’Shocked and disappointed’: Spying scandal erupts as gold medallists apologise — Olympics Daily
- by Admin
- July 23, 2024
The Paris Olympics have been rocked by a spying scandal ahead of the first night of competition (from 11pm AEST Wednesday), with reigning women’s football gold medallists Canada caught using a drone to film a training session of their upcoming opponents New Zealand.
The New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) reported the incident to the International Olympic Committee’s integrity unit.
“On July 22, a drone was flown over the New Zealand women’s football team training session in St Etienne,” the NZOC said. “Team support members immediately reported the incident to police, leading to the drone operator, who has been identified as a support staff member of the wider Canadian Women’s football team, to be detained.”
“The NZOC and New Zealand Football are committed to upholding the integrity and fairness of the Olympic Games and are deeply shocked and disappointed by this incident, which occurred just three days before the sides are due to face each other in their opening game of Paris 2024,” the statement added. “At this time the NZOC’s main priority is to support the New Zealand women’s football athletes and wider team as they start their campaign.”
The Canadian Olympic Committee said in a statement that the drone operator was “a non-accredited member of the Canada Soccer support team.”
The statement added they are “reviewing next steps with the IOC, Paris 2024, Canada Soccer and FIFA.”
“The Canadian Olympic Committee stands for fair-play and we are shocked and disappointed. We offer our heartfelt apologies to New Zealand Football, to all the players affected and to the New Zealand Olympic Committee,” the statement continued.
The two teams face off on Thursday in the first match of the women’s Olympics football tournament.
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SHOCKING WARNING TO AUSSIE OLYMPIANS
Australian Olympians have been warned against wearing their team uniforms outside the Olympic village following the alleged gang rape of an Australian woman in Paris.
Disturbing CCTV footage captured the moments after an Australian woman was allegedly gang-raped in Paris just days before the start of the Olympics.
French media reported a woman, 25, was found disoriented and unable to speak French outside a kebab shop on Boulevard de Clichy in Paris’ 18th arrondissement about 5am on Saturday, just metres from Moulin Rouge.
CCTV shows the woman crying and pleading for help at the shop, with a woman and the shop owners comforting her.
Australian chef de mission Anna Meares said she hope the woman has been cared for and “supported in the trauma that she’s experienced” before issuing a warning to Olympians.
“We encouraged them if they go out of the village not to go out on their own, not to wear team uniform just to wear the plain clothes,” she said.
“It is based on the security advice that we’ve received and just ensuring the safety of our athletes.”
The advice is reportedly precautionary, emphasising organisers want to ensure everyone “stays safe and comes home safe”.
“Information we’re passing on to our athletes is that security presence is really really high and that’s in order for them to be able to act as quickly as possible to keep them safe,” she said.
“We don’t yet have any feedback from our athletes that they have felt unsafe.“We’ve got a huge contingency of family and friends coming … we just want to make sure that everyone stays safe and comes home safe.”
‘DEEPLY ASHAMED’: OLYMPICS CHAMPION PULLS OUT OF PARIS OVER WHIPPING CONTROVERSY
Team GB’s Charlotte Dujardin has pulled out of the Paris Games in a shock decision on the eve of the event.
Her decision comes after a video was leaked, allegedly showing her whipping a horse during a coaching session.
Dujardin is a three-time Olympic champion who was bidding to become Brittain’s single-most decorated female Olympian.
“A video has emerged from four years ago which shows me making an error of judgement during a coaching session,” she said in a statement.
COVID FEARS AS AUSSIE TEAMMATES TEST POSITIVE
Australia’s women’s water polo team is hoping to avoid a Covid outbreak after two players tested positive just days out from the Olympics.
Australian chef de mission Anna Meares confirmed multiple officials and staff had shown symptoms without testing positive to Covid.
But two members of the Stingers team have since tested positive, with one of them expected to train with her teammates on Tuesday despite the illness.
The Paris Games are not being run under the same Covid protocols as in Tokyo, with the team being cautious, and both players now isolating when in their accomodation.
“The player who has tested positive to Covid last night has chosen not to train with her teammates this afternoon,” an AOC spokeswoman said.
“All close contacts have been tested. A second player who was a close contact has also tested positive, but that player is well enough to train.
“The water polo team followed the Australian Olympic Team Respiratory Illness protocols correctly which allowed for early diagnosis and treatment. A reminder has been sent to all teams to reinforce the protocols.
“No other athletes in the Australian Team have been diagnosed with COVID and teams and officials will continue to observe common sense precautions in line with Team protocols.”
BIG BOOMERS BOOST
Australia looks to have avoided a major injury setback, with Dante Exum reportedly set to feature for the Boomers in the group stage of the Olympics despite dislocating his finger.
