For Haiti, the Paris Olympics is about more than just winning gold

PARIS (AP) — As he coasted along Paris’ Seine River during the Olympic opening ceremony, one word came to Haitian swimmer Alexandre Grand’Pierre’s mind.

“Iconic.”

For the seven athletes competing for Haiti, participating in the Paris Games has always been about more than just winning gold. For athletes like Grand’Pierre, the third of his siblings to compete for Haiti in the Olympics, it's about sending a message of hope to a nation reeling from gang violence and political turmoil.

“It’s showing that we are still capable of being on a world stage and being a positive image in spite of all the turmoil and instability that’s going on, to give a beacon of hope to the younger generations, especially young athletes, that they can get to the Olympics as well,” Grand’Pierre, 21, told The Associated Press.

“Representing the country has always been bigger than me,” he added.

The symbol of pride for many in Haiti, the athletes hope to change the narrative around the Caribbean country, long portrayed as a victim. It’s also in part about reclaiming their history from France, the former colonizer that bankrupted Haiti for more than a century.

But the path to France hasn’t been easy.

Haiti is at an inflection point. Following the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, a toxic slate of gangs seized control of much of the nation. As daily life in the capital, Port-au-Prince, has come to a halt, so too have sports.

Haiti's Olympic team came together through sheer force of will, said Fritz-Gérald Fong, head of the Haitian Olympic delegation.

Like much of Port-au-Prince, gangs have overtaken the area around Olympic training facilities. Lower-level athletes in the country have been killed, Fong said. Haiti's national Olympic committee said it has lost 80% of the coaches they’ve trained to ongoing emigration.

“This is a message for Haitian people, for the nation and for the world. Giving up was not an option,” said Fong. “People have no hope. And for months they’ve been waving the flag and saying, ‘Let’s go Haiti.’ We were making some hope for those people.”

Government collapse meant that up until the Games, the team had no money to fund athletes. Just before the Olympics, Fong said, the Haitian government finally released $74,600 — a fraction of their $405,000 budget.

If that wasn’t enough, earlier this year, the country was once again thrown under siege by gangs. Flights were blocked out of Haiti, inhibiting travel to Olympic qualifiers, Fong said.

So, similar to other crisis-stricken national Olympic committees like the Palestinian and Ukrainian teams, Haiti's relied entirely on athletes living abroad — like Grand’Pierre.

Born in Canada and training in the United States, Grand’Pierre grew up speaking Haitian Creole and eating Haitian dishes as his parents made an effort to preserve their culture, visiting before Haiti began to spiral.

“Growing up in the United States, it’s very easy to lose that side of yourself. But they made sure we grew up and stayed connected,” he said. Today, it’s classic Haitian Creole music bumping in Grand’Pierre’s ears before he rockets into the pool.

He’s joined in Paris by six other athletes competing in track, gymnastics, judo, boxing and swimming. While none has medaled, 25-year-old Christopher Borzor was among those to make it to the second round of the men's 100-meter sprint.

“Fund-wise, we don’t have a lot of money for us to compete, travel and get put in hotels. Most of the money has come out of my pocket, flying around trying to compete for Haiti,” said Borzor, who left Haiti at the age of 6. “But I told myself one day I would get here.”

For some, Haiti's presence in France is a political point.

A former French colony, Haiti became the first to successfully gain independence through a slave revolt, in 1804. France demanded Haiti pay it back for lost income of slavers — what became a financially crippling $21 billion sum paid, The New York Times calculated. One Parisian bank, Crédit Industriel et Commercial, guzzled millions from Haiti — as it helped finance the Eiffel Tower.

That’s why for Haitian-Italian designer Stella Jean, who created the team’s vibrant ceremonial uniforms, the athletes’ entrance into the Games was so meaningful — floating down the Seine in the shadow of that same tower.

It was only maybe nine seconds, Jean recalled the next morning, during which Haiti held the world’s attention as TV cameras turned to its boat.

“But in these nine seconds I think Haiti made history — even more than that, it reverted the tides of history,” said Jean. These “young people paraded under the Eiffel Tower — the very Eiffel Tower that Haiti contributed to pay for.”

When Jean got the call to design Haiti’s uniforms, she knew the job had little to do with fashion — and everything to do with history and identity. Being “pretty” was not the goal; it was to tell a story, with trousers and skirts patterned with Haitian artist Philippe Dodard's creations, bold prints reminiscent of those seen in the Caribbean nation.

“It was a kind of counter-colonization,” Jean said. “But we did it with joy.”

For others, though, like Marjorie Chouloute, mother of 14-year-old swimmer Mayah Chouloute, it's more about “changing the narrative” to look toward the future.

“On French TV, during the opening ceremony, all they could talk about when our boat was passing by was how downtrodden we are. … It’s not untrue,” she said. “But Haiti is more than its problems.”

