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The 2024 Olympics were to be for Macron and France a demonstration of its organisational skills and, at the same time, proof that major events can be organised with a totally green vision.
This at least was the hope of the Parisians.
Unfortunately, however, something seems to have gone wrong.
Already the opening ceremony had stirred up a lot of controversy, both for the audacious and not very elegant depiction of ‘The Last Supper’ painted by Leonardo Da Vinci with a man with a full beard but dressed as a woman and an ill-defined figure with a yellow beard making the moves, and for the lack of centrality of the athletes throughout the event. The icing on the cake was the poor reception of the various personalities, such as Italian President Mattarella, who were forced into the rain without even an umbrella provided by the organisation. (Of course Macron was serenely dry in the only covered area of the stands).
OK, let’s give the opening, the unplanned rain (even though it rains in Paris very often), the search for originality and let’s also underline the beauty of some moments seen on TV.
But… then came the case of the Seine.
Because it was precisely in the Parisian river that some of the swimming competitions were scheduled, in particular cross-country and triathlon, but a small, not insignificant problem arose: the Seine was found to be polluted and its waters not fit for swimming.
An embarrassment for Paris, given that €1.4 billion has been invested since 2016 to make the Seine and Marne swimmable, to upgrade wastewater treatment plants, to connect barges to the sewage network, and to collect plastic waste. In addition, the ‘Seine project’ also saw the construction of a water containment and cleaning basin, which alone cost over 90 million euros.
The ban on bathing in the French capital’s river was instituted in 1923. More than a century later, on 17 July 2024, the mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo jumped into the river, reassuring athletes and the public that the waters were safe to swim in.
A month later, a few days of rain were enough to turn Paris and the Seine back in time.
But despite this, despite the postponement of the races, it all seemed to be a momentary alarm, so much so that the athletes were finally able to descend into the river. Result? Bad judgements and a lot of bad feeling. But the races will take place.
Is that all?
Actually no. Even the Olympic village has not been exempt from criticism, and one of them concerns the much-publicised sustainability: there is no air conditioning.
Now, it is all well and good to be environmentally conscious, and Paris is less hot than the south of Europe, but perhaps it could have been considered that for athletes engaged in competitions that are, to say the least, exhausting, sleep is a fundamental element for the recovery of their physical state and not only. Forcing them to sleep in a hot environment, moreover, by all accounts, on small and far from comfortable beds will be sustainable for the environment but not for them. Iconic is the photo of the Italian swimmer Ceccon, who sleeps on the lawn in search of some refreshment.
Even from a food point of view, although France has a great and traditional gastronomic culture, there was no shortage of criticism. The quality of the food did not seem excellent to the athletes, and even here it was sustainability that took centre stage at the expense of balanced diets: 60% of the meals were vegetable and meat-free. Even one of the stars of the Games, British swimmer Adam Peaty, 6-time Olympic medallist and silver medallist in Paris, denounced the conditions of the food, even pointing out the presence of worms.
In short, what was supposed to be a success turned out to be a boomerang, much to the chagrin of those who wanted to prove that ‘sustainable events can be held’. Of course this is true, but there are limits, and one of them is, for example, the freedom to choose what to feed oneself with. At the moment that is still inviolable. Or at least it was.
FeMo