Danica Patrick & NASCAR Community Left Shell-Shocked After Paris Olympics’ Opening Ceremonies’ “Mockery”

The opening ceremony for the Paris Olympics has sparked a severe backlash on social media, with drag-queen-themed imagery being used to depict religious and historical figures. One, in particular, stood out when drag queens and a large woman parodied ‘The Last Supper’, inspired by a painting made by Leonardo da Vinci of Christ and his apostles. The display brought about condemnation, with former NASCAR driver Danica Patrick and Truck Series driver Dean Thompson taking to social media to express their disapproval.

They were not alone, as plenty of NASCAR fans also voiced their outrage on social media, accusing Paris Olympics organizers of mocking religious traditions on a public forum viewed by billions worldwide.

A ceremony that divided the world

As tradition demands, the Olympic flame started in Greece and was passed through French territories before entering Paris before the Paris Olympics began. Among the 10,000 torchbearers were three drag queens who played their part in the Olympic cauldron being lit before the tournament began in Paris. The decision to do so was to promote diversity and inclusion at the most important sporting event on the planet.

However, aside from the Last Supper, the ceremony also included other controversial moments, such as a depiction of the ‘headless’ Marie Antoinette, and a depiction of three people canoodling in France’s Bibliotheque National. The four-hour-long opening ceremony and its controversial moments prompted NASCAR Truck Series driver Dean Thompson to write on X, “Mockery. Absolutely awful. Praying for them” while former NASCAR driver Danica Patrick expressed her shock by adding three emojis “😳😳🤯”.

For a sport that has traditionally struggled with diversity and inclusion, it’s unsurprising that the NASCAR community was outraged by the Paris Olympics opening ceremony. As things stand, Bubba Wallace is the only black driver in the NASCAR Cup Series, and his principled stand against the Confederate flag was the reason it was finally banned from what is predominantly an all-white sport. However, the sport has taken steps to diversify, as Wallace was one of the beneficiaries of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity development program.

Some might argue that the controversial moments at the Paris Olympics’ opening ceremony go beyond diversity and inclusion, bordering on offensive. For many NASCAR fans, having to sacrifice two weeks of races while NBC Sports broadcasts the Paris Olympics, will leave a sour taste in their mouth. Especially now that the opening ceremony has featured controversial moments that could be considered insensitive towards religious traditions. As a result, it wasn’t surprising to see many NASCAR fans voice their opinion on social media.

NASCAR fans express their outrage at Paris Olympics’ opening ceremony

It didn’t take long for NASCAR fans to make their voices heard on social media after seeing the Paris Olympics’ opening ceremony. With the many controversial moments featured in the four-hour-long ceremony, one fan wrote, “Yeah simply for the opening ceremonies crap, I will not watch a single moment from the rest of this summer’s games. Everybody in the establishment, celebs, media, and whatnot, normalizing tearing down Christianity, saddening.”

The Olympic Games have historically been the biggest sporting event in the world, witnessed by billions of people every four years. However, the controversy surrounding the opening ceremony prompted one fan to write, “It’s amazing that on a global level, the #Olympic2024 would alienate billions of people intending to watch! Huge fail!”.

The controversy surrounding transgender athletes participating against biological women has sparked plenty of debates in the past. While some claim it gives transgender athletes a competitive advantage, others believe it’s an important step towards inclusion. On that note, one fan wrote, “It’s been bad enough with all the controversial issues around genders with athletes. Now this, honestly where’s it going to end.”

The opening ceremony prompted many calls for boycotting the tournament, with one fan writing, “I wouldn’t waste one second watching the Olympics. So you could say I’m boycotting. Never got into them.” Echoing that sentiment, an X user expressed his sadness at how ‘woke’ the Olympics had become. The fan wrote, “Most disgraceful opening performance in the history of the Olympics. Very sad to see the Olympics has fallen to this disease.”

What were your thoughts about the Paris Olympics opening ceremony? Let us know in the comments!