Spectators from China and other countries cheer together before the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris, France on July 26, 2024. Photo: Li Hao/GT
Amid both anticipation and controversy, the Summer Olympic Games have returned to Paris after 100 years, the hometown of Pierre de Coubertin, the father of the modern Olympics.
While the 2024 Paris Olympics are first Summer Olympic Games held after the coronavirus pandemic, growing geopolitical tensions and ongoing regional military conflicts continue to cast a shadow over human society.
The Olympics itself also faces challenges too, such as declining appeal among young people, political infiltration, as well as financial and security issues. Standing at a historical crossroad, the French are exploring a better and sustainable way to host the Olympic Games.
For Chinese observers, the Olympics, still carrying global influence, are a platform that transcends political and economic disputes. At a time when globalization has suffered setbacks, the Paris Games are a rare opportunity for people from around the world to meet face to face, enhance mutual understanding, and remind us that humanity is a community with a shared future.
Abuzz with excitement
The atmosphere in Paris was a blend of excitement and intense preparation as the city geared up for the opening ceremony.
For the first time in the history of the Olympic Summer Games, the opening ceremony will not take place in a stadium this year.
Organizers ensured the celebration captures the essence of Paris, with music, dance, and performances set against the backdrop of iconic landmarks. Security is a top priority, with around 45,000 police officers deployed, including special intervention forces and snipers, media reported.
There's also a vibrant sense of anticipation as residents and visitors gathered for this historic event. The city was embracing its role as the host, while the excitement and grandeur of the opening ceremony promised to make it a memorable spectacle.
According to media reports, instead of marching into a stadium on foot, athletes representing 206 countries and regions would make their ceremonial entrance into the Games by boat along the "main artery" of Paris, the Seine River.
Athletes are set to pass through the heart of Paris. Along the way, the athletes passed the city's most prominent icons, including the Louvre and the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral.
The parade is set to conclude its 6-kilometer route in front of the Trocadéro near the Eiffel Tower, where the Olympic torch was lit and concluding shows were held.
China has sent a 716-member delegation to Paris that includes 405 athletes. With 42 Olympic champions leading the charge, the delegation is poised to compete in 30 major sports, making this the most extensive overseas participation by China in any Olympic Games.
China's legendary table tennis player Ma Long and artistic swimmer Feng Yu are reportedly to carry the national flag, leading the Chinese delegation at the opening ceremony.
Chinese divers and shooters will fight for the first gold medal on offer at the Paris Games on the first day of competition after the opening ceremony.
At the invitation of the host country France and the International Olympic Committee, Chinese Vice President Han Zheng travelled to France as President Xi Jinping's Special Representative to attend the opening ceremony and other events of the 33rd Olympic Games in Paris.
On Thursday, Han visited the Olympic Village where he met with representatives of the Chinese Olympic delegation. He encouraged Chinese athletes to convey the positive energy of sports, deepen mutual understanding and friendship with athletes from other countries, and serve as ambassadors of cultural exchange.
Concerns and controversies
Despite Paris' ambitious plans, the 2024 Summer Games are mired in multiple controversies and concerns, ranging from security, possible strike action from workers, high ticket prices, temperature concerns, and even the unsafe level of the E. Coli bacteria in the Seine River for swimmers.
French train operator SNCF said on Friday that the fast train network was hit by intentional vandalism in what has been described as a "massive attack" ahead of the opening ceremony, media reported.
Based on the previous rehearsals and on-site arrangements, the cyber-attacks on the French national railway company mainly affects passengers or media reporters traveling from France and other parts of Europe to Paris. Train delays could cause them to miss the opening ceremony, reporters said.
Citing a security and geopolitical firm, The Times said the level of terror threats for the Paris 2024 Games remains "severe."
Song Luzheng, a Chinese scholar residing in France and a research fellow at the China Institute of Fudan University, told the Global Times that French Parliament elections and the far-right surge in Europe have distracted French people's attention from the Olympics to some extent.
After French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal and his government resigned, France is being run by a caretaker government, raising people's concerns about political stability and governance capability during the Olympic Games, Song said.
Citing a S&P Global Ratings data, CNBC reported that spending at the 2024 Paris Olympics is expected to come in at under $10 billion, only about 25 percent over the initial budget. In sharp contrast, the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro and 2020 Games in Tokyo deviated from their original budgets by more than 350 percent and 280 percent, respectively.
To hold the "greenest Olympics ever," France did not offer air conditioning for athletes' accommodation, and athletes' beds are made of cardboard.
Ren Hai, a professor at the Olympic Research Center of Beijing Sports University, told the Global Times that the modern Olympic Games are a cultural phenomenon under industrial civilization, and its huge scale will inevitably lead to some problems.
The concept of simplifying hosting Games is right, and the French are trying to figure out how to find a more sustainable and attractive way to host the games in the post-industrial era, said Ren.
Despite four new sports that are widely popular among young people - breaking, sport climbing, skateboarding, surfing - set to make their debut in Paris, the Washington Post said that the Olympic Games have "lost some of the magic that once made them mandatory viewing."
According to CBS report on Thursday, more than a million tickets to Olympic events remain unsold, including many for Friday's first-of-its-kind outdoor ceremony on the Seine River itself.
The Olympics are constantly developing with the changes of the times, but the progress of the reform is not obvious, and the IOC needs to consider more innovative ways to attract audiences, said Ren.
Transcending politics
Due to the Ukraine crisis, only 15 Russian and 17 Belarusian athletes are reportedly to compete as "individual neutral athletes" in the Paris Games. Meanwhile, the Israeli delegation was allowed to participate in the Games by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), leading to accusations of "double standards" from Palestine and Russia.
In a since-deleted social media post last week, China swimming team nutritionist Yu Liang complained that the Chinese swim team has faced unprecedented levels of anti-doping scrutiny, undergoing nearly 200 tests administered by the International Testing Agency (ITA) in 10 days after arriving in France for the Olympics, far more than any other delegation.
The doping tests taken by Chinese swimmers have come under scrutiny since April, when the US began sensationalizing the time the athletes tested positive for the banned substance trimetazidine (TMZ) at a 2021 Chinese domestic competition. These positive results were later investigated and determined to be caused by contaminated food consumed during the domestic competition.
"The Olympics have always been powerless in the face of political distractions," said Song, "Even so, the existence of the Olympic Games makes us feel that mankind is a community with a shared future."
Echoing Song, Ren said that in reality, sports cannot be clearly divorced from politics, but can transcend it.
The reason why the modern Olympic Games can survive these ups and downs is that it is a valuable shared platform that transcends all nations, races, religions, in which peoples of all countries communicate face to face and promote cross-cultural mutual understanding.
On July 22, French President Emmanuel Macron and IOC President Thomas Bach called for a global truce during the Paris Games. One day later UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also called on "everyone to lay down their arms" during the Paris Games.
"We cannot overestimate the role of the Olympic Games in resolving various wars and conflicts," said Ren, "but the hosting of the Olympic Games gives people hope and reminds us of the need to coexist with others, which requires communication and mutual understanding."
The Olympic Games' role as a valuable platform for the common values of all mankind will be even more prominent at a time of turmoil and chaos, said Ren.
