The Vatican grieved by a mock ceremony at the opening of the Paris Olympics that parodied Leonardo da Vinci’s painting of the Last Supper. The Olympics 2024 is also in the middle of its run, but there are many more gold medals to come, 20 of which will hand out today.
The plot of the 26 July ceremony reminded of the biblical scene of Jesus Christ and his apostles sharing a last meal before his crucifixion, but the scene featured a drag queen, a transgender model and a nude singer as Dionysus, the Greek god of wine.
The Vatican press release last night reported: “The Holy See was saddened by certain scenes at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games and cannot but join the voices raised in recent days to deplore the offence done to many Christians and believers of other religions.”
Paris 2024 organisers subsequently apologised, saying they had no intention of disrespecting any religious group. The artistic director of the stage, in turn, said the inspiration for the production was not the Christian Last Supper, but a pagan celebration associated with the historic Olympics.
In addition to the Vatican, which reacted some time later, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church also condemned the skit, Republicans were outraged by the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Paris. Many European politicians have also commented on the parody, stating It has no right to be and offends the feelings of believers.
Half of 2024 Olympics behind: latest results
- Irish sprinter Rhasidat Adeleke, 21, holds the national record for all sprint distances (60m indoors to 400m) from last month when she won the 100m at the Irish National Championships with a record time of 11.13 seconds. In spite of the recent phenomenal successes, Adelake is the only black member of the Irish national team and has had to deal with a wave of racist abuse online.
- Boxer Cindy Ngamba, 25, of the Refugee Olympic Team has won her first fight at the Paris Games and is one win away from winning the team’s first medal. Ngamba, who was born in Cameroon and was in the UK at the age of 11, said she hopes to “give motivation” to refugees around the world.
- Nigeria’s champion in the women’s 100 metres sprint will not race at the Paris Olympics because she said her country’s athletics federation did not field her in time.
- Teddy Riner, a French judoka, became the first judoka to win four Olympic gold medals after the Frenchman defeated South Korea’s Kim Min-Jung in the heavyweight final on Friday.
- Joris Daudet topped the French Olympic podium in BMX racing on Friday night, chased by teammates Sylvain André and Romain Mayeux. It was the first podium for France at the Summer Olympics in a century.
- Algerian boxer Imane Khelif attracted a series of criticism and attention when incorrect perceptions about her gender escalated into a larger clash over identity in sport. She won her first fight at the Paris Games when her Italian opponent Angela Carini tearfully refused to continue after just 46 seconds. Khelif defeated Anna Luka Hamori of Hungary 5-0 in the women’s 66kg quarter-finals, according to Africanews.
- After three Grand Slam titles, British tennis legend Andy Murray, 37, officially retired from the sport on Thursday after losing at the Paris Olympics, ending his brilliant but injury-filled career.
- Kaylia Nemours, a French gymnast, scored 15.700, She absolutely floated through her programme, standing on her hands on the bar and almost bouncing from bar to bar during her transition skills.
- British gymnastics icon Becky Downey was executing her programme with ease until she fell on her eponymous apparatus. She finished confidently after getting stuck in a full twisting nip into a double backward grouping, but her 13.633 puts her in third place with Kalia Nemours and Suni Lee still ahead of her.
- Reigning Olympic uneven bars champion Nina Derval is in first place with a score of 14.766, just ahead of Alice D’Amato. Her difficulty score is 0.1 higher than D’Amato’s.
The Competition started off two days before the opening ceremony, on 24 July, with preliminary rounds in archery, football, handball and rugby. Swimming took place in the first week of the Games from 27 July to 4 August, while athletics took place from 1 to 11 August. While the full schedule is available online, Paris Games organisers note that it is subject to change.
The marathon is traditionally the last sporting event. The closing ceremony for the 2024 Summer Olympics will take place on Sunday, 11 August at 2:00 p.m. ET at the Stade de France. It will include a parade of flags, a parade of athletes and award ceremonies, among other events.
