Page 30 - 2024 Olympics

Boxing legend Pacquaio can't compete in Paris Olympics due to age limit

The International Olympic Committee will not change its rules to let boxing great Manny Pacquaio compete at the Paris Games aged five years beyond the entry limit. Pacquaio, who retired in 2021, wanted to box at age 45 in the Olympic tournament in Paris where medal bouts will be held in the Roland Garros tennis complex. The IOC said Sunday it wrote to Olympic officials in Philippines explaining the age limit for boxers of 40 will be upheld. The IOC now oversees Olympic boxing after de-recognizing the International Boxing Association governing body. The age limit for Olympic boxing was raised to 40 from 34 in 2013 a move that would have let Pacquaio try to compete at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. He chose not to at the time when he was also elected to be a senator in his home country. It is unclear if Pacquaio would have tried to earn a place at the Paris Olympics in one of two qualification tournaments that open later this month in Italy and in May in Thailand. The Philippine

We can expect a Paris medal from Treesa-Gayatri if they qualify: Vimal

Former India coach Vimal Kumar is mighty impressed with doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand and feels the young Indian combination will be a definite contender for an Olympic medal if they qualify for the Paris Games. The pairing of the two 20-year-olds played a vital role as India scripted wins over badminton powerhouses like China, Japan and Thailand on successive days en route a first-ever gold medal at the Badminton Asia Team Championships (BATC) here on Sunday. Treesa and Gayatri stunned world No. 6 Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida from Japan and world No. 10 Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Pra Jongjai of Thailand in the semifinal and final respectively. The duo also beat China's world No. 22 Luo Xu Min and Li Yi Jing in the league stage. "I give a lot of credit to Treesa and Gayatri for the way they have performed this week. They have done incredibly well. They have a great chance of a medal, if they qualify for the Olympics. We can definitely expect a meda

Pro League matches vital for Paris 2024 preparations: India coach Fulton

Indian men's hockey team chief coach Craig Fulton on Sunday said the ongoing FIH Pro League matches are vital to his team's preparation for the Paris Olympics scheduled for July-August. The Indians have so far played four matches in the Pro League out, winning three and losing one against the mighty Australia. "It (Pro League) gives us 18 games that you are looking in the build up to Paris. So it is important. Whether some teams are putting their strongest teams or not is out of our control," Fulton said during a virtual press conference. "Everything we are looking forward to is to have more perspective about our game, develop our game with the squad we have. "We know we can compete in all the games, in different phases we have to different things and do them better. So the Pro League is really important for now because this is the only competition we have". India captain Harmanpreet Singh too agreed with his coach. "These are the major matches we are getting before the Olympics

Top-100 dream realised, Indian ace Sumit Nagal eyes Olympic glory next

His dream of being inside the global top-100 has been realised but Sumit Nagal is nowhere close to being a content man as the Indian tennis ace says he now faces the challenge of improving or holding on to his standing for direct entry into Grand Slams and the Paris Olympics. Nagal's victory in the recent Chennai Open propelled him to a career-high world No. 98, and he is the first Indian to achieve the feat since Prajnesh Gunneswaran did that in 2019. "Every tennis player dreams about being in the top 100. I have dreamt about being in the top 100 from a very young age and it felt very good when it happened. It was certainly an emotional day after working for years," Nagal told PTI in an interview after his first-round win in the Bengaluru Open on Tuesday night. The 26-year-old, who is seeded second here, entered the second round of the tournament with a breezy 6-2, 6-2 win over Frenchman Geff Blancaneaux. But he is not ready to rest on his laurels and has set his eyes on bigger ..

Argentina secure Paris Olympics spot, knock Brazil out with 1-0 win

Brazil will not defend its Olympic men's soccer title in London after losing 1-0 to its regional rival Argentina. In the decisive South American Olympic qualifier, Luciano Gondou scored the winner for the Argentina under-23 team coached by Javier Mascherano. He headed a cross from Valentin Barco past goalkeeper Mycael in the 78th minute at the Brigido Iriarte Stadium in Caracas. Brazil won gold at men's soccer in the Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo Olympics. South America's Olympic qualifying for men's soccer offered two spots in Paris. Paraguay ended on the top of the table of the final group stage with seven points in three matches after its 2-0 win on Sunday against host Venezuela. The Paraguayan team, which didn't have star players like its two bigger continental rivals, also beat Brazil to secure its spot for France. Argentina finished the tournament with five points, two more than Brazil, which only managed to beat Venezuela in the final stage. Argentina had the upper hand in the

