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Tag: Olympic games

  • The NHL season will feature Florida threepeat bid and a return to the Winter Olympics

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    The immense challenge of threepeating as Stanley Cup champion got even more difficult for the Florida Panthers when they lost their captain and arguably most important player for the next 7-9 months to a knee injury.

    Even without Aleksander Barkov, the Panthers have a chance to do something no NHL team has done in more than 40 years. And in between the rest of the league trying to stop their dynasty, the world’s best hockey players will return to the Olympics for the first time in over a decade, fresh off the wildly successful 4 Nations Face-Off that reminded fans just how good the game is on the international stage.

    “If you’re a hockey fan, it doesn’t get any better,” New York Rangers and U.S. Olympic team coach Mike Sullivan said. “It puts the sport that we love on display to the world.”

    The puck drops Oct. 7 on one of the most anticipated seasons in recent history, with Connor McDavid going into his final year under contract in Edmonton still chasing his first championship while also teaming with Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon and others who will try to bring another gold medal home to Canada.

    Before Olympic play opens in Milan, Italy, 909 NHL games will be played, then 403 more down the stretch after the two-week break before another chase for the Cup begins in April.

    “It’s a lot to look forward to,” Tampa Bay defenseman Victor Hedman said. “You’ve got to hit the ground running and be as good as you can from the start.”

    Hedman and the Lightning won the Cup back to back in 2020 and ‘21. Crosby’s Pittsburgh Penguins did it in ‘16 and ’17. No team has gone back to back to back since the New York Islanders won four consecutive championships from 1980-83.

    During an offseason availability, Hedman joked, “They’re not going to win three in a row” as he walked past Florida star Sam Reinhart, but who’s betting against a team that has won 11 of 12 playoff series since trading for Matthew Tkachuk and hiring Paul Maurice as coach?

    Barkov’s long-term injury, and Tkachuk likely missing the first two months after his own surgery gives the Panthers longer odds. They’re now 11-1 to win it all, behind co-favorites Edmonton and Vegas as well as Carolina, Colorado and Dallas, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.

    “Be the best you can be at the start of the season: That’s all you can focus on,” Reinhart said. “What we learned last year is throughout it, you kind of have that — not necessarily doubt, but you kind of wonder if you’re going to have it again, that juice, that energy. You just kind of trust that you’ll find it when the time comes.”

    Champions usually suffer a bit of attrition, but with the salary cap increasing a record amount, Florida kept all three of its big three free agents: playoff MVP Sam Bennett, defenseman Aaron Ekblad and winger Brad Marchand, whose acquisition at the trade deadline paved the way for another parade in Fort Lauderdale.

    “They’re the top dog right now,” Carolina’s Seth Jarvis said.

    Florida has won consecutive finals against McDavid and the Oilers with one of the best teams constructed since the NHL’s cap era began in 2005.

    Edmonton, with McDavid and longtime running mate Leon Draisaitl, is an 8-1 Cup co-favorite with Vegas. After Minnesota signed Kirill Kaprizov to a record-setting $136 million contract just before the season started, all eyes are on McDavid, who could break the bank if he stays or goes.

    “I have every intention to win in Edmonton — that’s my only focus maybe next to winning a gold medal with Canada,” McDavid told reporters in Calgary in August. “I want the group to be as focused and dialed in and ready to roll come Day 1 as possible. We don’t need any distractions.”

    The other rivals with shorter title odds than the Panthers are Jarvis’ Hurricanes, MacKinnon’s Colorado Avalanche and the Stars. Dallas reached the Western Conference final each of the past three years.

    “It’s just what do we have to do to get over that hump?” Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger said. “We have pretty much same group of guy, and a lot of guys are entering their prime or in their prime right now and we feel like now’s our time to do it.”

    The league is full of other intriguing things to watch:

    — Alex Ovechkin breaking Wayne Gretzky’s career goals record in April was a highlight of last season. The 40-year-old Washington Capitals captain goes into the final year of his contract — and maybe his final NHL season — with needing ony three goals to reach 900.

    “Knowing Ovi, it probably won’t take that long,” teammate Pierre-Luc Dubois said.

    — While Crosby and the Penguins are languishing through a rebuild that sparks plenty of trade rumors, Sullivan taking over the Rangers is one of nine coaching changes leaguewide. Fellow multiple-time Stanley Cup champion Joel Quenneville is also back behind a bench with Anaheim, his first job since the investigation into Chicago’s 2010 sexual assault allegations.

    — Auston Matthews said he is healthy going into the season, and that makes Toronto’s captain a legitimate candidate to score 60 goals. Former Maple Leafs teammate Mitch Marner could also put up 100 points with the Vegas Golden Knights.

    — New York Islanders No. 1 pick Matthew Schaefer headlines an intriguing rookie class that includes skilled Montreal winger Ivan Demidov and Washington’s Ryan Leonard.

    — The Penguins and Nashville Predators are set to play two games in Sweden in November. Four teams are taking it outside in the Sunshine State this winter: The Panthers host the Rangers on Jan. 2 in the Winter Classic, and the Lightning and Boston Bruins face off in the Stadium Series in Tampa on Feb. 1.

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    AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

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  • Skiing’s governing body approves gender eligibility testing policy

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    GENEVA — Skiing’s governing body approved a gene testing policy for gender eligibility in women’s events Wednesday, but delayed a decision on letting some Russian athletes try to qualify with neutral status for next year’s Winter Olympics.

    The International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) said it will work with national team officials on implementing the policy, which follows the lead taken by track and field’s World Athletics.

    “The eligibility conditions laid out in the policy are grounded on the presence or absence of the so-called SRY gene, the sex-determining gene present on humans’ Y chromosome,” FIS said in a statement.

    It was not clear to what extent athletes with the SRY gene have previously competed in women’s events in FIS disciplines, which include Alpine and cross-country skiing, ski jumping, snowboarding and freestyle skiing.

    Both FIS president Johan Eliasch and World Athletics leader Sebastian Coe campaigned as candidates in the International Olympic Committee election this year promising to protect the female category.

    “This policy is the cornerstone of our commitment to protect women’s sport,” Eliasch said Wednesday in a FIS statement, “and we are convinced that there is only one fair and transparent way to do that: by relying on science and biological facts.”

    The IOC now has its first female president, two-time Olympic champion swimmer Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe, who has overseen creating a working group of experts to look at gender issues in sports.

    An issue for athletes in France and Norway, which are both strong in winter sports, is that both countries have national laws prohibiting gene testing for nonmedical reasons.

    Ahead of the track and field world championships in Tokyo this month, French and Norwegian athletes were tested after arriving in Japan.

    FIS did not publish a timetable for a testing program. The Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Games open Feb. 6.

    FIS barred Russian and Belarusian athletes from international competitions within days of the full military invasion of Ukraine starting in February 2022. The war began four days after the closing ceremony at the Beijing Winter Games, where Russian athletes won 32 medals, including five gold, and the Belarus team won two silvers.

    The FIS ruling council on Wednesday discussed but did not reach a decision on extending the ban or approving a neutral status policy for individual athletes ahead of the next Olympics. The council next meets Oct. 21.

    The IOC has barred Russia and Belarus from team sports at Summer Games and Winter Games. Governing bodies of Olympic sports were advised to look at giving some of the countries’ athletes neutral status — if they had not publicly supported the war, and were not linked to military and state security services.

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    AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/winter-olympics

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  • Kara Lawson named head coach of US women’s basketball team for the 2028 LA Olympics

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    Kara Lawson helped the U.S. women’s basketball team win an Olympic gold medal as a player 17 years ago. Now she’ll have a chance to lead it to another as the coach in the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

    Lawson was announced as the head coach for the women’s team for the next four years by USA Basketball on Monday.

    “I mean it’s hard to put everything into words as it’s something I’ve been working towards. I have so much love for USA Basketball and have been so excited to serve in any capacity they ask me to,” Lawson said in a phone interview. “It’s the best job in the sport in our country. To lead the U.S. women’s national team is such an amazing feeling. I felt a great sense of excitement and pride and just am really grateful for the opportunity.”

    Naming Lawson coach was the first official move made by Sue Bird, who started as the U.S. national team director earlier this year. In the past, a committee would decide on the coach and roster.

    “I think her resume, her experience, it all kind of speaks for itself,” Bird said in a phone interview. “When you start to learn about Kara and what she’s been a part of from a USA Basketball standpoint, that experience specifically made it really clear she’s the right person to lead us into the next cycle.”

    Lawson’s first chance to coach the team in a major competition will be at the World Cup next September in Germany. The Americans will play next March in a qualifier for that tournament, but that’s right before the NCAA Tournament, which would make it difficult for Lawson to coach the U.S. because she also leads Duke’s women’s basketball team.

