Olympics
Russia compensates athletes not invited to Paris Games
The Russian Olympic Committee has paid compensation to 245 athletes who failed to meet the criteria allowing them to compete at the Paris Games this month, the RIA state news agency reported on Thursday.
Athletes from Russia and Belarus, Moscow’s closest ally in the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, are barred from the Games unless they compete as neutrals without flags, anthems and emblems.
Russian and Belarusian athletes have also had to undergo an additional vetting process to ensure they do not support Russia’s war and have no connection to its military – which Moscow says amounts to a “conspiracy” to exclude its athletes.
“We have paid compensation to 245 athletes. These are those athletes who initially did not get the right to compete in international competitions and those who did not receive neutral status,” RIA quoted Russian Olympic Committee general director Vladimir Sengleyev as saying.
Artur Dalaloyan, a 28-year-old gymnast who won gold at the Tokyo Games in 2021, told RIA he had received about 500,000 roubles ($5,600).
RIA did not specify which other sportspeople were compensated and how much money they received.
The list of Russian athletes who will head to Paris has thinned to just over a dozen, as several sports federation heads have said their squads will not take part under what they see as humiliating restrictions.
Only 16 Russian athletes are scheduled to appear in the Games, which run from July 26 to Aug. 11, compared to 335 athletes at the last Summer Games in Tokyo in 2021.
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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