The Olympics Went Woke. Athletes Hated It.

In spite of all the historic moments and awe-inspiring achievements during the Paris Olympics, perhaps the most viral image to emerge from this year’s games has been a photo of gold medal-winning Italian swimmer Thomas Ceccon sleeping under a bench in a public park. Apparently, the ground was better than the accommodations offered in the Olympic Village – just one of many complaints from athletes after the Paris Olympics Committee made wokeness it’s top priority.

Ceccon expressed his concern about Olympic Village conditions immediately after arriving in Paris. He was fearful the accommodations could affect his and his fellow Olympians’ performance. While he still earned the gold medal in the 100-meter backstroke, he failed to qualify for the 200-meter backstroke. He stated, “I’m disappointed that I didn’t make the final, but I was too tired. It’s hard to sleep both at night and in the afternoon. Here, I really struggle between the heat and the noise.”

“There is no air conditioning in the village, it’s hot, the food is bad,” Ceccon added, per The New York Sun. “Many athletes move for this reason: it’s not an alibi or an excuse, it’s the reality of what perhaps not everybody knows.”

Ceccon is far from the only Olympian frustrated by Paris’s Olympic Village. Per Olympic rules, the host nation is supposed to provide adequate lodging and food for all visiting competitors. This year, however, the Paris Olympic organizing committee botched the job by going fully woke. Paris Mayor Amme Hidalgo stated of the games, “We are ready to show the world that this great sports festival can combine spectacle, environmental preservation, and social justice.”

To that end, the organizers mandated that 60 percent of all food served at the Olympics be vegan “to reduce the carbon footprint of dairy, meat and cheese.” Additionally, vegan options with high “transportation emissions,” like avocados, a favorite of athletes, were also banned. What little meat was available was served “raw” or “undercooked.”

Athletes were so frustrated at the lack of access to quality proteins and essential nutrients for competition that they began searching for alternatives. As reported by The Australian, “more than 700 kilograms of eggs and a ton of extra meat” had to be flown on emergency flights to Paris just to keep the Australian team well nourished. Other Olympians found ways to smuggle in dishes from outside the village.

The frustrating woke initiatives didn’t stop at food. Several weeks before the opening ceremony, Olympic organizers revealed to the public that there would be no air conditioning in the Olympic Village. Instead, they would have standing fans with the goal of keeping the temperature between 73 and 79 degrees. Almost immediately, countries announced plans to bring their own AC units.

After intense public pushback, the committee agreed to order 2,500 “temporary cooling units.” Nonetheless, multiple Olympians have stated that their rooms were still unbearably hot, with some even comparing them to “saunas.”

Even small items were not spared from the green agenda. In July, the committee announced that everything provided to athletes would be made from “reclaimed, repurposed, or recycled items.” Some of these were benign and praiseworthy, like coffee tables made from “recycled shuttlecocks” and bean bags made from “parachute fabric.”

On the more unsettling side of the spectrum, however, the Olympic committee provided 7,000 “reclaimed” toilet brushes for athletes. Though one presumes they were thoroughly cleaned, the thought was still unsettling for many. Additionally, all 16,000 beds were reused, which was doubly concerning due to the high levels of bedbug infestations across Europe. Many beds were also reportedly made of cardboard.

In light of the conditions, some athletes ditched the village entirely. Team USA basketball stars, including LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Britney Griner, and Briana Stewart, opted for luxury hotels downtown.

The irony of all these initiatives is that many actually increased the energy consumed by the games. Forcing countries to fly in emergency protein significantly increased carbon emissions via transportation. The last-minute portable AC units also used far more electricity than one contained and controlled HVAC system would have.

Multiple Olympians also stated that the poor food quality and discomfort in the rooms directly affected their performances. For athletes who had trained their entire lives for this moment, being forced to live and compete in subpar conditions to appease far-left activists must have been a crushing disappointment.

The experiences of these Olympic athletes should also be a warning for the rest of the public about the dystopian future that awaits us in a world ruled by climate alarmism. If liberals have their way, we too may soon be forced to smuggle in meat and cheese and sleep on cardboard beds with no AC.

Regardless, it seems that going green has cost Paris the gold.

Andrew Shirley is a veteran speechwriter and AMAC Newsline columnist. His commentary can be found on X at @AA_Shirley.