DECINES-CHARPIEU, France (AP) — Edgar Grospiron, the former moguls Olympic champion, has left the presidency of the 2030 Winter Olympics organizing committee, French organizers said Thursday.
Grospiron's decision to step down is the latest setback for organizers of the French Alps Olympics. A replacement was not immediately named.
Grospiron had been appointed only last year — after French biathlon star Martin Fourcade withdrew his candidacy despite being seen as the front-runner for the job.
Instability continued under Grospiron's leadership at the helm of an Olympic hosting project that started behind schedule when conceived in 2023.
When the French Alps was formally picked on the eve of the 2024 Paris Summer Games, it already was on the tightest timeline of any modern Olympic host with essential government sign-offs still pending and taken on trust.
“His decision to step down from the presidency is part of a deliberate, organized and fully assumed transition, in the interests of the project and its governance,” the organizing committee said.
Before Grospiron's exit, the 2030 French Alps Olympics had lost their chief executive officer following weeks of internal turmoil in February. Cyril Linette was at loggerheads with Grospiron when he left amid growing tensions and against a backdrop of several resignations, culminating in open conflict between the pair.
Since a formal handover from the International Olympic Committee in February in Milan, the next Winter Games also dropped Nice as the main host city amid a venue dispute when a far-right mayor was elected. Confirming a completely new host city — as Lyon was earlier this year by the IOC executive board — less than four years from the opening ceremony also is unprecedented.
French organizers said an extraordinary general meeting on Sept. 14 will help organize the interim period pending the appointment of a new president.
“We thank Mr. Grospiron for his crucial work in laying the foundations for the success of the Alps 2030 Games," the IOC said in a statement. “Under his stewardship, the organization has developed a vision for engaging and exciting Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.”
The IOC maintained its confidence in the 2030 Games.
“The economic fundamentals of the project are solid, with the first sponsor onboard and others expected to join soon. The project also benefits from the development of a robust venue masterplan,” the IOC said, adding that it will "continue working in close collaboration with the organizing committee."
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
FILE - Edgar Grospiron, the head of 2030 Olympic Winter Games, delivers a speech during a news conference in Decines, France, Feb. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani, File)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was in Canada on Thursday for talks with Prime Minister Mark Carney, his latest international trip aimed at locking in future support for the fight against Russia’s invasion.
Ukraine is under pressure from Russia’s air war, which is using ballistic missiles and jet-powered drones to pierce defenses. Moscow’s attacks have targeted Ukraine’s power grid ahead of the upcoming winter as part of its campaign to demoralize civilians, Ukrainian officials say.
“The main focus will be on supporting Ukraine in protecting our skies and preparing for the winter,” Zelenskyy said of his Canada trip in a social media post. “We will discuss how to strengthen our resilience, support our people and ensure that Ukraine has the capabilities it needs to defend itself.”
Canada and European countries are sending their own weaponry to Ukraine and are also buying American weapons for Kyiv under the so-called Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List, or PURL. The United States under President Donald Trump has stopped donating weapons to Ukraine.
“Canada has consistently provided Ukraine with concrete support, and this visit is about taking that cooperation further,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, who was also on the trip, said on X.
During a photo opportunity before his meeting with Carney, Zelenskyy said Canada had made an important new decision on air defense for Ukraine, calling it “a decision for our lives” but saying he did not want to “spoil” the announcement before details were released. He said air-defense systems are in short supply globally and described the expected Canadian support as crucial.
Carney said Canada would provide additional support for Ukraine’s energy systems and reaffirmed its backing for Ukraine’s path toward membership in NATO and the European Union. He also pledged Canadian support for Ukraine after the fighting ends.
“Ukrainians helped build this country,” Carney said. “And Canada will help rebuild Ukraine when peace comes.”
Zelenskyy said negotiations with Russia would eventually come but Ukraine needed to enter them from a position of strength. “We need to be strong, not to be weak,” he said, adding that Ukraine needed a “strong and lasting peace.”
Recent U.S. efforts to stop the more than four years of fighting have delivered no significant breakthrough, although Washington-brokered talks between delegations from Moscow and Kyiv are expected to continue.
Zelenskyy’s arrival on Wednesday night in Calgary, Alberta, came the day after his flight from Moldova to Norway was delayed when authorities closed Moldova’s airspace because of a drone incursion.
The aerial drone battle between Russia and Ukraine has grown in scale since Russia’s all-out invasion in February 2022. Ukraine’s neighbors Romania and Moldova, and other European countries, have reported repeated drone incursions.
Four people were killed and more than 60 injured in a Russian attack on the Ukrainian city of Pavlohrad, Dnipropetrovsk regional head Oleksandr Ganzha said on Telegram on Thursday afternoon.
One person was killed and two others wounded in a Russian drone attack on the Kyiv region on Thursday morning, regional head Tymur Tkachenko said.
Russian forces launched 149 drones, many of them jet-propelled, at Ukraine overnight, Ukraine’s air force said Thursday.
Meanwhile, one person was killed and six others were injured in Ukrainian drone strikes in the Belgorod border region, local officials said Thursday.
A Ukrainian sea drone wounded 28 people, including two children, on the waterfront in the Russian city of Sochi, local officials said. They said that beach infrastructure had been damaged but did not provide further details.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense said Thursday that its forces shot down 448 Ukrainian drones overnight. The drones were destroyed over 13 Russian regions, as well as the annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea and the Black and Caspian seas, the ministry said.
Falling debris from a Ukrainian drone set fire to a home in Russia’s southwestern Voronezh region, killing one woman and wounding two other people, local Gov. Alexander Gusev said Thursday.
Ukrainian forces struck eight Russian infrastructure targets supporting the war effort over the past 24 hours, including a refinery in the Yamalo-Nenets region and a port in Dagestan, Zelenskyy said Thursday.
Targets in the Moscow, Voronezh, Astrakhan and Bryansk regions were also hit, he said.
Those targets were hundreds of kilometers (miles) apart, underlining the scope and scale of Ukraine's domestically developed long-range drone technology that has unsettled Russia.
The previous day, Ukrainian forces struck an oil refinery more than 3,000 kilometers (1,800 miles) from Ukraine in Siberia, Ukraine’s General Staff said, confirming earlier reports.
Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney meet in Calgary, Alta., Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP)
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, right, and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, president of Ukraine, meet in Calgary, Alta., Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's plane arrives in Calgary, Alberta, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP)
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his wife Olena Zelenska arrive in Calgary, Alberta, on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP)
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his wife Olena Zelenska arrive in Calgary, Alberta, on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP)
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his wife Olena Zelenska arrive in Calgary, Alberta, on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP)
