Page 15 - Olympics

Olympics 2024: Chile gets 1st gold in 20 yrs as Crovetto wins women's skeet

Chile won its first Olympic gold medal in 20 years when Francisca Crovetto took victory in the women's skeet, while Britain's Amber Rutter took silver just over three months after becoming a mother. Crovetto won the gold in a shoot-off, hitting her last two targets for the win after a disputed call to give Rutter a miss for a shot which, TV replays showed, had seemed to clip the target. Rutter reached the Olympic final in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 at the age of 18 and was a favourite for a medal in the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics in 2021 until a positive test for COVID-19 two days before the opening ceremony. She gave birth in April. Austen Smith won the bronze for the United States a day after her coach, Vincent Hancock, won his fourth gold medal in men's skeet.

Olympics 2024: Lui Yang of China defends his gold medal in still rings

Liu Yang of China defended his Olympic gymnastics title on still rings, posting a score of 15.300 to edge teammate Zou Jingyuan in the finals on Sunday. The 29-year-old Liu is the third man to win multiple Olympic titles in an event that requires strength and impeccable body control, joining Albert Azaryan of Russia and Akinori Nakayama of Japan. Eleftherios Petrounias of Greece earned the bronze. Petrounias has won a medal on rings in three straight Games. He was the champion in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro and a bronze medalist in Tokyo three years ago. The difference between Liu's 15.300 and Zou's 15.233 came on the dismount. Zou hopped a couple of times after hitting the mat while Liu's bounce was considerably smaller. Samir Ait Said of France finished fourth, eight years after memorably breaking his left leg on a vault in Rio. Said, who already has committed to trying to make it to Los Angeles 2028, roared after his dismount in front of a highly partisan crowd inside Bercy Arena. T

Paris Olympics: Ngamba becomes 1st athlete on refugee team to clinch medal

Cameroonian boxer Cindy Ngamba on Sunday became the first athlete on the Refugee Olympic Team to clinch a medal at the Paris Games, offering hope for a team created to call attention to the plight of refugees across the world. Ngamba's victory comes after a fierce bout with French boxer Davina Michel in the women's middleweight quarterfinals. The win means she's at least scored a bronze medal as she advances to the semifinals. Ngamba was a flag bearer for the 37 athletes making up the biggest Olympic Refugee Team since the idea was born ahead of the Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. Ngamba, a member of the LGBTQ+ community, moved to the United Kingdom at the age of 11 and said she was granted refugee status in 2021 because she could have been imprisoned for being gay in Cameroon. She has said boxing has been her escape from the chaos and has lifted her to the international stage. While some of the athletes on the team have already won Olympic medals for their countries in pas

Olympics 2024: Indian shooters miss finals in skeet, 25m pistol event

Indian shooters Vijayveer Sidhu and Anish Bhanwala gave a good account of themselves in the qualifications but could not enter the final of the 25m rapid fire men's pistol event at the Olympic Games here on Sunday. Vijayveer and Anish shot brilliantly over two stages of qualification, staying in contention till the final 10 shots of the second rapid-fire stage, only to shoot scores of 92 and 93, finishing ninth and 13th respectively. Only the top six shooters make the final cut. In the women's skeet competition, Maheshwari Chauhan and Raiza Dhillon ended in 14th and 23rd place respectively in the qualification. Maheshwari aggregated 118 across five series with the first three series taking place on Saturday. She recorded scores of 23, 24, 24, 25, 22. Raiza aggregated 113 after a sequence that read 21, 22, 23, 23, 24. Here too, only the top six in the qualifications make it to the final. Italy's 2016 Rio Olympics gold medallist Diana Bacosi also failed to clear the qualifications

