The Summer Olympics will return to Paris in July exactly 100 years after they were last held in France. Paris is my hometown Stone cubertinecreator of the modern Olympic Games.
When Coubertin first conceived the idea of reviving this ancient Greek tradition in the late nineteenth century, he imagined a scene in which nations would rejoice friendly internationalism by playing sports together. His Olympic idealism provides the basis for Olympic carda set of principles and guidelines for the organization of the Olympic Games that emphasize international brotherhood and solidarity.
In 1992, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) took motion to uphold Coubertin’s legacy by renewing the tradition holy truce related to the ancient Olympic games. The Olympic Truce calls for a cessation of hostilities between the warring nations during and after the Olympic Games.
The Olympic truce has contributed to peace before – if only fleetingly. During the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, delegations from South and North Korea entered the stadium. Together under one flag of the Korean Peninsula. They also fielded a unified Korean ice hockey team in this competition.
IOC hope that the upcoming Olympic Games will likely be a moment of peace in the world. But as the Olympic torch relay begins in Paris next month, the world is stricken by conflict and hostility. And tensions in Eastern Europe and the Middle East show no sign of abating.
The 2024 Olympic Games will likely be held in an environment of geopolitical turmoil. These conflicts will impact the Olympic Games and undermine sport’s ability to reduce tensions between nations.
Blocked Russian athlete
Moscow ordered its army to invade Ukraine 4 days after the end of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. The IOC considered this aggression a violation of the Olympic truce and thereafter Prohibited Russian athletes participating in the Olympic Games in Paris.
Russia was unhappy with this decision. This convicted The IOC considered it biased against the West and even appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against the suspension. But in February 2024, the court will finally determine sustained IOC position.
Russian athletes is not going to be absent from the Olympics. The IOC allows them to participate in the competition not as a state delegation, but as neutral individuals. Ukraine considers this case unacceptable, arguing that neutrality cannot remove Russian identity from the Olympic Games.
The IOC condemned the Russian occupation of Ukrainian territories. However, it also acknowledges that this geopolitical conflict is complex and that the best approach could be to remain impartial on the issue. Ukraine responded by implementing a policy ordered its athletes to boycott all competitions involving Russians during Paris 2024, even though it later lifted this rule.
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Unhappy Russians
The war between Israel and Hamas will further complicate the 2024 Olympics, with Olympic officials facing allegations of inconsistency involving Israeli athletes.
This conflict isn’t any less brutal than the war between Ukraine and Russia. According to the Hamas-led health ministry, the number was over 30,000 killed in Gaza since the starting of the war. And it is simply too evidence that Israeli forces committed war crimes in the Gaza Strip.
However, the Paris 2024 Olympic Truce Resolution singles out Russia’s suspension and accommodates no word on violence in Israel and Palestine.
These two warring sides can participate in the Olympics – albeit rigorously blockade The Gaza Strip will make it difficult for Palestinians to participate in the Olympics. But the Russian delegation will not be allowed to participate in the same competition. Russia calls the discrepancy unfair and again blames Olympic officials for siding with the West.
Israel and its allies seem to be very vocal in the Olympic circle. In October 2023, the IOC offered Yeal Arad, who in 1992 became the first Israeli to win an Olympic medal, marking their prestigious membership. In accepting this privileged appointment, she he insisted Israeli athletes to give inspiration and hope to their fellow residents affected by the tragedy.
At the same IOC session, Cassy Wasserman, president of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, also stated before her speech that she was “proud to be Jewish.”
Mohammed Saber/EPA
The Olympic Games in Paris in 2024 will likely be held in an environment of conflict and disputes. The Olympic truce and the neutrality of international sport are the idealism of the IOC. Moreover, he volunteers to be a messenger of peace in the world.
Can Paris 2024 be the catalyst for this vision? Unfortunately, the ability of the Olympic Games to function a festival of peaceful internationalism will inevitably be limited in times of geopolitical turmoil.
Despite the façade of celebration in Paris, the escalation of hostilities around the world is probably going to hamper the Olympic Games in the French capital.
