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The 2024 Olympics must surely be the most scandalous and controversial so far.

While the historic games are all about celebrating top-notch international sports with a vibe of friendship, solidarity, and unity,  this year’s vibe feels like it’s been dipped in something funky.

And we’re not even talking about the probably poop-infested River Seine that the poor Olympic swimmers have to douse themselves in for a chance to win gold – although, the water is certainly one of the more inspired controversies coming out of Paris this year. We’re also moving on from the delightfully colourful opening ceremony display which got a lot of conservatives and Christians worked up.

These two whoppers aside, we’ll uncover some of the other juicy scandals rocking the Olympics this year, including a doping controversy, of course. When the margins separating athletes are impossibly slim, dope seems like the natural next bet.

So when Chinese swimmer Pan Zhanle won the 100-metre freestyle gold, breaking his own record by half a second, it raised a few eyebrows. Especially those of former Olympian and current Australian Brett Hawke, who immediately expressed outright scepticism about the legitimacy of Zhanle’s win, claiming it “wasn’t humanly possible”, per The Spinoff.

The controversy started earlier this year when a group of Chinese swimmers tested positive for TMZ, a banned heart medication known for its performance-enhancing effects. They were cleared by Chinese anti-doping investigators who blamed the results on contaminated Australian hamburgers – haha – and so some of these swimmers are now competing in this year’s Olympic Games.

OLYMPIC TITLE WITH WORLD RECORD. This is the tweet. 🇨🇳 pic.twitter.com/Tu31gR6BdN

— Paris 2024 (@Paris2024) July 31, 2024

Although, the issues with Zhanle are showing signs of xenophobia and hypocrisy. He has been treated with disdain and doubt all along, despite being rigorously tested for drugs throughout, while his swimming prodigy counterpart Katie Ledecky has only been lauded for her ability to effortlessly dominate the competition.

Then, Simone Biles may not have won another gold on Monday but she took the Paris Olympics by storm to cement her legacy as the greatest gymnast of all time. Of her 11 Olympic medals, the 27-year-old American has seven golds.

She also got the US gymnastics squad a gold medal for the women’s all-around team competition, and posted a triumphant photo on Instagram of the winning squad, with the now famous caption: “lack of talent, lazy, Olympic champions.”

 

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A post shared by Simone Biles (@simonebiles)

The caption is a jab at former US Olympic gymnast MyKayla Skinner, who had previously criticised the US gymnastics team in a now-deleted video, saying, among other things, “I feel like the talent and the depth just isn’t like what it used to be.”

Skinner, now infamous for her bratty behaviour, apologised for her comments, but Biles’s iconic Instagram caption is proof she hasn’t been forgiven.

Another sore loser had an epic meltdown in the Judo dojo, which is A LOT considering how the martial arts sport is hinged on etiquette and respect.

Guram Tushishvili of Georgia was disqualified from the 2024 Olympics and bronze medal contention after his behaviour in the men’s +100kg judo quarter-final. Tushishvili appears to have lost his temper with his opponent, French athlete and judo legend Teddy Riner, who won that match. Tushishvili first kicked him in the crotch and then pushed Riner’s head into the ground, before finally receiving a red card and disqualification.

The Georgian Olympics contestant in judo disrespecting the French contestant, Teddy Riner, who has won four Olympic gold medals and eleven World Championship gold medals. #Olympics pic.twitter.com/WFSk46Vn9v

— StrictlyKamala  🇺🇦🌻 (@StrictlyChristo) August 2, 2024

Then, in a shocking twist from Canada, with its international “nice guy” reputation, the football team came under fire for spying with a drone, causing strife with their commonwealth sister country, New Zealand. The Canadian football team were deducted six points, and fined $313,000 with three of its head coaches sent home in disgrace after spying on the NZ Football Ferns’s tactics, by flying a drone over their Olympic training sessions.

(1) FIFA strips Canada of 6 points in Olympic women’s soccer, bans coaches 1 year after the Canadian team was caught red-handed flying a drone over a training session of the New Zealand women’s football teamhttps://t.co/dGMr6HKnVw pic.twitter.com/z8Cc3JdJrH

— Raam Beart 🥭 (@raam_beart) July 28, 2024

But possibly the biggest scandal at the Olympics has been the shameful treatment of Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, who had her Olympic career shattered thanks to the world’s biggest haters and losers – the likes of JK Rowling and Donald Trump.

As a cisgender woman from Algeria (where it is illegal to transition), Khelif became a scapegoat for transphobic activists after unconfirmed allegations that the fighter had higher than usual levels of testosterone – the medical particulars of which you can become acquainted with over here.

Khelif’s competitors, particularly Italian boxer Angela Carini and Hungarian Luca Anna Hamori have treated her inhumanely and completely unfairly but Kheilf’s good grace and sportsmanship have allowed her to win over a new generation of fans, who are eagerly cheering her on to ultimate victory.

Imane Khelif wins again!!!! She’s on to the gold medal match!!! LET’S GO!!! pic.twitter.com/0oG9suO8qn

— Alejandra Caraballo (@Esqueer_) August 6, 2024

Oh yes, don’t forget how Olympic dressage failed to beat “being mean to horses” allegations after top British athlete and three-time gold-medal winner Charlotte Dujardin pulled out of the games as soon as a video surfaced of her whipping a horse over 20 times.

Add “child rapist” in the mix, since Dutch athlete Steven van de Velde, convicted of raping a 12-year-old British girl in 2016, was booed out of the Olympics with no medals. Insane that he was allowed in, in the first place, but good riddance.

All this and we’re only four days away from the end.

[source:spinoff]