Leotards, Drag Queens, Nike Ads & Sexist Cameramen: Are the Paris Olympics Too Sexy?

Whoever earns a bronze, silver or gold metal, The 2024 Paris Olympic Games are pulling in viewers. And as is true every four years, there needs be something for social media/the news cycle to pick up on beyond the spectacular athleticism of the competitors gathered. And the Paris Games are already garnering a fair share of controversy …and lots of it revolves around the assertion that the Games are being overly sexualized.

The Nike ‘Kit’ Controversy

The controversies actually started months ago when clothing brand Nike introduced their new ‘kits’ for the U.S. track and field team's appearances at the 2024 Olympics. This athletic couture was immediately criticized after running publication Citius posted the this Instagram image, of a unitard on a female mannequin alongside a one-piece Nike uniform for males that sported longer legs.

Although Nike states that they follow a specific function over fashion edict, the new Nike female leotards, with their high-cut bikini line, were deemed way too sexualizing by many across the X-verse.

FYI, Nike offers over fifty pieces for athletes to wear.

A Drag Last Supper?

Mixed into an opening Olympic ceremony that featured Lady Gaga, Ava Nakamura and the stunning return of Céline Dion, there was a performance tableau that seemed (to some) to be a blasphemous take on Leonardo da Vinci's iconic “The Last Supper." Drag performers, a trans model, and nude singer Phillippe Katerine (dubbed the “semi-naked blue guy” since he was painted blue, and yes, almost completely nude) sang a song while lying on a table covered head-to-toe in glittery blue paint. Katerine claims the pose, as well as the people scattered to his left and right, was inspired by the Greek god Dionysus, not that famous supposed rendering of the last night of Christ’s life.

Telling CNN Katerine said: “Would there have been wars if we’d stayed naked? The answer is perhaps not because you can’t hide a gun or a dagger when you’re naked.”

He went on, saying, “So, I ask for forgiveness if I have offended anyone, and the Christians of the world will grant me that, I’m sure and will understand that it was mostly a misunderstanding. Because when it comes down to it, it wasn’t about representing ‘the Last Supper’ at all.”

As stated by the Olympic press people, the moment was unplanned.

New Guidelines For Camera Men

The official Olympics broadcaster is urging male camera operators to film male and female athletes the same. The Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) updated its guidelines for camera operators (mostly male), to avoid sexism in their shots of female athletes, which tend more towards showcasing their bodies.

While we're on the topic of hetero-male centered "unconscious bias,” (not something that’s all too easy to detect, if it can be detected at all) television broadcaster Eurosport plucked its commentator Bob Ballard from his Sunday Olympic coverage. After the gold medal win of Australia's female swimmers, Ballard made the sexist remark that the women were just hanging around doing their makeup.

The Paris Olympics are the first in modern Olympic history to have supposedly reached gender parity with women's sports given more prime-time broadcasting moments than ever before.

Nude Swimming

Arno Kamminga made a splash at the 2024 Olympics… although not for his sport. The Dutch swimmer set tongues wagging when he showed up for one of his competitions in a very tight swimsuit, which appeared almost completely see-through when he got out of the pool.

Shots of him exiting the pool quickly went viral as people worldwide admired his... physique.

More Nike… A tongue-lashing

The athletic-wear brand got into more hot water, this time in China. The company released a promotional video for the 2024 Paris Olympics that shows a table tennis player licking her paddle.  

Launched on 7/19, the clip called Am I a Bad Person  is part of Nike's Winning Isn't For Everyone campaign. LeBron James and Kylian Mbappe are also in the 90-sec clip.

Speaking to COMPLEX Nike's chief marketing officer Nicole Graham, explained:  

''It’s a story about what it takes to be the best. The legacies that have yet to be shaped. And the dreams that will be made real. It reminds the world that there's nothing wrong with wanting to win.'"

The offending tongue-lashing is about six seconds into the video, and a mere second long.

Young Lovers Love Paris

And lastly, one small news item that might not rate all that much controversy, save the fact that two young people might like to be alone to… well whatever.

Brazilian Ana Carolina Vieira was sent home from the Paris Olympics after sneaking around with her boyfriend. The 22-year-old swimmer was caught leaving the Olympic Village with her swimmer boyfriend Gabriel Santos. Athletes are under strict rules to stay inside of the Olympic Village when not competing. 

The unfairness of it all! Paris is a romantic city, after all.

Will Paris bring even more sexy controversy in the upcoming days? We'll be keeping our eyes peeled, especially for more see-through swimsuit incidents.