    “Assembling a great staff for the national team is of the utmost importance,” said the 44-year-old Lawson. “I’ll lean on that staff a lot through that cycle. … You have to have great coaches around you, have great players around you. We have the ability to do both and that will be our challenge. Find the right group that will fit.”

    In addition to the Olympic gold she won as a player at the Beijing Games, Lawson helped the U.S. win gold as an assistant coach at the 2022 World Cup and 2024 Paris Olympics and as head coach at the FIBA Women’s AmeriCup in July.

    “I know this from playing with her and know this from all the conversations I had with her: I’m hard-pressed to find someone who is as prepared as Kara is,” Bird said.

    Lawson also coached the USA Basketball 3-on-3 team to gold at the Tokyo Games, the first time that sport had been contested at an Olympics.

    “Kara has been involved with USA Basketball dating back to 1998 as a high school player in the World Youth Games,” USA Basketball CEO Jim Tooley said. “Her international basketball experience is extensive, including 13 gold medals. To say her journey with us has been impressive is an understatement. I’m excited to watch Kara and Sue work together to deliver success at the World Cup in Berlin next fall and at the Olympic Games in LA in 2028.”

    Lawson’s path to coaching wasn’t similar to the one many others have taken. She went from playing 13 years in the WNBA to becoming a broadcaster. From there, she spent time with the Boston Celtics as an assistant before getting the Duke job in 2020.

    She led Duke to its first ACC Tournament championship under her watch last March, and the Blue Devils made a run to the Elite Eight. The team has advanced further in the NCAA Tournament each of the past three seasons.

    Lawson was a point guard at Tennessee and credits her time learning under Hall of Fame coach Pat Summitt as a big reason for her recent success on the sideline. Summitt was the Olympic coach in 1984 when the U.S. won gold at home in Los Angeles.

    Lawson looks forward to the opportunity to coach the U.S. on its home soil in an Olympics for the first time since the 1996 Atlanta Games.

    “This appointment wherever the Olympics would be is an incredible honor,” she said. “The opportunity to lead the American side in Los Angeles in a home Olympics is more added icing on the cake. What an incredible opportunity not just for me as a coach, but the other coaches on the staff, the players that get to play in a home Olympics as well. It’s a very unique opportunity that your country doesn’t get very often.”

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    AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

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  • Shaun White and Nina Dobrev call off their engagement, break up after 5 years

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    Shaun White and Nina Dobrev have called off their engagement and brought an end to their five-year relationship, a person close to the couple told The Associated Press.

    The three-time Olympic champion snowboarder and the former star of “The Vampire Diaries” made a mutual decision to part, according to the person.

    The person spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.

    People magazine first reported the breakup.

    White, 39, and Dobrev, 36, went public about their relationship in 2020. One of their first Instagram posts, which came toward the start of the COVID lockdown, showed Dobrev giving a “quarantine haircut” to the Olympic halfpipe rider known in his younger days as “The Flying Tomato” for his long shocks of red hair.

    They shared occasional posts about their travels over the next few years, and supported each other’s careers. Dobrev followed White on his frenetic road to qualifying for his fifth and final Olympics in 2022 and White was front and center in 2023 for the Los Angeles premier of Dobrev’s Netflix movie, “The Out-Laws.”

    After finishing fourth at the Beijing Olympics, White credited Dobrev for pushing him to make a to-do list for retirement “so I’m not sitting around twiddling my thumbs.”

    They announced their engagement in October 2024, posting a picture of White kneeling in front of Dobrev at a New York restaurant, the couple surrounded by white rose petals and candles. “She said YES,” White wrote in the post, adding an emoji of a diamond ring.

    People reported the couple was seen together in public as recently as Aug. 31, but Dobrev was spotted walking a red carpet at the Toronto International Film Festival last week without her engagement ring.

    White has spent the last two years starting up The Snow League, a pro halfpipe circuit he hopes will lead to more opportunities for people in his sport. Dobrev has reportedly been cast to star in a rom-com “It Happened One Summer” based on a best-selling book by Tessa Bailey.

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    AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/winter-olympics

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  • Simone Biles’ post-Olympic tour is helping give men’s gymnastics a post-Olympic boost

    Simone Biles’ post-Olympic tour is helping give men’s gymnastics a post-Olympic boost

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    PITTSBURGH — PITTSBURGH (AP) — Simone Biles simply wanted to mix it up when the gymnastics superstar invited some of the top American men to join her post-Olympic Tour.

    “Bringing the guys on board was designed to show what men’s gymnastics has to offer,” Biles said. “And I just think that over the years, we kind of know the guys, but we don’t really know them, know them.”

    That may be starting to change.

    The U.S. men’s bronze-medal breakthrough at the Paris Games — with pommel horse specialist Stephen Nedorscik’s clinching routine serving as the exclamation point — has pushed into the spotlight a side of the sport that typically operates in the shadows.

    While Nedoroscik, who went viral in the aftermath, parlayed his newfound fame into a gig on “Dancing With The Stars,” Olympic teammates Frederick Richard, Brody Malone and Paul Juda as well as NCAA champion-turned-influencer Ian Gunther are spending most of the fall traveling across the country with Biles and fellow gold medalists Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey and Hezly Rivera in a show that is part exhibition, part celebration.

    The co-ed nature of the second iteration of the Gold Over America Tour — a not-so-subtle nod to Biles’ status as the greatest gymnast of all time — has given the show a different energy than the first, which was entirely female-centric.

    Biles praised Richard and company for getting out of their comfort zone and leaning into the performative aspect of the show, which required a lengthy string of 12-hour practice days to prepare.

    “We took a risk by bringing the guys on board,” Biles said. “But the outcome has been absolutely amazing. And you have the kids in the crowd chanting ‘Ian! Ian!’ ‘Fredrick! Fredrick!’ and that’s just so cool.”

    The 20-year-old Richard’s long-term goal has always been to make men’s gymnastics matter, a daunting proposition in an era when support at the NCAA Division I level — the prime feeder into the U.S. Olympic program — has never been more tenuous.

    There is an urgency to turn the splash of notoriety the men earned in Paris into something more sustainable. There have been early signs of progress, most notably an influx of young boys across the country rushing to join their local gym.

    It’s a start. So is spending two months barnstorming from coast to coast — the show hits Philadelphia on Friday and New York on Saturday — with newly minted bronze medals on their resume and a tacit endorsement from the face of the U.S. Olympic movement, particularly because their inclusion feels earned.

    “It doesn’t really feel like we are ‘the pity case,’” Richard said. “It feels like (we) are on the same standard (as the women).”

    That’s by design, and also a nod to Biles’ considerable influence. The 27-year-old has reached the level of stardom where everything she does — from watching her husband Jonathan Owens play for the Chicago Bears to what she shares on social media — can become news, whether that’s her intention or not.

    “I know if we do something, the attention will be there,” she said. “But I kind of just ignore it and just go day by day. But I am aware that the attention that it does bring.”

    The 11-time Olympic medalist and first two-time all-around champion in more than five decades is taking her time before making any firm decisions about her athletic future. For now, she is focused on letting herself relax and enjoy this chapter of her life before moving on to the next one.

    “I got to go to the U.S. Open (tennis tournament),” she said. “I got to go to my first WNBA game. It’s like supporting people who have supported me, which has been really exciting because usually we don’t have that time. And now that I have more time on my hands, it’s been really fun.”

    She and Owens are planning to move into a home they built in the northern Houston suburbs later this fall. She is lending her image, her likeness and her foodie sensibilities to the “Taste of Gold” restaurant scheduled to open at Houston Intercontinental Airport early next year. She might even revisit the “ Daring Simone Biles ” series that initially premiered in the summer of 2022.

    Biles would also like to return to the Olympics, or at least the Winter Olympics, after chatting up skiing star Mikaela Shiffrin. Just don’t expect Biles to snap on a pair of skis and follow Shiffrin down the mountain.

    “I can’t stand the cold. I mean I have hand warmers right now in each pocket,” Biles said with a laugh while pulling one out of the left pocket of her jacket as proof. “They’re like, ‘You have to go to a Winter Olympics.’ And I’m like ‘Do they have (luxury) boxes?’ Because, you know, if they want to put me in a luxury box where it’ll be warm, that’d be great.”

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    AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

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  • Japanese sponsors Toyota, Bridgestone and Panasonic end Olympic contracts

    Japanese sponsors Toyota, Bridgestone and Panasonic end Olympic contracts

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    TOKYO — The International Olympic Committee’s three major Japanese sponsors — Toyota, Panasonic and Bridgestone — are terminating their contracts.

    This leaves the IOC without a Japanese sponsor with the focus now expected to shift to the Middle East and India for new sponsorship income.

