An apparent arson attack on France’s high-speed rail network early Friday morning disrupted travel for 250,000 people the morning of the Olympic opening ceremony and directly hurt the route designated to transport USA Basketball’s men’s and women’s teams between Paris and Lille, the site of the early games of their tournaments.
The French rail operator SNCF described the fires as “a massive attack on a large scale to paralyze” the rail network, which was “the victim of several simultaneous, malicious acts overnight,” including fires set to train stations.
It was not immediately known how the attacks would affect the travel of basketball delegations staying in Lille — where a satellite Olympic village was constructed. Canada’s men’s basketball team, which has a roster full of NBA talent, including stars Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jamal Murray, is not expected to attend the opening ceremony, per a team source.
by sewsgup
10 Comments
That’s a shame, but their safety is the #1 priority.
Well that’s sad
Damn, I imagine the opening ceremony where you walk out with the rest of your peers as all the flags come out is something you really look forward to.
There’s no other way to get there at all? Surely they can’t rely on one method of transportation…
Then take a bus? Or cars? Why is rail the only option?
I mean, they play in Lille the next day, lol. It’s not a short trip away. It’s almost three hours.
Was this not confirmed yesterday? OverDrive mentioned it as a weird decision given Giannis carrying a flag for Greece lol
Wasn’t expecting to learn about major world news in a basketball sub.
Saw a report they weren’t going anyway even before this, because of their opening game the next day
Shitty people doing stuff like that. I feel bad for the boys not being able to soak in the once-in-a-lifetime (for some of them) experience of being Olympians by not being able to attend the opening ceremonies.