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IOC: France Conditionally Confirmed as 2030 Winter Games Hosts

Paris 2024 Olympics - IOC Session 2030 & 2034 Announcements - Le Palais des Congres de Paris, Paris, France - July 24, 2024. French President Emmanuel Macron, Member of Parliament Laurent Wauquiez, President of the region Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur Renaud Muselier and David Lappartient, President of the France's Olympic Committee during the IOC Session. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
Paris 2024 Olympics - IOC Session 2030 & 2034 Announcements - Le Palais des Congres de Paris, Paris, France - July 24, 2024. French President Emmanuel Macron, Member of Parliament Laurent Wauquiez, President of the region Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur Renaud Muselier and David Lappartient, President of the France's Olympic Committee during the IOC Session. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
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IOC: France Conditionally Confirmed as 2030 Winter Games Hosts

Paris 2024 Olympics - IOC Session 2030 & 2034 Announcements - Le Palais des Congres de Paris, Paris, France - July 24, 2024. French President Emmanuel Macron, Member of Parliament Laurent Wauquiez, President of the region Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur Renaud Muselier and David Lappartient, President of the France's Olympic Committee during the IOC Session. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
Paris 2024 Olympics - IOC Session 2030 & 2034 Announcements - Le Palais des Congres de Paris, Paris, France - July 24, 2024. French President Emmanuel Macron, Member of Parliament Laurent Wauquiez, President of the region Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur Renaud Muselier and David Lappartient, President of the France's Olympic Committee during the IOC Session. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

France was conditionally picked as the host of the 2030 Winter Games on Wednesday and must now deliver key financial guarantees in a timeline to be set by the International Olympic Committee, the IOC said.
The French Alps bid was the preferred choice since June but due to elections and a current caretaker government had been unable to deliver the necessary state and regional financial guarantees in time.
French President Emmanuel Macron spoke to the IOC session prior to the vote on Wednesday in a bid to ease any concerns and show his support for the candidacy.
"I confirm the full commitment of the French nation, and assure you that I will ask the next prime minister to include not only this guarantee but also an Olympic Law in the priorities of the new government," he said.
"Seven years ago we made the same commitment (for the Paris 2024 Summer Games), and we delivered. We will do the same,” Reuters quoted Macron as saying.
The IOC said it had received a number of assurances regarding the outstanding guarantees that include the state's Olympic delivery guarantee and the financial guarantees of the two regions involved -- the Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur regions.
However, it said it would not sign the host city contract, which has already been signed by France, until those guarantees were delivered.
The IOC decision means France will host the Winter Games six years after the Summer Olympics in Paris, which start on Friday.
France previously staged the Winter Games in Chamonix in 1924, Grenoble in 1968 and Albertville in 1992.

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Swiatek’s Clay Empire on Shaky Ground Ahead of Paris 

Poland's Iga Swiatek holds the trophy after winning the women's final of the French Open tennis tournament against Italy's Jasmine Paolini at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, France, June 8, 2024. (AP)
Poland's Iga Swiatek holds the trophy after winning the women's final of the French Open tennis tournament against Italy's Jasmine Paolini at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, France, June 8, 2024. (AP)
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Swiatek’s Clay Empire on Shaky Ground Ahead of Paris 

Poland's Iga Swiatek holds the trophy after winning the women's final of the French Open tennis tournament against Italy's Jasmine Paolini at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, France, June 8, 2024. (AP)
Poland's Iga Swiatek holds the trophy after winning the women's final of the French Open tennis tournament against Italy's Jasmine Paolini at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, France, June 8, 2024. (AP)

Iga Swiatek arrives at Roland Garros this month under a cloud of uncertainty, with the Pole enduring one of the toughest stretches of her career just before the defense of her French Open title.

The 23-year-old Swiatek, who has won four titles on the clay courts of Paris, has slipped out of the world’s top three for the first time since March 2022 after back-to-back defeats in Madrid and Rome.

A 6-1 6-1 humbling by Coco Gauff in Spain and a straight-sets defeat by Danielle Collins in Italy have exposed uncharacteristic frailties in the game of a player seen as virtually untouchable on clay after she clinched her third Suzanne Lenglen Cup in a row last year.

Adding to the weight on Swiatek’s shoulders is the lingering shadow of Aryna Sabalenka, who seized the world number one ranking from the Pole late last season.

While Swiatek has largely remained within touching distance, the rivalry has unsettled her dominance, and she has struggled to recapture the ruthless consistency that defined her meteoric rise.

"I think I wasn’t really present on court, not there to fight or compete," Swiatek said after her loss to Collins in Rome. "I focused on my mistakes — that was my error. I wasn’t doing things properly. I was concentrating on the wrong things."

It marks a stark contrast to this point last season, when Swiatek swept the Madrid, Rome and Roland Garros titles in dominant fashion.

Now, the question is whether Swiatek, who served a one-month doping ban last August, can rediscover the mental steel and aggressive precision that made her a four-times French Open champion.

Asked in Rome about her ambitions for the Paris Grand Slam, she struck an uncertain note.

"It would be stupid to expect too much because right now, I’m not able to play my game," she said.

Her remarkable track record on Court Philippe-Chatrier might suggest she is still the player to beat in Paris, but Swiatek herself was quick to dismiss the weight of history.

"It doesn’t matter what I achieved there before — every year is different," she added.

Following the disappointment in Italy, Swiatek admitted to shedding tears in the locker room but sought to use the setback as an opportunity for reflection.

"I need to find myself again and change some things,” she said.

"I listened to some advice from my team, and we’ve reached certain conclusions. I’ll just try to shift my mindset over the next couple of weeks."

With uncertainty surrounding the form of several leading contenders and the emergence of in-form Americans Gauff and Collins, the women’s draw in Paris is wide open.

For Swiatek, regaining confidence on her favorite surface could be the difference between an early exit and a fifth Roland Garros trophy.