Paris skies closed for business during Olympics opening ceremony – National

Skies over the Paris region will be closed for six hours as part of the massive security operation for the July 26 opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, the Paris airports operator said Wednesday. Augustin de Romanet, chairman of Aéroports de Paris, said airlines are being warned in advance about the closure and told they … Read more

Olympian Kristi Yamaguchi is ‘tickled pink’ to inspire a Barbie doll

Like many little girls, a young Kristi Yamaguchi loved playing with Barbie. With a schedule packed with ice skating practices, her Barbie dolls became her “best friends.” So, it’s surreal for the decorated Olympian figure skater to now be a Barbie girl herself. “It’s a huge, huge honor. I think a lot of pride comes … Read more

Paris mayor is confident that water quality will allow Olympic swimming in the River Seine

PARIS — Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo said she was confident water quality in the River Seine will be up to Olympic standards this summer — and that she’ll be able to prove it by swimming there, possibly alongside President Emmanuel Macron. The Seine is the venue for marathon swimming at the Games and the swimming … Read more

Police clear out migrant camp in Paris. Activists say it’s a pre-Olympics sweep

PARIS — French police evicted migrants from a makeshift camp in Paris a few steps away from the Seine River on Tuesday, the latest operation in what aid groups call a campaign of ‘’social cleansing” ahead of the Summer Olympics. Before dawn on an unusually cold April morning, around 30 teenage boys and young men … Read more

Fencing mom Arianna Errigo and high jumper Gianmarco Tamberi named Italy’s Olympic flagbearers

ROME — A fencing mother of twins and a high-jumping symbol of Italy’s success at the Tokyo Olympics will be the country’s flagbearers at the Paris Games opening ceremony. Arianna Errigo and Gianmarco Tamberi were selected on Monday by the Italian Olympic Committee for the honor at the July 26 ceremony. Errigo, who will be … Read more

French athletes at Paris Olympics will receive better mental health protection

PARIS — French athletes at the Paris Olympics will be offered better protection for their mental health, with priority given to curbing online harassment and cyberbullying. France’s Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra and Secretary of State for Digital Affairs Marina Ferrari have been discussing ways to ensure mental health is looked after at the July 26-Aug. … Read more

French athletes at Paris Olympics will receive better mental health protection

PARIS — French athletes at the Paris Olympics will be offered better protection for their mental health, with priority given to curbing online harassment and cyberbullying. France’s Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra and Secretary of State for Digital Affairs Marina Ferrari have been discussing ways to ensure mental health is looked after at the July 26-Aug. … Read more

Dozens of Russian athletes are likely to qualify for the Paris Olympics. Will Moscow let them go?

DUESSELDORF, Germany — With 100 days to go until the Paris Olympics, it’s still not clear whether any athletes from Russia who are expected to qualify will actually go. The question is whether Moscow will accept the conditions that the International Olympic Committee set for Russia in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine. Ultimately, … Read more

Paris prepares for 100-day countdown to the Olympics. It wants to rekindle love for the Games

PARIS — In Paris’ outskirts, a bright-eyed young girl is eager for the Olympic and Paralympic Games to end. That’s because the swimming club where 10-year-old Lyla Kebbi trains will inherit an Olympic pool. It will be dismantled after the Games and trucked from the Olympic race venue in Paris’ high-rise business district to Sevran, … Read more

Macron says Olympic opening ceremony could be moved if security risk is too high

French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday said the opening ceremony for the Paris Olympics planned on the River Seine could be shifted instead to the Stade de France if the security threat is deemed too high. France is on high security alert ahead of the Paris Olympics and Paralympics, which are expected to draw millions … Read more