PARIS (AP) — When they compete at the Paris Games, they’re just athletes at their peak. The emphasis is not that they're coming from regions ravaged by war.
The Olympics — focused on celebrating peace — has brought together 10,500 athletes, including those from countries where 110 armed conflicts are raging. These are conflicts that often are not grabbing attention as the wars in Gaza and Ukraine dominate headlines.
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PARIS (AP) — When they compete at the Paris Games, they’re just athletes at their peak. The emphasis is not that they're coming from regions ravaged by war.
Hong Kong's Lo Wai Fung competes with Refugees Olympic Team's Yahya Al Ghotany in a men's 68kg Taekwondo match during the 2024 Summer Olympics, at the Grand Palais, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Kimia Yousofi, of Afghanistan, makes a political statement after a heat in the women's 100-meter run at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Yemeni swimmer Yusuf Marwan, right, poses for a photo with his coach ahead of his first Olympic competition, during the 2024 SUmmer Olympics, Wednesday, July 31, 2024, in Paris, France, . (AP Photo/Hanna Arhirova)
Hong Kong's Lo Wai Fung competes with Refugees Olympic Team's Yahya Al Ghotany in a men's 68kg Taekwondo match during the 2024 Summer Olympics, at the Grand Palais, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
For instance, Cameroon had six athletes in Paris; Myanmar had two, a swimmer and a badminton player; Libya, beset by militia conflict since the Arab Spring uprising in 2011, sent six athletes.
Wars — from Yemen to Syria and beyond — have indelibly shaped athletes from those places who think of the 2024 Olympics beyond sports.
For some, it’s a chance to highlight forgotten human rights violations. For others, it’s a declaration of hope for peace or a chance to reinvent themselves and leave a war-torn past behind.
When 16-year-old Yemeni swimmer Yusuf Marwan dove in to an expansive pool in Egypt, where he trained for 20 days before Paris, it was a stark contrast to the 11-meter pool at home. Overwhelmed by the water’s pressure, he realized he couldn’t swim properly. An Olympic-sized pool is 50 meters long.
A yearslong civil war in Yemen has left about 80% of sports facilities non-operational, forcing some federations to rent modest training venues without proper infrastructure, according to the Yemeni Olympic Committee, which helps with the costs.
In 2014, Iranian-backed Houthi rebels seized much of northern Yemen and forced the internationally recognized government to flee from the capital, Sanaa. A Saudi-led coalition intervened the following year in support of government forces, and in time the conflict turned into a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
The war in Yemen has killed more than 150,000 people since 2014 and created a humanitarian disaster.
“Preserving the remnants of sports remains a challenge. This situation has significantly diminished youth engagement in sports,” said Akram Al-Ahjri, international relations manager of Yemen’s Olympic committee.
Just four Yemeni athletes were competing, decreasing their chances of winning medals but prompting them to see the Olympics as beyond competition.
Yemen's Olympic committee has support from the International Olympic Committee and the Olympic Council of Asia but not from either Yemen’s recognized government or the Houthi rebels.
“We are also sending messages of love, peace, friendship, solidarity,” said the administrator of Yemen’s Olympics delegation, Shaif Abdullah Al Shawafi. “Our aim is to participate and show our culture, our history to all people around the world.”
For Marwan, his determination overcame the water pressure of the pool after weeks of training in Egypt and Paris.
In the first heat of the men’s 100-meter butterfly last week, he steadily began to fall behind and finished last. But Marwan didn’t feel defeated: He beat his previous best result with a time of 1:08.72.
“I didn’t even know I would set such a record,” he said after the competition. “Competing with top athletes pushes me to achieve new results.”
It was too expensive for his parents to travel to Paris, but they took pictures of him competing on TV and messaged him, “bravo.”
Yahya Al Ghotany, 20, was a child when he fled Syria in 2012, during an escalation of a civil war that has now spanned 14 years. He spent most of his life in a refugee camp in Jordan, where he learned taekwondo.
“It is such an amazing feeling, I cannot describe it in words, being here, carrying the flag, especially when I recall that six years ago, I was only dreaming of becoming an Olympian,” he said.
During the opening ceremony, Al Ghotany proudly held the Refugee Olympic Team’s flag aloft on a boat sailing along the Seine River. It was a far cry from the young boy who used to watch other kids practice taekwondo before he found the courage to sign up for it.
