The Harsh Truth about Hosting the Olympics
The Rio Olympic Aquatic Centre abounded less than 9 months after the conclusion of the games. Source: Pilar Olivares / Reuters.
2024 marks the year that Paris will host the Summer Olympics and at first thought, this seems like a great idea. One of the worlds’ most visited and historic cities hosting arguably the most historically significant sporting event in human history - what could possibly go wrong?
Well, a lot.
Paris’ 2024 Olympic bid was highly prioritised by current President Emmanuel Macron. After taking office in 2017, Macron immediately began campaigning for the French capital to become the host city for the games. The French government pledged an initial €1 billion euros to help create the needed infrastructure for the games. This pledge included a promise to clean up the River Seine so that it could be used for both the marathon swimming and triathlon events.
The commitment to clean the River Seine was met with huge backlash from the Parisian public. The hashtag #JeChieDansLaSeineLe23Juin, which translates to :‘I shit in the Seine on 23 June,’ gained a lot of traction on social media and despite not coming to fruition, it highlighted the general implications that come with hosting the Olympics.
Sports Sociologist and Bachelor of Sport lecturer at UC, Nick Maitland talked to Canta about the political issues surrounding the Olympics. “It’s undeniable that we love the Olympics, watching these athletes from all around the world compete in all these different sports - it’s great. However, with that, it’s really easy to stop looking at what’s actually going on.”
“Hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent on such a temporary event. There’s so many concerns with that.”
“For example, an event like surfing, which is going to be held in Tahiti. Scientists are concerned about the damage to the coral reef due to the construction of the judging platform for the event. The surfing event could last for a week, but the environmental damage could be a lasting legacy.
“The Olympics are sold to the world as this great thing that has financial benefits for everyone in the hosting location, but the real beneficiaries are a very small, elitist group.”
Due to the temporary nature of hosting the Olympics, most locals feel that the huge investments being made could be used for more pressing issues. The hosting of the 2016 Olympics in Rio De Janeiro was met with outrage from locals due to the city's high rate of poverty. This local unrest was then further fuelled in the months following the conclusion of the games, as venues were left abandoned.
Similar criticism was shared by protestors of the London games that were hosted in 2012, with accusations of profiteering being aimed at the then UK prime minister, David Cameron.
“It’s just wasteful on so many levels” added Maitland. “There is no need to spend hundreds of millions of dollars when the people in the area are suffering. It’s such a complex issue. The question to ask is, are mega-events like the Olympics good for the planet? There’s clearly a lot of green-washing going on with the French government trying to clean the River Seine for a few swimming events, especially when it’s more than likely that the river will go back to being polluted in 6 months time.”
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, swimming in the River Seine to show it’s clean for the Olympics. Source: Emmanuel Dunand / AFP via Getty Images.
Situations like the cleaning of the River Seine show the growing trend of greenwashing in sport. Greenwashing is a tactic used by countries or organisations to make them appear to be environmentally friendly - when they’re not. In recent years, this has become the latest strategy for sportswashing as the global environmental crisis worsens.
Sportswashing is a term that is thrown around a lot when discussing major sporting events. The use of a major sporting event like the Olympics helps to distract people from the unethical practices going on behind the scenes. Previous hosts from the last 20 years alone have all faced accusations of sportswashing, with the countries ultimately being in a worse place than they were prior to hosting.
The 2004 games in Athens has been cited as one of the main contributors to Greece’s overwhelming national debt. Humanitarian and social issues were all major problems surrounding the 2008, 2012, and 2016 games held in Beijing, London, and Rio De Janeiro. While Japanese citizens felt that the money invested in the 2020 Tokyo Games should have instead gone towards the redevelopment of Fukushima, which was still recovering from a devasting earthquake and tsunami that hit in 2011.
In the case of Paris, rising unemployment rates and social tensions around religious freedom have led to unrest, and Parisians demanding change. Yet, with all focus shifting towards the hosting of the games, change doesn’t seem to be on the cards anytime soon.