In recent months, Haiti has chosen a new prime minister and welcomed a United Nations-backed mission to beat back the gangs. As the country takes small steps toward stability, the Olympic team has left many Haitians in and out of the nation welling with pride. Athletes said family group messages have bustled with news of the Olympians being talked about on TV and radio.

Back in Port-au-Prince, 24-year-old Marc Andre is among those rooting for them, despite the time difference and electric blackouts. The team, he said, has given him hope.

“Haiti has a lot of young, talented kids, but we don't have the opportunity ... due to lack of resources,” he said. Still, he said, “I would love to see them living in Haiti, training in Haiti. ... It would be for me, more authentic.”

Fong also expressed sadness over the lack of Olympians living in Haiti, but said the team was the first step in a long road. He doesn't see organized athletics coming back to Haiti for at least three years.

In the meantime, Jowee Omicil, a Haitian-Canadian musician, beamed at Grand’Pierre, Chouloute, their coach and families as they walked out of the Olympic swimming venue Saturday, after Chouloute's first race. Cloaked in red and blue flags, they spoke in a mix of French, Creole and English.

“Bless you. I was looking for my flag,” Omicil said, voice cracking. “This is history.”

Wearing a vintage Haiti shirt and a necklace in the shape of the country, Omicil said he had flown from Montreal to see the team compete.

“I want you guys to know people are watching, and I am one of them and there are thousands behind me,” he told them. “People are so proud of you guys.”

Associated Press journalists Jocelyn Noveck in Paris and Evens Sanon in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, contributed to this report.

For more coverage of the Paris Olympics, visit https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games.

Haitian-Canadian musician Jowee Omicil greets Haiti’s team outside the Olympic swimming pool at the 2024 Summer Olympics, in Paris, France, Aug. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Megan Janetsky)

Haitian-Canadian musician Jowee Omicil greets Haiti’s team outside the Olympic swimming pool at the 2024 Summer Olympics, in Paris, France, Aug. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Megan Janetsky)

Fourteen-year-old swimmer Mayah Chouloute and her mother, Marjorie Chouloute, speak on the way back to the Olympic village after a race during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Aug. 1, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Megan Janetsky)

Fourteen-year-old swimmer Mayah Chouloute and her family pose for a photo with the Haitian flag after her first Olympic race, Aug. 1, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Megan Janetsky)

FILE - Haiti's Mayah Chouloute competes in a women's 50-meter freestyle heat at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko, File)

FILE - Haiti's Mayah Chouloute prepares for a women's 50-meter freestyle heat at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko, File)

Haitian-Canadian musician Jowee Omicil shows off a vintage Haiti shirt and necklace he wore to cheer on Haitian athletes as they compete in the 2024 Summer Olympics, in Paris, France, Aug. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Megan Janetsky)

Haitian-Canadian musician Jowee Omicil takes a photo with Haiti’s team as he greets them outside the Olympic swimming pool at the 2024 Summer Olympics, in Paris, France, Aug. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Megan Janetsky)

FILE - Athletes from Haiti's delegation sail in a boat along the river Seine during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, Friday, July 26, 2024. (Franck Fife, Pool via AP, File)

FILE - Christopher Borzor, of Haiti, reacts after qualifying in a men's 100 meters preliminary round heat at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis, File)

Israeli strikes in the southern Gaza Strip killed at least 15 people overnight, including six children and two women, Palestinian medical officials said Tuesday. In northern Gaza, where Israel has been waging an air and ground campaign in Jabaliya for more than a week, residents said families were still trapped in their homes and shelters.

It’s been more than a year since Hamas-led militants blew holes in Israel’s security fence and stormed in, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting another 250. They are still holding about 100 people captive inside Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be dead.

Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed over 42,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, who do not say how many were fighters but say women and children make up more than half of the fatalities. The war has destroyed large areas of Gaza and displaced about 90% of its population of 2.3 million people.

In solidarity with Hamas, Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has exchanged cross-border fire with Israel almost daily for the past year. Israel escalated its campaign against the group in recent weeks.

Rumors circulated for weeks over head of the expeditionary arm of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard Gen. Esmail Qaani’s status after an Israeli airstrike that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut in late September. But Qaani, the head of the Quds Force, was seen in a black bomber jacket, wiping away tears at an event early Tuesday morning at Tehran’s Mehrabad International Airport.

Here's the latest:

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The funeral of an Iranian Revolutionary Guard general killed alongside Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah drew the largest crowd of top leaders in the paramilitary organization together Tuesday for the first time since Tehran launched a ballistic missile attack on Israel.

The Guard’s leadership hasn’t been as visible in the two weeks since Iran’s Oct. 1 attack on Israel. The Guard is the main power behind Iran’s theocracy and oversees its arsenal of ballistic missiles — which would be crucial in any future attack on Israel.

