PARIS: The sporting programme at the Paris Olympics began on Wednesday as men’s football kicked off and a huge police operation was put in place for Israel’s first appearance at the Games.
Two days before the opening ceremony, Uzbekistan faced Spain in Paris while Argentina took on Morocco in Saint-Etienne in the men’s football tournament.
As the clock ticks down towards Friday’s opening ceremony along the Seine, Olympic chiefs awarded the 2030 Winter Games to the French Alps and the 2034 event to Salt Lake City. But in a dramatic twist they warned the US city could be stripped of the Games if American authorities kept up their feud with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
Israel’s footballers later Wednesday take on Mali under the watchful eye of 1,000 police officers, with authorities erecting an “anti-terrorist perimeter” and bracing for possible disruption around the stadium.
Israel’s participation in Paris has been a key talking point in the run-up, with calls from the Palestine Olympic Committee and some left-wing French MPs for the country to be excluded over the Gaza war.
President Emmanuel Macron stressed that Israeli athletes were “welcome in our country”, adding it was “France’s responsibility to provide them with security”. A packed Stade de France will cheer on Antoine Dupont -- arguably the world’s best rugby player and a pin-up of the Paris Games -- as the Rugby Sevens tournament starts, with Australia taking on Samoa.
The electric Dupont is the biggest draw for the 555,000 fans expected over the six days of rugby action, but France will have their work cut out to stop double Olympic champions Fiji. France and Fiji are in the same pool and will play the United States and Uruguay, before the pair face each other in a mouthwatering clash on Thursday.
Others to watch in the wide-open competition are traditional rugby powers New Zealand, Australia, Argentina, and Ireland. Preparations for Friday’s historic opening ceremony were in full swing with an unprecedented security operation for the athletes’ parade along the River Seine.
Around 6,000-7,000 athletes are set to sail down a six-kilometre (four-mile) stretch of the river towards the Eiffel Tower, on 85 barges and boats. Up to 500,000 people are set to watch in person from specially built stands, on the river banks and from the overlooking balconies and apartments.
The area around the river has been locked down before the ceremony, with snipers positioned along the route and frogmen deployed to prevent a waterborne attack. The entertainment line-up for the ceremony, the first time a Summer Olympics has opened outside the main stadium, is yet to be fully announced.
But videos posted online showing US pop star Lady Gaga in Paris sparked rumours she will be among the performers. American rapper Snoop Dogg will carry the Olympic flame this Friday as it makes its final rounds before the ceremony.
