#ICYMI: Inside the Tokyo 2020 Village; New FINA President Charts Course; Paris 2024 Air Taxi

#ICYMI -- In Case You Missed It ... Sometimes the best stories don't get the attention we think they deserve. Here are our staff picks for articles this week they really want you to know about..

Inside the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Village

(ATR) Around the Rings was on location for Tokyo 2020’s official unveiling of the Paralympic Village as a press tour of around 170 members of the media was granted exclusive access.

Media assembled outside the Olympic Plaza along the Harumi waterfront district of Tokyo.

The Olympic and Paralympic Games truly felt imminent as Japanese and international media poured into the Plaza to start the tour amid a backdrop of a handful of anti-Olympics protesters which did little to deter the general feeling of enthusiasm.

Media used the hand sanitizer provided by officials before providing a health form and checking in to pick up their pass for the day in a typically fluid process.

The Olympic Plaza is a central hub for athletes and will have amenities such as a goods store, café, and post office which will support athletes during their stay during the Games. The Village Plaza will also be the venue for the team welcome ceremonies.

After the Games, the Village Plaza will be dismantled, and the timber will be returned to the municipalities that donated it for re-use in local facilities that will help to commemorate the Games - for example, public benches or parts of school buildings.

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New FINA President Promises Change

(ATR) Newly elected FINA president Husain Al-Musallam promises transparency that hasn’t existed previously, greater engagement with athletes, and frequent availability to the media under his leadership.

"I can tell you FINA will change its communication with all journalists and FINA will move forward to be more transparent in every area and every work of FINA," Al-Musallam informed journalists.

Al-Musallam, 61, makes the step up from FINA vice president having served under former president Julio Maglione. The Kuwaiti-born Aquatics president – who ran unopposed and was elected at a general congress in Doha on June 5 – brings a wealth of experience within the federation having been elected to the FINA Bureau in 1996.

He addressed media for nearly 40 minutes spanning a wide array of topics and issues during a virtual news conference on Thursday.

Al-Musallam vows closer communication and cooperation with the sport’s athletes, as well as organizers of events, including the International Swimming League (ISL), despite a pending lawsuit between the two bodies.

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Paris 2024 Air Taxi Flies in France

(ATR) German company Volocopter's electric air taxi goes airborne in Paris with a goal to being fully operational and in service for Paris 2024.

"The first flight today in Paris highlights Volocopter’s commitment to bring air taxi services to this region in time for the 2024 Olympic Games," says Florian Reuter, Volocopter CEO. "The alliance of the Paris region, Groupe ADP, and RATP Groupe and their intent to bring electric air taxis to France is a stellar example of the collaborative approach we see to be the most successful for adding this exciting category of mobility to cities globally."

Urban Air Mobility (UAM) is also part of the infrastructure concept for the 2024 Summer Games in Paris. as part of the Paris Air Forum, the UAM pioneer flew its Volocopter 2X, an electric-powered vertical take-off (eVTOL) aircraft at Le Bourget Airport on Monday.

The remote-controlled flight lasted three minutes. It was the first public flight of an electric air taxi in France. This gave visitors a realistic picture of how an air taxi flies, looks and sounds. The Volocopter 2X flew a 500 meter route at a speed of up to 30 km/h and a height of 30 meters along the Le Bourget airfield.

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