The Summer Olympics, taking place in Paris from July 26 to August 10, 2024, were previously held in France in 1924 and 1900. The Summer Olympics, which will be held in Paris after a hundred years, will be an event where the city’s historical sited meet modern sports. In addition to being globally known in fields such as art, fashion, and gastronomy, Paris is also a significant center for sports. The 2024 Olympics will combine this culturally rich heritage with the excitement of sports, making it an event that will attract global interest.
The Summer Olympics, launched under the slogan of “Made for Sharing!” aims to not only promote unity but also to focus on sustainability and environmental awareness. Athletes from diverse religions, cultures, ethnicities from all around the globe will compete in many competitions. Spectators from all corners of the world will also come together through the unifying power of sports.
The best example which demonstrates the unifying power of the Olympics is the Refugee Olympic Team. For the first time, 10 athletes were formed for refugees as a team at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In Tokyo 2020, there were 29 refugee athletes. In 2024, the Olympics will see the highest number of refugee athletes with 37 participants, since the team was established. In the logo of the Refugee Olympic Team, instead of the classic ring logo representing the five continents, a logo with a heart in the middle and arrows around it representing the way home will be used. [i]
Many talented athletes who have been forced to leave their countries due to several reasons such as war, violence, and conflict have the chance to represent themselves and perhaps the countries they had to leave through the Refugee Olympic team. The increase in the number of people joining the Refugee Olympic Team is unfortunately a reflection of the growing number of people forced to leave their countries each year.
Another important development at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics is the increase in the proportion of women members in the International Olympic Committee, which has reached 41%, demonstrating a substantial rise toward a 100% goal. For the first time, our country has achieved gender equality among the athletes participating in the Olympics with 52 women and 48 men.[ii] This increase is quite important for women who face inequalities in all fiealds of social life, as it represents a significant achievement on an internationally significant platform. Nevertheless, many women and girls still have to face challenges in terms of accessing sports activities. The most important reason of this situation is the lack of investment in sports for women and girls. Since 2012, the United Nations Women branch and International Olympic Committee have been working on various initiatives combat this gender inequality in sports. The increase in the rate of female athletes at this years Olympics shows that the studies carried out are effective.
On the other hand, the ongoing situation of Israel and Russia at the Olympics has diminishing effect on the unifying power of the sports. The International Olympics Committee had announced that Russia lost its right to join the Olympics due to the Russia-Ukraine War. Since war is seen as the antithesis of the Olympics, Russia was banned from the contests. Therefore, Russian athletes will be participarting as independent individuals. Also, the Russian flag and Russian national anthem will not be present. However, the lack of similar stance against Israel in the ongoing and recently increasing violent Israel-Palestine conflict clearly points out the International Olympic Committee’s double standard approach.
President of the International Olympics Committee Thomas Bach has stated that there are no issues in terms of Israel’s participation in the Olympics and Israeli athletes will compete under the Israeli flag. [iii] Israel has been responsible for the deaths of approximately 40,000 Palestinians and has not been banned from any international events. This demonstrates that the international platforms are not as impartial as they claim to be. The International Olympic Committee’s application of this double standard shows that, from their perspective, the lives of those killed in Europe are not equally valued to those in the Middle East. This situation contradicts with the principle of equality among all countries at the Olympics.
The Olympics, held every four years, is a significant event where many athletes compete with great effort in an equal and fair manner, representing both their country and themselves on an international stage. People from around the world watch the competitions with great excitement. This year, the Paris Summer Olympics, under the “Made for Sharing!” motto, will be a major highlight of this summer. Participation of many athletes who have had to leave their homeland, regardless of language, religion, race, or gender, is an important demonstration of the unifying power of sports. Nevertheless, the double standards applied by the International Olympic Committee regarding the ongoing situation in Russia and Israel cast a shadow over the unifying power of sports. It makes such a major organization “made for sharing” open to scrunity.
[i] “Mülteci Olimpiyat Takımı Paris 2024’e hazır”, Euronews, https://tr.euronews.com/my-europe/2024/07/20/multeci-olimpiyat-takimi-paris-2024e-hazir, (Accessed: 22.07.2024)
[ii] “Oyun’u değiştiriyoruz”, Milliyet, https://www.milliyet.com.tr/ekonomi/oyunu-degistiriyoruz-7159322, (Accessed: 22.07.2024).
[iii] Jules Boykoff, “Olimpiyat Komitesi’nden çifte standart: Rus atletler kısıtlandı, İsrail’e yaptırım yok”, AA, https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/analiz/olimpiyat-komitesinden-cifte-standart-rus-atletler-kisitlandi-israile-yaptirim-yok/3278459, (Accessed: 22.07.2024).