    Japanese sponsors have turned away from the Olympics, likely related to the one-year delay in holding the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The delay reduced sponsors’ visibility with fans not allowed to attend competition venues, increased costs, and unearthed a myriad of corruption scandals around the Games.

    The three are among 15 of the so-called TOP Olympic sponsors. The 15 paid a total of more than $2 billion to the IOC in the last four-year Olympic cycle.

    Toyota Motor Corp. confirmed it would not not renew its sponsorship after the Paris Games, which closed in August.

    Chairman Akio Toyoda told a meeting of U.S. dealerships last month that the IOC’s goals didn’t match the automaker’s vision.

    “Honestly, I’m not sure they (IOC) are truly focused on putting people first. For me, the Olympics should simply be about watching athletes from all walks of life with all types of challenges achieve their impossible,” Toyoda said in English.

    Toyoda promised to continue to financially support individual Olympic and Paralympic athletes, as well as the Paralympics Games.

    Toyota had a contract reported to be valued at $835 million, the IOC’s largest when it was announced in 2015. It included four Olympics beginning with the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Games in South Korea and ran through to the just-completed Paris Olympics and Paralympics.

    The IOC TOP sponsors are: ABInBev, Airbnb, Alibaba, Allianz, Atos, Bridgestone, Coca-Cola, Deloitte, Intel, Omega, Panasonic, P&G, Samsung, Toyota, and Visa.

    Tiremaker Bridgestone Corp., an Olympic sponsor since 2014, said this week it was not renewing its deal with the IOC after it ends this year.

    “The decision comes after an evaluation of the company’s evolving corporate brand strategy and its recommitment to more endemic global motorsports platforms,” the Tokyo-based company said in a statement.

    Electronics giant Panasonic Corp., an IOC sponsor from 1987, said last month it was terminating its sponsorship and did not give a reason. The decision came after “reviews how sponsorship should evolve.”

    The Tokyo Games were mired in corruption scandals linked to local sponsorships and the awarding of contracts. Dentsu Inc, the huge Japanese marketing and public relations company, was the marketing arm of the Tokyo Olympics and raised a record-$3.3 billion in local sponsorship money.

    This is separate from TOP sponsors.

    French prosecutors also looked into alleged vote-buying in the IOC’s decision in 2013 to pick Tokyo as the host for the 2020 Summer Games.

    The IOC had income of $7.6 billion in the last four-year cycle ending with the Tokyo Games. Figures have not been released yet for the cycle ending with the Paris Olympics.

    The IOC’s TOP sponsors paid over $2 billion in that period. The figure may reach $3 billion in the next cycle.

    Japan officially spent $13 billion on the Tokyo Olympics, at least half of which was public money. A government audit suggested the real cost was twice that. The IOC contribution was about $1.8 billion.

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    Yuri Kageyama is on X: https://x.com/yurikageyama

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    AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

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  • US gymnast Chiles takes bid to have Olympic bronze restored to Swiss Supreme Court

    US gymnast Chiles takes bid to have Olympic bronze restored to Swiss Supreme Court

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    LAUSANNE, Switzerland — American gymnast Jordan Chiles is asking Switzerland’s Supreme Court to overturn a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport that stripped Chiles of a bronze medal in floor exercise at the 2024 Olympics.

    Chiles, with the support of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee and USA Gymnastics, filed the appeal on Monday, a little over a month after CAS voided an on-floor appeal by Chiles’ coach Cecile Landi during the event finals on Aug. 5 that vaulted Chiles from fifth to third.

    CAS, following a hearing requested by Romanian officials, ruled Landi’s appeal came 4 seconds beyond the 1-minute time limit for scoring inquiries and recommended the initial finishing order be restored. The International Gymnastics Federation complied and the International Olympic Committee ended up awarding bronze to Romanian Ana Barbosu on Aug. 16.

    Chiles’ appeal maintains that the CAS hearing violated her “right to be heard” by refusing to allow video evidence that Chiles and USA Gymnastics believe showed Landi appealed within the 1-minute time allotment. Chiles’ appeal also argues that Hamid G. Gharavi, president of the CAS panel, has a conflict of interest due to past legal ties to Romania.

    USA Gymnastics wrote in a statement Monday night that it made a “collective, strategic decision to have Jordan lead the initial filing. USAG is closely coordinating with Jordan and her legal team and will make supportive filings with the court in the continued pursuit of justice for Jordan.”

    The appeal is the next step in what could be a months- or years-long legal battle over the gymnastics scores.

    Chiles was last among the eight women to compete during the floor exercise finals initially given a score of 13.666 that placed her fifth, right behind Barbosu and fellow Romanian Sabrina Maneca-Voinea. Landi called for an inquiry on Chiles’ score.

    “At this point, we had nothing to lose, so I was like ‘We’re just going to try,’” Landi said after the awards ceremony. “I honestly didn’t think it was going to happen, but when I heard her scream, I turned around and was like ‘What?’”

    Judges awarded the appeal, leapfrogging Chiles past Barbosu and Maneca-Voinea for the last spot on the podium.

    Romanian officials appealed to CAS on several fronts while also asking a bronze medal be awarded to Chiles, Barbosu and Maneca-Voinea. The FIG and the IOC ultimately gave the bronze to Barbosu, who beat her teammate on a tiebreaker because she produced a higher execution score during her routine.

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    AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

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  • Sebastian Coe among 7 IOC members to enter race to succeed Thomas Bach as president

    Sebastian Coe among 7 IOC members to enter race to succeed Thomas Bach as president

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    GENEVA — Two former Olympic champions are in the race to be the next IOC president. So is a prince of a Middle East kingdom and the son of a former president. The global leaders of cycling, gymnastics and skiing also are in play.

    The International Olympic Committee published a list Monday of seven would-be candidates who are set to run for election in March to succeed outgoing president Thomas Bach for the next eight years.

    Just one woman, IOC executive board member Kirsty Coventry from Zimbabwe, entered the contest to lead an organization that has had only male presidents in its 130-year history. Eight of those presidents were from Europe and one from the United States.

    Coventry and Sebastian Coe are two-time gold medalists in swimming and running, respectively. Prince Feisal al Hussein of Jordan is also on the IOC board.

    Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr. of Spain is one of the four IOC vice presidents, whose father was president for 21 years until 2001.

    David Lappartient is the president of cycling’s governing body, Morinari Watanabe leads gymnastics, and Johan Eliasch is president of the International Ski and Snowboard Federation. Coe is the president of track’s World Athletics.

    All seven met a deadline of Sunday to send a letter of intent to Bach, who must leave the post next year after reaching the maximum 12 years in office. Bach declined at the Paris Olympics last month to seek to change IOC rules in order to stay in office longer.

    A formal candidate list should be confirmed in January, three months before the March 18-21 election meeting in Greece, near the site of Ancient Olympia.

    Only IOC members are eligible to stand as candidates, with votes cast by the rest of the 111-strong membership of the Olympic body.

    The IOC is one of the most exclusive clubs in world sports. Its members are drawn from European and Middle East royalty, leaders of international sports bodies, former and current Olympic athletes, politicians and diplomats plus industrialists, including some billionaires like Eliasch.

    It makes for one of the most discreet and quirky election campaigns in world sports, with members prevented from publicly endorsing their pick.

    Campaign limits on the candidates include a block on publishing videos, organizing public meetings and taking part in public debates. The IOC will organize a closed-door meeting for candidates to address voters in January in its home city Lausanne, Switzerland.

    The IOC top job ideally calls for deep knowledge of managing sports, understanding athletes’ needs and nimble skills in global politics.

    The president oversees an organization that earns billions of dollars in revenue from broadcasting and sponsor deals for the Olympic Games and employs hundreds of staff in Lausanne, Switzerland.

    Coe has been widely considered the most qualified candidate. A two-time Olympic champion in the 1,500-meters, he was later an elected lawmaker in Britain in the 1990s, led the 2012 London Olympics organizing committee and has presided at World Athletics for nine years.

    However, he has potential legal hurdles regarding his ability to serve a full eight-year mandate. The IOC has an age limit of 70 for members, while Coe will be 68 on election day. The rules allow for a special exemption to remain for four more years, but that would mean a six-year presidency unless those limits are changed.

    Coventry, who turned 41 Monday, also has government experience as the appointed sports minister in Zimbabwe.

    The only woman ever to stand as an IOC presidential candidate was Anita DeFrantz, a former Olympic rower from the United States. She was eliminated in the first round of voting in a five-candidate election in 2001, which was won by Jacques Rogge.

    Lappartient also is president of France’s national Olympic body and has carried strong momentum from the Paris Summer Games. He leads a French Alps project that was picked to host the 2030 Winter Games and was picked by Bach to oversee a long-term project sealed in Paris that will see Saudi Arabia hosting the Esports Olympic Games through 2035.

