SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — Nap time has turned into prime shot-put time around the Kovacs household.
Joe and Ashley Kovacs built a ring on the side of their house in Dublin, Ohio, and take full advantage of their young twins' sleep schedule. Joe, a two-time Olympic silver medalist, and Ashley, his wife/coach, go to work with a baby monitor by their side, knowing that at any moment a practice session may be cut short by a cry for mom or dad.
All those divots way out in the grass are marks showing that Joe Kovacs remains on the right path heading into the Paris Games. He's inching closer to hitting the mulch at the end of the lawn, which happens to be placed close to a world-record distance.
“The training is the best it has ever been (by) a considerable amount and we’re really excited to see all of his hard work realized in the biggest stage,” said Ashley, who also is the U.S. women's throws coach in Paris. “He’s looking forward to capitalizing on the magnitude of the moment and I have full faith in him and what he’s capable of."
Ask them how they met and their stories might differ. Joe heard from a family friend — a priest named Father Joe — about this woman from a nearby town who also happened to throw the shot. Ashley knew of him before that because they frequently crossed paths when he was at Penn State and she was at Kentucky.
They began their relationship in the summer of 2017 after the U.S. championships. She became his coach a year later and they were married in November 2018. Their twins, Kannon and Kaari, were born in October 2022.
“I used to get super pumped up for practice and now I might be playing with Lightning McQueen (from the Disney movie ‘Cars’), put them down for a nap and then go out and chalk up real quick to throw," said Joe, who had qualifying Friday night. “It’s definitely different flipping that switch. But that perspective and that drive, there’s nothing better.”
Joe just may be in the best shot-put shape of his career this season. He’s throwing so far that he’s actually threatening the mulch, which starts around 24 meters. That’s within the world-record range of 23.56 meters held by Ryan Crouser, the two-time reigning Olympic champion. Joe, the runner-up at the last two Olympics, feels like he's unlocked a new component: “Dad strength,” he cracked. "It's real.”
The couple made some big decisions to get him back to the form he was in when he won — with Ashley's assistance — the 2019 world championships in Doha. Ashley stepped away from her role as associate head coach at Vanderbilt so they could move back to Ohio and be closer to family.
They constructed their own shot-put ring right next to the side of the house. It's so close, in fact, that, as Ashley explained, a miscalculation on Joe's part would be "probably like a $50,000 mistake.”
As for their neighbor next door, turns out he's a track and field official.
“He said if we ever need him to come out, he’ll put up the red flag or white flag and call fouls on me,” Joe said. "We’re super lucky to have great neighbors.”
In May, Joe went 23.13 meters for the world's leading throw this season. He's among the favorites in Paris, along with Crouser, of course, who is dealing with injuries, and U.S. teammate Payton Otterdahl. Italy's Leonardo Fabbri is in the mix, too, after winning the European championships in June.
“I think silver at the last (two) Olympics has put Joe in a different mindset than he has ever been in going into a major championship,” Ashley said.
For Joe, it's all about concentration — between nap sessions, of course.
“There are definitely times when I’m warming up and I hear them making noise and throwing their bottle out,” Joe said. “I’ll be in the back of the ring and I’m just like, ‘You should be asleep already.’
“I’m thankful for my wife because she makes sure the schedule stays in line."
Ashley realizes full well when the training schedule needs to be adjusted, too.
“I see how well he slept. I see what he ate. I see when he rested, how we went to the pool with the kids and now he may be tired,” said Ashley, who also spent seven years as the throws coach at Ohio State. “It really helps me help him with his training, because I see the full scope.”
They don't talk shop all the time. They’ve found the perfect balance outside of the ring.
“You look at husband-and-wife teams in business, in real estate, it’s not any different than that,” Ashley said. “We’re collaborating. We’re working together with this.”
The family has gone all in on him and his shot-put career and he doesn't take that lightly.
“I don’t want to let them down,” said Joe, whose kids will stay home with the grandparents and watch the Olympics on television. "She (holds things up) every single day with the preparation we do — from the food to the kids and especially everything we do inside the ring.
“Being able to have those moments (at major meets) together, that’s what keeps me hungry. There’s nothing better in the world than sharing all these moments with her.”
AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
Luggage tags are seen on the bags of shot putter Joe Kovacs as he walks off the field after a practice session at the Team USA training facility at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Eaubonne, France. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Shot putter Joe Kovacs walks off the field with his bags after a practice session at the Team USA training facility at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Eaubonne, France. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
FILE - Joe Kovacs, of the United States, competes in the men's-shot put final during the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Aug. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis, File)
FILE - Joe Kovacs, of the United States, celebrates with his wife Ashley after winning gold in the men's shot put final at the World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar, Oct. 5, 2019. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)
PARIS (AP) — France’s new government has unveiled its 2025 belt-tightening budget bill, with plans for major tax hikes and spending cuts aimed at tackling the country’s giant deficit.
