French athlete who took part in Olympics suspended for past posts on X

PARIS (Reuters) - French 400-meter runner Muhammad Abdallah Kounta, who took part in the Paris Olympics, has been suspended by the French Athletics Federation after an X account dug up hate speech posted by the athlete, the sports minister said on Wednesday.

"The Federation's president confirmed he has suspended the athlete and referred the matter both to the public prosecutor and to the Federation's disciplinary committee," Amelie Oudea-Castera said on X.

X account Sword of Solomon on Tuesday highlighted some tweets posted by Kounta between 2021 and 2024 in which, among other things, he professes hatred for Israel.

After the revelations, the athlete posted a picture of himself wrapped in a French flag on his social media accounts, saying he was sorry if he had offended people.

"I'm against genocides and all forms of racism or injustice and I don't think I need to prove how much I love my country. People who were there in the Stade de France (where the athletic events took place) can attest that fact," Kounta said.

The Paris Olympics have been widely considered a dazzling summertime success that reaffirmed French national pride.

(Reporting by Benoit Van Overstraeten; Editing by Sharon Singleton)