    Eliasch is perhaps the most surprising candidate after being elected as an IOC member in Paris less than two months ago. The Swedish-British owner of the Head sportswear brand got 17 “no” votes, a notably high number in Olympic politics.

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    AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

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  • Russian disinformation slams Paris and amplifies Khelif debate to undermine the Olympics

    Russian disinformation slams Paris and amplifies Khelif debate to undermine the Olympics

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    WASHINGTON (AP) — The actor in the viral music video denouncing the 2024 Olympics looks a lot like French President Emmanuel Macron. The images of rats, trash and the sewage, however, were dreamed up by artificial intelligence.

    Portraying Paris as a crime-ridden cesspool, the video mocking the Games spread quickly on social media platforms like YouTube and X, helped on its way by 30,000 social media bots linked to a notorious Russian disinformation group that has set its sights on France before. Within days, the video was available in 13 languages, thanks to quick translation by AI.

    “Paris, Paris, 1-2-3, go to Seine and make a pee,” taunts an AI-enhanced singer as the faux Macron actor dances in the background, seemingly a reference to water quality concerns in the Seine River where some competitions are taking place.

    Moscow is making its presence felt during the Paris Games, with groups linked to Russia’s government using online disinformation and state propaganda to spread incendiary claims and attack the host country — showing how global events like the Olympics are now high-profile targets for online disinformation and propaganda.

    Over the weekend, disinformation networks linked to the Kremlin seized on a divide over Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, who has faced unsubstantiated questions about her gender. Baseless claims that she is a man or transgender surfaced after a controversial boxing association with Russian ties said she failed an opaque eligibility test before last year’s world boxing championships.

    Russian networks amplified the debate, which quickly became a trending topic online. British news outlets, author J.K. Rowling and right-wing politicians like Donald Trump added to the deluge. At its height late last week, X users were posting about the boxer tens of thousands of times per hour, according to an analysis by PeakMetrics, a cyber firm that tracks online narratives.

    The boxing group at the root of the claims — the International Boxing Association — has been permanently barred from the Olympics, has a Russian president who is an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and its biggest sponsor is the state energy company Gazprom. Questions also have surfaced about its decision to disqualify Khelif last year after she had beaten a Russian boxer.

    Approving only a small number of Russian athletes to compete as neutrals and banning them from team sports following the invasion of Ukraine all but guaranteed the Kremlin’s response, said Gordon Crovitz, co-founder of NewsGuard, a firm that analyzes online misinformation. NewsGuard has tracked dozens of examples of disinformation targeting the Paris Games, including the fake music video.

    Russia’s disinformation campaign targeting the Olympics stands out for its technical skill, Crovitz said.

    “What’s different now is that they are perhaps the most advanced users of generative AI models for malign purposes: fake videos, fake music, fake websites,” he said.

    AI can be used to create lifelike images, audio and video, rapidly translate text and generate culturally specific content that sounds and reads like it was created by a human. The once labor-intensive work of creating fake social media accounts or websites and writing conversational posts can now be done quickly and cheaply.

    Another video amplified by accounts based in Russia in recent weeks claimed the CIA and U.S. State Department warned Americans not to use the Paris metro. No such warning was issued.

    Russian state media has trumpeted some of the same false and misleading content. Instead of covering the athletic competitions, much of the coverage of the Olympics has focused on crime, immigration, litter and pollution.

    One article in the state-run Sputnik news service summed it up: “These Paris ‘games’ sure are going swimmingly. Here’s an idea. Stop awarding the Olympics to the decadent, rotting west.”

    Russia has used propaganda to disparage past Olympics, as it did when the then-Soviet Union boycotted the 1984 Games in Los Angeles. At the time, it distributed printed material to Olympic officials in Africa and Asia suggesting that non-white athletes would be hunted by racists in the U.S., according to an analysis from Microsoft Threat Intelligence, a unit within the technology company that studies malicious online actors.

    Russia also has targeted past Olympic Games with cyberattacks.

    “If they cannot participate in or win the Games, then they seek to undercut, defame, and degrade the international competition in the minds of participants, spectators, and global audiences,” analysts at Microsoft concluded.

    A message left with the Russian government was not immediately returned on Monday.

    Authorities in France have been on high alert for sabotage, cyberattacks or disinformation targeting the Games. A 40-year-old Russian man was arrested in France last month and charged with working for a foreign power to destabilize the European country ahead of the Games.

    Other nations, criminal groups, extremist organizations and scam artists also are exploiting the Olympics to spread their own disinformation. Any global event like the Olympics — or a climate disaster or big election — that draws a lot of people online is likely to generate similar amounts of false and misleading claims, said Mark Calandra, executive vice president at CSC Digital Brand Services, a firm that tracks fraudulent activity online.

    CSC’s researchers noticed a sharp increase in fake website domain names being registered ahead of the Olympics. In many cases, groups set up sites that appear to provide Olympic content, or sell Olympic merchandise.

    Instead, they’re designed to collect information on the user. Sometimes it’s a scam artist looking to steal personal financial data. In others, the sites are used by foreign governments to collect information on Americans — or as a way to spread more disinformation.

    “Bad actors look for these global events,” Calandra said. “Whether they’re positive events like the Olympics or more concerning ones, these people use everyone’s heightened awareness and interest to try to exploit them.”

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  • IOC move on election rules puts up legal hurdles to Coe running for top Olympic job

    IOC move on election rules puts up legal hurdles to Coe running for top Olympic job

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    GENEVA — In a move by the IOC that apparently could block Sebastian Coe as an expected presidential candidate, the Olympic governing body has clarified its complex election rules before a deadline Sunday to enter the race.

    A letter seen Wednesday by The Associated Press was sent by the International Olympic Committee’s ethics commission to the 111 members, including Coe and several more likely candidates in the contest to succeed Thomas Bach next year.

    Details in the two-page letter dated Monday specified reasons why the likes of Coe, the 67-year-old president of track governing body World Athletics, would seem unable to complete a full first IOC mandate of eight years.

    The winning candidate must be a member of the IOC on election day, scheduled for March in Greece, “and during the entire duration of their term as IOC President,” the letter stated.

    Coe’s IOC membership is conditional on being president of World Athletics, a role he must leave in 2027 on completing the maximum 12 years in office.

    Another expected candidate, IOC vice president Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr., who turns 65 in November, also could have legal issues with the standard age limit of 70 for members defined in the Olympic Charter rules book.

    Members turning 70 can be extended only once for four more years, though such an approval for Coe by the IOC executive board also would still expire during a 2025-33 presidency.

    The charter “makes no exceptions for the president, who is an IOC member under the same conditions as all the other members,” stated ethics commission chairman Ban Ki Moon, the former United Nations secretary general, who signed the Sept. 9 letter.

    Coe is widely considered a most qualified candidate to next lead the IOC. A two-time Olympic champion in the 1,500-meters, he was later an elected lawmaker in Britain, led the 2012 London Olympics organizing committee and has presided at World Athletics for nine years.

    The legal hurdles are stacking up just days before the IOC-set deadline for candidates to send a letter of intent to Bach, who will leave as president next year after reaching his 12-year term limit.

    Kirsty Coventry, an Olympic gold medalist swimmer who is sports minister of Zimbabwe, and David Lappartient, the French president of cycling’s governing body, have seemed to have support from Bach in recent years.

    Bach placed Lappartient to oversee a long-term project with Saudi Arabia, hosting the Esports Olympic Games, that was sealed in Paris.

    Other candidates could include two of the four IOC vice presidents — Nicole Hoevertsz of Aruba and Spaniard Samaranch, whose father was IOC president for 21 years until leaving in 2001.

    Prince Feisal al Hussein of Jordan is a potential candidate who could be the first president in the IOC’s 130-year history from Asia or Africa.

    The IOC top job ideally calls for deep knowledge of managing sports, understanding athletes’ needs and nimble skills in global politics.

    However, Coe’s strong positions in sports politics — against Russia on state-backed doping and the invasion of Ukraine, plus awarding $50,000 cash prizes for Paris Olympics gold medals from track’s share of Olympic revenues — have clashed with the IOC and leaders of other sports bodies.

    The letter signed by Ban also suggested a conflict of interest between holding two presidential roles, of the IOC and a sports governing body.

    This conflict could be resolved, the letter said, by having a vote after the IOC presidential election “for a change of membership status.”

    Britain, however, no longer has a quota space for another IOC member elected as an individual. That’s because Hugh Robertson, the government’s Olympics minister at the time of the 2012 Summer Games, was elected in Paris in July.

