This year we had the Paris Olympics 2024. It will be remember for a scandal around female boxing and for an Australian breakdancer, among other things. What these have in common is excessive and unfair bullying and harassment online of these participants. The Australian breakdancer, going by the name Raygun, was quickly eliminated after a disappointing performance and was immediately harassed online with all sorts of lies, making her life miserable, I presume. The two boxers at the centre of controversy were successful at their sport and won medals. Imane Khelif from Algeria and Lin Yu-ting from Taiwan were cleared to compete by the International Olympic Committee and there has been an online backlash, questioning their eligibility, specifically related to gender, with no solid evidence to support the backlash (citing a previous controversial decision by a sporting body which has lost its official recognition amid accusations of dodgy Russian involvement but much more based on what the boxers look like). This has been horrible for these boxers too, I presume.
Why are sports events, like the last Woman’s World Cup of the Paris Olympics, now occasions which will be remembered for scandals and controversies? What happened to the idea that international football should bring together and unite people from different backgrounds – a celebration of shared humanity through sport? What happened to the Olympic dream of fostering international friendship and respect, the five interlocking rings on the Olympic flag representing friendship between the continents and nations? Even that is controversial now. At the time the ring symbol was created, there were five continents, hence five rings. We can’t even agree on the number of continents anymore.
If large scale sports events are remembered only for controversies, are used to manipulate public opinion, and divide people rather than bring them together, then maybe it is time to stop these events. We should stop organising events which make us even more angry at each other.