Prime Minister Michel Barnier, a conservative, described the massive hole in the public finances as a “ sword of Damocles ” that could bring the euro zone’s second-biggest economy "to the edge of the precipice.”
Still, his budget plans have angered many in the country and are expected to be harshly debated in parliament in the coming weeks, with his government's survival at stake.
France has a high level of public spending driven by generous social welfare programs, healthcare and education — and a heavy tax burden that falls short of covering the costs. For over two decades, the country struggled to keep its deficit below the European Union’s target of 3% of its gross domestic product (GDP).
France's debt increased significantly because of the economic slowdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. President Emmanuel Macron applied a “whatever it takes” strategy based on state intervention to save jobs and businesses, including a massive partial unemployment program and subsidized childcare leave.
Following the virus crisis, Macron’s former centrist government vowed to put the country’s finances back on track. But budget overruns and lower-than-expected tax revenues instead dug a bigger hole. This year’s budget deficit is expected to reach 6.1% of GDP.
Barnier, appointed in September following surprise legislative elections, has vowed to reduce it to 5% next year.
France is under pressure from the European Union’s executive body to reduce its debt. Earlier this year, the EU’s executive arm placed it under a formal procedure for countries running up excessive debt, the first step in a long process before member states can be hemmed in and pushed to take corrective action.
Barnier decided to delay the target date for reaching the euro zone’s 3% deficit goal from 2027 to 2029.
The situation also affects France’s credibility on financial markets, making its borrowing costs surge.
France “is in the situation of a family living beyond its means,” the governor of the Bank of France, François Villeroy de Galhau, said on France Info radio. "Therefore it has to reduce its expenses and increase its income a little. First of all, we need to control our spending, because when you compare France to our European neighbors, we have the same social model, the same public service model, but it costs us a lot more.”
“We need an effort from just about everyone," Villeroy de Galhau said.
The Barnier government unveiled plans for a 60 billion euro ($65 billion) budget squeeze next year. That involves raising taxes -- a risky move in a country already known for its heavy tax burden.
Plans include the creation of new taxes — presented as temporary — on about 24,000 wealthiest households and on the profits within France of hundreds of large companies.
The bill also plans to increase taxes on electricity, air travel and polluting cars.
The government is also seeking ways to cut spending, including freezing state pensions for six months next year and reducing support for apprenticeships and subsidized contracts.
France’s generous social security program also faces spending cuts, through measures such as cutting reimbursements for medical costs and sick pay.
The defense budget, which received a big boost following the war in Ukraine, is expected to be preserved.
Left-wing opposition lawmakers and labor unions are criticizing the “austerity budget” as unfair, saying it could deeply affect millions of low-income families, apprentices, retirees and small businesses.
“The cuts in public spending and the social safety net have a greater impact on the lives of the working and middle classes,” said hard-left lawmaker Eric Coquerel, head of the Finance committee in the National Assembly.
“Employees and pensioners are once again being asked to pay the bill," the far-left labor union CGT said.
The CFDT, a more moderate left-wing union, also criticized Barnier's plans, warning of “a significant deterioration in public services such as education, and a further weakening of our healthcare system."
Employers’ unions, too, warned against the potential impact of tax hikes on businesses, including possible job losses. The government’s plans “will result in a sharp rise in costs for companies,” the Confederation of Small and Medium Size Firms (CPME) said.
The budget battle will be fiercely debated in the lower house of parliament, where the governing coalition lacks a majority.
France’s National Assembly is divided into three major blocs: the left-wing New Popular Front, the far-right National Rally party, and Macron’s centrist allies who made a deal with the conservatives to be able to govern.
Barnier’s budget approach has angered many, including centrists within his own coalition who see tax reduction as a key requirement for preserving France’s competitiveness in the world.
Left-wing opposition lawmakers will seek to subsequently amend the bill, while some in the far-right have criticized plans for major concessions from the low and middle classes.
With its survival at stake, the government may have to backtrack on some of the planned measures because losing a budget vote would prompt a deep political crisis.
Barnier is forced to rely on the far right’s good will to avoid being ousted by a no-confidence vote.
Another option for the government would be to use a special constitutional power to pass the budget without a vote, but that could also trigger a no-confidence motion, with an uncertain outcome.
The budget bill needs to be approved by the end of the year.
“High political fragmentation and a minority government complicate France’s ability to deliver on sustainable fiscal consolidation policies,” Fitch Ratings agency said last week as it lowered France’s outlook from “stable” to “negative.”
France's Prime Minister Michel Barnier gestures as delivers a speech at the National Assembly, in Paris, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
France's budget battle: Why the government's plan to plug the deficit is sparking an outcry
France's budget battle: Why the government's plan to plug the deficit is sparking an outcry
France's Prime Minister Michel Barnier delivers a speech at the National Assembly, in Paris, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
