South Korea’s Olympic team. File
| Photo Credit: AP

South Korea’s Sports Ministry on July 27 expressed regret over a gaffe during the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics in which South Korean athletes were incorrectly introduced as North Korean. Further, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) apologised for the gaffe, on July 27.

“We deeply apologise for the mistake that occurred when introducing the South Korean team during the broadcast of the opening ceremony,” the IOC said in a post on its official Korean-language X account.

As the South Korean delegation rode a boat on the Seine River and entered the ceremony as the 48th participating nation, the French-speaking presenter introduced them using the official name for North Korea: “Republique populaire democratique de Coree” in French, then “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea” in English.

The error sparked displeased reactions in South Korea, a global cultural and technological powerhouse that is technically still at war with the nuclear-armed and impoverished North, as the 1950-1953 conflict ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty.

“South Korea’s Sports Ministry expresses regret over the announcement during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics, where the South Korean delegation was introduced as the North Korean team,” it said in a statement.

“Second Vice-Sports Minister Jang Mi-ran, a 2008 Olympic weightlifting champion, has asked for a meeting with International Olympic Committee (IOC) chief Thomas Bach to discuss the matter,” it added.

The Sports Ministry has also asked the Foreign Ministry to “deliver a strong protest to the French side” over the issue.

South Korea’s National Olympic Committee plans to meet with the Paris Olympics Organising Committee and the IOC to voice their protest, request measures to prevent a recurrence, and send an official letter of protest under the name of the head of its delegation, according to the Sports Ministry.

During the Olympic opening ceremony in Paris, North Korea, which joined the ceremony as the 153rd nation, was correctly introduced with the country’s official name.

Relations between the two Koreas are at one of their lowest points in years, with the North bolstering military ties with Russia while sending thousands of trash-carrying balloons to the South.

In response, Seoul’s military blasts K-pop and anti-regime messages from border loudspeakers and recently resumed live-fire drills on border islands and near the demilitarised zone that divides the Korean peninsula.

Spectators are seen wearing rain coats near the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics on July 26, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

With Paris 2024 setting a new benchmark as the most gender-equal Games ever in terms of number, it is time to look back at the long road the modern Olympics has taken in its 128-year-old journey to reach this stage.

When the Games was revived in 1896 at its spiritual home Athens, women’s participation was zero. It was during the first Paris Games in 1900 when 22 women (2.2 per cent out of the 997 participating athletes) were reluctantly allowed to compete for the first time.

Paris again took the lead with a significant number of women participation (the number crossing 100 for the first time, with 125 women out of 3070 athletes) in 1924 and ultimately attained equality after a hundred years.

“Although Paris 1924 was the last edition of the Games at which women were not able to compete in athletics events, their participation in tennis, fencing, swimming, and — albeit less prominently — in other events (sailing and artistic gymnastics) was significant at a time when they were still being firmly rejected by the world of sport,” wrote Thierry Terret, former minister delegate for the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024, in Olympic Review.

The iconic image of legendary tennis player Helen Wills in all whites, wearing a loose white top, a long skirt, socks up to her knees and a visor cap, lunging forward to play a volley leaves a lasting impression. Athletes like Wills, who not only claimed two gold medals but also won multiple Grand Slam titles later, did a world of good to promote women’s participation in sports in general and in the Olympics in particular.

It has taken more than a century for different sports disciplines, ruled mostly by men, to slowly concede and let female athletes compete.

Although athletics, one of the most anticipated disciplines, permitted women to take part in 1928, it was not until 1984 that the women’s marathon event was added. Three other popular sports — swimming, fencing and gymnastics — started witnessing women athletes from 1912, 1924 and 1928 respectively.

Female athletes began competing in shooting in 1968 before separate women’s events were added in 1984.

Modern pentathlon and weightlifting welcomed the women in 2000, while wrestling had to wait until the following edition.

Boxing, another combat sport, took quite a long — as late as 2012 London Games — to accept women.

The participation of women slowly increased in the post-World War II era and finally crossed 30% (34% to be precise) in the 1996 Atlanta Games. With the International Olympic Committee (IOC) working with International Federations and National Olympic Committees to push for increased participation of women, the percentage has witnessed a steady rise over the last 25 years to reach 48% in Tokyo and even closer to 50% in Paris (out of the projected total figure of 10,500 athletes).