Summer Games: Paris 2024 unveils only purpose-built Olympics venue in city

Amid the buzz of anticipation for the 2024 Olympics, organizers and Paris City Hall officials inaugurated Sunday the first and only purpose-built site in the French capital for this summer's Games, nestled in a multicultural working-class neighborhood. The Adidas Arena at Porte de la Chapelle among the poorest areas in Paris is ready and "operational about five months before the Games begin, officials said. It is being touted as showcasing the city's readiness and commitment to both the global sporting community and its residents. This venue will host badminton and rhythmic gymnastics events during the 2024 Olympics and is expected to be part of broader efforts to revitalize local communities. For the Paralympics, it will also host athletes competing in badminton and weightlifting events. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said Sunday that she was proud that an area that was once described as a no-go zone is now beginning to be transformed. Before people mocked us," she said. Change is ..

Monumental: Paris Olympics medals made with metal chunks from Eiffel Tower

An Olympic medal inlaid with a chunk of the Eiffel Tower. How's that for a monumental prize? A hexagonal, polished piece of iron taken from the iconic landmark is being embedded in each gold, silver and bronze medal that will be hung around athletes' necks at the July 26-August 11 Paris Games and Paralympics that follow. Games organisers revealed their revolutionary design on Thursday. Simone Biles has seven medals from her two previous Olympics and LeBron James has two golds and one bronze from London, Beijing and Athens. But neither of those athletes who are targeting the Paris Games nor any of the roughly 36,600 other medalists at 29 previous Summer Olympics stretching back to 1896 ever owned one quite like these. By making history at the Games, Paris medalists will take a bit of France and its history home, too. Here's a deep dive into the medals that are sure to wow: The 330-meter (1,083-foot) tall tower is made of 18,038 iron parts. But it's also getting a bit long in the t

PV Sindhu needs to be smarter during challenging Paris Olympics this year

Set to return after an injury-induced break, two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu is aware the road to Paris will be "challenging" and she needs to be "smarter" in her pursuit of coveted gold medal in the French capital. Former world champion Sindhu has been enduring a lean patch. She has suffered injury setbacks and a dip in form in the last 18 months. She suffered stress fracture on her left ankle during the successful 2022 CWG campaign and later sustained another injury on left knee during the French Open in October last year, forcing her out for three months. "I would say, this Olympics is going to be a different experience because the 2016 and 2020 Olympics were very different. Paris will be more challenging but at the same time, I have much more experience and I will have to be much smarter this time," Sindhu told PTI in an interaction. The 28-year-old from Hyderabad was in Mumbai on Thursday at Great Place To Work's FOR ALL summit. "In women's circuit, players in the top 1

Staying fit and breaking into top-100 Nagal's focus ahead of Paris Olympics

Ace Indian tennis player Sumit Nagal on Tuesday said staying fit and breaking into top-100 in world rankings will be his focus ahead of the Paris Olympics later this year. The 26-year-old from Haryana has had his share of brushes with injuries in the past, having missed qualifying for the 2018 US Open due to an injury. In 2021, he suffered a hip injury before undergoing surgery in November of that year. "Staying fit would be the highest priority. The second (goal) would be to play in the Olympics, which would be a nice feeling. But for that, you need to be within the top 100," Nagal responded to a PTI query in an interaction during the ongoing Chennai Open ATP Challenger event, where he is through to the pre-quarterfinals. Currently ranked 121 in the ATP singles, Nagal is confident of breaking into the top 100. "It (Olympic qualification) would only be possible if I keep winning the matches. I have to focus on upcoming matches and not wonder about what's going to happen in the nex

