From a row about an allegedly blasphemous biblical scene to a controversial boxing match, the Games have been hijacked by culture wars between Russia and the west
While sport has long prided itself on its capacity to promote peace and reconciliation, there was widespread anxiety before the Paris Olympics that the wars in Europe and the Middle East would poison the event. Thankfully, there have been no major security incidents. Yet geopolitical conflict has played out at the Games, including in the controversy over women’s boxing.
On the eve of the Olympics, many feared the worst. Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 and the ensuing Israeli invasion of Gaza, now exacerbated by the threat of an all-out regional war, brought back the ghosts of the massacre at the 1972 Munich Olympics, when Palestinian militants infiltrated the Olympic village, killing 11 members of the Israeli team.
Nathalie Tocci is a Guardian Europe columnist
