Olympics
Trump attack triggers big police presence at Paris 2024 opening ceremony
Some 45,000 police will secure the Paris Olympics’ July 26 opening ceremony, with over 100 heads of state and government set to attend, a senior official said on Wednesday, adding no changes were planned after the weekend attack on Donald Trump.
The ceremony, staged for the first time outside a stadium, will involve around 80 boats ferrying international athletes on a six km (3.7 mile) route along the river Seine towards the Eiffel Tower, said the official, Lambis Konstantinidis.
Athletes and performers will sail past some of the French capital’s most stunning landmarks. But, with more than 300,000 spectators expected to watch, it is also a major security headache, especially at a time of war in Gaza and Ukraine.
“It’s a six km route, so it’s a huge perimeter to monitor. That’s why we need that many (security) people,” Konstantinidis, the Games’ head of planning and coordination, told reporters.
“Our security plans are very dynamic. They always take into consideration the latest events and try to adapt,” he said during a tour of the Games’ security headquarters, adding that they were in close contact with counterparts abroad.
Last Saturday’s assassination attempt against former U.S. president Trump at an election rally in Pennsylvania has not changed the security plans for the Games, Konstantinidis said.
“We have very close collaboration with the U.S. security services and its secret service. So we are sharing also any information we have,” Konstantinidis said. “We’re very confident that we’re on the same page but we have not had to change any of our plans as a result of that very unfortunate incident.”
More than 100 people will be working around the clock at the Games’ security headquarters in Saint-Denis, just outside Paris, he said.
Conflict abroad and security concerns at home led the French government earlier this year to raise its security alert to its highest level.
A man was arrested in May in the French town of Saint-Etienne, suspected of planning an attack in the name of Islamic State at the city’s soccer stadium during the Olympics.
-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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