Arshad Nadeem to undergo knee surgery in bid to be fit for Paris Olympics

Pakistan's top javelin thrower, Arshad Nadeem has flown to the United Kingdom to undergo a knee surgery in a bid to be fit before the Paris Olympics. Nadeem, who had claimed the 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medal, had to withdraw from the Asian Games in China last year due to his knee problem. "I have decided to have the knee surgery now because it has been bothering me a lot since last year and I tried rehab programs but they didn't work," he said. The 27-year-old is hopeful that having the surgery will allow him to be fit in time for the Paris Olympic Games. Nadeem is one Pakistani athlete who has gained as much attention and popularity as cricketers in the country after he created a new Commonwealth Games record with a throw of 90.18 in Birmingham in 2022. He also became the first Pakistani athlete to win a medal in the World Athletics Championships last year with a silver, falling behind India's Neeraj Chopra. In the Tokyo Olympic Games, Arshad had finished in fifth position

Sailor Vishnu qualifies for successive Olympics, targets medal in LA 2028

Asian Games bronze medallist Vishnu Sarvanan became the first Indian sailor to qualify for successive Olympics as he made the cut at the World Championships here on Wednesday. A Subedar from the Mumbai-based Army Yachting Node, the 24-year-old secured qualification for the upcoming Paris Games by finishing 26th out of 152 participants in ILCA-7. He thus becomes the first Indian sailor to make the cut for Paris 2024. Vishnu secured the top rank among Asian countries, surpassing gold medallists from Singapore in the Asian Games and medal winners from Hong Kong and Thailand in the Continental Qualifiers. Vishnu concluded the competition with an overall score of 174. Following the standard rule, his least score of 49 in a race was subtracted, resulting in a net score of 125. The weather condition was windy and at its challenging best at the Adelaide Sailing Club, taking a toll on the sailors. 'Numb fingers, legs destroyed' ================== So gruelling has been the race that Vish

Paris Olympics: India placed in tough Pool B in men's hockey competition

Asian Games champions and Tokyo Olympics bronze medallists India are place in a tough Pool B in the men's hockey competition at this year's Paris Games. Eight-time champions India, who clinched a historic bronze medal in Tokyo after a hiatus of 41 years, have been clubbed with reigning Olympic champions and world no.2 Belgium, mighty Australia, Rio Games gold medallist Argentina, New Zealand and Ireland. The Indians are currently ranked third in the world, behind Belgium and the Netherlands, and they had found it tough to beat Tokyo silver medallist Australia and Argentina in the past. Pool A, meanwhile, consists of Netherlands, Germany, Great Britain, Spain, France and South Africa. The International Hockey Federation announced the pools of both men's and women's hockey competition after the completion of the FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers on Sunday. In the women's competition in Paris, there will be no representation from India, who finished a creditable fourth in Tokyo, as they

Amit Panghal not part of Paris Olympics 2024 world qualification tourney

World Championships bronze medallists Deepak Bhoria and Nishant Dev will be among nine Indian boxers in the running to seal Paris Olympic quotas at the first qualification tournament, scheduled to take place in Busto Arsizio, Italy from February 29 to March 12. Six-time Asian Championships medallist Shiva Thapa (63.5kg) and 2022 Commonwealth Games bronze winner Jaismine Lamboria (60kg) were also named in the nine-member Indian squad announced by the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) on Monday. Apart from Deepak (51kg), who once again pipped 2019 World Championships silver medallist Amit Panghal based on BFI's evaluation process, and Nishant (71kg), 2022 Worlds bronze winner Mohammad Hussamuddin (57kg), who was out with a knee injury for most of last year, makes a return. Youth women's world champion Ankushita Boro (66kg), reigning national champions Lakshya Chahar (80kg), Sanjeet Kumar (92kg), Hangzhou Asian Games bronze medallist Narender Berwal (+92kg) have also been included, and

Pakistan hockey team fails to qualify for Olympics, former players sad

Pakistan's embattled men's hockey team has failed to qualify for the Olympic Games for a third consecutive time after losing its final shot at a Paris ticket in the FIH Qualifiers in Oman, a result that left the game's former greats here sad and outraged in equal measure. After losing 0-4 to Germany in the tournament's semi-final, Pakistan went down 2-3 to New Zealand in the third-place match last night, ending their chances of making it to this year's Paris Olympics as only the top-three made the cut. Pakistan's last Olympic appearance was in the 2012 Games where the team signed off 7th, a marginal improvement from its worst ever 8th place finish in the Beijing Games in 2008. The team is overall an eight-time medallist in the mega-event, three of them being gold (1960, 1968, and 1984). "What do you expect bhai (brother), when the team is sent to the Olympic qualifiers with just 18 days training whereas all the other teams have come there with months of preparation and training," ..

