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Saudi Sports Minister Meets with International Olympic Committee President

The Saudi flag. Asharq Al-Awsat
The Saudi flag. Asharq Al-Awsat
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Saudi Sports Minister Meets with International Olympic Committee President

The Saudi flag. Asharq Al-Awsat
The Saudi flag. Asharq Al-Awsat

Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki bin Faisal bin Abdulaziz, Minister of Sports and President of the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee (SOPC), met in Riyadh on Saturday with the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Dr. Thomas Bach.

The visit marks Bach’s third since being elected as the IOC’s president in 2013.

It underscores the robust relationship between the two sides, in line with Saudi Vision 2030.

This vision has positioned the Kingdom as a permanent hub for global sports through the hosting of several significant sporting events. Among these are the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games 2025, the Asian Winter Games TROJENA 2029, and the Asian Games Riyadh 2034, in addition to numerous championships and sporting events.

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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)
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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.