• Olympic medals revealed

The medals from the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games were revealed on Thursday February 8. The 5,084 decorations each contain a hexagonal piece of the Eiffel Tower.

On the front side of the medals, we can see an iron hexagon from the Eiffel Tower and bearing the Paris-2024 logo. It emanates rays shaped in the metal of the medal.

On the right side, the engraved figures of the goddess of victory Athena Nike, the Panathenaic stadium and the Acropolis are imposed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) but Paris 2024 has obtained exceptional authorization to add the design of the Eiffel Tower. For Paralympic medals, no required figures for the tails side. It will therefore be a bird's eye view from below the Eiffel Tower, with the inscription Paris 2024 in universal braille.

The 18 grams of the Eiffel Tower set on each medal were extracted from pieces of the Iron Lady coming from the renovations of the monument and secretly kept in hangars in the Paris suburbs.

The jeweler Chaumet, owned by LVMH, was chosen to design the medals which will be manufactured by the Paris mint. Each will be 85 mm in diameter, 9.2 mm thick, with different weights, 529 g for gold, 525 g for silver and 455 g for bronze.

Unique symbol of a dream coming true.


Ultimate reward of a victory or a podium


They carry at their heart a fragment of the Eiffel Tower.


Here are the medals from the Olympic and Paralympic Games of #Paris2024@jeuxolympiques @LaTourEiffel pic.twitter.com/qlcfrAvGJ4

— Paris 2024 (@Paris2024) February 8, 2024

  • New places on sale

On the occasion of the presentation of the Games medals, new tickets are on sale on Thursday February 8. All sports are offered, but some in very limited numbers. New places for the four ceremonies of the Paris 2024 Games are also offered.

Regular ticket release meetings will mark the coming weeks until the Games.

  • A plan B for the opening ceremony

    ?

According to the newspaper Le Parisien, "several meetings have taken place in recent weeks to talk about the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris and 'its plan B'". Back-up plans, ready to be deployed in the event of an increased terrorist risk or another threat to the safety of the 10,000 participating athletes and spectators, were notably discussed.

But the Élysée denies the idea, mentioned by the Canard chainé, of a ceremony taking place at the Trocadéro in the event of a last resort. The objective is still to organize it on the Seine. The gauge, however, has been revised downwards. While the Minister of the Interior, Gérard Darmanin had announced 600,000 spectators in October 2022, he finally declared at the end of January that there would be around 300,000.

  • The government advises against parcel delivery during the Games

The government invites individuals to postpone parcel deliveries “as far as possible” next summer, during the period of the Olympic Games and that of the Paralympic Games, we can read on the “Anticipate the Games” website.

“As far as possible, we invite you to anticipate your package orders so that they are delivered before July 24, after September 8 or between the two Olympics, i.e. between August 12 and 27, 2024,” specifies the Ministry of Transport as part of this campaign launched on January 29.

In the event that deliveries should still take place during these Games, the government is asking to “favor deliveries at times and days with less traffic” and “by bike or on foot”, or at relay points”. outside the security perimeters (red and blue zones)".

  • Tony Estanguet's salary in the sights of justice

The National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF) has opened an investigation into the remuneration conditions of the president of the organizing committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Cojop) in Paris.

Tony Estanguet received annual remuneration of 270,000 euros gross until 2020, according to figures communicated by Cojop in 2018. This remuneration was then likely to change within a limit of 20%, depending on certain performance criteria, Cojop indicated at the time. But as Cojop is a 1901 law type association, the remuneration of its directors is capped by law at significantly lower levels.

According to a recent article in Le Canard chainé, the former sportsman would have created a company which invoices “non-commercial services” to Cojop, which he manages. Which questions the control of "the reality and quality of the services" carried out by the Estanguet company, the newspaper continued in October.

Tony Estanguet, triple gold medalist, doesn't hate money! An accounting trick allows the boss of the #Paris2024 Organizing Committee to receive €270,000 gross annually (excluding bonuses) for his “services”. Without much control…



➡️ https://t.co/Tpwe6OBCXa


✍️@_A_u_r_e_l pic.twitter.com/7guKsWL6KA

— The Chained Duck (@canardenchaine) November 1, 2023

  • The inauguration of a new swimming pool at La Courneuve

A swimming pool which will serve as a training location for water polo teams during the Games was inaugurated on Tuesday February 6 in La Courneuve, north of Paris. It will be part of the permanent heritage in this poorest department in France.

This complex, named after the Australian swimmer Annette Kellermann, is 4,600 square meters, including 1,600 square meters of water including a competition pool (8 water lanes) but also swimming learning pools and swimming pools. fun and well-being spaces.

It will be open to schools from April and will then serve in particular as a training site for water polo teams for the Paris Olympics. Outside, pitches will be used for rugby sevens. It will open to all audiences at the start of the 2024 school year.

We present to you the new Annette Kellermann swimming pool, at the Marville departmental sports park in La Courneuve 💦🏊



Yesterday evening, we inaugurated this magnificent swimming pool, whose pools are ready to welcome athletes. pic.twitter.com/wGgXftNN3h

— Oumarou Doucoure (@OumarouDouk) February 7, 2024

With AFP

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