Page 19 - Olympics

Olympics 2024: Paralympic legend Deepa Malik congratulates Manu Bhaker

Paralympic medallist Deepa Malik praised ace shooter Manu Bhaker, who became the first athlete in independent India to win two medals in the same Olympics. Manu has won bronze in both 10m air pistol for women and mixed team event with Sarabjot Singh. Manu will compete in the 25m sports pistol qualifications on August 2. "I heartily congratulate Manu Bhaker. She is a very bright girl and I am glad she never gave up after her Tokyo heartbreak. She has emerged stronger and given India true joy to smile and celebrate. Once again, an Indian girl has opened the Olympic medal tally for India. Last time, it was Mirabai Chanu and this time it's Manu Bhaker," Deepa told PTI on sidelines of Subroto Cup football tournament. Weightlifter Mirabai Chanu won the silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the Women's 49 kg event. She has won gold medals at the World Championships and Commonwealth Games. "I have a special bond with her. We come from the same state of Haryana. I heartily congratulate

Superfan spends life savings to attend her 7th Summer Olympics in Paris

Covered with pins and adornments, Vivianne Robinson is hard to miss in the streets of Paris. The Olympics superfan has attended seven Summer Games for 40 years. But, this trip to Paris came at a hefty price. Robinson, 66 and from Los Angeles, maxed out her credit cards and worked two jobs to afford the trip and the 38 event tickets she purchased. She worked on Venice Beach during the day, putting names on rice necklaces, and bagged groceries at night. She said she has to work two more years to make up for the money she spent following her passion for the Summer Olympics in Paris. It was hard to save up and it's a big budget, but it's a thousand times worth it, she says. Even still, she was disappointed to pay USD 1,600 for the opening ceremony only to end up watching a screen on a bridge. You know how long that takes to make that much money? she asks, eventually adding: But, things happen in life and life goes on and you win if you lose a few. During her interview, a passerby su

Djokovic enters Paris Olympics quarterfinals; eyes his first gold medal

Novak Djokovic needed a bit of time to assert himself Wednesday at the Paris Olympics before taking control with a five-game run for a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Dominik Koepfer of Germany, reaching the Summer Games singles quarterfinals for the fourth time. A gold medal is pretty much the only accomplishment of significance missing from the resume of Djokovic, a 37-year-old from Serbia who has won a record 24 Grand Slam titles and spent more weeks at No. 1 than anyone in the history of the computerized tennis rankings. That is why Djokovic, the top-seeded man in Paris, has proclaimed success at these Olympics his priority for the year. His one medal so far was a bronze in 2008 in Beijing. This time, tennis matches are being played at Roland Garros, the facility that hosts the French Open, which Djokovic has won three times. One of his triumphs in a final at Court Philippe Chatrier came in 2021 against Stefanos Tsitsipas, the Greek who will be Djokovic's opponent on Thursday. Tsitsipas

2024 Olympics: Lovlina wins first match at Paris; Assam CM congratulates

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday congratulated boxer Lovlina Borgohain for winning her inaugural bout and advancing to the quarterfinals of the 2024 Paris Olympics. Borgohain defeated Norway's Sunniva Hofstad 5-0 in the women's 75 kg round of 16. "Fantastic, Lovlina! What a start. Your performance in the round of 16 bout against Sunniva Hofstad was absolutely stunning. All the best for the quarterfinals, champ! the Chief Minister posted on X. Earlier in the day, Sarma had expressed his best wishes for Lovlina's Olympic campaign in another post. "Assam's daughter and ace Indian pugilist @LovlinaBorgohai begins her #Paris2024 campaign today as she takes to the boxing ring to punch her way towards the coveted #Olympics glory," he wrote. Lovlina, who serves as a Deputy Superintendent of Police in Assam, also received congratulations from Director General of Police (DGP) G P Singh. "Best wishes @LovlinaBorgohai. The prayers of all of us are with you. God bless," Sin

Olympics 2024: Lakshya Sen stuns the crowd with his no-look backhand

While the victory was special in itself, what stayed with fans was his unbelievable no-look backhand shot against his opponent which had Christie surprised and beaten in the 1st game

