PARIS: What started with a major security scare and torrential rain that threatened the smooth running of the elaborate opening ceremony and swimming events being held in the Seine, ended with the river playing its expected central part in the Olympics.
Paris 2024 organizing committee president Tony Estanguet said it had been stressful and adjustments had had to be made, but the triple Olympic champion was beaming with pride as he reflected on Saturday on a successful Games.
“The ambition we had was worth fighting for, we made strong choices, bold choices that are not always the easiest ones,” Estanguet told a press conference a day before the Games end.
Organizers had decided marathon swimming and the swimming legs of the triathlon would take place on the Seine, just like the globally acclaimed opening ceremony — the first time one had been held outside a stadium.
And while training sessions and were delayed and the men’s triathlon was pushed back due to concerns over the water quality after heavy rain, the events that had been due to happen in the river did go ahead.
“Swimming in the river Seine, we have faced challenges but we did it, we delivered this ambition, that’s why it’s a fantastic success so far,” Estanguet said.
“We’ve had so much rain (on opening ceremony day), it was not the plan. We had anticipated some rain but we’ve had to adjust in the final hours and change a lot of things so that this ceremony could happen.
“Yes, I was stressed because I did not know to what extent the artists would manage to adapt to these crazy condition. It was quite an achievement from them.”
The weather complicated the ambition to swim in the Seine.
“We had no guarantees on storms, some of them were not anticipated and happened, others were anticipated and did not happen,” Estanguet said.
“We were not spared,” Paris 2024 CEO Etienne Thobois said.
“We had contingency plans and every time we were ready. There were moments of stress but everyone reacted with professionalism. The preparation work was perfect.”
Security was another major challenge. Saboteurs struck France’s TGV high-speed train network in a series of pre-dawn attacks across the country, causing travel chaos on the morning of the opening ceremony.
“Let’s remember those attacks, we responded swiftly, the accreditation system was impacted (by a cyber-attack) but we solved the problem within four hours,” Thobois said.
It was stressful, but we did it, Paris 2024 organizers say
https://arab.news/p85xe
It was stressful, but we did it, Paris 2024 organizers say
- Paris 2024 organizing committee president Tony Estanguet said it had been stressful and adjustments had had to be made
- “The ambition we had was worth fighting for, we made strong choices, bold choices that are not always the easiest ones,” Estanguet told a press conference
Sabalenka debuts engagement ring during Indian Wells win
- World number one sported the striking oval-cut diamond ring for the first time in competition after getting engaged to Georgios Frangulis late on Tuesday
INDIAN WELLS, California: Aryna Sabalenka’s performance in a 6-4 6-2 second-round win over Japan’s Himeno Sakatsume was not the only thing that dazzled at Indian Wells on Friday, with the world number one also showing off her shiny new engagement ring.
The 27-year-old sported the striking oval-cut diamond ring for the first time in competition after getting engaged to Georgios Frangulis late on Tuesday.
“It feels super comfortable and shiny,” she told reporters.
“We double-checked if there was a possibility to lose the diamond, and there was none. I was pretty confident wearing it, hoping it might even distract my opponent.”
Sabalenka, who has made the final of the WTA 1000 event twice in the last three years, said that while the proposal came as a complete surprise to her, the entire team was in on the engagement secret.
“I saw Georgios and I was crying half of the time, because I thought that I looked ugly, not prepared, and this is such a beautiful moment,” she said.
“I stopped everything, and I asked the videographer and the photographer to make sure that my face was not (in the pictures), just the ring, and side views and from the back, just so you guys wouldn’t be shocked by the way I looked.
“But it was a beautiful moment.”
Sabalenka was asked what she has learned about Frangulis, the CEO of global health-food brand OakBerry, and what he has learned about her since they began dating in 2024.
“What I have learned about him? He likes Oakberry a lot,” the four-times Grand Slam champion said. “What he has learned about me? That I’m crazy,” she added with a laugh.
