Arab Delegation Visits Riyadh to Oversee Preparations for Arab Road Cycling Championship

The meeting is part of the inspection visit as the date for hosting the Arab Road Cycling Championship 2023 approaches. SPA
The meeting is part of the inspection visit as the date for hosting the Arab Road Cycling Championship 2023 approaches. SPA
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Arab Delegation Visits Riyadh to Oversee Preparations for Arab Road Cycling Championship

The meeting is part of the inspection visit as the date for hosting the Arab Road Cycling Championship 2023 approaches. SPA
The meeting is part of the inspection visit as the date for hosting the Arab Road Cycling Championship 2023 approaches. SPA

President of the Saudi Cycling Federation (SCF) and Vice President of the Arab Cycling Federation (ACF), Abdullah Al-Wathlan, met with a delegation of the ACF, headed by Secretary-General Ismail Al-Hosani.

The meeting is part of the inspection visit as the date for hosting the Arab Road Cycling Championship 2023 approaches.

The championship is scheduled to take place from December 15 to 23 in Riyadh.

During the meeting, Al-Wathlan expressed the SCF’s eagerness for further cooperation with ACF to contribute to organizing an exceptional edition and providing an exemplary experience for more than 300 players representing 13 countries. They will compete in this Arab event, overseen by the International Cycling Union (UCI).

The visit included inspection tours covering the race routes scheduled over seven days, totaling 730 kilometers.
This encompassed the accommodation for delegations, technical and arbitration needs, as well as the final preparations and arrangements to welcome the Arab teams.



‘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.