Olympic Games 2018: France considers abandoning the Olympics in Pyeongchang

The threat is growing, and the first major sports nation speaks openly of the decision not to participate in the 2018 Olympic Games in South Korea: eight days after Paris was awarded the contract for the 2024 Summer Games, France’s Sports Minister Laura Flessel made no secret of her safety concerns on Thursday.

In view of the escalating conflict between North Korea and the USA, 80 km from the nearest Olympic venue, a start of the Grande Nation in Pyeongchang is no longer a matter of course.

“We will never put our French team at risk,” said the 45-year-old two-time fencing Olympic champion Flessel on RTL Radio:”If the situation worsens and no definitive safety is guaranteed, the French Olympic team will stay at home.

During last week’s session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Peru’s capital Lima, IOC President Thomas Bach had tried to eliminate all security concerns and explained:”The position of the IOC is just as unchanged as our trust:” He has the firm belief in a diplomatic solution and peace “, the Tauberbischhofheimer continued.In Lima, the chairman of the OC, Lee Hee-beom, also pointed out that there was “no plan B”.

However, US President Donald Trump had not yet threatened North Korea with “total destruction”, as he did last Tuesday in his speech to the UN Security Council.Prior to this, there were constant military provocations from both countries, which were fired by several internationally condemned rocket tests of the regime of dictator Kim Jong-un.On Thursday, the United States considered tightening its sanctions against the communist brother state of democratic South Korea.The chances of a diplomatic solution to the conflict seem to be dwindling daily.

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But even before the recent intensification of the ring-order, the first doubts had already been expressed about the feasibility of welcoming the athletes of the world to South Korea in the coming winter.In the SID interview at the beginning of September, IOC executive member Gian Franco Kasper expressed his conviction that Pyeongchang would be the “safest place in the world” during the Games, but the president of the FIS Ski World Ski Federation also said:”What I fear a little bit is that certain nations could boycott the Games because it seems too risky for them to send their athletes there”.

The unease among German athletes has also increased in recent weeks:”The threat is to be taken very seriously.You have to keep a close eye on developments.Also concerning the role of the USA”, athlete spokesman Max Hartung of the DOSB told the SID at the beginning of September.

Ban Ki-moon, former Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), expressed optimism after his election as the new head of the IOC Commission on Ethics last week in Lima,”I can assure you that all athletes can start at the games in Pyeongchang without having to worry,”said the South Korean.