    The IOC needs a new president only because Bach said in Paris last month he would not seek to stay on by changing the statutory maximum of 12 years for the position.

    The IOC has had nine presidents in its 130-year history. All have been men and none were from Africa, Asia or Latin America.

    The candidates must come from the IOC membership that comprises invited members including royalty from the Middle East and Europe, a current head of state — the Emir of Qatar — former diplomats and lawmakers, industrialists, and leaders of sports bodies and athletes.

    ___

    AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

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  • Top Olympic sponsor Panasonic is ending its contract with the IOC

    Top Olympic sponsor Panasonic is ending its contract with the IOC

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    TOKYO — Olympic sponsor Panasonic is terminating its contract with the IOC at the end of the year, the company said in a statement Tuesday.

    Panasonic is one of 15 companies that are so-called TOP sponsors for the International Olympic Committee. It’s not known the value of the Panasonic sponsorship, but sponsors contribute more than $2 billion in a four-year cycle to the IOC.

    In a statement, Panasonic said it became an IOC sponsor in 1987 and expanded to the Paralympics in 2014. It did not make clear why it was changing course and said only that is was related to continual “reviews how sponsorship should evolve.”

    Two other Japanese companies are also among the IOC’s 15 leading sponsors. Toyota, which for several months has been reportedly ready to end its contract, was contacted Tuesday by The Associated Press but offered no new information.

    “Toyota has been supporting the Olympic and Paralympic movements since 2015 and continues to do so,” Toyota said in a statement. “No announcement to suggest otherwise has been made by Toyota.”

    Japanese sponsors seem to have turned away from the Olympics, likely related to the one-year delay in holding the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The COVID-19 delay reduced sponsors’ visibility with no fans allowed to attend competition venues, ran up the costs, and unearthed myriad corruption scandals around the Games.

    Tiremaker Bridgestone told AP “nothing has been decided.”

    Toyota had a contact valued at $835 million — reported to be the IOC’s largest when it was announced in 2015. It included four Olympics beginning with the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Games in South Korea and ran through the just-completed Paris Olympics and Paralympics.

    Reports in Japan suggest Toyota may keep its Paralympic Olympic sponsorship.

    The IOC TOP sponsors are: ABInBev, Airbnb, Alibaba, Allianz, Atos, Bridgestone, Coca-Cola, Deloitte, Intel, Omega, Panasonic, P&G, Samsung, Toyoto, and Visa.

    In a report several months ago by the Japanese news agency Kyodo, unnamed sources said Toyota was unhappy with how the IOC uses sponsorship money. It said the money was “not used effectively to support athletes and promote sports.”

    Japan was once a major font to revenue, but increasingly the IOC has sought out sponsors from China, with increasing interest from the Middle East and India.

    Japan officially spent $13 billion on the Tokyo Olympics, at least half of which was public money. A government audit suggested the real cost was twice that. The IOC contribution was about $1.8 billion.

    The Tokyo Games were mired in corruption scandals linked to local sponsorships and the awarding of contracts. Dentsu Inc, the huge Japanese marketing and public relations company, was the marketing arm of the Tokyo Olympics and raised a record-$3.3 billion in local sponsorship money. This is separate from TOP sponsors.

    French prosecutors also looked into alleged vote-buying in the IOC’s decision in 2013 to pick Tokyo as the host for the 2020 Summer Games.

    The IOC had income of $7.6 billion in the last four-year cycle ending with the Tokyo Games. Figures have not been released yet for the cycle ending with the Paris Olympics.

    The IOC’s TOP sponsors paid over $2 billion in that period. The figure is expected to reach $3 billion in the next cycle.

    ___

    AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

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  • Top Olympic sponsor Panasonic is ending its contract with the IOC

    Top Olympic sponsor Panasonic is ending its contract with the IOC

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    TOKYO — Olympic sponsor Panasonic is terminating its contract with the IOC at the end of the year, the company said in a statement Tuesday.

    Panasonic is one of 15 companies that are so-called TOP sponsors for the International Olympic Committee. It’s not known the value of the Panasonic sponsorship, but sponsors contribute more than $2 billion in a four-year cycle to the IOC.

    In a statement, Panasonic said it became an IOC sponsor in 1987 and expanded to the Paralympics in 2014. It did not make clear why it was changing course and said only that is was related to continual “reviews how sponsorship should evolve.”

    Two other Japanese companies are also among the IOC’s 15 leading sponsors. Toyota, which for several months has been reportedly ready to end its contract, was contacted Tuesday by The Associated Press but offered no new information.

    “Toyota has been supporting the Olympic and Paralympic movements since 2015 and continues to do so,” Toyota said in a statement. “No announcement to suggest otherwise has been made by Toyota.”

    Japanese sponsors seem to have turned away from the Olympics, likely related to the one-year delay in holding the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The COVID-19 delay reduced sponsors’ visibility with no fans allowed to attend competition venues, ran up the costs, and unearthed myriad corruption scandals around the Games.

    Tiremaker Bridgestone told AP “nothing has been decided.”

    Toyota had a contact valued at $835 million — reported to be the IOC’s largest when it was announced in 2015. It included four Olympics beginning with the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Games in South Korea and ran through the just-completed Paris Olympics and Paralympics.

    Reports in Japan suggest Toyota may keep its Paralympic Olympic sponsorship.

    The IOC TOP sponsors are: ABInBev, Airbnb, Alibaba, Allianz, Atos, Bridgestone, Coca-Cola, Deloitte, Intel, Omega, Panasonic, P&G, Samsung, Toyoto, and Visa.

    In a report several months ago by the Japanese news agency Kyodo, unnamed sources said Toyota was unhappy with how the IOC uses sponsorship money. It said the money was “not used effectively to support athletes and promote sports.”

    Japan was once a major font to revenue, but increasingly the IOC has sought out sponsors from China, with increasing interest from the Middle East and India.

    Japan officially spent $13 billion on the Tokyo Olympics, at least half of which was public money. A government audit suggested the real cost was twice that. The IOC contribution was about $1.8 billion.

    The Tokyo Games were mired in corruption scandals linked to local sponsorships and the awarding of contracts. Dentsu Inc, the huge Japanese marketing and public relations company, was the marketing arm of the Tokyo Olympics and raised a record-$3.3 billion in local sponsorship money. This is separate from TOP sponsors.

    French prosecutors also looked into alleged vote-buying in the IOC’s decision in 2013 to pick Tokyo as the host for the 2020 Summer Games.

    The IOC had income of $7.6 billion in the last four-year cycle ending with the Tokyo Games. Figures have not been released yet for the cycle ending with the Paris Olympics.

    The IOC’s TOP sponsors paid over $2 billion in that period. The figure is expected to reach $3 billion in the next cycle.

    ___

    AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

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  • The director of the Paralympic closing ceremony wants to turn the Stade de France into a dance floor

    The director of the Paralympic closing ceremony wants to turn the Stade de France into a dance floor

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    PARIS (AP) — The final act of the Paralympics in Paris will be a giant dance party.

    That’s a promise from Thomas Jolly, the artistic director of the opening and closing ceremonies for this year’s Olympics and Paralympics.

    Jolly says 24 DJs will perform thumping techno and dance music at the Stade de France on Sunday as the curtain falls on the 2024 Paralympics.

    “We want to turn the Stade de France into the biggest dance floor to celebrate the end of the Paralympics,” Jolly told The Associated Press in an interview.

    Much like during the Paralympic opening ceremony, which featured artists with disabilities and dancers using crutches or wheelchairs, the dance floor will be open for all.

    “There will be choreographic sequences that will showcase the body,” Jolly said.

    The closing ceremony marks the end of Paris’ Olympic and Paralympic journey. For Jolly, a 42-year-old theater director, it’s the final chapter of a busy summer.

    Jolly directed the July 26 opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics on the Seine River, which was widely praised but also met some criticism.

    Some viewers thought a scene featuring French singer Philippe Katrine disguised as Bacchus, the deity of wine and celebration in the ancient Roman mythology, was a depiction of “The Last Supper,” a famous painting by Leonardo Da Vinci that represents Jesus Christ’s last meal with his apostles. Critics considered that a mockery of the Catholic Church. Paris 2024 organizers said they were “sorry” if people took offense.

    Though Jolly said his intention was not to mock religion, he and his family faced harassment on social media, including death threats and attacks based on his sexual orientation and wrongly assumed Israeli roots, prompting French authorities to open a hate speech investigation.

    “I’ve been doing shows for 20 years, and I’ve had critics on all my theatrical productions,” Jolly said. “Criticism can please, it can hurt. That’s the job. But the attacks, the threats, the insults … that’s a different matter.”

    Jolly, who received support from French political leaders including President Emmanuel Macron and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, said the controversy did not lead to any changes to the ceremonies that followed.

