Paris Summer Olympics 2024 Overview
By Autumn McPherson
The Summer 2024 Paris Olympics started with a bang when the locals found out the Major was going to clean the Seine River after years of asking. One of the first concerns was when President Emmanuel Macron declared that he would have the Seine River cleaned in time for the Olympics, where the triathlon and marathon swimming races were scheduled to occur. The Parisians were unhappy about this statement as the river had been deemed unsafe to swim in since 1923 due to its bacteria levels. The locals have been asking for the river to be cleaned since then, as it is in a significant part of France and has become unappealing.
As a result of the Mayor cleaning the river for the events, many Parisians decided to hold a protest. This protest involved using the restroom within the river to delay the Olympics. It got so severe that a website was created to track when to use the restroom within the river based on the location and timeframe of when the feces would arrive in Paris, in the hopes that when the mayor swam in the river to prove it was safe for the athletes, she would be swimming within their protest. Initially, the mayor was meant to swim in the Seine a few weeks before the Olympics began. Still, the bacteria levels were still deemed unsafe a month before, so the mayor swam in the Seine on July 17th instead of delaying the Olympics. France spent $1.5 billion to clean up the Seine, and although it was a much-needed investment towards the city, it was done in an effort to create revenue rather than to appease the locals. Later in the month, it was announced that swimming events were canceled again due to water contamination, as the rain flooded the system and prevented sewage from entering the river.
The Olympics started with controversy with an introduction that included a severed head and a Lady Gaga performance. The most significant controversy in the introduction was the last dinner was mocked by having drag queens pose for it. Somehow, during the Olympics Snoop Dog got recognized as the United States mascot, making his own pins to trade with athletes.
Usually, when the Olympics are spoken about on social media, it involves scores and bets for who will win. This year, however, a lot of humor was added to the mix, starting with a chocolate muffin. Norwegian swimmer Henrik Christiansen posted on his social media about his love for the chocolate muffins the Olympic Village supplies for the athletes. His muffins became so popular that videos began to surface of fans baking them at home to try it. Most responded by saying it tasted good because it resembled more of a cake than a muffin.
In April, Simone Biles was interviewed by Alex Erle, the podcast host for Call Her Daddy. In it, it was stated that Biles is always protecting those she cares for, saying, “Why are you guys talking about my husband like this. You don’t know him, you don’t know who he is. And if anybody’s met him, you probably know he’s the sweetest guy, and he’d do anything for anybody”. Simone showed this protection to those she loved again when a former team member, MyKayla Skinner, spoke poorly of the other USA gymnastics team members—making statements such as calling them lazy and not the best athletes to be out there. After they won the team finals, Simone responded with a photo of the USA gymnastics team winning a gold medal at the Olympics with the caption, “Lack of talent, lazy, Olympic champions,” Mocking the Mykaylas words towards the team.
However, that was not the only drama for the USA gymnastics team. According to The New York Times, Jordan Chiles won a bronze medal during the Olympics after her coach requested an inquiry forty-seven seconds after her final score was announced when the scoring put her in fifth place. The inquiry was to reevaluate the difficulty scoring results, which showed that a judge had miscalculated the points during the scoring process. Once the mistake was corrected, Jordan received third place, resulting in her receiving a bronze medal. August 10th, the Paralympic Committee decided that the inquiry was four seconds late according to the gymnastic rules. Due to this, she was forced to give up the medal that Romanian gymnast Ana Bărbosu rightfully earned.
In total, the USA won 113 medals, four of which were won by Alaskans. Alev Kelter, from Eagle River, won bronze in rugby. Kristen Faulkner, from Homer, won gold in road cycling and team pursuit cycling, making her the first Alaskan Woman to win multiple gold medals. And finally, our own UAF alum, Sagen Maddalena, won a silver medal in riflery.