The Opening Ceremony of the Paris Olympics on July 26 will mark the third time for the French capital to host a Summer Games. Paris is the birthplace of Pierre de Coubertin (1863-1937), who is known as the father of the modern Olympic Games.

What began as a small event with only 240 male athletes from 14 countries has now grown into an unparalleled sports extravaganza, with over 10,000 athletes from more than 200 countries and regions competing.

While anticipation for the global spectacle is high, the Olympic movement has been besieged by the complexities and contradictions of an increasingly diverse and complex age, as well as chaos in the international community.

We will witness many powerful dramas of top athletes competing with exceptional performances, but we cannot evade questions about the role of the Olympics and what they will leave behind. The meaning of hosting the Games is being questioned once again.

TURMOIL IN THE WORLD

Turmoil in the international community is the biggest concern as the 2024 Games get under way. Two years ago, during the “truce period” of the Beijing Winter Olympics, Russia invaded Ukraine, and later Israel invaded Gaza. We are confronting a stormy international landscape fraught with danger.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC), the governing body of the Games, initially proposed to immediately banish Russia and its ally Belarus from the sports community but soon switched to considering allowing the two countries to participate in the Paris Olympics. Eventually, the IOC accepted a proposal to allow “Individual Neutral Athletes” from these nations, or competitors who participate in the Games under a neutral flag, to compete in the Summer Games.

This decision seems designed to strike a delicate balance between Olympic pacifism and the rights of individual athletes, but the IOC has taken no action against Israel, which has repeatedly and brutally attacked Palestine on the pretext of retaliation against terrorism. There is no shortage of criticism for this stance.

How is it possible to ensure the Olympics will embody an inspiring expression of respect and fraternity through sports? This question is also linked to the ultimate evaluation of the Paris Olympics.

The challenges surrounding the Olympics are not limited to international conflicts, however.

The event has grown excessively, and ballooning costs are a burden on the host cities and nations. Even for this event, where 95 percent of the venues already existed or are temporary structures, concerns about the financial burden are running high.

The situation where only a few major cities in developed countries can host the Games is far removed from the original goal of diversifying the host locations. This Olympics should be watched closely for signs and clues as to what contribution it can make to return the movement to a proper course and ensure transparency in spending.

MIRROR REFLECTING SOCIETY

While the Paris Olympics has been notable for its particular emphasis on environmental efforts like improving the water quality of the Seine and business initiatives like capitalizing on tourist resources, the focus should primarily be on how it is striving to realize the athletes-first approach.

Event schedules set to accommodate foreign broadcasters paying hefty broadcasting fees may deprive athletes of sufficient rest and sleep, which is nonsensical.

The Olympics reflect not only national power but also the contradictions and weaknesses of society and politics. In Paris, strong actions have been taken to drive out homeless people from the streets, a familiar issue that has been pointed out in past Games.

The last Games were held under a state of emergency in Tokyo during the COVID-19 pandemic three years ago. How the Olympics should respond to pandemics and why they were held in Tokyo, in the first place, are questions that the IOC, organizing committees, and domestic politicians all failed to address sufficiently in their rush to stage the event.

The original concept of the “Reconstruction Olympics,” an event to showcase Japan’s recovery from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster, turned out to be an empty slogan as the Games were bedeviled by a string of scandals involving sexist remarks, corruption and bid-rigging.

Turning the focus to the athletes, issues surrounding sexual diversity are unavoidable.

This tournament is expected to have an equal number of male and female participants for the first time since the Olympics opened its doors to women at the second Games, but there remain many related issues and challenges.

For example, while the last Games saw the first transgender athlete compete in weightlifting, there has been a trend toward tightening restrictions on the participation of transgender athletes. Female athletes with naturally high levels of male hormones are also barred from certain events.

Continuing research and a quest to find viable methods and standards to maintain fairness in competition while dealing with gender diversity are crucial. However, the development and adoption of competitions that allow all genders to compete equally will become increasingly important.

As society changes, sports must also make concerted efforts to adapt to the ongoing shift from binary gender to broader conceptions of gender.

ANCIENT OLYMPICS LASTED 1,200 YEARS

It has been 130 years since educator Coubertin proclaimed the founding of the modern Olympics in Paris. He was inspired by the “Ancient Olympics” held in Olympia on the Peloponnese Peninsula in western Greece, which lasted nearly 1,200 years.

It is intriguing to know that the Ancient Olympics continued for so long while Greek city-states competed for power and territory. Despite being beset by wars and occupations by neighboring countries, they had maintained a truce during the Games.

It is by no means easy to find genuinely effective measures or fundamental solutions to the challenges facing the current Olympic movement. Substantial progress requires the wisdom and will to continue steady and tenacious efforts to find answers through step-by-step discussions and negotiations guided by the principle of fairness while fostering understanding and empathy among the global public.

This year’s Games will also see the third assembly of the Refugee Olympic Team, comprised of athletes who are not affiliated with any nation but competing under a refugee flag. 

As of April, the number of people displaced by conflicts and human rights violations reached a record high of 120 million worldwide. The team symbolizes those living in harsh conditions.

It is hoped that each athlete will fully demonstrate their undeniable strength and presence.

--The Asahi Shimbun, July 26