Olympics-Soccer, rugby, kick off Games ahead of opening ceremony
PARIS, July 24 (Reuters) -The sporting action at the Paris Olympics kicked off with two soccer matches on Wednesday, two days before thousands of athletes and artists are set to take part in an ambitious opening ceremony at the heart of the French capital.
After years of preparation, and as more than 10,000 athletes are getting ready for their shot at one of the 329 gold medals that will be up for grabs in 19 days of competition, the first two events of the Paris Games kicked off at 3pm (1300 GMT).
Spain's men's team faced Uzbekistan at Parc des Princes in Paris while Argentina, who won the title in 2004 and 2008, played Morocco in the eastern city of Saint-Etienne.
Spain's teenage sensation Lamine Yamal is not playing at the Olympics, after deciding he needed a rest following his first full season as a senior professional.
Six more men's soccer games were scheduled later in the day, including hosts France playing the United States at 9pm. France won the title in 1984 in Los Angeles.
Before that, Israel's opening Olympic soccer match against Mali is set to be a first security test for the Games. France will deploy thousands of police officers to secure it amid pronounced security concerns and heightened geopolitical tensions, including over Israel's war in Gaza.
Rugby Sevens is also on the menu on Wednesday, with French global star Antoine Dupont elevating the host country's hopes of a gold medal after their heartbreaking failure at the XVs World Cup last year. France play the U.S. at 4.30pm and then Uruguay at 8pm.
Handball and archery will make their own debut at the Paris Games on Thursday, and shooting on Friday, before floating parades of athletes and artists on the river Seine take part in the Games' first ever opening ceremony outside a stadium.
Organisers said the ceremony, protected by 45,000 police and thousands more military, would be a daring, joyful show.
VIDEO SCANDAL
Dozens of boats will carry athletes and performers on a 6km route along the Seine. More than 300,000 spectators will be watching from the riverbanks, with hundreds of millions more expected to watch on TV or on social media.
Details including some of the artists taking part, who will last carry the torch and light the Olympic cauldron to mark the start of the Games, have been kept secret, and the ceremony's artistic team said they had been rehearsing in private to keep it all under wraps.
But what is known is that there will be a floating parade, departing from Austerlitz bridge, sailing by Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral and arriving near the Eiffel Tower, with the show also using nearby monuments and mixing music, light and dance.
Sightings in Paris of Canadian singer Celine Dion, who last year cancelled the European stretch of a world tour over a rare medical condition, have kicked off rumours that she could be taking part in the opening ceremony.
French Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera said Dion's presence in Paris was not a coincidence. In an interview with TF1 TV she declined to say if Dion - best known for the "Titanic" movie theme song "My Heart Will Go On" - would sing, adding that there were "many possible roles" one could play in an opening ceremony.
Meanwhile, the start of the Games was marred by a scandal over video footage that led to Britain's joint-most decorated female Olympian Charlotte Dujardin pulling out of the Paris Games.
The video shows Dujardin whipping a horse'slegs multiple times.
French police have arrested a Russian man suspected of planning to destabilise the Olympics, the Paris prosecutor's office said on Wednesday, which could take the form of disinformation or other types of attack.
Five Australian women's water polo players have tested positive for COVID-19, the country's Olympic team chief Anna Meares said on Wednesday. Meares added that the cases were confined to the water polo team.
France is set to host the Winter Games six years after the Summer Olympics, after it was conditionally picked as host for the 2030 event on Wednesday. Salt Lake City was awarded the 2034 Winter Olympics.
Writing by Ingrid Melander
Editing by Christian Radnedge
면책조항: XM Group 회사는 체결 전용 서비스와 온라인 거래 플랫폼에 대한 접근을 제공하여, 개인이 웹사이트에서 또는 웹사이트를 통해 이용 가능한 콘텐츠를 보거나 사용할 수 있도록 허용합니다. 이에 대해 변경하거나 확장할 의도는 없습니다. 이러한 접근 및 사용에는 다음 사항이 항상 적용됩니다: (i) 이용 약관, (ii) 위험 경고, (iii) 완전 면책조항. 따라서, 이러한 콘텐츠는 일반적인 정보에 불과합니다. 특히, 온라인 거래 플랫폼의 콘텐츠는 금융 시장에서의 거래에 대한 권유나 제안이 아닙니다. 금융 시장에서의 거래는 자본에 상당한 위험을 수반합니다.
온라인 거래 플랫폼에 공개된 모든 자료는 교육/정보 목적으로만 제공되며, 금융, 투자세 또는 거래 조언 및 권고, 거래 가격 기록, 금융 상품 또는 원치 않는 금융 프로모션의 거래 제안 또는 권유를 포함하지 않으며, 포함해서도 안됩니다.
이 웹사이트에 포함된 모든 의견, 뉴스, 리서치, 분석, 가격, 기타 정보 또는 제3자 사이트에 대한 링크와 같이 XM이 준비하는 콘텐츠 뿐만 아니라, 제3자 콘텐츠는 일반 시장 논평으로서 "현재" 기준으로 제공되며, 투자 조언으로 여겨지지 않습니다. 모든 콘텐츠가 투자 리서치로 해석되는 경우, 투자 리서치의 독립성을 촉진하기 위해 고안된 법적 요건에 따라 콘텐츠가 의도되지 않았으며, 준비되지 않았다는 점을 인지하고 동의해야 합니다. 따라서, 관련 법률 및 규정에 따른 마케팅 커뮤니케이션이라고 간주됩니다. 여기에서 접근할 수 있는 앞서 언급한 정보에 대한 비독립 투자 리서치 및 위험 경고 알림을 읽고, 이해하시기 바랍니다.
