The Paris 2024 Olympics has so far been mired in controversy after controversy leading watchers across the world to shun, switch off or vent over the decisions made by event officials.
Going back to the opening ceremony, event organisers were forced to apologise for a “sleazy” drag queen Last Supper parody which received major backlash from religious groups.
One French MEP even went as far as to claim that the whole spectacle was “woke propaganda”.
Then came a bizarre eco-row over the cleanliness of the River Seine which hosted a portion of the triathlon.
Just hours before the event, Paris chiefs decided to push back the start time of the event after deeming the river’s pollution levels were too high.
In a statement, organisers said heavy rain over Paris over the weekend had forced them to “reschedule the event for health reasons”.
Other events have also been thrown into chaos as on Friday night, the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles arena was plunged into darkness during the men’s volleyball match between Japan and the United States.
But just the match had to be stopped soon after the Americans went 3-1 up following a power outage inside the arena.
The volleyball arena was plunged into darkness momentarily GETTYAlthough the cut was temporary and light restored within minutes, the blackout caused a stir on social media with viewers less than impressed at another gaffe from the hosts.
One person posted: “This Olympics is a joke. earlier, loud music played in the middle of the badminton quarter-final match between Chinese Taipei and India. now, the light on the entire arena just went off in the middle of the volleyball match between Japan and UGA.” (sic)
Another message read: “Lights f*** up, peak volleyball.”
However, the biggest upset came in the boxing after the IOC on Thursday defended its decision to allow boxers to compete who had failed the gender test.
Imane Khelif of Algeria was disqualified from the boxing championship last year due to her “high levels of testosterone” and fought Italy’s Angela Carini today at the Olympics.
Carini’s fight with her Algerian opponent took just 46 seconds, with the Italian throwing her helmet onto the floor as the clash was abandoned, yelling: “This is unjust.”
Since the event, the IOC has been accused of not “protecting women”.
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