Paris Games opening ceremony on Seine Newgarden released from Iowa hospital

Organizers of the Paris Olympics marked the twoyears-to-go milestone to the 2024 games by unveiling the official slogan — “Games Wide Open” — on Monday and said they got fresh backing from French President Emmanuel Macron for their planned giant opening ceremony along the Seine River.

Macron held talks in Paris with International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach and brought together ministers and security officials to review Olympic planning — signaling quickening efforts to ready the French capital for the July 26 to Aug. 11, 2024, Games.

Amid questions over the costs and security for the opening ceremony, Paris 2024 president Tony Estanguet said Macron, his interior minister and the Paris police chief reaffirmed “their total support for the organization of this ceremony on the Seine.”

Breaking with Olympic tradition, the ceremony won’t be held inside a stadium and will instead take place on the river that cuts through the French capital.

Boats will transport the 10,500 athletes on the waterway from east to west, past city landmarks, some of which will be used as games venues. Organizers are planning for at least 600,000 spectators, most of them ticketless and watching for free, and are billing it as the largest opening ceremony in Olympic history.

“We won’t take risks with the security of the athletes or the security of spectators,” Estanguet said. “There is no major obstacle to the organization of this ceremony.”

Organizers also unveiled details on the 10 million tickets. Prices for all sports will start at 24 euros (US$24.5) and nearly half of tickets for sale to the public will cost 50 euros ($51) or less. Some spots for the opening ceremony, those closest to the river, will need tickets but the majority of spectators won’t have to pay. All games tickets will be digital only, to combat fraud.

Two-time Indycar champion Josef Newgarden was released from a Des Moines, Iowa, hospital and returned to his Tennessee home, where he will wait for an evaluation to determine if he can race this weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Team Penske named Santino Ferrucci as its standby driver in case Newgarden is not medically cleared to compete on the road course at Indianapolis. Newgarden collapsed in the motorhome lot Sunday at Iowa Speedway following a late crash in a race he had dominated.

Although the American was cleared by the Indycar medical staff after his crash, he later lost consciousness and fell to the ground in the bus lot, striking the back of his head. He was airlifted from the track in Newton to Mercyone Des Moines Medical Center to speed the 45-minute journey and avoid traffic from the postrace Blake Shelton concert.

Team Penske said Sunday night that all tests on Newgarden had been negative but he was hospitalized overnight for further evaluation.

Newgarden was already scheduled for a Thursday evaluation in Indianapolis to determine if he can compete Saturday. Per Indycar regulations, a driver receives a secondary evaluation when a crash registers more than 80 G-forces.

There was no immediate word from Indycar or Team Penske on the force of Newgarden’s hit, but the scheduled second medical check would indicate his hit exceeded the threshold.

Newgarden, who won Saturday’s race, dominated and led 148 of the 300 laps while trying to sweep the doubleheader weekend. But something on his Team Penske car broke with 64 laps remaining, and the 31-yearold spun hard into the outside wall — creating an opening for Pato O’ward of Arrow Mclaren SP to win the race.

Newgarden was rattled after his mandatory check in the care center after the crash. He said the crash into the wall “definitely rocked me. I got a little bit shaken from it, but I’m OK.

“Definitely was a bit of a shot. I want to cry, so sad for my team. I don’t know what happened,” Newgarden said. “Everything felt fine to me. Totally unexpected and it caught me by my surprise. Team Penske is the best. I never have this stuff, so maybe we were due.”

Chevrolet’s initial diagnosis was that the suspension broke on Newgarden’s car.

Newgarden was showing as the Indycar points leader at the time of his crash; he’s now tied for third in the standings with Scott Dixon.

HOCKEY Hockey Canada unveils plan to repair culture

Hockey Canada released a plan to combat the “toxic” culture in its sport. It comes ahead of a second round of parliamentary hearings into the organization’s handling of sexual assault complaints.

The plan includes putting together a centralized tracking and reporting system for abuse complaints by the end of September, the results of which will be published annually to “hold Hockey Canada accountable.”

The organization also will publish an annual social responsibility report with information on complaints received at both the national team and subnational levels and a scorecard based on “key performance indicators.” Hockey Canada said it was in the process of identifying the measures to be included in the scorecard.

Hockey Canada did not say what data on the complaints will be made public in the report, but historical allegations of sexual assault will not be included.

Hockey Canada also says it will implement enhanced screening for high-performance players — “considering their behavior and track record outside of their time with Hockey Canada and outside of the rink.” Breaching the organization’s code of conduct or refusing to participate in an investigation could result in a lifetime ban.

The measures are in addition to those announced by Hockey Canada in a July14 open letter, which came amid intense criticism for the organization’s handling of a sexual assault allegation involving eight players and settlement of an ensuing lawsuit following a 2018 gala in London, Ontario. A second sexual assault allegation involving the Canadian team participating at the 2003 junior championship in Halifax, Nova Scotia, surfaced on Friday.

None of the allegations have been proved in court.

JURISPRUDENCE Solo pleads guilty to DWI, gets 30 days

Former U.S. women’s national soccer team star goalie Hope Solo pleaded guilty to driving while impaired, almost four months after she was found passed out behind the wheel of a vehicle in North Carolina with her 2-year-old twins inside.

Solo also was charged with misdemeanor child abuse and resisting a public officer in connection with the March 31 incident. Her attorney, Chris Clifton, said those two charges were voluntarily dismissed.

A news release from the Forsyth County District Attorney’s Office said a judge gave Solo, 40, a suspended sentence of 24 months and an active sentence of 30 days. She was given 30 days credit for time she spent at an in-patient rehabilitation facility. The judge also ordered Solo to pay $2,500 in fines and a $600 fee for the cost of the lab tests. She also has to get a substance abuse assessment and complete all recommended treatment.

In a statement after her plea, Solo said that although she took pride in motherhood and how she and her husband handled her children during the pandemic, “it was incredibly hard and I made a huge mistake.

“Easily the worst mistake of my life. I underestimated what a destructive part of my life alcohol had become,” she said. “The upside of making a mistake this big is that hard lessons are learned quickly. Learning these lessons has been difficult, and at times, very painful.”