Paris Olympics 2024: From Gaffes to Controversies, A Games to Remember

Paris Olympics has been riddled with controversy from the word go! From the depiction of ‘The Last Supper’, at opening ceremony, being decried as a Parody to South Korea being introduced as North Korea; This Olympics has become the home to numerous gaffes and equivalent apologies.

The medal allocations too have had several controversial decisions. Let’s have a look at some of them that grabbed the headlines:

Vinesh Phogat’s Disqualification:

Vinesh Phogat was just one win away from winning a historic Olympic gold but the wrestler was disqualified for being overweight at the Paris Olympics 2024 on Wednesday.

Vinesh, who was competing in the 50kg freestyle category, was found to be 100 grams overweight ahead of her gold medal match and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided to disqualify her from the event. The decision received mixed reaction from experts.

Floor Exercise Drama:

Maneca-Voinea and Romanian teammate Ana Barbosu were left outside the medals after finishing with matching scores of 13.700.

Barbosu thought she had won bronze via a tiebreaker but U.S. gymnast Jordan Chiles’ positioning at the third spot created a huge controversy.

Chiles was the last athlete to compete and initially was given a score that put her in fifth place, right behind Maneca-Voinea.

Chiles’ coaches called for an inquiry on her score, and after a review, judges boosted Chiles’ total by 0.1. That was enough to leapfrog Barbosu and Maneca-Voinea for the Bronze Medal.

5,000 Meters Shocker:

Kenyan runner Faith Kipyegon was initially disqualified for what seemed like a push and a jostle of Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay during the women’s 5,000 meters on Aug. 5. She was denied of her Silver Medal owing to this disqualification.

Then early morning, Aug. 6, her Silver Medal was reinstated after The Olympic Jury of Appeal ruled that, while there had been “significant contact” between her and Tsegay, “the incident did not warrant a disqualification.”

Swimming Disqualifications:

Two athletes’ hopes of a medal were dashed when they unwittingly broke rules mid-swim, meaning they didn’t even know they were out until they finished their races.

Great Britain’s Luke Greenbank finished first in his 200-meter backstroke heat but was disqualified for staying under water for further than maximum of 15 meters after diving in.

A technical error also knocked Alex Walsh off the 200-meter individual medley podium after she finished in the bronze position. She made an illegal turn during the last leg of her backstroke.

Gold Medal of Noah Lyles:

US’s Noah Lyles’s Gold Medal also was in the center of controversy at the Paris Olympics. He and Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson both had a photo finish, with Thompson celebrating his supposed win.

However, no winner of the race was announced for a while as race officials kept replaying the race and visuals to get a clear understanding. Finally, Noah Lyles was adjudicated the winner.

According to the rules of 100-meter sprint, it is the torso of the runner that crosses first, that will determine the win, not the foot.

Boxing Controversy:

Algerian boxer Imane Khelif found herself at the center of a bitter controversy over her eligibility to take part in the Olympics after an opponent quit a fight in just 46 seconds.

The match raised questions about Khelif’s participation. In 2023, a now-discredited boxing regulator ruled her ineligible for a women’s tournament after she apparently failed what has been described as a gender eligibility test.

But the International Olympic Committee (IOC) strongly supports her participation in the 2024 Games, with IOC spokesperson Mark Adams saying she was “born female, was registered female, lived her life as a female, boxed as a female, has a female passport.”

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