What brings gender discourse at the centre of Paris Olympics 2024?

As athletes and sportspersons from around the globe flocked towards the French capital for the Paris Olympics 2024, controversies have followed them.

Right on the cusp of the grand July 26 evening, a row erupted at the opening ceremony of the games. As 100 boats carrying all the sportspersons of the participating  countries passed over the Seine River and created a spectacle, one sight caught the attention of many.

A live performance orchestrated by the creative director of the ceremony, Thomas Jolly, drew parallels with the renowned Leonardo Da Vinci portrait, ‘The Last Supper’.

The portrait holds sacred value with the Christian community across the globe, as it depicts the ‘last dinner’ between Jesus Christ and his disciples.

However, the portrayal by Jolly at the auspicious event saw a French LGBTQ+ activist and musician, Barbara Butch, at the centre. Joining them was actor-singer Philippe Katerine, painted completely in blue and in minimal clothing, who appeared as the Greek god Dionysus, seated at the centre of the table.

Surrounding Butch and Katerine were drag queen artistes who were compared to the disciples of Christ.

This created a furore from the moment it was relayed around the globe, with claims of the tableau being “disrespectful and hurting Christian beliefs”.

The Catholic Church of France expressed its disapproval, stating on its account on X: “Unfortunately, this ceremony contained scenes that mocked Christianity, which we deeply regret.”

The Indian Olympics Association (IOA) president, P T Usha, was also not happy with the opening ceremony and said the event did not focus enough on the athletes.

However, defending his work, Jolly reportedly said that the scene portrayed Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and celebration. “And it is one of the jewels of France,” he said, adding that it is also the father of Séquana, the goddess of the river Seine. He claimed the celebration was linked to the gods of Olympus at the Olympics ceremony.

Boxing bout exit sparks a row

The ceremony continued regardless, and French President Emmanuel Macron announced the games open after four hours of the glazing extravaganza.

However, on the sixth day of the games on August 1, Italian boxer Angela Carini was facing Algeria’s Imane Khelif in a women’s 66kg round of 16 match.

Although of relative insignificance, the game gathered sudden prominence when Carini abandoned the game after just 46 seconds into the game.

After taking a punch to the face within the first 30 seconds of the match, Carini went to her corner for her coach to adjust her headgear. She briefly resumed the fight, but then returned to her corner and decided to stop the match.

Carini broke down in tears and didn’t even shake hands with her opponent after the referee raised Khelif’s arm as she progressed to the quarterfinals. She was also heard saying, “It’s not right.”

The issue at the ring was that Khelif had failed a gender eligibility test in the IBA’s Women’s World Championship in New Delhi last year and was disqualified from the tournament.

However, regardless of elevated testosterone levels, Khelif was cleared to compete in women’s boxing at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

With a bye in the first round at the Olympics, the 25-year-old also competed at the Tokyo Games in 2021.

This controversy followed flak that erupted against Khelif on social media, which included X boss Elon Musk and Harry Potter writer J K Rowling, claiming Carini lost against a seemingly ‘biological man’.

Italian PM Georgia Meloni too came in her compatriot’s support and made an X post in Italian, the transcription of which ended with “...you will earn with effort and sweat what you deserve. In a finally fair competition.”

Supporting Khelif, the IOC said that it was saddened by the abuse being currently received.

The games continue on the seventh day today, with Khelif set to face Hungarian boxer Luca Anna Hamori in the quarters.