Indian women's hockey team fails to qualify for Paris Olympics 2024

It will be extremely difficult for India to accept that, despite having home advantage, they will not qualify for Paris after that Tokyo semifinal

IND-JAP highlights: Japan beat India 1-0, book a spot in Paris Olympics

Paris Olympics 2024: Indian women's team won't be part of Olympics, which will take place in July-August. India had a chance if they finished at third place but Japan stood there

Chile beat Czech Republic 1-0 to finish seventh in Paris Olympics Qualifier

Chile rode on Fernanda Villigran's penalty strike in the second quarter to beat Czech Republic, the lowest ranked side in the tournament, 1-0 to finish seventh in the FIH Women's Olympic Qualifier here on Friday. Even though they failed to qualify for the Paris Olympics, it should be a morale-boosting win for the Chileans, ranked 22nd in the world, over world No. 31 Czech Republic. Viilligran scored the lone goal in the 27th minute during the seventh-eighth place classification match. It was Chile's only second over Czech Republic in the history of the game. The Chileans had also defeated Czech 6-0 in the pool stages here. Chile were by far the better side on display as they dominated the match from start to end. Chile kept up the pressure on the Czech defence from the onset and made innumerable circle entries but goals eluded them in the first quarter. Chile secured two penalty corners in the first quarter as against Czech's one but both the sides failed to break the deadlock.

NZ beat Italy 3-1 to finish 5th in FIH Women's Paris Olympic Qualifiers

A dominant New Zealand scored three goals in the first three quarters to get past Italy 3-1 and finish fifth in the FIH Women's Olympic Qualifier here on Friday. Rose Tynan (7th minute) skipper Olivia Merry (10th) and Hannah Cotter (31st) were the scorers for the 'Black Sticks Women' in the fifth-sixth place classification match. Italy's lone goal came from the stick of Ivanna Pessina in the 21st minute from a penalty corner. As expected, the Black Sticks started the match on an offensive note, putting pressure on the Italian defence from the word go. New Zealand secured their first penalty corner in the third minute, only to be denied by a goalline save from the Italian defence. New Zealand kept up the pressure and earned a penalty corner four minutes later and Rose Tynan scored from rebound to hand side the lead. Three minutes later, Olivia Merry scored from a field effort to double New Zealand's lead. The Italians came out with purpose in the second quarter and made some bril

Rejuvenated India eye win against Germany to seal Paris Games ticket

Just one win away from securing a Paris Olympics berth, a resilient Indian women's hockey team will need to produce its 'A' game against higher-ranked Germany in the semifinals of the FIH Olympic Qualifiers here on Thursday. The Indians bounced back from a 0-1 loss to USA in their tournament-opener to outclass New Zealand and Italy to seal their semifinal spot as the second-placed team from Pool B. It was a near-perfect performance in the last two matches with all departments clicking in unison and the Savita Punia-led side would look to continue the same way in the business end of the tournament. The top three teams from here will qualify for this year's Olympics and a win on Thursday will guarantee India a ticket to Paris. In case they fail to do so, the Indians will get another shot in the third-fourth place match against the other losing semi-finalists on Friday. But the home side needs to approach the match against Germany with a positive mindset. The best aspect of India's

Olympics Hockey Qualifiers: India women maul Italy 5-1 to enter semis

Udita Duhan capped her milestone 100th international appearance with a double strike that took India closer to a Paris ticket after hosts thrashed Italy 5-1 to enter the semi-final of the FIH Olympic Qualifier here on Tuesday. Udita (1st minute, 55th), Deepika (41st), Salima Tete (45th) and Navneet Kaur (53rd) were the goal scorers for Indian team as it finished second in Pool B with two wins from three games behind United States, who remained unbeaten. India will take on Pool A toppers Germany in the semifinals on Thursday, while USA will be up against Japan. The top three teams will qualify for the Paris Olympics. It was yet another good show by the Indians after the 0-1 loss to USA in their opener as they controlled the flow of the match from start to finish. Udita was rock solid at the back, while diminutive Neha Goyal and Salima controlled the proceedings in the mid-field. It was a perfect start for India as just like their previous match, the hosts took the lead in the firs