As Paris Olympics nears, French women's gymnastics coach suspended amid allegations of abuse

The Paris Olympics is just five months away. Ahead of the mega event, the French women's artistic gymnastics coach, Dimitru Pop, has been provisionally suspended amid an investigation into violence and abuse. The shocking development was confirmed by the French gymnastics federation's technical director, who informedReuters about the same on Wednesday (March 7). Pop, however, remained unavailable for comment.

Notably, the investigation was startedby the French sports ministry last May. "He has been suspended. At this stage, we have no comment to share. The Federation will answer all questions as part of the investigation," the French gymnastics federation's technical director Kevinn Rabaud, stated.

The women's team secured their qualification spot for the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympics last October when they clinched bronze in the world championships. Pop is one of three coaches of the women's team within the French federation. This is certainly a huge blow for the coach, as well as for the French women's team,before the showpiece event. It will be interesting to see what eventually comes out of the investigation. At present, a word from the Sports Ministryis also awaited.

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Tourists barred from free viewing of opening ceremony

In other news, on Tuesday (March 5), it was revealed that tourists won't be allowed to watch the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics along the Seine River for free. The French government made the announcementas it has its doubts regarding security concerns of the unprecedented open-air event. Free access will be invitation-only instead.Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said in this regard, "To manage crowd movement, we can’t tell everyone to come. For security reasons that everyone understands, notably the terrorist threat of recent weeks, we are obliged to make it free but contained."