The Other Side of the Medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics
Paris and 16 regional cities in France, along with Tahiti in French Polynesia (surfing), are hosting the 2024 Olympics and ParaOlympics over the next few weeks.
There will be plenty of news on American media to consume about the competitions and (mostly) the US athletes competing in 329 events in 32 sports. (If you’re looking for a schedule and/or results —> click here.) It is anticipated that the U.S. will win the Summer Olympic Medal Count for the 4th time in a row.
The Paris organizers have included breakdancing, sport climbing, skateboarding and surfing as additions for this year’s games. Baseball-softball and karate were not included in the lineup, but can be expected to return in the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
The gold, silver and bronze medals at this year’s games will be adorned with “a small piece of Paris and a symbol of the country of France.”
Designed by Paris jewelry house Chaumet, the 18g centerpiece hexagon tokens in the medals are made of iron taken from the Eiffel Tower during previous refurbishments then stored for years at a secret location.
Beyond the competitions, the beautiful countryside, a “postcard” Paris, the legions of fans, and the fabulous food, there are real world issues involved in hosting the quadrennial event.
Protests: the Israeli decimation of Gaza in response to the October 7 Hamas attack, has drawn street protests. Israeli-oriented social media accounts are complaining about Palestinian participation. Pro-Palestinian accounts are saying Israel should be excluded from participating in this year’s contests. Adidas has apologized for “any upset or distress caused” by its use of Palestinian supermodel Bella Hadid as an ambassador for their new retro sneaker campaign and ended ads including her.
A plan to have triathletes and marathon swimmers compete in the Seine River, which has been fouled by sewage and trash for centuries, led to a “poop protest” after Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo offered to take a dip to promote its newly-touted cleanup. Despite organizers claiming that hundreds if not thousands were planning to defecate along the river banks on the day of her swim, she did go in the water. Thus far, she’s still healthy.
About that “postcard” Paris: More than 100 non-profits who work with migrants and the homeless joined forces to form the umbrella group Le Revers de la médaille, ("The Other Side of the Medal") in response to what they call the "social cleansing" taking place on the streets of Paris.
They say the Olympics Organizing Committee and corporate sponsors rejected a request for a "solidarity fund" of nearly $11 million. The group claimed the money would have helped fund shelter, food and health care for people in need during and after the Games, and would have amounted to just over 0.1 per cent of the Games' estimated €9-billion budget.
Authorities have apparently taken a page from former Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s All-Star baseball game handbook, with spikes and rocks used to ward off homeless people in places like the bridge near Gare d'Austerlitz, where the Olympic Opening Ceremony will occur.
In addition to police displacing encampments, more than 12,000 people have been evicted around the city. The Olympic Village, where athletes from around the world will stay, was built in one of the poorest suburbs of Paris.
As is true with many US homeless, there is literally no place for displaced people to go. Buses provided to take those caught up in sweeps to other cities in France are not attracting interest, probably because those catching a ride end up homeless on the other end.
Pedophile Steven van der Velde flew to the UK to rape a 12 year old girl in 2016. Now he's going to the Olympics in Paris to represent the Netherlands, and some people aren’t happy about it, especially when athletes are disqualified for testing positive for cannabis.
Security Concerns. Paris was effectively locked down on July 18. There are metal barriers along the river Seine. Anybody living or working inside the security perimeter requires a pass with a QR code to get through checkpoints.
The opening parade and ceremony is a major security concern, which will see 6,000-7,000 athletes sail down the Seine on around a hundred barges and river boats.
Some 45,000 police will be deployed, including special intervention forces. Snipers will be visible on rooftops, an anti-drone system will be in place, and the river will be checked for submerged bombs.
In preparation for the Olympics, the French enacted a package of laws to provide a legal framework for the 2024 Olympics. They include a provision permitting law enforcement and tech contractors to experiment with intelligent video surveillance before, during and after the games. Another proviso specifically permits the use of AI software to review video and camera feeds. These laws made France the first EU country to legalize such a wide-reaching AI-powered surveillance system.
News outlets have reported on a provisional decree that is classified allowing the government to significantly ramp up traditional, surreptitious surveillance and information gathering tools for the duration of the games. These include wiretapping; collecting geolocation, communications and computer data; and capturing greater amounts of visual and audio data.
