With all the hype surrounding the 2024 Summer Olympics (issues big and small), it’s not entirely surprising that Parisians have threatened to stage an “anti-poop protest.”
Their anger is focused on a plan for triathletes and marathon swimmers to compete in the River Seine, which has been polluted by sewage and garbage for centuries.
It didn't help that Mayor Anne Hidalgo offered to take a dip in the iconic canal. A website with a poop emoji as a mascot sprang up to coordinate hundreds, if not thousands, of people defecating on the banks on their swim day.
While it remains to be seen whether the mayor — and her constituents — will follow through on their respective promises, the Paris 2024 organizing committee has plenty more to deal with. With less than two weeks to go until the opening ceremony, the list includes budget increases and worrying poll numbers, a government investigation and political turmoil at home and abroad.
Paris 2024 Summer Olympics
None of this means the Games are doomed. Paris will offer a spectacular setting with beach volleyball at the foot of the Eiffel Tower and equestrian events at Versailles. These will be the first post-pandemic Games, promising huge crowds and plenty of bustle in the streets.
But the recent unrest highlights the complexity of hosting thousands upon thousands of athletes and fans from around the world. French President Emmanuel Macron acknowledged to the AFP news agency that the Olympic Games, no matter where they are held, are bound to create “inconveniences.”
History shows that some cities have successfully overcome the obstacles. The 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, for example, offered thrilling competition and ended with hundreds of millions of dollars in surplus revenue. Other hosts have not been so lucky.
Montreal and Athens ran up huge debts. Rio de Janeiro spent billions on new venues that went largely unused. The 1972 Munich Games were marred by Palestinian terrorists infiltrating the Olympic village, an attack that left 11 members of the Israeli team dead.
More recently, Tokyo and Beijing have struggled to generate revenue amid COVID-19 restrictions.
Paris believes its gamble will pay off. “It will do our country a favour,” Hidalgo said when his city was chosen as host in 2017.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, left, and Tony Estanguet, head of the Paris 2024 Olympic organizing committee, stand together in front of the Eiffel Tower on June 7.
(Michel Euler/Associated Press)
The main concern at any Olympics is funding and, in the case of Paris, a plan to cover most expenses with money raised privately. As the budget has grown significantly to $10 billion, organizers have come under increased scrutiny, including an investigation into the construction contracts they awarded and the decision to pay President Tony Estanguet an annual salary of $290,000 plus incentives.
Last summer, the French Court of Auditors cited “uncertainties” in the budget and suggested that, depending on how much revenue is generated, the Games could require an injection of $3.2 billion or more in government funds. Amid complaints about ticket prices, a 2023 survey suggested that 44% of residents in and around Paris have come to think hosting the Games is a “bad thing.”
“For us, an event of Olympic proportions cannot take place without corruption,” said Saccage 2024, a French coalition opposed to the Olympics. “It is the size of the event that makes it necessary, whatever the country.”
Unions representing public sector employees such as police and air traffic controllers have demanded bonuses for working the 17 days of the Games, which coincide with France's traditional summer vacation. Threats of strikes could paralyze the city.
Activists have raised concerns about the displacement of homeless people, and national restrictions on traditional Islamic dress have sparked debates over what visiting athletes and visitors will be allowed to wear.
As if all this weren't enough, Macron recently called for early elections that could have shifted power to the far-right National Rally party. Although the left-wing New Popular Front coalition prevailed, with Macron's centrist party coming in second, lawmakers must now forge new alliances to avoid parliamentary chaos.
Supporters of the left-wing New Popular Front union gather during a protest at the Place de la Republique in Paris on July 7.
(Anadolu via Getty Images)
Organizers “probably had every contingency scenario in their operations plan,” said Michael Payne, a former International Olympic Committee executive. “They certainly didn’t have that one.”
Nor could they have foreseen wars between Russia and Ukraine and Israel and Hamas, which would force them to deal with street protests and disagreements over which athletes should or should not be invited.
So the world is watching closely to see what happens next. Officials in Los Angeles, which will host in 2028, are particularly interested.
“If someone did it before me, I want to know what they learned,” Mayor Karen Bass said after a recent fact-finding mission to France. “Pros and cons.”
Paris organisers can only hope their Olympics follow a familiar trend.
The Games often generate controversy in the weeks and months leading up to the Games. As Payne said: “It’s not easy to put all this together because the organising committee is under scrutiny. The slightest problem blows up.”
Then comes the opening ceremony.
On July 26, Paris will host a groundbreaking celebration in which officials and athletes will cruise down the Seine in boats. An executive from the organizing committee swam in the river over the weekend and Hidalgo kept promising she would take the plunge, citing recent tests showing what she called acceptable levels of bacteria.
Once the competition begins, gold medals and world records dominate the headlines, while television focuses on the topic with artistic and carefully framed shots. Public opinion tends to steer in a positive direction.
“The organizers and the IOC are praying that sports will start,” Payne said. “Once they start, that will become history.”
For 17 days. After that, people can complain again.