Nigeria becomes first African basketball team to qualify for Olympic QFs

Ezinne Kalu had a giant smile on her face as she joined her teammates for a celebratory run around the court with Nigerian flags. Nigeria had reached a place no African country in men's or women's basketball had ever gone before the quarter-finals of the Olympics. Kalu scored 21 points and Nigeria secured a spot in the elimination round in Paris by downing Canada 79-70 on Sunday for its second win of the Olympics. It means a lot, you know, not just to us as a team, but to the entire world of Africa, Kalu said. "It only gets harder from here." When the final buzzer sounded, the team went to midcourt to start celebrating, with an assistant coach using her phone to record the moment. The Nigerians stopped to high-five the Canadians and then returned to celebrating with a midcourt huddle. An assistant coach grabbed a flag from a fan for photos on the court, and the Nigerians took their time hugging and posing for more photos as they savoured the moment. Surreal. This isn't going to

Olympics 2024: Axelsen picks, Lakshya among favourites for gold at LA 2028

Lakshya Sen was undone by nerves, defending champion Viktor Axelsen said after defeating him in the Olympic semifinals but also predicted that the Indian youngster would be among the favourites to win a gold medal four years from now in the Los Angeles Games. Axelsen defeated Sen 22-20 21-14, managing to rally in both the games against the talented Indian player who will now play for a bronze medal on Monday. "Lakshya is an amazing player. He has shown in this Olympics that he is a very, very strong competitor and I am sure in four years from now, he will be one of the favourites to win the gold," Axelsen told 'Jio Cinema' after the win here on Sunday. "An amazing talent and a great guy and I wish him all the best. He was playing so well in the big parts of both games, but I managed to relax and play the right game and win the match. But all credit to him as well," he added. Axelsen knows a thing or two about handling pressure and said his experience helped him to stave off the sti

Olympics: India's boxing campaign at Paris ends with Lovlina's loss in Q/F

Tokyo Olympics bronze-winning Indian boxer Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) bowed out of the ongoing Paris Games after losing a hard-fought quarterfinal bout to China's Li Qian here on Sunday. Borgohain went down 1-4 in a messy contest during which both the boxers were repeatedly cautioned for clinching and holding. Her loss ended India's boxing campaign in the Olympics after Nishant Dev was ousted from the men's 71kg quarterfinals on Saturday night. A six-strong contingent, comprising four women and two men, was representing India in the Games.

Olympics: Sreejesh's masterclass takes India to consecutive semifinals

A battle-hardened PR Sreejesh gave a big fillip to the Indian hockey team's aspirations of winning a second consecutive Olympic medal with his splendid shootout saves in a 4-2 victory over Great Britain that earned his side a place in the semifinals of the Paris Games here Sunday. Playing most of the match without key defender Amit Rohidas, who was shown a red card for hitting a rival player with his stick, the team did extremely well to hold Great Britain to 1-1 in regulation time. Great Britain dominated possession and played with man-to-man marking, not allowing India to attack much. In the absence of Rohidas, Manpreet Singh, who plays in mid-field, was asked to man the defence. Reduced to 10 men on the pitch, India could not play scoop balls, a strategy that worked for the side in previous matches, but it managed to escape without getting hurt. It all boiled down to how Sreejesh would perform and the veteran goalkeeper did not disappoint, blocking the third and fourth attempts

Paris Olympics 2024 HIGHLIGHTS, Day 10: Wrestler Nisha suffers heartbreak; Lakshya finishes 4th

India at Olympics HIGHLIGHTS: India finished 4th after losing the bronze medal match in skeet mixed event. Check Paris 2024 live score and medal update here

Paris Olympics 2024: India schedule on August 5, live time (IST), streaming

India at Olympics: Lakshya Sen to Avinash Sable - check India's schedule, live match timings on Day 10 of the Olympics 2024

Olympics 2024: Proud of myself, said Hungary's Luca after loss to Khelif

In a bout that attracted global attention, Hungary's Luca Anna Hamari (66kg) braved intimidating gender row boxer Iman Khelif for three competitive rounds at the Paris Olympics and walked out feeling proud of herself as "not fighting was not an option" for her, here Saturday. The Algerian, embroiled in a major gender controversy in the French capital, left the ring in tears after she guaranteed herself at least bronze by entering the women's 66kg semifinals. Her previous opponent, Italian boxer Angela Carini had pulled out of her bout against Khelif on Thursday just after 46 seconds, unable to take heavy punches from the Algerian, who was banned from the 2023 World Championship in New Delhi for failing the gender eligibility test. The dramatic turn of events had created a huge furore in the boxing world and at the Games, with many questioning Khelif's presence in the women's competition even as IOC put up a stout defence of their decision to allow the Algerian to compete as a ...