His coach, Asif Sabah, said that he saw a champion in him because of his motivation: At his first training, Al Ghotany sparred in his normal clothes because he didn't have the uniform.
But there was something else that drew Al Ghotany to sports — the opportunity for a better life not only for him but for other kids at the refugee camp.
“If I do well, with good results, they will have bigger hope, to practice and dream and even to participate in the Olympics,” he said. “This is an extra point of strength for me.”
And mental strength is crucial when practicing taekwondo, he said.
“Wherever I am, wherever I can be, I just need to be comfortable mentally,” Al Ghotany said about what he needs for a good practice.
Ahead of his bouts this week, he didn’t want to speak about the sensitive topics of his past life in Syria or not competing under the Syrian flag. The country is represented by six athletes at the 2024 Olympics.
“I feel like I’m readier than ever. Practice is going great,” Al Ghotany said. “And the most important thing is that mentally, I’m ready, and I feel good mentally.”
Afghan sprinter Kimia Yousofi drew attention at the Paris Games by running with a bib with handwritten words spelled as “Eduction” and “Our Rights.”
“Lots of things have happened since Taliban came to power,” she said, pointing to the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. “And I think the world has forgotten about Afghan girls.”
Yousofi wanted to remind the world that under the Taliban, Afghanistan has become one of the most repressive places for women and girls, stripping them of nearly all their basic rights.
“Afghan girls also need the support of the world,” she said. “They cannot do interviews, they cannot talk, they cannot say to Taliban that they don’t want them.”
Yousofi said she wants to be their voice. She can because she fled Afghanistan when the Taliban took back control as the U.S. withdrew its troops, around the time of the Tokyo Games in 2021. Yousofi, who was born and grew up in Iran after her parents left Afghanistan, had gone back to train in Afghanistan and now lives in Australia.
“I lost my country again,” she said.
The exiled Afghan National Olympic Committee operates outside of Afghanistan to support athletes, and only one competitor of six traveled to Paris from Kabul, while the rest live abroad, Yousofi said.
The Taliban haven’t just banned sports for women and girls, they have intimidated and harassed those who once played.
“I have passed (a) challenging time in the last three years, it was so bad,” she said. “Everyone, not only me, has also got depression and anxiety.”
But she decided to keep moving, she told herself: “Have a hope, be powerful, and encourage others as well.”
AP writer John Leicester contributed from Paris.
AP Olympics coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
Afghanistan athletes from left to right, Zakia Khudadi, Fariba Hahimi, Yuldoz Hashimi and Kimia Yousofi arrive for the Sport for Peace Gala in Paris, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
Hong Kong's Lo Wai Fung competes with Refugees Olympic Team's Yahya Al Ghotany in a men's 68kg Taekwondo match during the 2024 Summer Olympics, at the Grand Palais, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Kimia Yousofi, of Afghanistan, makes a political statement after a heat in the women's 100-meter run at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Yemeni swimmer Yusuf Marwan, right, poses for a photo with his coach ahead of his first Olympic competition, during the 2024 SUmmer Olympics, Wednesday, July 31, 2024, in Paris, France, . (AP Photo/Hanna Arhirova)
Hong Kong's Lo Wai Fung competes with Refugees Olympic Team's Yahya Al Ghotany in a men's 68kg Taekwondo match during the 2024 Summer Olympics, at the Grand Palais, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
The FBI said former President Donald Trump was the target of “what appears to be an attempted assassination ” at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday, just nine weeks after the Republican presidential nominee survived another attempt on his life.
Trump was shot during an assassination attempt at a July rally in Pennsylvania, and a bullet grazed his ear.
U.S. Secret Service agents opened fire on Sunday after seeing a person with a firearm near Trump’s West Palm Beach golf club in Florida while he was golfing. No injuries were reported. Officials say the person fled in an SUV and was later apprehended by local law enforcement.
He was identified as Ryan Wesley Routh, three law enforcement officials told The Associated Press. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.
Routh appeared in federal court in Florida Monday and was charged with federal gun crimes.
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Ryan Wesley Routh has had his first appearance in federal court.
During an eight-minute hearing, prosecutors levied two charges against him: possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.
