The organizers of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris and the International Olympic Committee are starting to savor a big sports festival, which is still about two years away. The cost of tickets, medal programs in the first days of the competition are announced. Fans were even introduced to the slogan of the upcoming Games.

The Olympics will be open to everyone. Or almost everyone?

“Feel the Olympic spirit with the whole world”

Sports competitions in the French capital will be held under the motto “Games wide open” – this was reported on the official website of the IOC. A rough translation of the slogan is “Wide-Open Games”. In the French version, the motto is “Ouvrons grand les jeux”, which is close to the meaning “Let’s open the Games wide”. If we talk about the underlying meaning, then a more appropriate translation into Russian is “Games open to everyone”.

“This new slogan clearly shows Paris 2024’s commitment to re-engineer the Games model in line with the 2020 Olympic Agenda, opening up the opportunity for participation to as many people as possible. This narrative will be key to inspiring the next generation, allowing even more people in France and around the world to experience the Olympic spirit and values,” says IOC chief Thomas Bach enthusiastically.

For whom the French organizers and the Olympic leadership are going to open up more widely is a debatable question. By following the actions and statements of international sports officials, one can see a clear allusion to various oppressed minorities.

– Any athlete – regardless of gender identity, expression and gender variations – has the right to compete in a safe environment and without prejudice. Measures must be taken to ensure that such people feel comfortable at all sports facilities. Federations must stop any kind of discrimination, the current recommendations of the IOC say.

Leah Thomas / Photo: © Mike Comer / Contributor / NCAA Photos / Gettyimages.ru

There is every reason to believe that the Paris Games will be wide open to athletes like New Zealand transgender weight lifter Laurel Hubbard or former American man Leah Thomas swimming in the same pool with women.

The Paris Olympics will also be open to fans of all identities and orientations, who will try to create the most comfortable conditions. In general, the real unity of countries, peoples, genders for the sake of a common goal. Approximately as in the updated Olympic motto, which since the summer of last year has been “Faster, higher, stronger – together”, where for some reason they forgot to indicate “without Russia” in brackets.

“Russians are not invited”

It is no secret that the path to the arenas of Paris will be as difficult as possible for Russian athletes. In this context, the slogan of the Olympics looks like a cynical mockery of Russia, even if its authors did not initially have such a meaning.

Perhaps, as an exception, he will be lucky for those Russian athletes who will no longer be Russian. Others are already thinking about changing citizenship, some, for reliability, declare that sexual orientation is welcomed in Western countries. But in order to get through the “wide open Games” with iron concrete, those who wish can think about changing their sex. Although it is probably too late – IOC officials are hinting that Russian athletes are not particularly expected at the Games in Paris

– Two years before the 2024 Games, a problem arose – the qualification period officially established by the international federations and the IOC begins. The federations act according to clear instructions, according to which they do not invite Russians and Belarusians to participate in their events. Therefore, at first glance, it is unlikely that any of them will be able to qualify,” explains IOC member and former head of WADA Craig Reedy.

As IOC members discuss the prospects for Russian athletes in Paris, and Olympic organizers come up with slogans, the French media worry that due to inflation and transport problems, neither “wide open” nor even more modest competitions can be organized in 2024. So far, of course, it’s hard to believe in it – some disgrace like this year’s Champions League final, the French will surely organize.

And here it is time for Russian athletes to think about whether they want to be involved in this dubious event.