Olympics: Jasmine Moore 1st US woman to play triple and long jump events

Jasmine Moore always loved jumping. For a while when she was a kid, she thought all those leaps, with a few twirls mixed in, might make her part of America's Team as a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader. How's this for a backup plan: She's on America's team in Paris. The 23-year-old, seven-time NCAA champion parlayed all that leaping ability into not one but two chances for an Olympic gold medal. Moore is the first US woman to make the Games in both triple jump and long jump. Moore, who grew up in the Dallas-Forth Worth area in Texas and got used to flying high as a kid in gymnastics and competitive cheerleading, eventually gave all that up to pursue a life in track and field. She leaned into the triple jump first, then took up long jumping because it wasn't all that different. For me, the goal was always free college,' getting a scholarship, she said. She did just that first in Georgia, then in Florida and now, she is in Paris, with a jam-packed schedule and maybe a little extra room

Local storms disrupts high speed trains, travellers left stranded in Paris

A local storm on Wednesday interrupted all high-speed train traffic connecting Paris to the southeast of the country as well as Switzerland in both directions, France's rail company said, leaving thousands of travellers stranded amid the Olympics and departures for summer vacation. The SNCF said all the fast trains leaving from and arriving at the Gare de Lyon train station in the French capital were immobilised due to a tree that fell on the tracks and was hit by a train in Burgundy, southeast of the French capital. Regular-speed trains use separate tracks and haven't been affected. Authorities cut the power off the track and a logging operation has already started to remove the tree, but initial observations showed the matter won't be fixed quickly, the SNCF said, adding that all on that line were being brought back to a station in order to help people find alternatives travel modes, the company added. This comes after France's train traffic was severely disrupted last week after

Paris Olympics 2024: Boxer Lovlina Borgohain advances to quarter-finals

Tokyo Olympics bronze-winner Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) advanced to the quarterfinals of the Paris Games after clinching a comfortable win over Norway's Sunniva Hofstad here on Wednesday. Borgohain prevailed 5-0 in the contest to remain on course for a second successive Olympic medal. The reigning world champion had won her Tokyo bronze in the 69kg category. She will take on top-seeded Chinese Li Qian in the last-eight stage on August 4. Qian is a silver-medallist from the Tokyo Games in the middleweight (75kg) division.

Olympics: PV Sindhu tops her group, through to women's pre-quarter-finals

Ace Indian shuttler PV Sindhu stormed into the pre-quarterfinals of the Olympic Games' women's singles competition after beating Kristin Kuuba of Estonia in straight games here on Wednesday. The two-time Olympic medallist won 21-5 21-10 in her second and last Group M match here. Sindhu, who had beaten Maldives' Fathimath Abdul Razzaq 21-9 21-6 in her first match, topped the group. The winner of each of the 16 groups qualifies for the round of 16. The Indian ace has previously won a silver medal in the 2016 Rio Games and a bronze in the Tokyo edition.

Swapnil Kusale books men's 50m rifle 3 positions final berth, finishes 7th

India shooter Swapnil Kusale on Wednesday qualified for finals of the 50m rifle 3 positions here after finishing seventh. Kusale shot an aggregate of 198 (99, 99) in the kneeling position, 197 (98, 99) in the prone position and 195 (98, 97) in the standing position as top eight shooters in a field of 44 made it to the final round. Kusale finished with an overall score of 590 (38x) while China's Liu Yukun finished with a total of 594 points at the first spot followed by Norway's Jon-Hermann Hegg at second with 593. The third place finish was secured by Ukraine's Serhiy Kulish with 592 points while France's Lucas Kryzs (592-35x) was fourth, Serbia's Lazar Kovacevic (592-33x) was fifth and Tomasz Bartnik (590-40x) from Poland was sixth. The last place was taken by Jiri Privratsky from Czech Republic with 590-35x). Kusale trains under Tejaswini Sawant in Kolhapur.