Officials said Routh could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted on the first charge, and a possible five-year sentence on the second charge.
A bond hearing has been schedule for Sept. 23, and a probable cause hearing or arraignment has been set for Sept. 30, depending on whether the government secures an indictment on the charges.
During the hearing, Routh gave routine information to court officials as to his work status and income. Speaking in a soft voice, he said that he was working and making around $3,000 a month, but has zero savings.
Routh said that he has no real estate or assets, aside from two trucks worth about $1,000, both located in Hawaii.
Routh also said that he has a 25-year-old son, whom he sometimes supports.
Trump is blaming his political rivals’ rhetoric for Sunday’s apparent attempt on his life.
Trump said Monday in an interview with Fox News Digital that the accused gunman “believed the rhetoric of Biden and Harris, and he acted on it.”
The former president went on to say, “Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at, when I am the one who is going to save the country, and they are the ones that are destroying the country — both from the inside and out.”
The tone was different than the one Trump adopted immediately after the Pennsylvania assassination attempt in July, when he called for unity and a cooling of the campaign’s tenor, including during his speech at the Republican National Convention.
“They use highly inflammatory language,” Trump told Fox News Digital. “I can use it too — far better than they can — but I don’t.”
Routh, the man accused of trying to shoot at Trump on Sunday, had expressed support for Trump online in as recently as 2020, but in recent years, his posts suggest he soured on him, expressing support for Biden and Harris.
The White House responded to Elon Musk’s post on X about presidential assassinations, which stirred outrage on social media.
“Violence should only be condemned, never encouraged or joked about,” said spokesperson Andrew Bates in a statement on Monday. “This rhetoric is irresponsible.”
Musk deleted his comment on Sunday, which he posted in the wake of a second alleged attempt on Donald Trump’s life. He had written “no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala.”
“Well, one lesson I’ve learned is that just because I say something to a group and they laugh doesn’t mean it’s going to be all that hilarious as a post on X,” Musk wrote later.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said the House will be demanding more Secret Service protection for Trump, saying he needs more attention than any other protectee.
“He’s the most attacked. He’s the most threatened, even probably more than when he was in the Oval Office,” Johnson, R-La., said on “Fox & Friends.” “We are demanding in the House that he have every asset available.”
The Republican speaker was on his way to visit Trump on Sunday when the former president was targeted while golfing. The suspect is now in custody.
Johnson and his wife, Kelly, visited with Trump afterward for about three hours, and the speaker said he was in “good spirits.”
The House’s bipartisan task force on the July assassination attempt on Trump in Pennsylvania is monitoring the situation and has requested a briefing. Johnson said the panel was scheduled to hold a hearing later this month as it investigates the political violence.
“There’s going to be reports and recommendations coming forward, and Congress will act swiftly,” Johnson said. “We need accountability.”
Johnson said he has “no faith” in Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. The House impeached Mayorkas earlier this year over the department’s handling of immigration, but the Senate declined to consider the charges in a trial.
Ryan Wesley Routh briefly entered a Florida courtroom Monday morning for his initial appearance, wearing a dark blue jail jumpsuit and his arms and legs shackled. He sat quietly for about five minutes with no visible signs of nervousness before marshals led him back out to await his hearing.
The Associated Press filmed Ryan Wesley Routh in April 2022 at a demonstration in Kyiv’s Independence Square two months after Russia invaded Ukraine.
A placard he was holding said: “We cannot tolerate corruption and evil for another 50+ years. End Russia for our kids.” He wore a blue vest with the American flag on the back, along with a scarf and T-shirt in the colors of his national flag, while participating in a small rally.
Other participants held posters drawing attention to Mariupol, which was under siege at the time and is now occupied by Russia. That same day, Routh also paid tribute to foreign citizens killed during the war near a makeshift memorial sign reading “Foreigners killed by Putin.”
Ryan Wesley Routh has never served in the Ukrainian army nor collaborated with the military in any capacity, according to Oleksandr Shahuri, a representative officer of the Foreigners Coordination Department of the Ukrainian Ground Forces Command.
Over the past two-and-a-half years, Routh has periodically contacted the international legion with what Shahuri described as “nonsensical ideas.” His plans and ideas can best be described as delusional.”
