Olympics
RUSSIA UNVEILS FLAGLESS UNIFORMS FOR TOKYO GAMES
Russian competitors at this year’s Tokyo Olympics will be wearing blue, red and white uniforms, but their country’s tricolour flag will not appear because of doping sanctions.
Zasport, the supplier of the Russian Olympic team, unveiled uniforms on Wednesday (April 14) that bore the logo of the Russian Olympic Committee instead of the country’s flag.
The logo of the Russian Olympic Committee consists of three flames in the colours of the national flag with the Olympic rings below them.
Russian athletes are barred from competing at major international events, including the Olympics, under their flag and with their anthem until 2022 following a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) last year.
The sanctions, initially imposed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) but later halved to two years after an appeal, were designed to punish Moscow for providing global anti-doping authorities with doctored laboratory data that could have helped identify drug cheats.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) published guidelines in February pertaining to uniforms and other aspects of competition. It said at the time that Russians would compete as representatives of the Russian Olympic Committee under the acronym “ROC”.
Many Russian athletes were barred from the past two Olympics and the country deprived of its flag at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games as punishment for state-sponsored doping at the 2014 Sochi Games.
Russia, which has acknowledged issues in its implementation of anti-doping policies, denies running a state-sponsored doping programme.
-Reuters
The Olympic rings installed on the Eiffel Tower since June to celebrate the upcoming Olympic Games were removed from the Parisian monument early on Friday morning, as confirmed by an AFP photographer. But the Paris City Hall intends to replace them with a more permanent structure until 2028.
The five-coloured rings, measuring 29 metres in length and 15 metres in height, were placed between the first and second levels of the iconic iron structure on 7 June.
According to Inside the Games publication, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo wants the Olympic symbol to continue decorating the monument until the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.
But the descendants of the tower’s creator, Gustave Eiffel are opposing the move. They are insisting that the Olympic rings are aesthetically in conflict with the concept and design of the Tower.
The 30-tonne rings initially installed on the Eiffel Tower were also not designed to withstand winter weather conditions.
Olympics
Despite Egypt winning 3 medals at Paris Olympics, President Al-Sisi orders sports system overhaul
Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi ordered a comprehensive evaluation of sports federations that participatedat the Paris Olympic Games, following a mission report submitted by the country’s sports minister.
The mandate includes a thorough expenditure check and a performance review to better highlight areas of improvement and fund allocation in future Games.
Additionally, the president plans to take necessary measures against federations —such as limiting funds— that had negative results in the Paris Games.
Egypt’s participation in sports where it lacks a competitive advantage will also be limited, as the president aims to direct resources to promising athletes to ensure optimal results. The president also aims to reduce administrative and technical staff within Olympic delegations and task relevant ministries with preparing future Olympic athletes.
Al-Sisi’s Olympic overhaul is to be presented to the cabinet for approval and urged the government to prioritise amending the sports law for the House of Representatives for review.
Egypt took home a total of three medals in the Summer Games. Ahmed El-Gendy triumphed in modern pentathlon, Sara Samir claimed the silver in weightlifting, and 21-year-old fencer Mohamed El-Sayed earned the bronze.
-Insidethegames
Paris 2024 sold a record 12 million tickets for the Olympics and Paralympics, beating the Games record previously set by London 2012, organisers said on Sunday.
Some 9.5 million tickets were sold for the Olympics and 2.5 million for the Paralympics, which end on Sunday.
In 2012, London organisers set the record for the Paralympics with 2.7 million tickets sold but only 8.2 million were sold for the Olympics.
-Reuters
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