The Economic and Social Impact of the 2024 Summer Olympics

By: Madeleine Burke 

As Simone Biles and Katie Ledecky fly across our screen, it’s hard not to be watching the Olympics in some way this summer. However, from the extravagant opening ceremony on the Seine to the shiny medals, one can’t help but wonder how much all of this had to cost both economically and socially. 

For starters, Boomberg claims that this will be one of the “cheaper” Olympics we have experienced with the total spending being just under $10 billion. This amount is significantly less than the previous Tokyo Olympics which amounted to almost $14 billion or the Rio Olympics which splurged to almost $24 billion. 

Why was this Olympics so much cheaper? The answer is pretty simply, from olympic villages to gymnastic stadiums, almost 95% of venues used in Paris previously existed. With minimal spending on new infrastructure, Paris was able to keep the costs low. 

Paris was still able to splurge on one thing though-the medals! The shining medals we see hanging around smiling athletes’ necks are known to be mostly made of silver with a thin layer of gold or bronze on top. The medals were expected to be worth around $900 each and with thousands of medals made, this cost adds up. 

The 2024 Olympics didn’t just affect the world economically, there has been a significant social effect as well. Specifically with concerns about the gender of successful female athletes. 

Throughout the games, spectators have felt suspicious of the success of athletes such as swimmer Katie Ledecky and rugby player Ilona Maher due to their more masculine features. While reports have made it clear that these two athletes are biological women, the emergence of a successful female boxer from Algeria has had a different impact. Imane Khelif was born biologically female with higher levels of testosterone in her body, giving her more masculine features and strength. The Olympic champion started facing scrutiny when she won her match against Angela Carini in 46 seconds. 

At the 2023 World Championships, Khelif was removed from the tournament due to her higher testosterone levels, but the Olympics had a different response claiming, "We strongly condemn the harassment she has been subjected to, it is unacceptable and goes against the values of Olympism which we stand for."  

The Olympics are reminding us now more than ever that successful female athletes should not be subjected to gender scrutiny. While the debate of whether trans athletes should compete alongside women is valid, investigating the gender of clearly biological women merely because of their success should not be acceptable.

Sources: 

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2024-08-11/how-much-did-the-2024-paris-olympics-cost-lzpij9d3 

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/07/25/why-the-paris-olympics-cost-so-much-little.html 

https://www.newsweek.com/olympics-2024-controversy-opening-ceremony-boxer-imane-khelif-1935493#:~:text=Controversies%20erupted%20at%20the%20Paris,and%20equality%20among%20its%20athletes

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