Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo on Wednesday said she hoped Russian athletes would be banned from taking part in the Paris Olympics and their opening ceremony.
Israeli athletes, however, should be fully welcome, she told Reuters in an interview, as organisers of the July 26-Aug 11 Games prepare to deal with issues arising from the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
The International Olympic Committee, which decides on such matters, is due to discuss at a next session the question of the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in the opening ceremony.
For now, Russian and Belarusian athletes cannot take part under their countries’ flag, but are allowed to participate as neutrals – without flags or anthems being played.
“I prefer that they don’t come,” Hidalgo said in an interview with Reuters.
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) said last week that Russian and Belarusian athletes joining the Paralympics would not be part of their opening ceremony.
Asked about Israel’s participation in the Olympics, Hidalgo said there was no comparison with Russia.
“Sanctioning Israel in relation to the Olympic and Paralympic Games is out of the question”, she said, “because Israel is a democracy.”
The IOC has not put any limit on the participation of Israeli athletes.
The mayor of Paris confirmed that, ahead of the Olympics, a ceremony would commemorate the victims of the attack on Israeli athletes and team members at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
Peyton Manning to co-anchor coverage of Paris ceremony
Pro Football Hall of Fame member Peyton Manning is joining veteran Olympics host Mike Tirico and Grammy Award-winning singer Kelly Clarkson as the anchors of NBC’s coverage of the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics in Paris.
The trio made the announcement last night on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
“I took a little French in high school,” Manning told talk show host Fallon.
“And I told my mother I would take her to Paris one day.
“Thirty years to the time I graduated, I’m taking my mom to Paris for the Olympics.”
Manning, 47, told The Athletic that he and Tirico began discussing the idea at the Kentucky Derby last May.
“I kind of argued with him as to why he and NBC thought I was worthy,” Manning told the outlet.
“He said they were bringing in Kelly Clarkson to kind of give the perspective of the fan and wanted me to share the perspective of what these athletes are thinking about it.”
