People spray water to cool down next to the Eiffel Tower in Paris during the 2024 Paris Olympics on July 29, 2024.
Luis Tarto | AFP | Getty Images
Russia, considered a pariah and excluded from the Olympics because of the ongoing war in Ukraine, seems hell-bent on hating the international sports championships in Paris.
After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Russian athletes were banned from participating in the 2024 Olympics unless they competed as “individual neutral athletes.” Therefore, only 15 Russian athletes will participate in this year’s Summer Olympics in France.
Various Russian media outlets, the vast majority of which are associated with the Russian state, seemed to revel in the mishaps and controversies (both major and not-so-serious) that arose during the games, including complaints about Olympic Village catering, gender outrage at women’s boxing
With nothing to win or lose, Russian media coverage of the Olympics has always been negative about the games, host France and organizers the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
‘Shame’ off the block
After the opening ceremony, the tone of Russian media reports was: Russian media continues to pay attention to “Scandal” and “Shame” The cause was a segment on a drag queen in a beauty pageant that was accused of mocking Christianity.
Organizers claimed the clip was intended to represent a pagan feast, but it was ridiculed by Russian media, with weekly Argumenty i Fakty describing it as “Hell Olympus” and reported that “the world” condemned the “blasphemous” opening event.
On July 26, 2024, the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics was held in Paris, France. The Olympic flag was raised in the Trocadéro Square in front of the Eiffel Tower.
François-Xavier Marit | Pool | Getty Images
Russian media subsequently described the Games as poorly run and mismanaged, focusing on crime, controversy and pollution at the event and blaming host France Arrogant and careless attitude towards athlete welfare.
A British athlete complained about worms found in fish served to athletes in the Olympic Village was reported with gusto on tuesdayalthough the Covid-19 epidemic has affected more than 40 athletes, According to data from the World Health Organizationis a hot topic.
Likewise, due to the water quality of the Seine in Paris: Russian media also canceled training sessions and postponed games due to bacteria readings.
“This Paris 2024 Olympics has been a record holder for various scandals, starting from the opening ceremony. But the organizers broke all records for lack of common sense by allowing water competitions to be held in the dirty and dangerous Seine River,” Moscow-based members of the Moscow Komsomol Tuesday runasked experts to list “the diseases that Olympic athletes may contract in the Seine River.”
Competitors swim in the Seine River during the men’s individual triathlon at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on Wednesday, July 31, 2024, in Paris, France.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Similar to this, Argumenty i Fakty published an online feature article Monday was titled “Paris Poisoned. Athletes go to hospital, but IOC doesn’t care.” The IOC has defended the use of the river for sporting events despite the disruption to competitive events due to water quality.
To spice up the coverage, Moscow tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda’s main sports feature on Wednesday featured the latest news from Paris, with the headline:
“Dozens of athletes contracted COVID-19,[American gymnast Simone Biles]overeated, police complained about bedbugs, champions found worms in fish. What happened on Day 11 at the Olympics.”
Algeria’s Imane Khalif (blue) takes on Thailand’s Janjam Souvanna during the women’s 66kg boxing semifinals at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France on August 6, 2024. Peng (red).
Anadolu | Anadolu | Getty Images
Like Western media, Russian media has reported on gender outrage at boxers Imane Khalif and Lin Yuting. What Russian media failed to mention is that a Russian network linked to the Kremlin has been accused of using online disinformation and propaganda to spread claims about the boxer’s gender qualifications, Associated Press report, and about the Olympics in general. Western news media also cover some of these themes, but to a lesser extent.
CNBC has contacted the Kremlin for comment.
sour grapes
It is perhaps not surprising that Russian media has been lukewarm in coverage of these competing events, given Russia’s lack of official involvement and its tense relations with the West, which has largely supported Ukraine in the war.
As in previous games, Russia was denied a chance to win medals and was not even broadcast on the Olympics For the first time since 1984. This, coupled with rampant anti-Western rhetoric from the Kremlin and state media, has eroded public interest in the contest in Russia.
Russia is already feeling the pain World Anti-Doping Agency 2019 Suspension Decisions nation Participated in international sports competitions for four consecutive years. It comes after the country was found to be running a massive state-backed doping program, which Moscow denied overseeing.
Nikita Novitskii of Team ROC skis during Men’s Freestyle Mogul training at Yunding Ski Park in Zhangjiakou, China, on January 31, 2022.
Clive Ross | Getty Images
The ban means that Russian athletes must compete under the name of the “Russian Olympic Committee” at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (held in 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic) and the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, which take place just days later. Before Ukraine.
Russia’s aggression against its neighbor has led the International Olympic Committee to ban athletes from Russia and Moscow’s ally Belarus from competing in the 2024 Olympics unless they agree to compete as “neutral individual athletes” rather than as teams. They are also only allowed to compete if they do not actively support the war against Ukraine.
“The flag, national anthem, colors or any other logo of Russia or Belarus will not be displayed at any official venue or at any official event at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games,” The IOC’s ruling is part of its strict standards The Russian team and the Belarusian team participated in the competition. No government or state officials were allowed to attend.
The International Olympic Committee has published a list of Russian and Belarusian athletes who have agreed or declined to participate. Some initially accepted the invitation but later withdrew – perhaps unsurprising, given that some Russian sports directors declined restrictions on athletesor Describing Russian Olympic participants as “traitors”.
‘Neutrals’ Mira Andreeva and Diana Schneider became the first Russian players to win medals at the Paris Olympics when they won silver in the women’s tennis doubles on Sunday. They declined to answer questions about Russian politics.
Russia’s Mira Andreeva and Diana Schnee competing as “individual neutral athletes” in the Olympics after the women’s doubles gold medal match at the Roland Garros Tennis Open in Paris, France on August 4, 2024 Germany stood on the podium at the women’s doubles awards ceremony.
Clive Brunskill | Getty Images Sports | Getty Images
Russia has sought to exploit its exclusion from the World Cup, seeing it as another example of what it calls “Russophobia” in the West and seeking to isolate Moscow from the sporting world.
With the 2024 Olympics opening in late July, The Russian Foreign Ministry calls on the International Olympic Committee to abandon what it calls “destructive anti-Russian policies”“The right to participate in sports competitions is an inalienable human right,” a ministry spokesman said, according to Russia’s state news agency TASS.
On Monday, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) claimed that the United States “plans to once again discredit Russian athletes on the world stage by fabricating another doping scandal.” SVR said without providing evidence a reporting statement The United States is “planning the next stage of a stale and futile campaign to isolate Russia from global sport.” CNBC has reached out to the U.S. State Department for comment.
“One can only marvel at the shamelessness, narrow-mindedness and, above all, short-sightedness of Westerners: after all, their blatant unsporting behavior is increasingly rejected by the majority of the world’s population.”
“As for Russian athletes and coaches, they were, are and will remain objects of admiration for fans around the world who want to see real sports free from political influence,” the Secret Service said, according to TASS news agency.
Revealed: CNBC parent company NBCUniversal owns NBC Sports and NBC Olympics. NBC Olympics is the U.S. rights holder for all summer and winter Olympics through 2032.
