Page 22 - Olympics

India looks to continue winning streak against Argentina at Paris Olympics

Their campaign off to a winning start, India would eye a consistent performance when they take on unpredictable Argentina in their second match of the Olympic men's hockey competition here on Monday. India beat New Zealand 3-2 in a tense opening match on Saturday with captain Harmanpreet Singh scoring the winner in the dying minutes from a penalty stroke. It was not an easy outing against New Zealand who were initially leading 1-0 before the Harmanpreet-led side made a recovery. Monday's match against Argentina is also expected to be a tough one as the South Americans are famous for man-to-man marking and hard play, which the Indian midfield will have to withstand. The Indians are placed in a tough Pool B alongside reigning champions Belgium, mighty Australia, Argentina, New Zealand and Ireland. The first three matches against New Zealand, Argentina and Ireland are crucial for India to garner maximum points before squaring against Belgium and Australia. A win on Monday will more

Nikhat Zareen punches her way to the round of 16 at 2024 Paris Olympics

Two-time world champion Nikhat Zareen powered into the women's 50kg Olympics' pre-quarterfinals with a hard-fought victory over Germany's Maxi Karina Kloetzer here on Sunday. The 28-year-old, who is unseeded, prevailed by a 5-0 unanimous decision win against the German in a rather messy round of 32 contest at the North Paris arena here. Zareen will take on top-seeded Asian Games and reigning flyweight world champion Wu Yu of China, who received a first round bye, on Thursday.

Paris Olympics: PM Modi lauds shooter Manu Bhaker for historic bronze win

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday hailed Manu Bhaker for winning India's first medal at the Paris Olympics and said her success is even more special as she becomes the first woman to win a medal in shooting for India. A resilient Manu Bhaker ended India's 12-year wait for a shooting medal in the Olympics by becoming the first markswoman from the country to finish on the podium with a bronze in the 10m air pistol event of the Paris Games here on Sunday. "A historic medal! Well done, @realmanubhaker, for winning India's FIRST medal at #ParisOlympics2024! Congrats for the Bronze," Modi said in a post on X. "This success is even more special as she becomes the first woman to win a medal in shooting for India. An incredible achievement!" he added.

Olympics pre-race triathlon event in Seine River canceled, here's why

Concerns over the water quality of Paris' Seine River have continued into the 2024 Olympics, with a pre-race triathlon event there canceled Sunday. Organizers said they nixed the swimming leg of the triathlon familiarization scheduled for Sunday morning after a meeting about water quality among authorities tasked with carrying out water quality tests. That included representatives of World Triathlon, as well as city and regional authorities. Swimming in the Seine has been banned for over a century in big part due to poor water quality. Organizers have invested $1.5 billion to prepare the Seine for these Games, and the government has said the river would be clean enough to hold events, including the swimming portion of the triathlon and the marathon swimming event. Daily water quality tests in early June indicated unsafe levels of E. coli bacteria, followed by recent improvements. Parisian Mayor Anne Hidalgo took a famous dip in the river less than two weeks before Olympic events wer

Olympics: Arjun Babuta through to 10m air rifle finals, finishes 7th

Indian shooter Arjun Babuta secured a spot in the 10m air rifle final of the Olympic Games after finishing seventh in the qualification round here on Sunday. The 25-year-old Babuta shot a series of 105.7, 104.9, 105.5, 105.4, 104.0 and 104.6 to make the cut with a score of 630.1 points. He will take another shot at glory in the eight-shooter final on Monday after narrowly missing out on a final berth in the mixed team event with Ramita Jindal on Saturday, where the duo finished sixth in the qualification. The Chandigarh boy, who has been in the national squad since 2016, has been a perennial underachiever before he came into national reckoning by clinching an Olympic berth at the Asian Shooting Championships last year in Changwon. Army man Sandeep Singh shot 629.3 to finish 12th in the same event ending his Paris campaign, having achieved plenty of experience in his maiden Olympics after displacing world champion Rudrankksh Patil in the selection trials in April-May. China's Sheng

India set for double-digit medal tally at Paris Olympics, says Nita Ambani

After the highs of Tokyo Olympics where India secured their best ever medal haul, the country is poised to get medals in double digits in Paris, sports administrator and IOC member Nita Ambani has said. Talking to PTI in an exclusive interaction on the sidelines of the opening of 'India House' at La Villette, she also said the day India hosts the Olympics is "not far". In October last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced India's bold intent to bid for the 2036 Olympics, pledging to spare no effort to fulfil the dream of 1.4 billion people in the country. "We are going to do very well. Forty seven per cent of our athletes are girls. All for women power and all for our young boys and girls, we are rooting and cheering for them. I hope we can see double digits in medals for the first time. Go India go, make India proud," Nita said. A day after the Paris Olympics began with a glimmering opening ceremony that had the attention of the world, the India House, the first-ever ..