Exum suffered the injury in Australia’s final warm-up game against France, putting his spot in the squad in doubt before he was later cleared of a fracture by scans.
It was revealed, however, that Exum did suffer a compound dislocation and as a result he is looking unlikely to play in Australia’s tournament opener against Spain on Saturday.
ESPN’s Olgun Uluc reported on Tuesday that Exum and the Boomers are targeting a return at some point in the group phase of the tournament.
It comes after Australian chef de mission Anna Meares told reporters on Monday Exum was “expected to continue on the path to compete at the Games”.
Teammate Jock Landale also said Exum had been “cleared” to play and would be a “key piece of the puzzle” for the Boomers.
NUGGETS OFF THE MENU AT OLYMPICS
Chicken nuggets are off the menu at the Olympic Games.
While Usain Bolt may have claimed to have ate 1,000 of them during his gold medal winning stretch at the 2008 Beijing Games, there will be a concerted attempt in Paris to offer healthier options to athletes.
Four Michelin-starred chefs will be preparing the food, with every country able to make specific requests.
Great Britain, for example, asked for porridge while Philipp Würz, head of food and beverages at the Games, told The Telegraph it was kimchi for the Koreans, sticky rice for the Chinese delegation and “skewers” for the Japanese.
Würz told The Guardian around 1,200 Michelin-starred meals will be served a day out of 40,000 overall and that 30 per cent of the menu at the Games would be plant-based.
For example, while chicken nuggets are off the table, soya-based nuggets are an option.
The Guardian reported that some meals on offer include croissant, poached egg, artichoke cream, shavings of sheep’s cheese topped with truffle.
It comes after Würz said he read 20 per cent of athletes’ meals during the London Olympics were McDonalds.
“It’s a much healthier menu now,” he said.
“With no McDonald’s, no chicken nuggets, and more healthy food.”
That does not mean there won’t be some more traditional options, with chicken skewers, chicken fillet and salmon and margarita pizza among the most popular dishes so far.
There will also be 800 baguettes baked per day, which is the equivalent of 6km in total across the entire Olympics and Paralympics.
LOGAN PAUL’S PRIME SUED BY US OLYMPIC COMMITTEE FOR ‘BLATANT’ TRADEMARK INFRINGEMENT
This may be a Prime example of how to anger the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee.
Prime Hydration – the sports beverage brand founded by social media personalities Logan Paul and KSI – is facing a federal lawsuit from the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, which is accusing the beverage company of trademark infringement.
The committee is alleging in a lawsuit filed in the District of Colorado that Prime Hydration had used trademarked phrases, which included “OLYMPIC,” “OLYMPIAN,” “TEAM USA” and “GOING FOR GOLD,” in online marketing of its products, specifically pointing to its drink that features NBA superstar Kevin Durant, NBC News reported the lawsuit stating.
“Prime Hydration’s conduct has been and continues to be willful, deliberate, and in bad faith, with malicious intent to trade on the goodwill of the USOPC and the IOC,” the committee wrote in its lawsuit, per the report.
The committee also described the trademark infringement as “willful” and “blatant.”
They also alleged that Paul’s company had caused “damage and irreparable injury” to the organisation that supports Team USA’s athletes.
The suit is seeking all of the profit that Prime Hydration brought in from products that had been infringing on Olympic trademarks, the New York Times reported.
The specific beverage made in partnership with Durant, who is a member of the U.S. men’s basketball team competing in Paris, was described as “Team USA Kevin Durant Drink” as well as the “Kevin Durant Olympic Prime Drink,” per NBC News.
Coca-Cola has the exclusive right to use Olympic trademarks and the lawsuit states that the beverage company made a “significant monetary contribution” to be able to use them.
It also alleged that the trademark infringement by Prime Hydration threatened the value of the sponsorship deal.
The suit stated that the Olympic Committee’s lawyer got in contact with Prime Hydration to ask the company to stop using the trademarks, but drinks were still shipped out to stores and featured on its LinkedIn account.
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The drink appeared to be removed from the company website and social media posts that were mentioned in the suit were taken down, NBC News reported.
Prime Hydration was founded by Paul and KSI – real name Olajide Olayinka Williams Olatunji – in 2022 and the beverage company has become a popular sports drink brand since then.
The company makes both a sports drink and energy drink and has partnership deals with a number of athletes across the sports spectrum, including Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Manchester City star Erling Haaland.
TOUR DE FRANCE WINNER PULLS OUT
Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar pulled out of the Paris Olympics citing “tiredness”, his Slovenia team announced.
