French Olympian Sylla to Wear Cap in Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony After Headscarf Debate

This solution is the result of discussions between the 26-year-old athlete, the French Athletics Federation, the Ministry of Sports and the French National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF). "She was offered to wear a cap during the parade, which she accepted," the CNOSF confirmed.

On Instagram, Sounkamba Sylla expressed her gratitude to those who supported her: "I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your mobilization and your support since the beginning."

This situation is reminiscent of the World Athletics Championships in Budapest in 2023, where the young woman had run with a headscarf, or the European Athletics Championships in Rome in June, where she had to give it up.

The Minister of Sports, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, highlighted the importance of finding a balance between respecting the principles of secularism and being benevolent towards the athletes: "We want to be firm on the respect of these principles (of secularism) but at the same time we want to be in a benevolent, the most constructive possible attitude, and be inventive on the solutions so that everyone feels good."

Note that the ban on wearing the veil only concerns French female athletes, a situation denounced by Amnesty International as "the discriminatory hypocrisy" of France.