    “Absolutely not,” he said. “Nothing was changed, and nothing should have been changed.”

    He noted that all scenes were approved months in advance by the French government, the city of Paris and the International Olympic Committee.

    A native of Rouen, Jolly moved to Paris to prepare for the Games, dedicating two and a half years to creating the ceremonies. Much of the preparation for the previous ceremonies took place at night or in remote locations, in an effort to maintain a degree of secrecy.

    Preparations for Sunday’s closing ceremony are no different. With the Stade de France hosting Paralympic athletics competitions during the day, many of the rehearsals take place at night.

    “I fully dedicated myself to the job,” Jolly said. “I did not celebrate anything yet, I did not party, I did not even had time to rewatch the ceremonies on TV.”

    Jolly said he’s considering writing a book about his Olympic experience before returning to his roots in theater.

    “I don’t think I’ll ever have an audience like that (of the Olympic opening ceremony) again in my life,” he said. “But it doesn’t matter. There are also important things that can happen in a 50-seat theater.”

    ___

    AP Paralympics: https://apnews.com/hub/paralympic-games

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  • Marseille and the sea: A portrait of the millennia-old port city that is hosting Olympic sailing

    Marseille and the sea: A portrait of the millennia-old port city that is hosting Olympic sailing

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    MARSEILLE, France (AP) — Her black headscarf flying up, a teen jumped into the sparkling Mediterranean from a concrete pier at a city marina, then scrambled back to shore and onto a giant paddle board for a quick tour with a dozen excited comrades.

    They were bused in for a swimming camp from a social services center in the mostly Muslim, North African-origin neighborhoods that ring Marseille, which is hosting the 2024 Olympicsailing competition at the opposite end of its spectacular, monument-fringed bay.

    Children attend a swimming camp organized by the Grand Bleu Association which facilitates access to the sea for marginalized children in Marseille, France, Friday, July 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

    Image

    FILE – People enjoy a coffee on a balcony in the Old Port of Marseille in southern France, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole, File)

    The millennia-old port is a crossroads of cultures and faiths, where the sea is ever present but not equally accessible, and the beauty and cosmopolitan flair rub shoulders with enclaves of poverty and exclusion even more intimately than in the rest of France.

    “There are kids who see the sea from home, but have never come,” said Mathias Sintes, a supervisor at the Corbière marina for the Grand Bleu Association, which has held camps for about 3,000 marginalized children — 50% of whom, he estimates, didn’t know how to swim. “The first goal is to teach them to save themselves.”

    SINK OR SWIM

    Image

    A child attends a swimming camp organized by the Grand Bleu Association which facilitates access to the sea for marginalized children in Marseille, France, Friday, July 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

    Brahim Timricht, who grew up in the northern neighborhoods known as the “quartiers nord,“ founded the association more than two decades ago to bring children to enjoy the sea that shimmers below their often-dilapidated high-rises on the rocky cliffs.

    Then he realized that many weren’t learning basic swimming in school — a requirement for elementary students in France — and figured he could take advantage of the warm summer months to introduce them to that skill.

    “Then the mothers told me they still wouldn’t go to the beach, because they didn’t know how to swim and were afraid, so we started programs with them,” Timricht said as dozens of children happily splashed under the hot July sun a few days before the opening of the Olympic sailing competition.

    The lack of pools for school programs is a sign of “social and economic segregation,” said Jean Cugier, who teaches physical education in a high school in the quartiers nord and belongs to the national union of PE teachers.

    Over the past academic year, he’s been taking 30 sixth-graders 45 minutes by bus to a pool where two lanes were reserved for them — an unsustainable model, he said, that he’s hoping to modify with pool-based summer camps.

    Image

    Children attend a swimming camp organized by the Grand Bleu Association which facilitates access to the sea for marginalized children in Marseille, France, Friday, July 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

    Image

    Children attend a swimming camp organized by the Grand Bleu Association which facilitates access to the sea for marginalized children in Marseille, France, Friday, July 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

    While the city has discussed using the Olympic marina after the Games — as Paris plans to do with an Olympic pool — the sea is too chilly to swim in during most of the school year. So the only concrete answer to the pool shortage is building more infrastructure, Cugier believes.

    Another issue complicating swimming education, according to the Ministry of Education, has been the medical certificates that parents bring to excuse children from class. Officials say these are often fake and driven by the desire of some conservative Muslim families not to have boys and girls together at a pool.

    Pools have become a flashpoint in France’s struggle over its unique approach to “laïcité” — loosely translated as “secularism” and strictly regulating the role of religion in the public space, including schools and even the Olympics.

    But sports are also a way out of the margins. One of France’s soccer greats, Zinedine Zidane, who carried the Olympic torch in the Paris opening ceremony, was born in the most notorious of Marseille’s quartiers nord. And soccer remains the unifying passion of Marseille’s residents, who routinely flock to cheer home team Olympique de Marseille at the Vélodrome stadium — one of the venues for Olympic soccer matches.

    For the boys and girls at the Corbière marina, the overall seaside experience has been a chance to meet new people from outside their neighborhood.

    “They don’t want to leave,” said one of the group leaders, Sephora Saïd, on the camp’s last day. She had worn a hijab during the outing, including while paddle-boarding.

    SEA, SEA EVERYWHERE

    Image

    FILE – Sunbathers enjoy the sunset at the entrance to Marseille’s Old Port in southern France, Tuesday, May 26, 2020 as France gradually lifts its COVID-19 lockdown. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole, File)

    The sea as an entry and a meeting point is engrained in the very DNA of Marseille. Founded by Greek colonists 2,600 years ago as a trading post, it is France’s oldest city, and its second largest.

    “Before it’s a city, Marseille is a port,” said Fabrice Denise, director of the Museum of Marseille History, built next to the Greek archeological site in what is still the city’s center. “If you want to understand all that’s extraordinary about it, including the realities of cosmopolitanism, you need to understand its multi-century history as a port.”

    Today’s port, the Mediterranean’s third largest in cargo tonnage, includes everything from refineries to a busy cruise ship area and extends along nearly 40 kilometers (25 miles). But it all started in a small inlet that is today’s top tourist attraction, the Vieux Port.

    Large boats built of wood and caulked with cotton and fiber carried transforming cargos like grapevines, Denise said. The trade expanded north along the Rhone River in what is now one of France’s most celebrated wine-producing regions.

    At the end of the harbor, a small boatyard still restores a handful of boats built in the old way. They were used for fishing until a few decades ago but now are too expensive to maintain for utilitarian purposes.

    Image

    FILE – Fireworks go off as the Belem, the three-masted sailing ship bringing the Olympic flame from Greece, enters the Old Port in Marseille, southern France, Wednesday, May 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani, File)

    Image

    FILE – Women sit on a bench in Marseille, southern France, Friday, June 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole, File)

    Not far away are the forts that King Louis XIV added in the 17th century to protect the port and the military arsenal he established. The small city became a metropolis.

    Religious diversity arrived by sea too — Christians in reality and in myth, one of the most popular ones being that Mary Magdalen herself sailed to Marseille, which is commemorated with a large boat procession each year.

    Centuries later, and increasingly since decolonization, Muslims from North Africa flocked to Marseille’s shores. Of the city’s 870,000 residents, some 300,000 trace their roots to Algeria alone.

    In the narrow streets uphill from the Vieux Port, Arabic rings from market stalls, cafés and couscous restaurants — the second-most spoken language in the city. Marseille’s French itself is unique, incorporating not only a distinctive accent but words from the countryside’s Provençal language, said Médéric Gasquet-Cyrus, a linguist and professor at the University of Aix-Marseille. He is co-author of the French-language book “Marseille for Dummies.”

    On its cover, as on the background of most photos including those of the Olympic regattas, stands the hilltop black-and-white-striped 19th century basilica of Notre Dame de la Garde, topped by a nearly 10-meter (33-foot) gold-covered statue of the Virgin Mary looking out to sea. It’s known as “la Bonne Mère” — the good mother.

    “The Bonne Mère, it’s almost a pagan symbol,” quipped Gasquet-Cyrus, who says he is an atheist but still goes to visit. “She’s the protector of the city.”

    The church welcomes around 2.5 million visitors a year, many for its daily Masses and more on its wide terrace. Its 360-degree views encompass the new and old ports, the villa-studded neighborhoods where the Olympic marina is nestled as well as the blocky towers of the quartiers nord.

    “You can see Marseille, and the sea, and the horizon, all under her benevolent gaze,” said the basilica’s rector, the Rev. Olivier Spinosa. “It’s easier to see beauty from up high, and it invites us to work on beautiful things when we’re down below.”

