Saudi Deputy Sports Minister Crowns Emirates Team New Zealand 'NEOM Cup' Champions

The Saudi Deputy Minister of Sport, Bader bin Abdulrahman Al-Kadi, has crowned the Emirates Team New Zealand. SPA
The Saudi Deputy Minister of Sport, Bader bin Abdulrahman Al-Kadi, has crowned the Emirates Team New Zealand. SPA
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Saudi Deputy Sports Minister Crowns Emirates Team New Zealand 'NEOM Cup' Champions

The Saudi Deputy Minister of Sport, Bader bin Abdulrahman Al-Kadi, has crowned the Emirates Team New Zealand. SPA
The Saudi Deputy Minister of Sport, Bader bin Abdulrahman Al-Kadi, has crowned the Emirates Team New Zealand. SPA

The Saudi Deputy Minister of Sport, Bader bin Abdulrahman Al-Kadi, has crowned the Emirates Team New Zealand with the 37th edition of the America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta Jeddah “NEOM Cup.”

The championship, held for the first time in the Kingdom at the Jeddah Yacht Club and Marina, was organized by the Saudi Sailing Federation in collaboration with the Saudi Ministry of Sports.

Over the course of four days, six teams representing participating countries competed in the waters of the Red Sea.

The New Zealand team secured a well-deserved victory by achieving 64 points in a thrilling competition against the Italian team that secured the second position, with 49 points.

The Swiss team came in the third position with 35 points, while the American team achieved the fourth position with 28 points. The British team claimed the fifth position with 26 points, and the French team was in the last position with 20 points.



‘Flooding Rains’ Threaten to Dampen Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony

Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)
Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)
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‘Flooding Rains’ Threaten to Dampen Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony

Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)
Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)

The Paris Olympics look likely to get off to a soggy start.

Meteo-France, the French weather service, is predicting “flooding rains” Friday evening when the opening ceremony is set to unroll along the Seine River. But the show is set to go on as planned, starting at 1:30 p.m. EDT/7:30 p.m. CEST and should last more than three hours.

Already in the late afternoon, skies were gray with intermittent drizzle. There was a silver lining, though, with temperatures expected to stay relatively warm throughout the evening.

Instead of a traditional march into a stadium, about 6,800 athletes will parade on more than 90 boats on the Seine River for 6 kilometers (3.7 miles). Though 10,700 athletes are expected to compete at these Olympics, hundreds of soccer players are based outside Paris, surfers are in Tahiti and many have yet to arrive for their events in the second week, organizers said Thursday.

Hundreds of thousands of people, including 320,000 paying and invited ticket-holders, are expected to line the Seine’s banks as athletes are paraded along the river on boats.