Olympics 2024: Archers looked strong despite psychologist's delay

The designated sports psychologist had under 48 hours with the Indian team, yet the archers transformed their initial disappointment into a memorable campaign, including a historic first-ever semifinal, and exited the Paris Olympics on Saturday with a glimmer of promise. The mixed team of Dhiraj Bommadevara and left-handed Ankita Bhakat notched India's best-ever finish in archery at the Olympics when they made the semifinals before losing to Korea and then USA in the bronze playoff on Friday to finish fourth. A day later, the most experienced Indian archer-- Deepika Kumari had two sets advantage and needed to clinch another to make the semifinal. But lost yet another Olympics quarterfinal to return empty-handed from her fourth appearance. Gayatri Vartak, who was associated with the Commonwealth Games medal-winning table tennis team in Birmingham 2022, was the designated sports psychologist for the Indian archery at the Paris Olympics. But for reasons "not known" she got her Visa on

Olympics 2024: Never say never, says Biles on 2028 Olympics participation

Simone Biles is getting kind of old for this. Just maybe not too old to keep going. Maybe. Minutes after the American gymnastics star won the seventh Olympic gold of her career on Saturday in a vault final that left little doubt that even at 27 she remains in a class by herself, she played coy when asked if the event marked the final time she would ever explode off the springboard in competition. While Biles allowed she was officially retiring her eponymous Yurchenko double pike vault because I kind of nailed that one at the Paris Olympics, she didn't rule out a return to the Games when they move to Los Angeles in 2028. Never say never, Biles said. Next Olympics are at home. So you just never know. I am getting really old. At times, it's hard to tell. Her sequined red leotard a blur in the air, Biles averaged 15.300 on her two vaults to claim a second gold in the event eight years after she triumphed in Rio de Janeiro. Three years ago in the run-up to Tokyo she tinkered with the

Olympics 2024, Golf: India's Sharma and Bhullar trails after round 3

India's Shubhankar Sharma shot two late birdies that saw him card 1-over 72 but he slipped to Tied-48th at 2-under for three rounds in the Olympic men's golf competition here on Saturday. Sharma had two birdies against three bogeys. Things also did not work well for Gaganjeet Bhullar, the Indian in the fray. Bhullar, who, like Sharma, is making his Olympic debut shot even par 71 and was T-48th as the Indians were in the lower half of the 60-man field. There is no cut at the Olympic Games. Bhullar had three birdies, one of them on the 18th, against three bogeys. Xander Schauffele, who is in excellent form after winning two Majors this season, was in a perfect position to defend his Olympic golf title. The American carded a fighting 3-under 68 with a birdie and an eagle on the back nine at Le Golf National. He shared the lead with the Spanish star Jon Rahm, who shot a second straight 66 after a first round 67. At the top, Schauffele and Rahm were 14-under with Tommy Fleetwood (69)

Olympics 2024: Ukraine secures first gold at Paris in women's team fencing

Ukraine has won its first gold medal of the Paris Olympics by defeating South Korea in the final of the women's team saber fencing on Saturday. The Ukrainian team recovered from six points down to beat South Korea 45-42 on 22 points from individual bronze medalist Olga Kharlan. She came in for the final leg of the bout with her team at 40-37 down and went 8-2 to win. Ukraine had two medals before Saturday's final; a silver in shooting from Serhiy Kulish and the bronze that Kharlan won Monday in women's saber. That was a particularly emotional moment for Kharlan, a year after she was disqualified at the world championships for refusing to shake the hand of a Russian fencer, something which briefly put her Olympic qualification in jeopardy. It was an incident that highlighted the tension over whether to allow Russian athletes to keep competing following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Five-time Olympian Kharlan has her sixth Olympic medal in a career that began with women's team