“Unfortunately Tadej Pogacar has cancelled his participation because of a state of extreme fatigue,” Slovenian Olympic cycling coach Uros Murn said in a statement.
Pogacar won a third Tour de France title in Nice on Sunday. Victory also gave him the first Giro d’Italia-Tour de France double since Marco Pantani in 1998.
But the 25-year-old, a bronze medallist in the road race at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, had been angered by his girlfriend Urska Zigart not being selected for the Slovenian women’s cycling team for the Paris Games.
He said he was “angry” and “speechless” in a message posted on his Facebook account.
“I need a little rest after the Tour and I’m not sure what I’ll be doing next,” Pogacar had said on Sunday.
“And I want to relax and rest and spend some time with my girlfriend.”
When asked about the Olympics on Sunday, he remained very evasive, preferring to mention his “dream” of one day wearing the rainbow jersey of world champion.
At the worlds in September in Zurich, the Slovenian is aiming for a triple of the world title, the Giro and Tour, only held by two men, Ireland’s Stephen Roche and Belgian Eddy Merckx.
Pogacar will be replaced on the national team by Domen Novak. “Once again Tadej, congratulations for Tour de France win!” Team Slovenia said.
Exhausted Pogacar ruled out of Olympics | 00:27
ISRAEL HEADS TO OLYMPICS DESPITE CALLS FOR BAN
Israel’s Olympic delegation flew to Paris on Monday as the Palestinian contingent called for banning the Israeli athletes over the war in Gaza.
The Summer Games in the French capital open Friday against a backdrop of heightened security concerns and growing international outrage over the death toll and humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza.
The Palestine Olympic Committee said Monday it sent a letter to International Olympic Committee (IOC) chief Thomas Bach asking him to ban Israel, citing the bombings of the besieged strip as a breach of the Olympic truce.
The letter “emphasised that Palestinian athletes, particularly those in Gaza, are denied safe passage and have suffered significantly due to ongoing conflict”.
It said “approximately 400 Palestinian athletes have been killed, and the destruction of sports facilities exacerbates the plight of athletes who are already under severe restrictions”.
In its statement, the committee also referenced the recent opinion by the UN’s top court finding Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories illegal.
Ahead of the flight to France, Israel Olympic Committee President Yael Arad called it a “victory” that the team’s 88 athletes were participating in the Games.
“Our first victory is that we are here and going, and that we didn’t give up and have been competing in hundreds of competitions since October 7,” Arad told journalists at Ben Gurion airport.
She was referring to the date of the unprecedented Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel that started the war, which has led to protests around the world.
French organisers have stepped up security in Paris where the Israeli delegation will be subject to strict security protocols.
“It’s no secret that these Olympic Games are a little more difficult for all of us. But we have full confidence in the organisation of security,” Arad added.
Speaking at the same conference, judoka Inbar Lanir acknowledged that Israeli athletes have become mired in controversy over the war, but added they were “used to” it.
“My part is to connect everyone by sports. It’s above all politics and wars and hate. So, I’m feeling safe and I’m excited to represent my country.” French lawmaker Thomas Portes sparked a political row over the weekend by saying Israeli athletes were “not welcome” and calling for “mobilisation” around the Olympics, during a demonstration in support of Palestinians.
But French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne said on Monday Israeli athletes were “welcome in France”.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz in a post on X thanked his French counterpart “for his welcome message to the Israeli delegation at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, and for his assurance regarding the safety of our athletes”.
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Some pro-Palestinian protesters and activists in France and the United States, as well as Palestinian sports clubs and the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations, had joined a call for the IOC to limit Israel’s official participation in the 2024 Summer Games over the war in Gaza.
In March, the head of the IOC coordination committee for Paris 2024, Pierre-Olivier Beckers-Vieujant, said it was “out of the question to imagine” sanctions on Israel over its war in Gaza, as Russia and its Olympic Committee were over the invasion of Ukraine.
The Olympic Games in Paris will take place from July 26 to August 11. Several Israeli competitors are in contention for medals, including taekwondo athlete Avishag Semberg, who was a bronze medallist at the 2020 Olympics, gymnast Artem Dolgopyat, who secured Israel its first gymnastics gold in 2020, and Lanir, a 2023 world champion in her category.
Eight Palestinian athletes are also taking part in the Paris Games. The October 7 Hamas-led attacks on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,197 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Out of 251 people taken hostage that day, 116 are still being held inside the Gaza Strip, including 44 who the military says are dead.
Israel’s military offensive has killed at least 39,006 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.
According to the Israeli military, 327 soldiers have been killed in the Gaza military campaign since the start of the ground offensive on October 27.
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