Shahuri, speaking to The Associated Press, firmly denied any connection to Routh. The International Legion of Ukraine was created shortly after the outbreak of the war by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. It consists of foreign citizens “wishing to join the resistance against the Russian occupants and fight for global security,” according to Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry.
Zelenskyy released a statement on X regarding the apparent assassination attempt: “I am glad to hear that Donald Trump is safe and unharmed. My best wishes to him and his family. It’s good that the suspect in the assassination attempt was apprehended quickly. This is our principle: the rule of law is paramount and political violence has no place anywhere in the world. We sincerely hope that everyone remains safe.”
Trump campaign leaders are crediting the Secret Service with keeping the former president safe following an apparent assassination attempt in Florida.
In an email sent to staff Sunday evening, senior campaign advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles wrote, “Today, for the second time in two months, an evil monster attempted to take the life of President Trump.”
“Thankfully, no one was injured at the Golf Course. President Trump and everyone accompanying him are safe thanks to the great work of the United States Secret Service,” they wrote.
They added that campaign staffers’ safety is “always our top priority” and asked those receiving the email to “remain vigilant” and “observant and maintain a constant level of situational awareness."
The leaders of a bipartisan task force in Congress that has been investigating the assassination attempt on Trump at a Pennsylvania rally in July said it is monitoring the Florida situation and has requested a briefing by the Secret Service.
“We are thankful that the former President was not harmed, but remain deeply concerned about political violence and condemn it in all of its forms,” said Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa. and Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo. “The Task Force will share updates as we learn more.”
It was not immediately clear whether the incident would affect Trump's campaign schedule.
On Monday night, he was set to speak from Florida about cryptocurrency live on the social media site X for the launch of his sons’ crypto platform. Trump planned a town hall Tuesday in Flint, Michigan, with his former press secretary, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, followed by a rally Wednesday on New York’s Long Island.
Trump had returned to Florida this weekend from a West Coast swing that included a Friday night rally in Las Vegas and a Utah fundraiser. His campaign had not advised about any public plans for Trump on Sunday. He often spends the morning playing golf, before having lunch at the club, one of three he owns in the state.
The man who authorities say pointed a rifle with a scope into former President Donald Trump’s golf club and was arrested is Ryan Wesley Routh, three law enforcement officials told The Associated Press.
The officials identified the suspect to the AP but spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation.
Secret Service agents shot at the suspect, who was taken into custody after fleeing the scene of what the FBI is calling an apparent attempted assassination of the Republican presidential nominee. Authorities are working to determine a motive.
— By Associated Press reporters Colleen Long, Eric Tucker, Alanna Durkin Richer, Mike Balsamo and Michael R. Sisak
Police officers direct traffic near Trump International Golf Club after the apparent assassination attempt of Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump in West Palm Beach, Fla., Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump waves as he boards a plane at Harry Reid International Airport after a campaign trip, Saturday, Sept.14, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
FILE - Security agents talk at the entrance to former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, March 31, 2023, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)
A police officer directs traffic near Trump International Golf Club after the apparent assassination attempt of Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump in West Palm Beach, Fla., Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)
Sheriff vehicles are pictured near Trump International Golf Club, Sunday. Sept. 15, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla., after gunshots were reported in the vicinity of Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Stephany Matat)
This photo provided by the Martin County Sheriff's Office shows Sheriff's vehicles surrounding an SUV on the northbound I-95 in Martin County on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (Martin County Sheriff's Office via AP)
This photo provided by the Martin County Sheriff's Office shows Sheriff's vehicles surrounding an SUV on the northbound I-95 in Martin County on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (Martin County Sheriff's Office via AP)
FILE - The motorcade for President Donald Trump arrives at Trump International Golf Club, Feb. 15, 2020, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
Photos that show an AK-47 rifle, a backpack and a Go-Pro camera on a fence outside Trump International Golf Club taken after an apparent assassination attempt of Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump, are displayed during a news conference at the Palm Beach County Main Library, Sunday. Sept. 15, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Stephany Matat)
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives at Harry Reid International Airport to board a plane after a campaign trip, Saturday, Sept.14, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Ryan Wesley Routh pays tribute to foreign citizens killed during Russia-Ukraine war in a central square in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, April 30, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Ryan Wesley Routh takes part in a rally in central Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, April 30, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