Initiatives such as an increase in the number of medal events for women and introduction of mixed gender events have contributed in making the greater participation of women more meaningful.

Paris 2024 has not only achieved equality in terms of numbers, but has also tried to live its spirit by introducing the mixed team race walking and scheduling the women’s marathon as the last event of the Games instead of the traditionally marquee men’s marathon.

This photograph shows the Eiffel Tower, decorated with the Olympic rings for the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in Paris, on July 18, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AFP

Thousands of French security forces locked down a six-kilometre (four-mile) stretch of central Paris on Thursday ahead of the hugely complex Olympics opening ceremony next week.

The opening parade on July 26 that will see athletes sail down the river Seine led to the closure of central water-side residential districts to most vehicles from 5:00 am (0300 GMT) on Thursday.

Traffic on surrounding boulevards was noticeably lighter than usual as many drivers stayed away, but locals and tourists found themselves blocked at checkpoints, particularly when trying to cross the river.

“It’s a real pain,” cyclist Frank Groner, 52, told AFP after being turned away by police outside the La Samaritaine department store. “I read everything online and thought I’d understood. You can’t cross anywhere!”

With the opening ceremony just eight days away, Paris is transforming itself as it prepares to welcome nearly nine million Olympics ticketholders.

Organisers are putting the finishing touches to the temporary sports stadiums at iconic locations such as the Eiffel Tower, the Invalides or the Place de la Concorde.

Advertising boards, new artwork and Olympics bunting are going up, while the creation of Olympic VIP traffic lanes this week are the latest change to the capital’s gridlocked streets.

“The Olympics have brought us nothing but misery,” taxi driver Rabah Ouanes, 53, complained on Thursday, saying traffic had been dreadful because of all the construction work.

In the run up to the Games, tourist numbers are much lower-than-usual and many Paris residents have headed off on holiday to avoid the disruption.

“Our clients are down by 50 percent,” said Renaud, a senior waiter at the famed Deux Magots cafe in Saint-German-des-Pres, which is inside the new security perimeter set up on Thursday.

“Normally we have people queuing out the door,” he told AFP, gesturing towards the numerous empty seats on the outdoor terrace.

– ‘Super excited’ –

Elsewhere on Thursday, the first athletes arrived at the newly built Olympic Village in the Saint-Ouen northern suburb of the capital which urban planners are hoping to regenerate.

Comprising 40 different low-rise housing blocs, the complex has been built as a showcase of innovative construction techniques using low-carbon concrete, water recycling and reclaimed building materials.

It was also intended to be free of air-conditioning, but Olympic delegations have ordered around 2,500 portable cooling units for their athletes out of fear of high temperatures.

“We are super excited to check how it’s looking,” Australian hockey player Stephanie Kershaw told AFP as she waited to enter the village. “We can’t wait to get started.”

Members of the Argentinian, Brazilian and Kenyan delegations could be seen pushing luggage trolleys into the complex, while British and US athletes are also expected on Thursday.

At full capacity, the village will host 14,500 people including 9,000 athletes.

– Unprecedented ceremony –

Securing the Paris Games remains the biggest priority for French authorities, with Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin insisting Wednesday that there was “no credible threat” against them at this stage.

The opening ceremony has been giving senior police officers cold sweats ever since it was announced in 2021 because of the difficulty of protecting such a large, densely packed urban area.

Around 6,000-7,000 athletes are set to sail down the Seine on nearly a hundred barges and river boats.

It will be the first time a Summer Olympics has opened outside the main athletics stadium, with up to 500,000 people set to watch in person from stands, on the river banks and from the overlooking apartments.

The two-tiered security perimeter installed on Thursday has restricted most vehicles from central areas.

Anyone wanting to enter the highest-security “grey zone” along both banks of the Seine, such as residents or tourists with hotel reservations in the area, needs a security pass in the form of a QR code.

River barriers blocking access to the Seine were installed and functioning on Thursday, while a vast no-fly zone will be put in place above the capital on the evening of the ceremony.

The installation of tens of thousands of metal security barriers all along the route of the parade and around the temporary venues has also outraged some Parisians.

Martine Dubois, a 74-year-old living in Saint-Germain-des-Pres, said the Olympics were “a real inconvenience”.

The metro stop she uses for work was one of 10 closed for security reasons on Thursday and the barriers “make you feel like you’re living in a prison,” she told AFP.

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