French sprinter will wear a cap during Olympic opening ceremony after hijab dispute is resolved

By: Tom Nouvian, The Associated Press Posted: 12:38 PM CDT Thursday, Jul. 25, 2024

PARIS (AP) — French sprinter Sounkamba Sylla will be allowed to participate in the opening ceremony at the Paris Olympics wearing a cap to cover her hair, an agreement reached with the French Olympic Committee after Sylla said she was barred because of her hijab.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/07/2024 (463 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

During Friday’s opening ceremony, which includes a parade by athletes on the Seine River, the French delegation will wear tailor-made uniforms by the French luxury brand Berluti, which is owned by the LVMH Group.

“In consultation with the French Athletics Federation, the French Ministry of Sports, Paris 2024, and Berluti, discussions were held with Sounkamba Sylla,” the French Olympic Committee said Thursday in a statement. “She was offered the possibility of wearing a cap during the parade, which she accepted.”

FILE - The Olympic rings are set up at Trocadero plaza that overlooks the Eiffel Tower, a day after the official announcement that the 2024 Summer Olympic Games will be in the French capital, in Paris, Thursday, Sept. 14, 2017. After getting off to a rocky start last year, organizers of the Summer Games said Paris 2024 has broken the record for the most number of tickets sold or allocated in the event’s history. And yet, tickets are still available. (AP Photo//Michel Euler, File)

France enforces a strict principle of “ laïcité,” loosely translated as “secularism.” On Wednesday, the president of the French Olympic Committee had said that French Olympians are bound by the secular principles that apply to public sector workers in France separating state and church, which includes a ban on hijabs.

But Sylla, who will compete in the women’s and mixed relay for France, posted a message on her Instagram account to announce that an arrangement had been made.

“We finally reached an agreement so that I could take part in the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games,” the 26-year-old Sylla said. “I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your mobilization and support since the beginning.”

A similar solution was found during the European Championships in Rome earlier this year. Sylla, who has competed with a black headscarf at several previous events, was asked to compete with a blue cap that had a sewn-on strip of fabric to cover her hair.