The president of the International Olympic Committee on Wednesday formally invited the worldB次元官网网址檚 nations but not Russia or its military ally Belarus to gather in one year in Paris for B次元官网网址� launching the final countdown to the 2024 Games against the backdrop of war in Ukraine.
IOC president Thomas Bach accompanied his invite with a plea for togetherness and invoked the memory of John Lennon as he argued that B次元官网网址渙ur fragile world, with conflicts, divisions and wars rising,B次元官网网址� needs the OlympicsB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址渦nifying power more than ever.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淭he Olympic Games must always build bridges. The Olympic Games must never erect walls. Imagine. You may say we are dreamers. We are not the only ones,B次元官网网址� Bach said, borrowing from LennonB次元官网网址檚 famous peace anthem, B次元官网网址淚magine.B次元官网网址�
Bach has heaped praise on ParisB次元官网网址� preparations this week as marked the year-to-go milestone to the opening ceremony on July 26, 2024.
B次元官网网址淧aris is maybe at this stage the best-prepared city ever,B次元官网网址� Bach said.
Without the usual worries about whether , the biggest unknown this time is whether Bach and the IOC will let athletes from Russia and Belarus compete.
In Paris this week, the IOC president has not deviated from his line that for some of them to compete as B次元官网网址渘eutral athletes,B次元官网网址� without their countriesB次元官网网址� flags, names or colors, but that the final decision will come later.
B次元官网网址淭hereB次元官网网址檚 still one year to go,B次元官网网址� Bach said Wednesday. B次元官网网址淲e have not taken any decision about the participation of individual neutral athletes yet.B次元官网网址�
The sending out of formal invites for national Olympic committees and their best athletes to take part in the July 26 to Aug. 11 Olympics is an IOC tradition to mark the year-to-go milestone of both Summer and Winter Games. This time, 203 NOCs are getting them. Some picked up their invites from Bach in person Wednesday at a ceremony at the Paris Games headquarters. An invite also went to the IOCB次元官网网址檚 team of refugee athletes.
Guatemala joined Russia and Belarus on the list of NOCs that arenB次元官网网址檛 invited. Guatemala is because of alleged government interference with the independence of its NOC.
Other year-to-go events this week have been less formal than the ceremony where Bach spoke about Olympic values and where a violinist played FranceB次元官网网址檚 national anthem and
On a visit to the Olympic village that will house many of the 10,500 Olympians and 4,400 Paralympic athletes, Bach got to test one of the cardboard beds theyB次元官网网址檒l sleep on. Cardboard beds at the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Games in 2021 and became something of a hit when athletes posted videos of themselves testing their durability.
B次元官网网址淚 can assure them that they will sleep very well in these beds,B次元官网网址� Bach said.
He also rubbed shoulders with eight-time gold-medal winner Usain Bolt, who was the star guest on a festive trip for Olympic officials and French athletes on the River Seine. The boat trip Tuesday to the foot of the Eiffel Tower offered a small foretaste of the unprecedented waterborne opening ceremony that Paris is planning for its Games.
Paris organizers this week also of the sleek silver-colored torch that will be used to carry the Olympic flame around France and on its final leg at the July 26 opening.
And they with the worldB次元官网网址檚 biggest luxury group, LVMH Mo毛t Hennessy Louis Vuitton.
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