Paris Olympics 2024 HIGHLIGHTS, Day 9: Djokovic wins Gold medal in men's singles tennis

Olympics HIGHLIGHTS: Lakshya Sen suffered heartbreak defeat. Lovlina loses her Q/F match against China. Check Olympics 2024 higlights and medal updates here

Olympics 2024: Katie Ledecky creates history with 800m swimming gold

Katie Ledecky capped another stellar Olympics by becoming only the second swimmer to win an event at four straight Summer Games, holding off Ariarne Titmus to win the 800-meter freestyle Saturday night. It was Ledecky's second gold medal in Paris and ninth of her remarkable career, which marked another milestone. She became only the sixth Olympian to reach that figure, joining swimmer Mark Spitz, track star Carl Lewis, Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina and Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi in a tie for second place. The only athlete to win more golds: swimmer Michael Phelps with 23.

Olympics 2024: Nishant Dev's Olympic campaign ends with heartbreak in Q/F

Nishant Dev's maiden Olympic campaign ended in heartbreak after a devastating split verdict defeat to Mexico's Marco Verde Alvarez in the men's 71kg quarterfinal here on Saturday. Leading after the first round, the 23-year-old world championship bronze medallist Indian lost 1-4 to his second seed Mexican opponent in the quarterfinal at the North Paris Arena. Nishant had defeated Alvarez in the 2021 World Championships. Nishant was off to a flyer as Alvarez struggled to match his pace. He used his straight jabs to great effect, landing them square on the Mexican's face as well as the body to tire his opponent. Alvarez was trailing for the most part of the round but managed to connect a lethal right hook on Nishant's face, that forced the referee to give the Indian a standing count, followed by a left in the dying minutes. But the Indian's dominant display ensured he had the bragging rights. Nishant continued to unleash a range of punches, including a combination of hooks, while ..

Olympics 2024, women's 100m: Julien Alfred wins 1st-ever medal for St Lucia

There were small signs for anyone willing to look that the sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson might not quite match the person she has become. The wobbly starts. The little details. The meek exit from the Olympic trials earlier this summer after such a promising start. All the hype aside, Richardson was never a sure thing to win an Olympic gold medal Saturday in the 100 meters. On a rainy and odd evening at the Stade de France, 23-year-old Julien Alfred from St. Lucia showed there's more than one inspirational story, and more than one great sprinter, at this Olympic track meet. Alfred romped through the puddles and past Richardson and the rest of a largely depleted field, finishing in 10.72 seconds to throw a brick wall in front of what was supposed to be one of the best stories in Paris. She beat Richardson by .15 seconds the biggest margin in the Olympic 100 since 2008 to bring home the first medal of any color to the small eastern Caribbean island of St. Lucia. Alfred's victory ..

Olympics 2024: 'Tahiti's Water Angels' Safety Patrol shines during surfing

Cracked helmets, sutured skin and checks for concussions have been all been part of the Paris Olympics surfing competition, as surfers go head-to-head on the treacherous waves of Teahupo'o, Tahiti on their quest for gold. While the competition has had big waves and wipe outs, surfers said it's thanks to the water safety patrol a team of highly-skilled, local workers patrolling with jet skis, helping to operate boats and constantly assessing oceans conditions from a watch tower that they've been able to enter the heavy, barrel-shaped waves with more confidence that they'll emerge unscathed. The waves of Teahupo'o can be deadly, having claimed the life of at least one surfer. A jagged coral reef lies just below the ocean surface, often extremely close to where the waves break and within eyesight of surfers. It's super dangerous. People don't realize it's the most dangerous place in the world ... so I'm just really happy to be in one piece, surfer Jack Robinson from Australia said afte