Paris Olympics promises to be “unforgettable”

By Zulfugar Ibragimov, Day.az

Speaking at a rally in Dresden during a recent visit to Germany, Emmanuel Macron said that Europe is a compass, a stronghold of values and culture. While emphasizing his values and culture, he, as always, lost sight of the fact that leadership is not only words but also deeds. Before lecturing others, it would be nice to put things in order in your own country so that your words are worth something.

A few days ago another trouble occurred in France. Three weeks before the “historic” swim in the Seine, promised by the mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo, and the head of the International Olympic Committee (!) Thomas Bach, it became known that 50 million liters of wastewater had been dumped into the river. Slops and feces were poured into the Seine for several weeks until local residents began to complain about the stench and the appearance of suspicious waste in the water, including pads and napkins. It turned out that there were failures in the drainage system, the pumps were out of order, and for almost the entire month of May, no one attended to it.

For the sake of objectivity, we note that this happened downstream, and the polluted water did not touch Olympic Paris but went to anoint other French cities with “incense.” However, this has brought renewed attention to the ecological state of France’s main river ahead of the 2024 Olympics.

Recently, the NGO Surfrider, which tested river water samples every two weeks for eight months, published the results of its latest research. According to them, the upper limit for the content of harmful bacteria has been exceeded twice. The bacteria contained indicate fecal contamination. These are Escherichia coli and Enterococcus. This means that the Seine is absolutely unsuitable and dangerous for swimming.

The most unpleasant thing for Parisians in this situation is not even the pollution of the river, to which they, in general, are accustomed, but the attempts of the authorities to prove the opposite. The above-mentioned VIPs unanimously assert that nothing terrible is happening, and hundreds of foreign athletes can safely plunge into this “broth.” They even offer themselves as a water quality test. Madame Hidalgo named the date - June 23. The IOC President turned out to be more cunning, clarifying that he would dive if the water was not cold. President Macron turned out to be the most cunning. Initially, he promised to swim before the Olympics, then during the Olympics, without giving a time frame. Then, when things went badly, he clarified that he would do this after completing all cleanup measures, for which almost one and a half billion euros had been allocated. That is, Macron will immerse his body in water with E. coli only if the measures taken produce positive results. As noted above, there are no results, or rather, they are negative. Either they cleaned it poorly, or they spent the money on other purposes.

Parisians are angry at such games by the authorities and complete disregard for the problems of the city. There were hopes that drastic measures would be taken at least on the eve of the Olympics. But the expectations were not met. The population is so disappointed and angry that the hashtag #jechiedanslaseinele23juin, which translated means “I will relieve myself in the Seine on June 23,” has become popular in France.

And Sena is not all. Recently, a laptop with materials related to the organization of the Olympic Games was once again stolen in Paris. We emphasize - once again! And the population is also irritated by the participation in the Olympic torch relay of a transvestite nicknamed Minima Geste wearing 25-centimeter stilettos. This clownery is scheduled for mid-July and will take two hours. That is, this show will take place on the final stages of the Olympic flame, the most important and noticeable. It seems that such an insult has never been inflicted on the international Olympic movement. According to French media, the French are dejected by this fact and admit that the whole world is already laughing at them.

French officials have promised to make the Paris 2024 Olympics unforgettable. It seems the promise will be fulfilled.