France's envoy to Uganda Sticker says Paris is ready for the Olympics

The French Ambassador to Uganda, Xavier Sticker, says Paris is ready to host Uganda’s delegation to this year’s Paris 2024 Olympics.

The world’s biggest sporting event is due in France from July 26 to August 11.

Sticker was speaking to the media after a virtual ‘round the world’ relay held at the Legends Rugby Club on Thursday.

This is one of the several activities the embassy, in conjunction with the Uganda Olympic Committee, organized to promote the upcoming Olympic games.

French Ambassador to Uganda Xavier Sticker (center-front), 3000m Steeplechase champion Peruth Chemutai(in black) and the UOC president Donald Rukare (2nd left-front) and Christophe Rauscher, the head teacher of the French School poses with teachers and pupils of the French School at the Legends Rugby Club ground. Photo by Michael Nsubuga

French embassies worldwide participated in the "round the world relay" where different French embassies and consulates with the label "Terre de Jeux 2024" received and passed on the relay to others, depending on their time zones.

Uganda received the relay baton from the Seychelles at 9 am and passed it on to Mozambique and Namibia at 10 am.

At Legends, during the physical run, Sticker, 3000m Steeplechase Olympic Champion Peruth Chemutai, and Uganda Olympic Committee president Donald Rukare ran alongside teachers, parents, and pupils from the French School as they exchanged batons at different intervals around the pitch.

“This run was against the clock to symbolically to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games which is just four months away, and today 140 embassies of France worldwide have had a similar race where we pass on the baton symbolically to galvanize and mobilize energies so that all nations are prepared so that when the big day comes they are ready,” Sticker said.

“We have been honoured with the presence of Peruth Chemutai and we hope she will be one of the winners as she defends her Tokyo 2020 Olympics title.

“Paris is ready to receive all the Uganda athletes and all the Uganda sports family and I hope all the Ugandans in Paris and from a distance will be able to look at the games and join the Olympic spirit of peace, inclusiveness, and friendly competition,” Sticker stated.

French Ambassador to Uganda Xavier Sticker (center-front), 3000m Steeplechase champion Peruth Chemutai(in black) and the UOC president Donald Rukare (2nd left-front) and Christophe Rauscher the head teacher of the French School poses with teachers and pupils of the French School at the Legends Rugby Club ground. Photo by Michael Nsubuga

UOC president Rukare said they were happy to associate with the event, which promotes the countdown to the Olympics.

“As Uganda, we are getting there in terms of preparations because the qualification window ends in June and so far we already have 18 athletes that have qualified; 16 from athletics, one each from rowing and cycling.

“We hope swimming, badminton, rugby, weightlifting, and boxing can qualify more athletes because we are looking at taking about 25 athletes to the games,” Rukare stated.

Chemutai who has one of the classrooms at the French School named after her said she was happy to be associated with the school and the children at the school.

French Ambassador to Uganda Xavier Sticker (2nd left) participates in the virtual ‘round the world’ relay alongside 3000m Steeplechase champion Peruth Chemutai (left) and Christophe Rauscher (right) the head teacher of the French School at the Legends Rugby Club ground. Photo by Michael Nsubuga

“My preparations are going very well. My first test is at the All Africa Games where I’m aiming to win a medal, but my target is the Olympics, where I need to defend my title. I’m ready for the games,” Chemutai said.

She said after the All Africa Games she will continue preparations for the Diamond League in Shanghai before further preparations for the Olympics.

Christophe Rauscher the head teacher of the French School said they were very proud to be associated with one of the best Ugandan sportspersons who will act as an inspiration for the children at the school.