DAY 1 ROUNDUP
The first event of the skateboarding competition at the Paris Olympics on Saturday was postponed after rain overnight and into the morning.
Organizers apologize to South Korean athletes for mistake during opening ceremonyThe Associated Press
· Posted: Jul 27, 2024 5:44 AM EDT | Last Updated: 40 minutes ago
Nyjah Huston of Team United States is shown falling whilst training in Paris, France, on Thursday. Saturday was to be the first day of skateboard competition, but was postponed by overnight rain. (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)The first event of the skateboarding competition at the Paris Olympics on Saturday was postponed after rain overnight and into the morning.
Skateboarding is played at the outdoor venue of La Concorde Urban Park in Paris. World Skate, the sport’s governing body, cited adverse weather conditions for the move.
Men’s street skateboarding scheduled for Saturday was postponed to Monday. The women’s event is scheduled for Sunday.
Rain has been one of the big stories early in the Games after constant showers and occasional downpours served as the backdrop for the opening ceremony. As of 10 a.m. local time, much of the rain had cleared from the area and no other events had yet been disrupted by rain.
Olympic organizers apologize to South Korean athletesOlympic Games organizers said they “deeply apologize” for introducing South Korea’s athletes as North Korea during the opening ceremony in Paris.
As the South Korean athletes waved their nation’s flag on a boat floating down the Seine River Friday evening, they were announced in both French and English as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. South Korea is the Republic of Korea.
“We deeply apologize for the mistake that occurred when introducing the Korean team during the opening ceremony broadcast,” the International Olympic Committee said in a post on X in Korean.
The South Korean Ministry of Culture Sports and Tourism Vice Minister Jang Mi Ran requested a meeting with IOC President Thomas Bach over the incident, the ministry said in a statement Saturday. It said the ministry also asked South Korea’s Foreign Ministry to file “a strong government-level complaint” with the French government.
The statement said South Korea’s Olympic committee separately asked the organizers of the Paris Games to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents.
The Korean peninsula has been bitterly divided into South Korea and North Korea since the end of World War II in 1945.
The blue sign on the boat carrying the South Korean athletes did show the correct name.
