The 2024 Summer Games in Paris are happening amid global conflicts, sports scandals, and changes in media consumption, causing some young people to check out.
Amid ongoing global conflicts, sports scandals, and changes in media consumption, some teens and young adults are questioning whether the Olympics are cool anymore. This has prompted a number of them to disengage from the 2024 Summer Games, which are currently happening in Paris.
For some, the flashy international event can seem like a glaring example of sportswashing, or using sports as a way to distract from unethical conduct. Host cities have repeatedly faced accusations of gentrification, increased militarization, and forced displacement as land was cleared to build Olympics facilities — and Paris is no exception. Calls for a nationalistic celebration feel particularly off this year, some young people tell Teen Vogue, while the Israel-Hamas war is still raging. Majed Abu Maraheel, Palestine’s first Olympic athlete, and Nagham Abu Samra, a Palestinian karate champion who had hoped to compete in the 2024 Olympics, both died during Israel’s siege on Gaza. Anna Horford, who witnessed her older brother and 17-year NBA veteran Al Horford win his first championship in Boston on June 17, is vocal on social media, where she not only writes about basketball, but advocates for Palestinian rights and speaks out against human rights violations. “With the way that younger generations are even getting tired of celebrity worship culture… I think that's going to transcend to sports as well,” she tells Teen Vogue. “At some point we just cannot care about this stuff while innocent people are dying and being wiped off the face of the Earth. The world still turns and whatnot, but at a certain point, we're not gonna be able to ignore it anymore. I think that's already happening.” Anna adds, “It drives me crazy when people are silent on these issues, because I don't feel like I have a choice — I feel like I have to speak about it.” On June 28, 85 members and allies of the Minnesota Anti-War Committee stood outside the Target Center in Minneapolis during the US Olympic gymnastics team trials to demand that the International Olympic Committee ban Israel from participating in the Games. According to committee organizer Annie Russell-Pribnow, the group wanted the IOC and USA Gymnastics to hear that “the Olympics should not be happening as usual during a genocide.” The Minnesota Anti-War Committee had joined a global call, helmed by over 300 Palestinian-led sports clubs, youth centers, and civil society organizations, pushing for the IOC to apply its principles as stated in its charter: “…respect… internationally recognized human rights and universal fundamental ethical principles within the remit of the Olympic Movement.” The Anti-War Committee has a growing presence in Minneapolis, building up turnout for rallies such as the June 28 event. The organization has canvassed to collect signatures on a petition demanding the state of Minnesota divest from companies and institutions that abet the Israeli military’s campaign in Gaza. This has provided the Anti-War Committee with opportunities for open dialogue with Minnesotans. “We are showing up in areas to have those conversations with people,” says Nicholas Tolliver, a member of the Anti-War Committee. Tolliver notes that people formerly “saw Israel-Palestine as sort of too complicated,” but more of them are “educating themselves” and “wanting to engage.” In rejecting the Palestinian demand that Israel be banned from the Games, IOC president Thomas Bach said he would not be drawn into 'political business.” For years, Bach has publicly maintained that the Olympics are not the place to express resistance and dissent. Young people's views on mega sporting events are not just sullied by what we see happening overseas; the call comes from inside the house too. In 2018, more than 150 girls and women testified about being abused by disgraced doctor Larry Nassar. Over the course of his career, Nassar is believed to have sexually assaulted more than 500 young women and girls, including members of the United States women's gymnastics national and Olympic teams. Furthermore, research indicates that a number of elite athletes in the US have experienced physical or sexual abuse by a coach, trainer, sports official, or fellow athlete. For example, in a 2019 study, 8.8% of surveyed elite athletes age 18 or older reported having experienced sexual violence by such trusted officials or peers. Grace French, founder of the Army of Survivors, says enduring abuse from Nassar as a preteen and young adult informed her approach to her work as a dance coach, in which she welcomes conversations about consent and guides young girls and women to advocate for their safety. For the young athletes with whom French works, who range from age 2 to 18, there are several factors that seem to contribute to a detachment from the Olympics. “I think part of the reason is this idea of nationalism, and not necessarily wanting to root on our country as much as we used to because of the actions of our country,” says French. “But I think another huge impact is media consumption and how information is presented nowadays, especially to the younger generation.” French’s dancers use social media to home in on their skills and interests: They search for specific topics and dance routines on social media; they follow dancers and influencers they love to watch on their highlight reels. Instead of a platform of programmed events, such as the Olympics, they are more likely to watch content that comes across their curated feeds. “They’re adjacently aware , but I don't think they're extremely aware,” says French. “I was talking to a couple of teens recently and I was like, ‘Are you excited about this?’ They're like, ‘Well, we'll watch it when the highlight reels happen to come up on our For You page.’' French adds, 'There's not this overarching ‘Let’s get a watch party together,’ which is what I feel like I used to do.” Recently, the LA84 Foundation, a private institution formed from surplus funds after the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, threw its annual Play Day Block Party in the city’s West Adams neighborhood. The Foundation claims to address disparities in access to sports and play opportunities for children, but NOlympics LA has criticized that organization as an “unaccountable, private body.” Luca Marton, who serves as the LA chapter director for Street Soccer USA, showed up to the Play Day event with several students he works with, some of whom he says are wary of the Olympics. “This idea of American exceptionalism and American nationalism is a little bit creepy and weird to a lot of the kids,” Marton said in an interview before the event. This year, Play Day celebrated LA84’s “40 years of impact.” Coincidentally, the city is also four years away from hosting the 2028 Summer Olympics. Fifteen-year-old Nathan Orellana attended Play Day with Marton, his coach, and told me he was busy filling in his “scorecard” with stickers from every booth so that he could win a backpack. When I asked whether he made any new friends or learned about the Olympics while at the event, Nathan laughed and said, “Nah, my only goal was just to get the backpack.… I wasn’t even talking to anyone.” In 2017, the IOC announced that Los Angeles would host the 2028 Olympics, which was championed by then mayor Eric Garcetti and the bid committee, helmed by sports mogul Casey Wasserman. I’m a lifelong Angeleno who didn’t know about the bid then, but I owe it to groups like NOlympics LA and Stop LAPD Spying Coalition for informing and shaping my growth as an organizer. Thanks to them, it’s hard to look away from sportswashing the more I see how it seeps into our day-to-day fights. I am hopeful that this is only the beginning for younger organizers and athletes who want a future without mega sporting events to distract us from real problems. Stay up-to-date with the politics team. Sign up for the Teen Vogue Take
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