JO Paris: Over a hundred heads of state and government at the opening ceremony

Octavian Dan
English Section / 26 iulie

Photo source: facebook / Paris 2024

Photo source: facebook / Paris 2024

Versiunea în limba română

Officially, the Olympic Games begin today. Otherwise the races started and the first scandals appeared. Today, Paris hosts the opening ceremony, an unprecedented one that will take place outside a stadium. About a hundred heads of state and government are expected in the French capital to attend the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, the great river parade on the Seine. "We feel ready to host the world," assured Samuel Ducroquet, French ambassador for sports, responsible within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for receiving dignitaries from around the world. Russian President Vladimir Putin will be the big absentee, after Russia was excluded as a nation due to the war in Ukraine started by Moscow in February 2022. At the same time, officials in Kiev have not specified whether President Volodymyr Zelensky will be present. Instead, the new British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who wants to emphasize strengthening relations with France, will attend the river parade. Among other expected guests, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Italian President Sergio Mattarella, his Finnish counterpart Alexander Stubb and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. President Joe Biden's wife, US First Lady Jill Biden, has also confirmed her presence, while US Vice President Kamala Harris' husband, new presidential candidate Douglas Emhoff, will attend the closing ceremony. The President of China, Xi Jinping, will not make the trip, but will be represented at the highest level by Vice President Han Zheng. The president of Brazil, Lula, confirmed that his wife Rosangela will represent the country, while Argentina and Colombia will be represented by the presidents, Javier Milei and Gustavo Petro. The Secretary General of the UN, Antonio Guterres, will broadcast a message of peace to the world, while the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, calls for "an Olympic truce".

It should be noted that there are still tickets available for 23 disciplines, as well as for the opening and closing ceremonies. The 2024 Olympic Games in Paris have already broken a record, that of the number of tickets sold, 8.7 million in mid-July. The old record was held by Atlanta 1996 (8.3 million). While the first competitions started on Wednesday (7th grade rugby and men's football), followed on Thursday by archery, handball and women's football, over a million tickets are still available for 23 disciplines. It is mainly about women's events (rugby in VII, handball, golf, etc.) or tournaments that take place in the province (football, basketball). Although the vast majority of seats costing euro50 or less have been sold, some are still available at affordable prices, provided spectators are prepared to sacrifice some comfort or visibility. There are still tickets left for today's opening ceremony from 20:30 Romanian time (from 900 euros, category C) and the closing ceremony on August 11, from 22:00 (from 600 euros, category C). All tickets have been sold for 16 of the 43 disciplines in the program: archery, surfing, tennis, shooting, rhythmic gymnastics, horse riding, skateboarding, mountain biking, sailing, BMX freestyle, 3x3 basketball, trampoline, climbing, wrestling, pentathlon modern, breaking. Several disciplines can be watched for free: cycling (road and time trial), triathlon and open water swimming. In the athletics competition, in this situation are the marching and marathon events.

Anti-doping controls on conveyor belt

Almost 90% of the participants in the Olympic Games have been tested since the beginning of the year as part of the pre-Olympic anti-doping program, the International Testing Agency (ITA) announced, AFP informs. This proportion reaches 100% in the sports considered most at risk, such as weightlifting (which represents a quarter of the positive cases in the history of the Olympic Games), triathlon and open water swimming, 99% in the case of gymnastics and 89% in the case of athletics. In these disciplines, 75% of those qualified for the Games were actually tested "at least three times", indicates this relatively recently established organization, responsible for six years for the anti-doping program of the Olympic Games, and from now on for the majority of international federations . Among the delegations gathering in the French capital, that of Chinese swimmers has come under particular scrutiny since it was revealed in April that 23 athletes from the country had tested positive ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics but were not never sanctioned, the Chinese anti-doping authorities concluding that there was food contamination. According to the international federation, World Aquatics, the Chinese swimmers competing in Paris were tested "an average of 21 times each since January 1", compared to 6 times for the Americans, 5 for the Italians, 4 for the Australians, British and French. Instead, only 63% of footballers were tested, while FIFA is one of the few international federations that has not entrusted its anti-doping program to the ITA. Considered low-risk, horse riding or sailing were less targeted: 63% and 69% respectively of the representatives of these disciplines were subject to anti-doping tests. In total, the ITA counted "more than 32,600" tests carried out on Olympic participants since January 1, "that is 45% more than in the previous six months for the same population of athletes", an increase meant to cover final training and qualifications.