    ___

    Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

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  • French DJ and LGBTQ+ icon carries Paralympic torch to defy hate she endured over Olympics ceremony

    French DJ and LGBTQ+ icon carries Paralympic torch to defy hate she endured over Olympics ceremony

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    PARIS (AP) — French performer Barbara Butch carried the Paralympic torch Sunday evening in an act of defiance after being targeted by hate speech over her appearance in the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.

    “I chose not to be afraid to exist in the public space,” Barbara Butch, a popular DJ and LGBTQ+ icon said in an interview with broadcaster France Info before walking onstage with the torch at a musical event in Saint-Cloud, a western suburb of Paris. “I know I represent France in the same way as anyone else,” she added.

    The performer filed a formal legal complaint alleging online abuse after suffering online harassment, death threats and insults following her performance in the July 26 Olympics opening show. Five other artists and performers, including the ceremony’s artistic director, Thomas Jolly, made similar complaints after suffering a torrent of abuse.

    Butch said she has received “tens of thousands of hate messages.” A specialized team has managed to identify “hundreds of people who had sent … the most violet messages,” she said.

    “Justice will do its job and then we will tackle the international level,” Butch said.

    Butch was among nearly 1,000 torch bearers – who will carry the Paralympic flame, split between 12 torches, to 50 cities across France in the next few days to highlight communities that are committed to promoting inclusion in sport and building awareness of living with disabilities.

    Other torch bearers include former Paralympians, young para athletes, volunteers from Paralympic federations, innovators of advanced technological support, people who dedicate their lives to others with impairments and people who work in the non-profit sector to support carers.

    The 12 flames will become one again when the relay ends in central Paris on Wednesday after visiting historical sites along the city’s famed boulevards and plazas before lightening the cauldron during the three-hour opening ceremony.

    ——

    Follow AP’s Paralympics coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/paralympic-games

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  • Today in Sports – Tiger Woods becomes first golfer since 1953 to win 3 majors in a calendar year

    Today in Sports – Tiger Woods becomes first golfer since 1953 to win 3 majors in a calendar year

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    Aug. 20

    1921 — Molla Bjurstedt Mallory beats Mary Browne, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 to win the U.S. women’s national tennis title at the Germantown Cricket Club in Philadelphia.

    1931 — Helen Wills Moody beats Eileen Bennett Whitingstall 6-4, 6-1 to capture the women’s title in the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association championship.

    1944 — Robert Hamilton upsets Byron Nelson in the final round 1 up to win the PGA Championship.

    1960 — Holland’s Hairos II, driven by Willem Geersen, wins the second International Trot at Roosevelt Raceway before a record crowd of 54,861.

    1990 — George Steinbrenner steps down as NY Yankee owner.

    1995 — Monica Seles completes a remarkable first week back in tournament tennis, routing Amanda Coetzer 6-0, 6-1 to capture the Canadian Open. Her 74 games sets a tournament record for the fewest played by a champion.

    1999 — 7th Athletics World Championships open at Seville, Spain.

    2000 — Tiger Woods wins the PGA Championship in a playoff over Bob May, becoming the first player since Ben Hogan in 1953 to win three majors in one year. He’s the first player to repeat as PGA champion since Denny Shute in 1937.

    2003 — The U.S. wins the women’s overall team gold medal at the gymnastics world championships. It is the first gold for the Americans — men or women — at the biggest international event outside the Olympics.

    2004 — Michael Phelps matches Mark Spitz’s record of four individual gold medals in Olympic swimming by winning the 100-meter butterfly. He edges teammate Ian Crocker to win his fifth gold medal. Shortly after winning his seventh medal of these Olympics, Phelps gives up his spot in the medley relay to Crocker.

    2006 — Tiger Woods wins the PGA Championship for a five-shot victory over Shaun Micheel and his 12th career major. He becomes the first player to win the PGA twice on the same course, having done so at Medinah in 1999.

    2008 — Usain Bolt of Jamaica breaks the 200-meter world record, winning in 19.30 seconds at the Beijing Games. He is the first man since Carl Lewis in 1984 to sweep the 100 and 200 at an Olympics.

    2012 — Augusta National invites former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and South Carolina financier Darla Moore to become the first female members since the club was founded in 1932.

    2016 — Allyson Felix and LaShawn Merritt anchor the 4×400 relay teams, and the U.S. exits the final night of action at Olympic Stadium with 31 medals — its most in a non-boycotted Olympics since 1956. The U.S. women’s basketball team beats Spain 101-72 for a sixth straight title.

    2018 — Alabama becomes the second team to be ranked No. 1 in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 poll for three straight seasons. The preseason AP poll started in 1950 and since then only Oklahoma from 1985-87 had started No. 1 in three straight years.

    2023 — FIFA Women’s World Cup Final, Stadium Australia, Sydney: Spanish captain Olga Carmona scores the only goal of the game as La Furia Roja score a 1-0 win over England.

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  • Gold medal boxer Imane Khelif hailed upon return to Algeria

    Gold medal boxer Imane Khelif hailed upon return to Algeria

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    TIARET, Algeria — With an outpouring of fans greeting her as she arrived in her hometown on Friday, Olympic gold medalist Imane Khelif extolled Algeria for backing its athletes and said she hoped to again make her country proud in the future.

    The football-obsessed North African country has given Khelif the celebrity treatment since she returned to Algiers earlier this week. Nowhere has this been more true than Tiaret, the largely rural region in central Algeria where she grew up and learned to box.

    She and track star Djamel Sedjati were honored by local leaders and then paraded through the streets atop a city bus as hundreds of residents raised their hands and snapped photos.

    “All Algerian men and women have the right to be happy and celebrate,” she told reporters Friday at a local government office. “This proves that the government and the people are all behind sports.”

    Algerians vigorously defended Khelif as she advanced through the Olympic Games amid international scrutiny and uninformed speculation about her sex.

    Despite being born and raised as a woman, she found herself in the crosshairs of Western debates about gender, sex and sports after failing unspecified and untransparent eligibility tests for women’s competition from the now-banned International Boxing Association in 2023.

    As observers including billionaire Elon Musk, author J.K. Rowling and former U.S. President Donald Trump referred to her as a man in online posts, Algerians saw the controversy as an attack on their nation.

    On Friday, Tiaret residents acknowledged the hardships that Khelif faced throughout the Olympics and said they hoped her success was just the beginning.

    “We hope authorities will support her in moments of victory like this as well as throughout the whole year. She has suffered enormously and started from scratch,” Mohamed Hamou said, sitting next to Khelif in Tiaret on Friday afternoon.

    Later at the parade, Nadjia Fehma, another Tiaret resident, reveled in her victory and said she was an inspiration.

    “She’s made us really proud, especially given her career path and the way she’s ended up succeeding,” Fehma said.

    Khelif’s hometown welcome came days after she filed a criminal complaint for cyber-harassment in France, with her lawyer alleging a “misogynist, racist and sexist campaign” throughout the Olympics.

    On Wednesday, Khelif acknowledged the difficulties and fear she felt on El Bilad, a private television channel in Algeria. She said nobody had the right to question her sex and that she wasn’t someone who enjoyed mixing politics and sports.

    “Why was there such an outcry all over the world?” she asked. “I was afraid, but thank God, I was able to overcome it.”

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  • Prime Minister Tusk says Poland will strive to host Summer Olympics in 2040 or 2044

    Prime Minister Tusk says Poland will strive to host Summer Olympics in 2040 or 2044

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    WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced Friday that his country will strive to host the Summer Olympics for the first time, with a particular eye on the Games in 2040 and 2044.

    Tusk was speaking at a sports field in Karczew, a town south of Warsaw, where boys were doing soccer training behind him.

    “Poland will formally make efforts to host the Olympic Games. Life will show whether this will be a realistic goal, but we will take it seriously,” Tusk said.

    Tusk explained that 2040 and 2044 were the earliest realistic dates, given other hosting decisions made by the IOC.

    He said he dedicated the decision to today’s 10, 12, 15-year-olds as he also pledged investments to renovate and expand youth sports training facilities.

    “I probably won’t be running around the pitch when the Olympics are in Poland,” said the 67-year-old premier, himself an amateur but avid soccer player. “But I can do a lot over the next few years to make this dream a real project.”

    Tusk’s announcement comes after a poor display by Poland at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, where the country won only one gold.

    His allies in the centrist Civic Platform party welcomed the move, saying it would create opportunities to develop the nation’s sporting infrastructure.

    Tusk’s right-wing opponents criticized him, saying other projects deserved more attention.

    There was even criticism from the Left, which belongs to his governing coalition.

