PARIS (AP) — David Lappartient, the head of the French Olympic Committee, won't seek a new term later this year after losing to Kirsty Coventry in the race for president of the International Olympic Committee.
Coventry became the first woman and first African to get the powerful position after beating out six other candidates on Thursday. Lappartient, who presides over cycling's governing body UCI, picked up just four of 97 votes.
He was elected to the helm of the French Olympic committee (CNOSF) in June 2023 and was in charge when Paris successfully hosted the Summer Games and Paralympics last year. Under his tutelage, France was also given the hosting rights for the 2030 Winter Olympics.
Lappartient has been a fast-rising and busy IOC member since joining the international body just three years ago. He already oversaw the preparation of a 12-year deal with Saudi Arabia for creating and staging the new video gaming Esport Olympics. It will debut in 2027.
Lappartient said on Friday in a letter to the directors and presidents of the French Olympic Committee’s member federations that he was proud of his achievements, but that he wants to stick to his commitment to a two-year tenure.
Lappartient, who is eligible to seek a third term as UCI president from 2025-29, said it's difficult to combine that role with other responsibilities.
“While it has been possible to combine these commitments over these two years at the cost of a very substantial personal investment, I do not believe that it is desirable, apart from the exceptional circumstances of the last two years," he said.
Lappartient, who has been president of the UCI since 2017, was elected president of France’s Olympic Committee as a replacement for Brigitte Henriques after she resigned unexpectedly. The next election will be held in June.
AP Olympics at https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
Candidate to the presidency of the International Olympic Committee David Lappartient makes statements to the reporters during a break of the 144th session, which will elect the new IOC President, in Costa Navarino, western Greece, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
COPENHAGEN (AP) — The Danish foreign ministry has changed its U.S. travel advisory for transgender people, following other European countries such as Germany and Finland who suggest they may face difficulties when trying to enter the United States.
The Nordic country wrote on its website that transgender people should contact the U.S. Embassy before traveling to the United States.
“When applying for an ESTA or visa to the United States, there are two gender designations to choose from: male or female,” the Danish travel advisory stated in an update Friday.
“If you have the gender designation X in your passport, or you have changed your gender, it is recommended that you contact the U.S. Embassy prior to travel for guidance on how to proceed," the ministry advised.
While the travel advisory does not explicitly mention the new U.S. administration, it comes only weeks after President Donald Trump signed an executive order calling for the federal government to define sex as only male or female and for that to be reflected on official documents such as passports and policies such as federal prison assignments.
The U.S. State Department has stopped issuing travel documents with the “X” gender marker preferred by many nonbinary people, who don’t identify as strictly male or female. The department also stopped allowing people to change the gender listed on their passport or get new ones that reflect their gender rather than their sex assigned at birth.
The head of the transgender group LGBT+ Denmark, Susanne Branner, told Danish radio RadioIII her group had reached out to the country's foreign ministry earlier in the week and asked for the update of the advisory.
She said there are a few thousand people in Denmark who have changed their legal gender and who might encounter unpleasant situations at airports when trying to enter the U.S. or could even be denied entry because their passports do not reflect the gender assigned at birth.
“If you are transgender or have an X in your passport, can you risk being denied entry? We would like concrete answers to this,” Branner told RadioIII.
Other European countries have also changed their official advisories for members of the transgender community in a reflection to the situation in the U.S.
The German foreign ministry put out an advisory earlier this month, telling “travelers who have the gender entry ‘X’ or whose current gender entry differs from their gender entry at birth” to contact a U.S. diplomatic mission in Germany “before entering the country and find out the applicable entry requirements.”
Finland, too, advises prospective U.S. travelers on its foreign ministry homepage that if their “current gender as recorded in their passport differs from the gender they were assigned at birth, U.S. authorities may deny entry. It is recommended that you check with U.S. authorities in advance for entry requirements.”
FILE - A rainbow flag is suspended at Copenhagen City Hall in Denmark on Aug. 11, 2021, marking the opening of Copenhagen 2021, World Pride and Eurogames. (Ida Guldbaek Arentsen/Ritzau Scanpix via AP, File)
