Russia hates on the Olympic Games, relishing ‘scandals’ and controversy in Paris

Cast out of the Olympic Games as a pariah due to its ongoing war in Ukraine, Russia appears to be hell-bent on hating on the international sporting tournament in Paris.

After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russian athletes were banned from performing in the 2024 Games unless they participated as “Individual Neutral Athletes.” As such, there are only 15 Russian athletes competing at the Summer Games in France this year.

Various Russian media outlets, the vast majority of which are linked to the Russian state, have appeared to revel in misfortunes and controversies — both significant and less so — that have sprung up during the competition, ranging from complaints over the catering in the Olympic Village to the gender furore in the women’s boxing event.

With nothing to win and less to lose, Russia’s media coverage of the Olympics has been invariably negative about the competition, host France and the organizer, the International Olympics Committee (IOC).

The tone of the Russian media coverage was set straight after the opening ceremony, with the Russian press honing in on the “scandal” and “disgrace” caused by a segment of the pageant featuring drag queens, which was accused of mocking Christianity.

Claims by organizers that the segment was meant to represent a pagan feast were ridiculed by the Russian media, with weekly newspaper outlet Argumenty i Fakty describing it as the “Olympus of Hell” and reporting that “the world” had condemned the “blasphemous” opening event.

The Russian media has subsequently portrayed the Games as mis-run and mismanaged, focusing on crime, controversy and pollution at the event and accusing host France of having a cavalier and careless approach to the well-being of athletes.

A British athlete complaining about worms found in fish served to athletes in the Olympic Village was reported with relish Tuesday, while a Covid-19 outbreak affecting more than 40 athletes, according to the World Health Organization, is a popular talking point.

Likewise, with the quality of the water of the River Seine in Paris: Russian media outlets have had a field day with news of cancelled training sessions and a postponed race due to bacterial readings.

“The current 2024 Olympics in Paris have become a record holder for various scandals, starting with the opening ceremony. But all records for the lack of common sense were broken by the organizers’ permission to hold water competitions in the dirty and dangerous Seine River,” Moscow-based Moskovsky Komsomolets ran Tuesday, asking an expert to list the “diseases that Olympians can catch in the Seine.”

In a similar vein, Argumenty i Fakty published an online feature on Monday entitled “Poisoned by Paris. Athletes go to hospital, but IOC doesn’t care.” The IOC has defended the use of the river for sporting events, despite the disruption to competitive events caused by the water quality.

To give a flavor of the coverage, Moscow-based tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda’s main sports feature on Wednesday, which wrapped up the latest news from Paris, was titled:

“Dozens of athletes fell ill with Covid, [American gymnast Simone] Biles went on a binge on fast food, police complained about bedbugs, champion found worms in fish. What happened at the Olympics on day 11.”

As with the Western press, the gender furore over boxers Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting also featured in the Russia media. What Russian outlets did not mention is that Russian networks linked to the Kremlin have been accused of using online disinformation and propaganda to spread claims about the gender eligibility of the boxers, news agency AP reported, and about the Games, generally. Western news outlets have also covered some of these topics, to a lesser extent.

CNBC has reached out to the Kremlin for comment.

It’s perhaps no surprise that Russia’s press coverage of the competitive events has been muted, given the country’s lack of official involvement and bitter relationship with Western countries, which have predominantly backed Ukraine in the war.

Deprived of a possibility to haul medals as during previous tournaments, Russia is not even broadcasting the Games for the first time that has happened since 1984. Along with rampant anti-Western rhetoric by the Kremlin and state media, this has damped down Russian public interest in the competition.

Russia was already smarting from the World Anti-Doping Agency’s decision in 2019 to ban the country from international sports competitions for four years. That came after the country was found to be running a large-scale, state-sponsored doping scheme, which Moscow denied overseeing.

The ban meant that Russian athletes had to compete under the banner of the “Russian Olympic Committee” at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics — which took place in 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic — and at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, held just days before the invasion of Ukraine.

Russia’s aggression towards its neighbor led to the IOC banning athletes from Russia and Moscow’s ally Belarus from competing in the 2024 Olympics, unless they agreed to participate as “neutral individual athletes,” rather than as teams. They’ve also only been allowed to compete if they don’t actively support the war against Ukraine.

“No flag, anthem, colours or any other identifications whatsoever of Russia or Belarus will be displayed at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 in any official venue or any official function,” the IOC ruled as part of its strict criteria for Russian and Belarusians’ participation in the tournament. No government or state officials have been allowed to attend.

The IOC published a list showing which Russian and Belarusian athletes agreed or declined to participate. Some initially accepted invitations but subsequently withdrew — perhaps unsurprising, when some Russian sports chiefs have baulked at the restrictions on their athletes, or described Russian participants in the Games as “traitors.”

‘Neutrals’ Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider became the first Russians to win a medal at the Paris Games, when they took silver in the women’s tennis doubles last Sunday. They’ve refused to answer questions regarding Russian politics.

Russia has sought to use its exclusion from the tournament to its advantage, framing it as another example of so-called Western “Russophobia” and an attempt to isolate Moscow from the sporting world.

As the 2024 Games started in late July, Russia’s foreign ministry called on the IOC to ditch what it described as a “destructive anti-Russian course,” with a ministry spokesman stating that “the right to participate in sports competitions was an inalienable human right,” Russian state news agency Tass reported.

On Monday, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) alleged that the U.S. was “planning to once again smear Russian athletes on the world stage by fabricating another doping scandal.” Without presenting evidence, the SVR said in a reported statement that the U.S. was “planning the next stage of its trite and futile campaign to isolate Russia from the global sports movement.” CNBC has contacted the U.S. State Dept. for comment.

“One can only wonder at the impudence, pettiness and, most importantly, shortsightedness of the Westerners: after all, their blatantly unsportsmanlike behavior is increasingly rejected by the global majority.”

“As for Russian athletes and coaches, they were, are and will be an object of admiration for fans everywhere who want to see real sport, free from politics,” the secret service said, Tass reported.

Disclosure: CNBC parent NBCUniversal owns NBC Sports and NBC Olympics. NBC Olympics is the U.S. broadcast rights holder to all Summer and Winter Games through 2032.