Olympic Games: Olympia and Colonialism: The Burden of the Past

Dance performances, laser shows, spectacular images of Paris. The opening of the Olympic Games continues to have an impact – as a celebration of a diverse society. And at the center of the show: the Seine. But one gesture was lost in this spectacle: during the boat parade, athletes from Algeria threw red roses into the river. They shouted “Long live Algeria”. This reminded them of a massacre.

On October 17, 1961, French citizens of Algerian origin protested against a nighttime curfew in Paris. The police beat the demonstrators. At least 200 of them died, many drowned in the Seine, says London-based journalist Shahla Omar: “This gesture was intensively discussed on social media, but it was not shown on global television broadcast.” At the site where the massacre took place Omar thinks the ceremony could perhaps have been interrupted. “The Algerian team’s grief would have received greater attention.”

Algeria was under French control for 132 years. Some sources suggest that French soldiers and police killed up to 1.5 million Algerians during this period. President Emmanuel Macron is now addressing the colonial crimes, but France is far from adequately dealing with them, the reporter emphasizes and describes another observation.

Athletes are racially insulted

Singer Axelle Saint-Cirel sang the French anthem during the opening ceremony. She stood on the roof of the Grand Palais. What many people don’t know: The Grand Palais was built for the World’s Fair in 1900. At that time, “ethnic shows” were held there. “People from the colonies were humiliated there,” remembers Omar. In the opening ceremony: not a word about it.

Even today, Olympic sport is linked to the colonial era. Many of France’s top athletes have biographical roots in former colonies. Basketball star Victor Wembanyama in Congo. The judoka Teddy Riner in Guadeloupe. Black athletes like her are celebrated by French fans in the Olympic sports venues. Things look different on social media. There they are racially insulted and described as “not French,” says journalist Maher Mezahi, who lives in Algeria: “Many right-wing extremists, for example, describe judo as a black and Arab sport. There is a rush to make sport politically charged.”

This appropriation of athletes has a long tradition in France. In 1928, at the Olympic Games in Amsterdam, the Algerian-born Frenchman Boughéra El Ouafi won the gold medal in the marathon. More than thirty years later he was assassinated by members of the Algerian independence movement. Apparently because he didn’t want to support their fight. At the time, the French media used this case to stir up sentiment against Algerians, says reporter Mezahi and gives another example: One of the most successful marathon runners in history came from Algeria, but he really wanted to integrate into France. From then on, Ali Mimoun called himself Alain Mimoun and converted to Christianity. “But he continued to talk about racism,” says Mezahi. »This is how Mimoun became a famous personality in France.«

Many connections to this day

The current athletes were born after the colonial period. Some of them have dual citizenship. The gymnast Kaylia Nemour, for example, grew up in France. Because of a complicated injury, the French association did not want to let the 17-year-old take part in the Olympics in Paris. An argument broke out. Neymour then competed for her father’s birth country, Algeria, and won gold on the uneven bars on Sunday. The first triumph in gymnastics for an African nation – of all people from France.

France and many of its former colonies still maintain close economic ties. Many French companies are active in Morocco, for example. “But sport is more emotional,” says Moroccan journalist Basma El Atti. “The fact that some Moroccan footballers who grew up in France do not speak Arabic is also viewed critically.” The Moroccan national football team will play against Egypt for the bronze medal in Paris on Thursday.

Olympic Games in France? These are games with a colonial past. Will the hosts in Paris respond to this? At least they leave the French founder of the International Olympic Committee almost unmentioned in this context. Pierre de Coubertin was a great supporter of colonialism.