Little food

The first athletes have settled in the Olympic Village to participate in the Olympic Games in Paris, but some logistical problems are already being felt before the opening ceremony. Overwhelmed by the participants, the restaurant even had to rationalize certain foods and supplement food orders, reports the French press. L'Equipe reported that some athletes complained about the amount of food provided by the organizers from Tuesday and Wednesday. Eggs are among the most requested foods that the supplier of the Olympic village had to rationalize for the athletes' breakfast. Soxedo, partner of Paris 2024 in the Olympic village, confirmed to the daily that for certain products the demand was very high. Especially for foods like eggs and grilled meat, which are "particularly popular" and for which the company has increased quantities. With almost 40,000 meals to be served every day and a main restaurant with 3,300 seats, food is a major issue in the Olympic Village. With almost 600 tons of fresh produce during the two Olympic weeks, the organizers and their service providers want to continue to look after the athletes. But the future inhabitants of the Olympic village can be sure that the various partners adapt quickly and correct the small daily problems based on the feedback from the first days. The Carrefour group, which deals with the supply of food, confirmed to L'Equipe that it had been asked to increase the quantities initially foreseen. Clearly, if the first days required a little adaptation to the high demand from the Olympians, the Olympic restaurant will be able to respond to satisfy all the athletes during these 2024 Olympic Games. Thus, even in the Olympic Village, French gastronomy will be at the height of its worldwide reputation... and, if possible, without restrictions, mentions RMC Sport.

The Romanian delegation

Romania will be represented by 106 athletes at the Olympic Games in Paris, in 18 disciplines: 1. Athletics - Delvine Relin Meringor, Joan Chelimo Melly - marathon, Andrea Miklos - 400 m, Alina Rotaru Kottmann - long jump, Bianca Ghelber - throwing hammer throw, Stella Rutto - 3000 m hurdles, Alin Firfirică - discus throw, Alexandru Mihăiţă Toader - javelin throw, Andreea Taloş, Diana Ion - triple jump, Rareş Toader - weight throw, Daniela Stanciu - pole vault height; 2. Swimming - David Popovici, Vlad Stancu; 3. Boxing - Lăcămioara Perijoc - 54 kg; 4. Rhythmic gymnastics - Annaliese Drăgan; 5. Canoe - Cătălin Chirilă - C1 - 1000 m (1 place), Oleg Nuţă, Ilie Sprincean - canoe - C2 - 500 m (2 places); 6. Rowing - 45 places (one nominal place + 44 quota places - 11 crews) - women's double sculls (W2x), women's light category double sculls (LW2x), women's four sculls (W4x), men's double sculls (M2x), four Men's Rowing (M4x), Women's Double Row (W2-), Women's Four Row (W4-), Men's Double Row (M2-), Men's Four Row (M4-), Men's Eight Plus One (M8+), Women's Eight Plus One (W8+), Mihai Chiruţă - men's single rowing (nominal qualification); 7. Artistic gymnastics - Andrei Munteanu; The women's artistic gymnastics team (5 quota places); 8. Polo - Men's team (13 quota places); 9. Table tennis - Women's team (3 places quota), Bernadette Szocs / Ovidiu Ionescu - mixed doubles, Ovidiu Ionescu - men's singles, Andrei Eduard Ionescu - men's singles; 10. Wrestling - Andreea Ana - female wrestling - 53 kg, Kriszta Tunde Incze - female wrestling - 62 kg, Cătălina Axente - female wrestling - 76 kg, Alin Alexuc-Ciurariu - Greco-Roman wrestling - 130 kg, Răzvan Arnăut - Greco wrestling - Romanians - 60 kg; 11. Yahting - Ebru Bolat -- ILCA 6; 12. Fencing - Mălina Călugăreanu - individual foil; 13. Weightlifting - Mihaela Cambei - 49 kg, Loredana Toma - 71 kg; 14. Triathlon - Felix-Pierre Duchampt; 15. Cycling - Ede Molnar - mountain bike; 16. Judo - Alex George Ioan CREŢ - 90 kg; 17. Archery - Mădălina Ştefania Amaistroaie - Olympic bow; 18. Tennis - Ana Bogdan - singles, Jaquline Cristian - singles, Irina Begu - singles, Monica Niculescu - doubles.

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