Olympics
Olympic gold medallist Retton ‘fighting for her life’ with rare form of pneumonia, daughter says
U.S. gymnastics icon Mary Lou Retton is “fighting for her life” and has been in an intensive care unit for more than a week battling a rare form of pneumonia, her daughter said on Tuesday.
Retton, 55, has not been able to breathe on her own, her daughter McKenna Kelley said in a post requesting prayers and donations to help the gold-medal winning star of the 1984 Olympics cover her hospital bills. She said Retton is uninsured.
Kelley did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.
Fairmont, West Virginia native Retton became the first American woman to win the all-around gold medal at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984, doing so in dramatic fashion by scoring a perfect 10 on the vault to edge Romania’s Ecaterina Szabo.
Retton also won two silver medals, in the team and vault events, as well as two bronze medals in the uneven bars and floor exercise at the Games all while still a high school student.
Her Olympic success led to a surge in popularity and she became a household name. She was named Sports Illustrated magazine’s “Sportswoman of the Year” and appeared on Wheaties cereal boxes in the wake of her triumph.
She also won American Cup all-around competitions in 1983, 1984 and 1985 before retiring in 1986.
She went on to make cameo appearances in movies including the 1988 comedy “Scrooged.” She was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 1997.
-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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