Simone Biles, Team USA redeem themselves with Olympic gold in gymnastics

Simone Biles, Jordan Chiles and Sunisa Lee spent the night before perhaps the biggest gymnastics meet of their lives restless. There was a tension in the air. They'd all been in the Olympic spotlight before, experiences that left them with medals but also the kind of scars be they physical, psychological or both that heal but never really go away. And here they were in Paris, the leaders of a star-laden U.S. team everyone expected to finish atop the medal stand, and something wasn't right. In a different time, in a different era, it might have festered. Might have followed them onto the floor at Bercy Arena and into the history books, too. This is not a different time. This is not a different era. This is now. So the oldest team the U.S. has ever sent to the Olympics, including a trio that has spent their respective careers breaking barriers about what a female gymnast can and can't do, what they can and can't be, did something they never used to do. They talked, with Biles th

Georgian shooter features in record 10th Olympics for father's last wish

Nino Salukvadze had all but decided to bid adieu to her pistol after nine Olympic appearances, which yielded three medals, until she lost her father, whose "last wish" pushed her to compete in an unprecedented 10th Games. The 55-year-old, who was Georgia's flagbearer at the opening ceremony, became the first woman and only the second athlete overall after Equestrian show jumper Ian Millar to compete in a 10th consecutive Summer Games. Her first two Olympic medals, a gold and silver in 25m pistol and 10m air pistol, came in the 1988 Games in Seoul where she represented the USSR before she completed the set with a bronze for Georgia 20 years later in Beijing. Salukvadze said she found the resolve to give it another shot here here when she recalled her father Vakhtang Salukvadze's words, which to her, seemed like a final wish. "He never asked me for anything, so I think maybe it was his last wish," said the veteran, who will be competing in the 25m pistol qualifications on ...

'A little Olympian': Egyptian fencer competes while being 7 months pregnant

Paris Olympics 2024: The 26-year-old athlete shared on Instagram that she competed not only for herself but also for her unborn baby

Paris Olympics 2024: When it rains, it pours bacteria in the Seine

Swimming in the Seine river had been forbidden for nearly a century because of poor water quality, with only rare exceptions for specific events

Olympic triathletes to swim in Seine after days of water quality concerns

After days of delays and uncertainty over water quality in the Seine River, the women's and men's Olympic triathlon races will go forward Wednesday with a swim in the famed Paris waterway. The decision to go ahead with the Seine swim for the triathlon competitions is a big win for the city, Olympics organizers and the athletes. Officials undertook an ambitious plan, including 1.4 billion euros ($1.5 billion) in infrastructure improvements, to clean up the long-polluted Seine and have been steadfast in their insistence that the swimming portion of the triathlon and the marathon swimming events next week could safely be held in the river. The organizers said early Wednesday the latest tests of the water showed compliance with quality standards. Elevated levels of bacteria in the river pushed the men's race originally planned for Tuesday to Wednesday, when the women's competition had been scheduled. Test events meant to allow the athletes to familiarize themselves with the course had .

Biles celebrates another Olympic gold while Gauff fumes over call in loss

Simone Biles reached the top of the podium yet again, cementing her legacy as the greatest American gymnast and one of the best athletes in the history of the Olympics. Biles helped the United States win the women's team event Tuesday to secure her fifth Olympic gold medal and put the U.S. back on top of the sport after a second-place finish three years ago in Tokyo. Biles became the most decorated American gymnast in front of a crowd that included Nicole Kidman, Natalie Portman, Serena Williams, Spike Lee, Michael Phelps and Nadia Comaneci at a raucous Bercy Arena. It was the eighth Olympic medal for the 27-year-old Biles, who was previously tied with Shannon Miller at seven. Italy won the silver medal, and Brazil got the bronze. There were no such triumphs in swimming for the Americans, who couldn't manage more than silver and bronze medals. In tennis, it was Coco Gauff left fuming over an officiating decision in a loss to Donna Vekic of Croatia. There were no winners or losers

Paris Olympics 2024: India schedule on July 31, live time (IST), streaming

India at Olympics: Lakshya Sen to PV Sindhu - check India's schedule, live match timings on Day 5 of the Olympics 2024

Paris Olympics 2024 HIGHLIGHTS, Day 4: IND medal tally- 2 bronze; Indian hockey team in Q/F

Olympics 2024 HIGHLIGHTS: Bhajan Kaur enters round of 16. Satwik-Chirag's wins against INA and qualifies for Q/F. Amit Panghal eliminated in RO16. Check Paris 2024 highlights here

Paris Olympics 2024: With Bronze medals, shooting stars over the moon

Manu has become the first Indian to win two medals in the same edition of the Olympic Games after Independence

Olympic gold rush for brands: Athletes fight back against unauthorised ads

Representatives of Indian Olympic medalists are preparing legal action against brands using their athletes' images in congratulatory ads without sponsorship