The day before the opening ceremony began with an imaginative and vociferous walkout by numerous employees of the L'Hôtel du Collectionneur, which was rented by the IOC for a few weeks at a reported cost of 22 million euros, according to the Union départementale CGT Paris. This is the hotel to which journalists have no access - for the first time in decades, specialised reporters who deal intensively with sports politics (of which there are only a few worldwide) are prohibited from entering the IOC hotel. There are no longer any separate accreditations for the Olympic Family Hotel (OFH).
We can't wait for the workers of the world to discover our French way of striking
— UD CGT PARIS (@UdCgtParis) July 25, 2024
Workers of the luxury hotel where the International Olympic Committee is staying in Paris are going on strike today for salary increase.
Thread in English below🔽 https://t.co/z5GeMOLrfT
According to the Union, "the boss of the Hôtel du Collectionneur gave 9.5 million euros of dividends to the shareholders in 2024. And has not increase salaries since 7 years".
"So today, after the 5th negotiation meeting that took place yesterday, the cooks, waiters, technicians etc. decided to start a strike. They are so right to do so, the Hôtel du Collectionneur must stop to block the negotiation."
A reminder: IOC members, who do not have to pay any travel or accommodation costs and travel around the world in luxury, can receive up to $900 per day (depending on their function) during the Olympic weeks.
This means that almost all IOC members will receive five-figure sums in Paris – pocket money. Many receive more than $15,000 in this way, even though they dine for free in Michelin-starred restaurants, numerous VIP and VVIP lounges and, above all, in the exclusive Olympic Club.
What a contrast to the Olympic athletes. (And the staff at Hôtel du Collectionneur.)
The organisation Global Athlete has also reminded us of this colossal Olympic imbalance in its latest statement. Read the full statement:
It is always these ordinary workers – the Olympic rank and file which also includes tens of thousands of volunteers and more than 10.000 athletes – who make such an Olympic celebration possible. Without them, there would be no Olympic Games, because otherwise the IOC would have to give up more of its billions or demand even more money from the state coffers.
A little later today, the doping topic dominated at several media conferences and the question of whether WADA (and also the IOC and the summer Olympic sports federations united in ASOIF) were abandoning clean athletes and instead sparing 23 suspected dopers from China.
At the World Aquatics Olympic Press Conference in the Main Press Center, Caeleb Dressel, the American seven times Olympic gold medallist, gave a short, sharp, blunt and honest answer when asked whether he had confidence that governing bodies had created "a level-playing field“.
"No, not really. I don't think they have given us enough evidence to support them with how this case was handled. To answer your question – no," he said.
His views were echoed by Zac Stubblety-Cook, who said said the anti-doping system had failed athletes.
Swimming has been engulfed in a doping row following revelations by German broadcaster ARD and the New York Times in April that 23 Chinese swimmers failed drugs tests ahead of the Tokyo Games in 2021 but were not sanctioned.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accepted the conclusion of Chinese officials that the case was caused by food contamination at a hotel, triggering schism among anti-doping agencies, athletes and their representatives.
The strongest criticism has come from United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), which yesterday called WADA a lapdog of the IOC after Olympic bosses changed the Olympic Host Contract 2034 to warn the Americans in particular that all rights could be removed, including g those give to Salt Lake City for the 2034 Winter Games, if the "supreme authority of WADA" was disrespected.
Jens Weinreich
Schism spilled from press conference to conference in Paris today. Dressel, who will be aiming to defend his 50m freestyle and 100m butterfly individual titles, was speaking at a World Aquatics gathering.
Brent Nowicki, executive director of World Aquatics, said he was saddened to hear Dressel's views.
