Paris is all set to host the Olympic Games for the first time in a century with the Opening Ceremony slated to be held on Friday on the Seine river. The City of Light was given the hosting rights for the 2024 Games at the International Olympic Committee Session in 2017.

Over the last few days as we inch closer to official start day, the Olympic Games have thrown in some very interesting stories – some quirky, some sad.

Here’s a look at a few of them:

‘Un-Australian’ behaviour?

An Australian swimming coach Michael Palfrey is on the verge of being sent back from the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

The reason?

Palfery, speaking to South Korean media at the Games, allegedly endorsed Kim Woo-min to win the men’s 400m freestyle gold ahead of his Australian swimmers Sam Short and Elijah Winnington.

Note that all three of them are former world champions.

As per reports, Palfery exclaimed, “Go Korea” while wearing Australian colours and talking to the South Korean journalists about Kim.

This did not sit well with Australian head coach Rohan Taylor, who said, “Promoting an athlete who is not Australian is un-Australian to be honest.”

Funny part? Palfery does not train Short, nor Winnington. He coaches Zac Incerti, Abbey Connor and Alex Perkins – and previously mentored Kim.

Spying can lead to prison

Ahead of the opening women’s football match between reigning Olympic champions Canada and New Zealand, bizarre news emerged that two members of the Canadian team’s support staff had organised drones to spy on the New Zealand team’s training sessions.

An analyst, Joey Lombardi and the assistant coach Jasmine Mander both were dismissed from the Olympics with the former charged by French authorities for operating the drone. Lombardi then pleaded guilty in the court in Saint-Etienne on Wednesday and was awarded a suspended eight-month prison sentence.

Head coach Bev Priestman excused herself from the bench during the Tokyo 2020 gold medallist’s opening match against the Football Ferns, that ended 2-1 in favour of Canada.

After the match, Canadian news website TSN reported that both the women’s and men’s teams have engaged in spying on opposition teams for years, including during Tokyo 2020. Priestman then was fired by the Canadian Olympic Committee soon after the win over New Zealand.

Be gentle towards animals

Charlotte Dujardin, a decorated British equestrian, and three-time Olympic gold medallist pulled out of the Paris Olympics on Wednesday.

“A video has emerged from four years ago which shows me making an error of judgement during a coaching session,” Dujardin wrote in her statement.

Hours later the FEI – the world governing body for Equestrian – handed her a provisional suspension.

Reason?

The video, which Dujardin spoke about in her statement, showed her repeatedly whipping a horse on the legs.

Smoking is injurious

Shoko Miyata, the captain of Japan’s women’s artistic gymastics team was forced to withdraw from the 2024 Paris Games last week.

She was reportedly sent back home for smoking and drinking, thereby violating the Japan Gymnastics Association’s code of conduct.

Miyata allegedly smoked in a private place back in Tokyo and in a separate incident, consumed alcohol at the Athlete Village in Japan’s National Training Centre.

The legal smoking and drinking age in Japan is 20. Miyata, a world championship bronze medallist, is 19.

Is Seine clean?

A week before the Opening Ceremony, French president Emmanuel Macron reiterated his plans to swim in the River Seine that runs through the capital city Paris.

But, unlike Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo’s dip in the river on July 16, Macron may not end up doing it before the Opening Ceremony takes place on the river on Friday. The point of both Hidalgo and Macron promising these swims was to demonstrate the quality of the water in the Seine which would be hosting the triathlon and the swimming marathon.

Continuous monitoring at various sites has seen the Seine record improving results of water quality, but the question still remains if the river will host these events, especially once the dust (literally) settles from the Opening Ceremony.

Protests galore

Paris is no stranger to protests, and hosting the Olympics has not prevented the people exercising their right to protest either. On Thursday, a video was made public that saw the workers of the luxury five-star Hôtel du Collectionneur line the corridors of the building and demand for fair wages and better working conditions.

What makes it awkward for the International Olympic Committee is that the hotel in question is being exclusively used to host fancy dinners and important meetings by the organisers of the Olympic Games for a fairly steep price of $23.8 million and upwards.

The demands of the workers, led by Union Départementale CGT Paris, or UD CGT, a trade union representing the group, includes a pay rise that hasn’t been done since 2017 – also the year the French capital city was awarded the hosting rights for the 2024 Olympics.

These aren’t the only protests that have happened in the build-up to the Games – public transport and airport workers went on strike in the months before the Games while the dancers part of the Opening Ceremony just called off plans to go on strike over non-payment of wages.

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Boxing: Nikhat, Lovlina shoulder hopes but pressure on male boxers mounts

Hockey: Harmanpreet & Co have tough task in Paris, but podium finish not impossible

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Tennis: Rohan Bopanna and Sriram Balaji lead charge; Sumit Nagal ready to run on clay

Weightlifting: Resilient Mirabai Chanu expected to shine after injury-plagued year

Wrestling: Indian grapplers aim to kickstart new era in Paris