a journalist asked her to answer a question in French, Khelif refused and instead answered the question in Arabic. France was the brutal colonizer of Algeria for 132 years until a heroic struggle liberated the country on July 5, 1962.
Khelif filed a legal complaint Aug. 2 in France saying she has been a victim of online harassment.
Other political issues
Thirdly, track and field officials allowed the U.S. runner Noah Lyles to participate in the final of the 200 meters race knowing that he had tested positive for COVID-19 before the race. He should have been immediately disqualified and quarantined as a risk to the other competitors.
Fourthly, according to The Guardian, more than 12,000 houseless people in Paris were removed from pre-Olympic areas as early as April 2023. This “social cleansing” targeted people, including migrants, drug addicts and sex workers. (June 3, 2024) The removal of houseless people is nothing new when it comes to host cities of the Olympics wanting to put forth a positive face to the world.
Fifthly, swimmers were allowed to participate in the triathlon relay in the highly polluted Seine River. High levels of two types of E. coli, a hazardous bacteria that can lead to illnesses including intestinal infections, were found. At least three German swimmers fell ill.
“They didn’t think about the athletes at all,” Spanish triathlete Miriam Casillas, who took part in both the mixed relay and women’s triathlon, told Spanish sports daily MARCA. “They thought more about the scenery, the image, to make it look nice and marketable with the Seine.” (Politico, Aug. 9)
Sixthly, the French government banned Muslim women athletes living in France from wearing the hijab during their competition in the games, a clear violation of their religious and cultural beliefs.
Chinese athletes slandered for doping
A constant theme throughout these Olympics has been doping charges leveled against Chinese athletes, especially the swimmers. Chinese swimmers doubled their overall total of medals during the Paris games compared to the Tokyo Olympic games in 2021.
Male Chinese swimmers unexpectedly won the gold medal in the 4×100-meter relay on Aug. 4. Pan Zhanle, who swam the final leg of the relay, also won an individual gold medal in the 100-meter freestyle race.
These particular gold medals broke the stranglehold that U.S. male swimmers held in this area since the 1960 Olympics, with the exception of the 1980 games, which the U.S. boycotted due to the Soviet Union’s support for the then revolutionary government in Afghanistan.
Pan Zhanle stated after winning the individual gold medal that he was tested for use of illegal drug substances an incredible total of 21 times between May and July right before the Olympics. He stated, “The test was essentially done under all the regulations, so I don’t feel there was any difference or influence.” (New York Times, Aug. 4)
The World Anti-Doping Association, the major global organization monitoring drug use by athletes, allowed some Chinese swimmers to compete in 2021 when it was decided they tested positive for illegal substances due to accidental food contamination. In 2021, China’s anti-doping law was strengthened to include criminal punishment; athletes found guilty could face up to three years in prison.
Chen Weihua, a China Daily journalist, stated in a recent post that an informed source told him that the U.S. was trying to plant evidence and frame Chinese athletes in an inextricable doping scandal during the Paris Olympics.
WADA revealed in a statement published on Aug. 7 details of “a scheme whereby the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency allowed athletes who had doped to compete for years, in at least one case without ever publishing or sanctioning their anti-doping rule violations, in direct contravention of the World Anti-Doping Code and USADA’s own rules”.
China is tied with the U.S. for the highest number of gold medals at the Paris games with 40 victories each and is second behind the U.S. in total medals count. China won every gold medal in the diving competition for women and men, an historic first in Olympic history.
China’s showing in these Olympics is an amazing feat for what was a peasant country for centuries that carried out a successful workers revolution just 75 years ago this coming Oct. 1. Today, China has the second-largest economy behind the U.S. and is being subjected to attacks by the U.S. and its Western allies on every economic, political and social level -– including at the Olympics.
Chinese athletes congratulated any athlete they shared victory with during the Olympics medal ceremonies, whether they won the gold, silver or bronze medal, in the spirit of global solidarity — unlike many of the Western athletes.