Paris Olympics Plagued by Crime, Strikes and Sabotage Before Even Starting

Politicization: Traditional Olympic powerhouse Russia has been barred from the Games amid the ongoing proxy war with NATO in Ukraine, with Belarus also banned. Interestingly, neither Ukraine nor its Western sponsors face similar restrictions. Israel and its US sponsors have not been banned from competition despite the ongoing war in Gaza.

Heightened terror alert: French officials reported foiling a series of violent plots this week targeting the Olympics, with seven terror suspects arrested in neighboring Belgium, and European officials on high alert for threats emanating from ISIS* offshoot ISIS-K.

Strikes: French labor unions’ ability to organize paralyzing strike action in key economic sectors is bad news for the Paris Games, which have already dubbed the ‘Strike Olympics’ by some pundits as everyone from hotel employees and airport workers to opening games dancers protesting or threatening to go off the job amid wage disputes.

Sabotage: On the eve of the Games, France’s world-famous high-speed rail lines have been targeted by what authorities characterized as a “coordinated sabotage” campaign. State rail giant SNCF reported a “massive attack” Thursday night “aimed at paralyzing the high-speed line network,” resulting In large-scale diversions and cancelations. The company asked “all travelers who can postpone” their trips “not to go to the station.” The chaos paralyzed multiple major transit hubs, including Paris’s Gare du Nord and Gare Montparnasse stations.

Food shortages: France may be known for its five star cuisine, but apparently not in the Olympic Village, where athletes have complained about food shortages, with at least one national team resorting to packing lunches and calling in their own chef. Athletes have complained about both the quality and quantity of available food, with teams saying it’s a far cry from the Michelin starred dining experiences they were promised.

Crime: The spotlight on Paris coming with the Games has unintentionally revealed the city’s unseemly, seedier side, with Olympians, media workers and tourists reporting a series of crimes. The Argentinian men’s football team reported being robbed at their training camp this week. Meanwhile, Australia’s Channel Nine television reported that two of its staffers suffering a “serious physical” attack during an attempted robbery, managing to get away but “shaken up” by the incident. Last week, an Australian tourist reportedly suffered a grisly gang rape by five men “of African appearance.”

Stinky situation: As if all these problems weren’t enough, Paris on the eve of the Olympics faces another unusual threat: a group of citizens threatening to poop in the Seine River en masse to bring attention to its unsanitary condition. That’s bad news for the athletes who are expected to plunge into the river’s waters for marathon swimming and triathlon events. Authorities have spent about 1.4 billion euros to clean up the body of water, whose problems with toxic sewage, rat infestations and high E coli bacteria levels have long been a problem.