According to the interior ministry, French security forces have screened nearly a million people before the Olympics, including people living near key infrastructure, all 10,500 athletes selected for the Olympics, 4,400 for the Paralympics, coaches and medical staff, and 26,000 accredited journalists.
The French have engaged other nations’ security forces for the games to enhance protections and counterterrorism measures. Videos of Qatari troops in Paris have elicited angry responses from people who claim the gulf nation is harboring Hamas terrorists. Poland and Great Britain have also joined in security preparations and operations.
From Forbes:
Threat intelligence experts at Google subsidiary Mandiant have analyzed the summer Olympic Games threatscape and concluded, with high confidence, that Russian threat groups pose the highest risk when it comes to cybersecurity. “France may face an elevated risk of Russian cyber threat activity,” the report stated, “given the country’s financial and military support for Ukraine after Russia’s invasion in February 2022.”
Mandiant is not alone in believing that Russia could pose a significant threat to Olympic Games security. Tim West, director of threat intelligence at WithSecure, formerly F-Secure Business, believes the Paris Olympics will “face a greater threat of malicious cyber activity than previous Olympics," and also points the finger in the direction of Russia. “Hacktivists aligned with states that are pro-Russia will almost certainly try to disrupt the Olympics in some way,” West said.
In his report, Cyber Threats To Paris 2024, West warns that Russia wields both the capability and intent to undermine the Olympics. “Russia is well able to deploy human operations in conjunction to cyber-attacks,” West said, “and is able to target all types of networks, including operational technology.”
Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the International Olympic Committee suspended the Olympic Committees of Russia and Belarus for violating the Olympic Truce. Russian and Belarusian athletes will instead compete as "Individual Neutral Athletes" (AIN) without national identification. Pro-Ukrainian observers have alleged that war criminals and invasion advocates have infiltrated that group.
It isn’t cheap. France sought to pay for the games with private money, mostly via media rights. The country hasn’t had to spend heavily on venues, but the costs of housing participants has gone way over budget.
From the Council on Foreign Affairs:
Paris budgeted about $8 billion for the 2024 Olympics when it won its bid in 2017. The city has since upped its budget by several billion dollars. Costs are split relatively evenly between operating expenses and new infrastructure, according to an S&P Global Ratings analysis. If the final cost stays in that ballpark, Paris will host the cheapest Summer Games in decades.
Organizers say the decision to rely almost entirely on existing venues, such as those built for the annual French Open and the 2016 European Football Championship, has held down costs. The games will also be spread out to stadiums in other French cities, including Lyon, Marseille, and Nice. But Paris has still spent $4.5 billion on infrastructure, including $1.6 billion for its Olympic Village, whose price is at least one-third more than it originally budgeted.
Organizers have promised a 50% reduction in carbon emissions compared to previous games, via implementation of a “less is more” strategy.
The Paris 2024 Social Charter, signed in 2019 with trade unions and employer organizations outlined 16 commitments, including exemplary working conditions, a commitment to social inclusion, and a focus on small and medium-sized businesses.
Whether the French can pull off all these rosy forecasts and side deals has yet to be seen. The Olympics has a long history of corruption and ending up being way more costly than predicted.
The 15 minute commie/pinko nightmare. In 2020, Paris embraced the idea of the 15-minute city—the concept that you should be able to live a short walk or bike ride from work, school, stores, and other aspects of daily life.
This thinking on urbanism, brought on through the writings of Sorbonne professor Carlos Moreno, has unfortunately become one of the staples of right wing paranoia/conspiracy. MAGA types have been sold on this concept being a UN plot designed to entrap people in their neighborhoods so they can be easily controlled by the Dark State. Because it’s an idea brought on as a salve for climate change and doesn’t worship cars, it’s even more dangerous.
Reality, of course, is much different. More Parisians bike than drive these days on 800 miles of protected bike lanes. Empty offices are being redeveloped into housing, coworking spaces, gyms, shops, and other uses under one roof. Fifty thousand parking spaces have been removed and parking fees for SUVs have been tripled.
On the streets in front of schools, cars are banned so children can safely walk to school. There are more than 200 mini parks through this Streets for Kids program. School playgrounds have been planted with more greenery and are now open to the public on weekends.
Those changes have contributed to a 40% decline in air pollution, according to city officials. And a four year study by the Paris School of Economics identified an increase in traffic and sales for business in affected areas.
Just thought I’d say some nice things about Paris….