At the funeral in Tehran for Gen. Abbas Nilforushan, the Guard’s chief commander, Gen. Hossein Salami, attended alongside President Masoud Pezeshkian and the head of the country’s judiciary. Other Guard generals also attended, including Gen. Esmail Qaani of the Guard’s expeditionary Quds Force, about whom rumors had circulated for days regarding his status after the strike that killed Nasrallah.

At least two prominent Guard generals were not on hand: Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the commander of Guard’s aerospace division that oversees its missile program, and Gen. Ali Reza Tangsiri, commander of the Guard’s navy, did not attend.

Iran offered no explanation for their absence, though Israel has threatened to carry out a serious retaliatory strike against Iran.

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli strikes in the southern Gaza Strip killed at least 15 people overnight, including six children and two women, Palestinian medical officials said Tuesday.

A strike early Tuesday hit a house in the southern town of Beni Suhaila, killing at least 10 people from one extended family, according to Nasser Hospital in nearby Khan Younis. The dead include three children and one woman, according to hospital records. An Associated Press camera operator at the hospital counted the bodies.

In the nearby town of Fakhari, a strike hit a house early Tuesday, killing five people, including three children and a woman, according to the European Hospital, where the casualties were taken.

The Israeli military rarely comments on individual strikes. It says it tries to avoid harming civilians and blames their deaths on Hamas, accusing the militants of sheltering in civilian areas.

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — In northern Gaza, where Israel has been waging an air and ground campaign in Jabaliya for more than a week, residents said families were still trapped in their homes and shelters Tuesday.

Adel al-Deqes said his relatives tried to move to another place in Jabaliya in the morning, but the military shelled them.

“We don’t know who died and who is still alive,” he said.

Ahmed Awda, another Jabaliya resident, said they heard “constant bombing and gunfire” overnight and Tuesday morning. He said the military destroyed many buildings in the eastern and northern parts of the camp, which dates back to the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation.

“They bombed many buildings; some of them empty buildings,” he said.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The head of the expeditionary arm of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has appeared in television footage aired Tuesday by Iranian state television.

Rumors circulated for weeks over Gen. Esmail Qaani’s status in the time since an Israeli airstrike that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut in late September. But Qaani, the head of the Quds Force, was seen in a black bomber jacket, wiping away tears at an event early Tuesday morning at Tehran’s Mehrabad International Airport.

While Iranian state television did not acknowledge the rumors, it made a point to film Qaani for over a minute and later share the footage from the airport ceremony online.

Qaani was on hand for the repatriation to Iran of the body of Revolutionary Guard Gen. Abbas Nilforushan, 58, who was killed in the airstrike.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Australia’s government has imposed targeted financial sanctions and travel bans on five Iranians contributing to the country’s missile defense program, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Tuesday.

Iran’s launch of at least 180 ballistic missiles against Israel on Oct. 1 was “a dangerous escalation that increased the risk of a wider regional war,” Wong said in a statement.

The fresh sanctions target two directors and a senior official in Iran’s Aerospace Industries Organization, the director of the Shahid Bagheri Industrial Group, and the commercial director of the Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group.

The decision brings to 200 the number of Iran-linked individuals and entities now sanctioned by Australia.

“Australia will continue to hold Iran to account for its reckless and destabilizing actions,” Wong said.

People chant slogans during the funeral ceremony of the late Iranian Revolutionary Guard Gen. Abbas Nilforushan, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut in late September, in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

People and officials attend the funeral ceremony of the late Iranian Revolutionary Guard Gen. Abbas Nilforushan, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut in late September, in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Commander of the Iran's Revolutionary Guard Quds Force, Gen. Esmail Qaani, mourns during the funeral ceremony of the late Revolutionary Guard Gen. Abbas Nilforushan, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut in late September, in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Mourners carry the coffin of Iranian Revolutionary Guards' deputy commander Brigadier Gen. Abbas Nilforushan who died alongside Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut last month during his funeral in Karbala, Iraq, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Anmar Khalil)

Palestinians look at the damage after an Israeli strike hit a tent area in the courtyard of Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Pro-Israel protesters holds Israeli flags as demonstrators protest Israel's war against Hamas outside the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

A displaced family fleeing the Israeli airstrikes in the south, sits next to their tent on Beirut's corniche, Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Families fleeing the Israeli airstrikes in the south, sit in front of the Mohammad al-Amin Mosque in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Mourners carry a picture of slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah during the funeral procession of their relatives, in Maisara near the northern coastal town of Byblos, Lebanon, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Palestinians look at the damage after an Israeli strike hit a tent area in the courtyard of Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Middle East latest: Israeli strikes on southern Gaza kill at least 15 people overnight

Middle East latest: Israeli strikes on southern Gaza kill at least 15 people overnight