The Paris 2024 Olympics is set to make history with its open-air opening ceremony on the River Seine, as the International Olympic Committee also deals with hoax calls and the upcoming Brisbane 2032 Games faces its own challenges.
The Paris 2024 Olympics is set to commence with a groundbreaking open-air opening ceremony on the River Seine on July 26, at 7:30 pm local time. This marks the first time the ceremony will be held outside of a traditional stadium setting, showcasing a parade of 160 boats over a 6-kilometer stretch, with 94 boats carrying athletes. Although the ceremony’s scale has been adjusted due to security and logistics concerns, it is expected to captivate a global audience of 1 billion people through television and online streaming. Coverage will be provided by Eurosport and BBC, with Telegraph Sport offering a live blog for both the opening and closing ceremonies. The event will maintain the Olympic torch lighting tradition.
In another development, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) disclosed that its president, Thomas Bach, was the target of hoax phone calls from individuals claiming to be the African Union Commission. The callers sought to discuss the participation of Russian athletes in the 2024 Games, following the IOC’s ban of Russian and Belarusian athletes from the opening ceremony, a decision Russia has aggressively contested. This incident is part of what the IOC describes as a broader Russian disinformation campaign squarely aimed at Bach and the organization. Despite the controversy, the IOC permits Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete as neutrals, an arrangement criticized by Russia as evidence of the IOC’s supposed descent into racism and neo-Nazism.
Amidst this global Olympic fervor, Brisbane, the host city for the 2032 Olympics, grapples with challenges of rising costs, political contention, and concerns over the legacy and planning of the games. Critics have labeled the Queensland government’s approach as insufficiently thought-out, pointing to controversial decisions such as rebuilding the Gabba stadium for the opening ceremony without broad consultations. These issues underscore tensions between local stakeholders and fears that lofty promises of a low-cost, inclusive event might not materialize. Calls for greater transparency, public involvement, and fidelity to initial promises are intensifying as the Queensland government navigates these obstacles in the lead-up to the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.