    “A country with one Olympic gold medal. I know that the prime minister likes to build stadiums, but really, maybe first let’s build a decent Olympic team and spend money (rationally) on it, instead of ridiculing ourselves at our own event,” a left-wing lawmaker, Anna Maria Zukowska, tweeted on the X platform.

    Poland won 10 medals altogether in Paris and took 42nd place in the overall standings, making it the country’s worst performance since 1956.

    Poland has also yet to stage a Winter Olympics, although it did co-host the 2012 European Soccer Championship along with Ukraine.

    Standing alongside Tusk, Sports Minister Slawomir Nitras said: “I saw the Games in Paris and I can say that from the organizational side we are able to organize such an event. I think Polish sport is waiting for it.”

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    AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

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  • Golden Steph: Curry’s late barrage seals another Olympic men’s basketball title, as US beats France

    Golden Steph: Curry’s late barrage seals another Olympic men’s basketball title, as US beats France

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    PARIS — Stephen Curry was thinking about this two years ago, after winning his fourth NBA title with the Golden State Warriors. The only thing left for him to win was Olympic gold.

    And in the ultimate moment, he made sure that medal would be his.

    The U.S. is atop the international men’s basketball world once again, after Curry scored 24 points — all on 3-pointers — and led the way to a 98-87 win over France in the final at the Paris Games on Saturday night. It was the fifth consecutive gold medal for the U.S. and the 17th in 20 all-time appearances for the Americans at the Games.

    “You just stay confident, stay present and don’t get rattled by the moment,” said Curry, who had 17 3-pointers in his last two games, starting with nine against Serbia to get to the gold-medal game.

    Added U.S. coach Steve Kerr: “Steph earned this.”

    Curry made four 3-pointers in the final 2:43, including the one that just sealed the win with 1:19 remaining. It put the U.S. up 93-84 and he skipped down the court letting out a yell, shaking his jersey so everyone could see the “USA” across the front.

    If that wasn’t enough, one more followed with about 30 seconds left — along with the go-to-sleep move where he puts his hands together on the side of his face. “Night night,” he calls it, and he came prepared, with a special shirt to wear after the game for a champagne-and-cigars celebration. “Nuit nuit,” it said, the French translation.

    Good night. Game over. Gold won. Again.

    “For me to get a gold medal is insane, and I thank God for the opportunity to experience it,” Curry said.

    Kevin Durant — the first four-time men’s gold medalist in Olympic basketball history — scored 15 for the Americans, as did Devin Booker. LeBron James, wearing metallic gold shoes that needed no explanation, scored 14 for the U.S. as he won his fourth Olympic medal and third gold.

    “Super humbled that I can still play this game,” James said. “Played at a high level, played with 11 other great players and a great coaching staff and went on and did it for our country. It was a great moment around.”

    For the second consecutive Olympics, the French had to watch the Americans hold up U.S. flags in celebration after the title game. The French lost to the U.S. 87-82 in Tokyo three years ago, and this one was down to the final minutes.

    That is, until Curry took over.

    “I think we might be the only team in the world whose fans are ashamed of them if they get a silver medal,” said Kerr, the Golden State coach whose two-summer run with the U.S. ends with a 21-3 record and Olympic gold — 11-0 this summer. “That’s the pressure that we face. But our players, and you saw Steph, they love the pressure. They appreciate this atmosphere and they were fantastic.”

    Victor Wembanyama, the NBA Rookie of the Year for San Antonio in his first Olympic final, was brilliant for France, scoring 26 points — the second-most ever against the U.S. in a gold-medal game, one behind the 27 that Drazen Dalipagic scored for Yugoslavia in 1976.

    “I’m learning,” Wembanyama said. “And I’m worried for the opponents in a couple of years.”

    Wembanyama covered his face in a towel afterward as the Americans celebrated. Guerschon Yabusele scored 20 for the hosts.

    “For sure, it’s a disappointment because we expected we could do it,” France coach Vincent Collet said. “But we have to recognize at the end that they are better. We are very close … When they make fantastic shots, that’s the difference.”

    The U.S. lead was 14 early in the third, looking poised to pull away. But the offense quickly went cold and when Evan Fournier connected on a 3-pointer with 3:05 left in the quarter the lead was down to 65-59 after a 12-4 run by the hosts.

    And with a chance to go up double digits headed to the fourth, a big U.S. blunder gave France another jolt of momentum. Anthony Edwards and Durant got their signals crossed on a pass that led to a turnover, Nando De Colo scored to beat the buzzer and the U.S. lead was only 72-66 going into the final 10 minutes.

    It got as close as three. No closer, thanks to Curry. He hit four 3-pointers in a span of 2:12, the last one of them a bit of the circus variety, and they all immediately went into Olympic lore.

    “A big shot to put us up six. That kind of settled everything,” Curry said. “And then the rhythm, the avalanche came, and thankfully the other three went in. That was an unbelievable moment. I’ve been blessed to play basketball at a high level for a very long time. This ranks very high in terms of excitement and the sense of relief, getting to the finish line.”

    It was the eighth time in Olympic history — and Sunday’s women’s final between the U.S. and France will mark the ninth — that the home team got to play for basketball gold.

    Home teams are now 5-3 in those games, 2-1 on the men’s side. The U.S. men and women both won in 1984 and 1996; the women of the Soviet Union won in 1980, while Australia’s women lost to the U.S. in 2000 and Japan’s women also lost to the U.S. at the Tokyo Games three years ago.

    For James, it was one more thing for the neverending list that is his legacy. For Durant, it was history with four golds. For Booker, Anthony Davis, Jayson Tatum and Bam Adebayo, it was a second gold. For Jrue Holiday, it was a second gold to match his wife — soccer great Lauren Cheney Holiday — for the family lead. For Derrick White, Tyrese Haliburton, Joel Embiid and Edwards, it was the first Olympic title.

    “This has been an amazing experience, a beautiful experience,” Durant said.

    And for Curry, it was a long time coming after he wasn’t available for previous Olympics. The Americans couldn’t have been more thrilled that he was there for this one.

    “I was smilin’, cheesin’, having the best time of my life,” Curry said.

    He likened it to a Game 7 on the road, which it basically was. He’s had enormous success in those moments: a 50-point outburst to lead Golden State past Sacramento in 2023, and a 27-point, 10-assist, nine-rebound performance to win a do-or-die game in Houston in 2018.

    And now, this.

    “It’s right up there with all of the greatest games of his career,” Kerr said. “The shot-making was just incredible. But under the circumstances, on the road, in Paris, against France for a gold medal, this is storybook stuff. But that’s what Steph does. He likes to be in storybooks.”

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    AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

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  • Morocco wins its first Olympic soccer medal with a 6-0 rout of Egypt for men’s bronze

    Morocco wins its first Olympic soccer medal with a 6-0 rout of Egypt for men’s bronze

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    NANTES, France — Soufiane Rahimi scored two goals and Morocco won the bronze medal with a 6-0 rout of Egypt on Thursday for the team’s first-ever podium finish at the Olympics.

    Abde Ezzalzouli, Bilal El Khannouss, Akram Nakach and Achraf Hakimi also scored for Morocco, which went into halftime with a 2-0 lead to the delight of Moroccan fans at La Beaujoire Stadium.

    Rahimi scored eight goals at the Paris Olympics, most in the tournament. At 28, he is one of the overage players allowed on the under-23 Olympic squads.

    It was Egypt’s third fourth-place finish at the Olympics — after Amsterdam in 1928 and Tokyo in 1964.

    Morocco has been inspired throughout the tournament by its senior men’s team, which was a surprise semifinalist at the World Cup in 2022.

    The team also trounced the United States 4-0 at Parc des Princes in Paris in the quarterfinals but lost to Spain 2-1 in the semifinals.

    Moroccan fans have been fervent in their support throughout the tournament. In the group stage, they rushed the field and threw bottles in a 2-1 win over Argentina, causing the game to be suspended for around two hours.

    Rahimi’s first goal came off a header in the 26th minute that Egypt goalkeeper Alaa Hamza got a glove on but couldn’t stop.

    Less than three minutes before Rahimi’s goal, Ezzalzouli scored from the top of the penalty box into the far corner. He joined his Moroccan teammates in a prayer on the corner of the field following the goal.

    Morocco saw the return of midfielder El Khannouss, who was suspended for the semifinal. He made it 3-0 by shaking off a series of defenders for a goal in the 51st.

    Rahimi’s second came in the 64th and he assisted on Nakach’s goal in the 73rd.

    Hakimi, who plays in France for Paris Saint-Germain, scored on a late free kick.

    Egypt was without Omar Fayed, who was sent off with a red card in the semifinal against France.

    Egypt also lost winger Zizo, one of the teams overage players who had to leave in the 12th minute after pulling up with an injury.

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    For more coverage of the Paris Olympics, visit https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games.

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