Politics and polarization are inevitable at the Olympics

It is worth noting that one of the first major stories of the Paris 2024 Games was the triumphant return of Simone Biles after withdrawing from competition at the last Summer Olympics due to mental health reasons. In this context, her contribution to the American team's victory in the women's gymnastics all-around event, followed by gold in the individual competition, capped a story of resilience and redemption.

But amid the excitement over Biles’s return and the portrayal of her in heroic terms, it’s easy to forget that her decision not to finish in Tokyo has become a political and cultural issue. In the United States, right-wing commentators have called her a quitter and accused the left of creating a soft culture, prompting a backlash. The speech that followed was in many ways a reflection of how political polarization has seeped into every corner of society.

Yet this pales in comparison to the controversy that erupted yesterday during the women's boxing competition at the Olympics, when Algeria's Imane Khelif beat Italy's Angela Carini, after Carini abandoned the match due to severe pain just 46 seconds into the bout.

The unusual ending immediately sparked a heated debate, both online and in mainstream media, over whether Khelif and another boxer, Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan, should be allowed to compete in the women’s boxing event, since both were disqualified from last year’s world championships after a test revealed they had competitive advantages over other female competitors. Right-wing commentators speculated that Khelif and Lin were in fact biological males, despite a statement from the International Olympic Committee, or IOC, that both were women and eligible to compete.

There are two interrelated issues at stake here. The first is the heated debate over whether transgender women should be allowed to compete in women’s sports because of the role biology plays in a person’s athletic abilities. Right-wing politicians have seized on this issue in recent years in Western countries because it is a popular attack on the so-called woke agenda, as well as a divisive issue even among those on the left who broadly support transgender rights.

The other problem is that this debate is taking place in an information vacuum, amid an administrative war between the IOC and the International Boxing Association (IBA), a Russia-based body that organizes the world championships. Indeed, the IBA has not revealed what test Khelif and Lin were subjected to, and no documents have been released to explain why they were disqualified from last year’s competition. As part of the broader conflict between the two bodies, the IOC has criticized the IBA for disqualifying Khelif and Lin. Moreover, it recently cut ties with the IBA, leaving a divergence between the rules governing the two competitions.

The lack of information is likely due to understandable privacy concerns, but regardless, it leaves the whole situation ripe for speculation, allowing online commentators to fill in the gaps with misinformation that supports their specific point of view.

The IOC has always presented the Olympics as an apolitical, unifying force, and in some ways they can be. But yesterday’s controversy is another stark reminder of how often sports are politicized, and how quickly the controversies that arise from them can overshadow the events themselves due to increasing polarization and online media.

It also made clear that the IOC remains ill-prepared to deal with the political and cultural debates that inevitably arise at every Games, whether over athlete eligibility, uniform choices, hosting decisions or the exclusion of countries in the context of international conflicts.

Thousands of people have protested across Pakistan in recent weeks amid widespread frustration with the government and the country's ruling elite, The New York Times reports. Anger over a range of economic and security issues is now threatening to reach a boiling point.

Pakistani politics has been in turmoil since the ouster and subsequent imprisonment of former Prime Minister Imran Khan in 2022 by the country’s powerful military, which thought it could get away with its brutality after sidelining Khan. But as Arif Rafiq wrote last year, the military and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government now have no one to blame but themselves for the country’s predicament.

A new study published yesterday shows that glaciers in the Andes of South America have retreated to a degree unprecedented in history, with the study's lead author saying the team thought the result was decades away.

Despite many alarming studies on how climate change is ravaging the ice cover at both poles, the far-reaching impact of glacial melt is often overlooked. In a 2021 paper on the retreat of Himalayan glaciers, Howard W. French wrote that the loss of ice in these mountains and elsewhere will contribute significantly to sea-level rise while imperiling nearby cities.

Colombia, Brazil and Mexico yesterday called on Venezuela to release the full vote count from Sunday’s presidential election, while the United States recognized the opposition candidate as the winner. As Benjamin N. Gedan wrote Wednesday, Colombian President Gustavo Petro could play a decisive role in pressuring the Maduro regime to respect the election results.

The European Commission has set up a team to prepare for the potential return of former US President Donald Trump to the White House, developing strategies to deal with a possible shift in Washington's trade and defence policies.

While no European power today represents a viable alternative to the United States in guaranteeing Europe's security, Europeans have three other means of rescue, including the EU itself. Discover the European options for a post-American security order in this briefing by Mathieu Droin.

Related

What Are The Main Benefits Of Comparing Car Insurance Quotes Online

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 24, 2020, / Compare-autoinsurance.Org has launched a new blog post that presents the main benefits of comparing multiple car insurance quotes. For more info and free online quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/the-advantages-of-comparing-prices-with-car-insurance-quotes-online/ The modern society has numerous technological advantages. One important advantage is the speed at which information is sent and received. With the help of the internet, the shopping habits of many persons have drastically changed. The car insurance industry hasn't remained untouched by these changes. On the internet, drivers can compare insurance prices and find out which sellers have the best offers. View photos The advantages of comparing online car insurance quotes are the following: Online quotes can be obtained from anywhere and at any time. Unlike physical insurance agencies, websites don't have a specific schedule and they are available at any time. Drivers that have busy working schedules, can compare quotes from anywhere and at any time, even at midnight. Multiple choices. Almost all insurance providers, no matter if they are well-known brands or just local insurers, have an online presence. Online quotes will allow policyholders the chance to discover multiple insurance companies and check their prices. Drivers are no longer required to get quotes from just a few known insurance companies. Also, local and regional insurers can provide lower insurance rates for the same services. Accurate insurance estimates. Online quotes can only be accurate if the customers provide accurate and real info about their car models and driving history. Lying about past driving incidents can make the price estimates to be lower, but when dealing with an insurance company lying to them is useless. Usually, insurance companies will do research about a potential customer before granting him coverage. Online quotes can be sorted easily. Although drivers are recommended to not choose a policy just based on its price, drivers can easily sort quotes by insurance price. Using brokerage websites will allow drivers to get quotes from multiple insurers, thus making the comparison faster and easier. For additional info, money-saving tips, and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ Compare-autoinsurance.Org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. "Online quotes can easily help drivers obtain better car insurance deals. All they have to do is to complete an online form with accurate and real info, then compare prices", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. CONTACT: Company Name: Internet Marketing CompanyPerson for contact Name: Gurgu CPhone Number: (818) 359-3898Email: cgurgu@internetmarketingcompany.BizWebsite: https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ SOURCE: Compare-autoinsurance.Org View source version on accesswire.Com:https://www.Accesswire.Com/595055/What-Are-The-Main-Benefits-Of-Comparing-Car-Insurance-Quotes-Online View photos