How controversial was the Paris Olympics 2024?

Secrets travel fast in Paris but so does drama. While the 2024 Olympic Games were filled with glorious memorable events on-field, it kept audiences hooked to off-field controversies as well.

Here’s a list of the most talked about disputes that happened in the recently concluded Paris Games.

The Last Supper:

Controversy hit Paris first before the Games did. Shortly after the opening ceremony had ended, the organizers were under fire by church leaders and religious conservatives for mocking Christianity.

A cadre of drag queens and models had walked the red carpet runway in a performance that many thought resembled Leonardo da Vinci’s portrayal of 'The Last Supper'.

Thomas Jolly, who had directed the ceremony, however, denied any such intention and said that the performance was meant to celebrate diversity and pay tribute to French gastronomy. The Olympics X official account had called it an “interpretation of the Greek God Dionysus” that “makes us aware of the absurdity of violence between human beings.”

South Korea confused for North Korea:

If you thought The Last Supper controversy was the only thing coming out of the rain-soaked opening ceremony, you are wrong. A blunder by the organizers during athletes’ boat parade on the River Seine made separate headlines.

When the boat carrying excited athletes from South Korea came into view, they were incorrectly announced as “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea” which is the official name of North Korea.

The mistake happened in both French and English announcements despite the boat exhibiting a waving flag with “Republic of Korea” written on it, which is the official name of South Korea.

The International Olympic Committee called it an operational error and apologized the next day. “We would like to offer a deep apology over the mistake that occurred in the introduction of the South Korean delegation during the opening ceremony,” they said on its official Korean-language X account.

Canada’s women's drone scandal:

Defending champions Canada had a rocky start to their Olympic journey as they were hit with a hefty six-point penalty for spying on their opponent teams using drone cameras during practice ahead of their first game against New Zealand.

The authorities had also imposed a 200,000 Swiss francs fine on Canada’s Women’s Soccer and placed a one-year ban on head coach Bev Priestman, assistant coach Jasmine Mander and performance analyst Joseph Lombardi, who was behind flying the spying drone.

While the ban on the coaching staff was accepted, the Canada Olympics Committee (COC) and Canada Soccer had challenged the penalty imposed on the team saying the players were innocent and should not have been punished for crimes they had no part in. Their appeal was, however, dismissed later at the Court of Arbitration for Sports.

Despite the penalty, the Canadian women’s soccer team won their first three games and qualified for the quarter-finals. They then lost to Germany 2-4 in penalties in the knockout game.

Imane Khelif’s gender controversy

Algerian boxer Imane Khelif and her gender identity was the hot topic throughout the Olympics. The controversy emerged in her first bout when Italy’s Angela Carini could only last 46 seconds before withdrawing from the game.

The Italian, with a spot of blood on her trunks, broke down in tears, citing she had never been punched that hard ever before and refused to shake hands with Khelif. The altercation soon became the trending topic on all social media platforms with many conservatives accusing Khelif of being a transgender and a man.

The rumors occurred because Khelif had been disqualified from the women’s world championship last year for failing International Boxing Association’s (IBA) gender eligibility tests. The International Olympic Committee, however, denied the allegations and disregarded IBA’s, now banned-governing body, findings.

The IOC President supported Khelif and said that the hate speech directed at her is totally unacceptable. Khelif ended up winning the women’s 66kg final against China’s Yang Liu, securing Algeria its first women’s boxing gold.

Australian athlete's arrest over cocaine

Australian field hockey player Tom Craig was in the news for all the wrong reasons. The 28-year-old was arrested for trying to purchase cocaine in Paris. The police said they witnessed the athlete involved in a cocaine transaction at the foot of a building in the 9th arrondissement.

After being taken into custody along with a 17-year-old seller, Craig was released with a warning and no formal charges or fines. The Australian later apologized for his actions and admitted he made a “terrible mistake”.

The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) acknowledged Craig’s remorse but removed all his remaining Olympic privileges' and barred him from participating in any activities, including attending the closing ceremony.

Both Australia’s men’s and women’s hockey teams were knocked out in the quarter-finals.