Australian cyclist undergoes surgery after fall during Olympic time trial

Australian cyclist Lucas Plapp underwent abdominal surgery overnight at a Paris hospital following a hard crash on rain-slicked roads during the Olympic time trial on Saturday, the Australian team said. AusCycling, Australia's cycling governing body, confirmed the procedure early Sunday. No other details were available. Plapp was among the last riders to start on the 32.4-kilometer (20-mile) course and was laying down a medal-worthy ride at the first time check, trailing then-leader and eventual bronze medalist Wout van Aert by just two seconds. But when Plapp reached a technical portion of the course, his bike slid out from under him and he crashed hard onto the pavement. The crash was not shown on the race broadcast, but AusCycling said Plapp was conscious and moving afterward. He was lifted into the team vehicle and taken to the hospital for precautionary scans, and later he required the abdominal procedure. Plapp slid under a barrier fence shortly after passing the first ...

Ramita Jindal qualifies for women's 10m air rifle final at Paris Olympics

India's Ramita Jindal gave a strong display of marksmanship to qualify for the women's 10m air rifle final in fifth place even as Elavenil Valarivan succumbed to pressure to miss out despite being among the contenders, finishing 10th at the Olympic Games here on Sunday. Ramita, the Hangzhou Asian Games bronze medallist in the event, aggregated 631.5 to become the second shooter from the country after pistol exponent Manu Bhaker to secure a berth in the final, while Elavenil scored 630.7. Ramita had a sluggish start and was not among the top-eight till the sixth and final series but she rallied superbly to book a berth in the final while stalwart Elavenil, who had finished 16th at the Tokyo Olympics three years back, held on to the fifth position for much of the qualification round. But a poor last series of 103.8 saw the 24-year-old former junior world champion take a mighty tumble from fifth to 10th slot and miss the eight-shooter final. Ramita, who had scored 636.4 points, 0.1 mo

Paris Olympics 2024 highlights, Day 2: HS Prannoy wins opener; Manu Bhaker wins Bronze

Olympics 2024 highlights: HS Prannoy has won his group K opener vs GER. Rafael Nadal's his 1st round match. Manu wins bronze in shooting. Check Paris 2024 highlights here

PV Sindhu opens campaign with dominant win over Fathimath Abdul Razzaq

Two-time Olympic medallist Indian shuttler PV Sindhu began her Paris Olympics campaign with a resounding straight game win over Maldives' Fathimath Abdul Razzaq here on Sunday. The gulf of class between the two players was evident as Sindhu, vying for a third Olympic medal, took just 29 minutes to dispatch her lower-ranked opponent 21-9 21-6 in the Group M fixture. The 10th seeded Indian, who won a silver medal in the Rio Games in 2016 and a bronze in the last edition in Tokyo, will take on world No. 75 Kristin Kuuba of Estonia in her second group match on Wednesday.

Paris Olympics 2024: India schedule on July 28, live time (IST), streaming

From PV Sindhu in Badminton to Nikhat Zareen in boxing and Manu Bhaker in shooting: Check India's schedule, live match timings on Day 2 of Olympics 2024

Paris Olympics 2024: Dupont leads France to a gold medal in Rugby sevens

In a seven-minute clinic that'll long define his legacy, Antoine Dupont scored two tries and created another to deliver a coveted gold medal for France and end two-time champion Fiji's Olympic dominance in rugby sevens. One of the world's best rugby players, Dupont was saved for the second half on Saturday in a tactical ploy that worked to perfection when he swung momentum with his first touch of the ball and then guided France to an emphatic 28-7 victory. The mercurial playmaker skipped the Six Nations tournament and switched his attention from the traditional 15s format to rugby sevens in March to chase his once-in-a-lifetime chance to win an Olympic gold medal on home soil. He can return to the French XV as an Olympic champion, at least partly erasing the pain of his Rugby World Cup disappointment on home soil last year. Just a huge award for us, for rugby, for all the country, Dupont said. "We really felt that we represent rugby, but we represent all the French sport as well.

Olympics 2024: Swiatek, Alcaraz, and Djokovic begin gold chase with wins

Iga Swiatek and Carlos Alcaraz got the Paris Olympics tennis competition started with first-round victories under closed roofs at Roland Garros, the site of their French Open titles less than two months ago. Novak Djokovic also won in straight sets as he, like Swiatek and Alcaraz, opened a bid for a first Olympic gold medal. Djokovic's second-round opponent could be longtime rival Rafael Nadal, who was scheduled to play his opening singles match Sunday but said he isn't sure whether he will remain in that event. Tomorrow, I don't know what's going to happen, Nadal said Saturday. I don't know if I'm going to play or not. In Saturday's last match, Angelique Kerber defeated Naomi Osaka 7-5, 6-3 in a contest between two women who have been ranked No. 1 and own multiple Grand Slam titles. Kerber has said she will retire after representing Germany at these Games; Osaka was hoping for a deeper run than her third-round exit at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago after lighting the cauldron

Paris Olympics 2024 opening was wacky, wonderful: All you need to know

Paris: the Olympic gold medalist of naughtiness. Revolution ran like a high-voltage wire through the wacky, wonderful and rule-breaking Olympic opening ceremony that the French capital used to astound, bemuse and, at times, poke a finger in the eye of global audiences on Friday night. That Paris put on the most flamboyant and diversity-celebrating of opening ceremonies wasn't a surprise. Anything less would have seemed a betrayal of the pride the French capital takes in being a home to humanity in all its richness. But still. Wow. Paris didn't just push the envelope. It did away with it entirely as it hammered home a message that freedom must know no bounds. A practically naked singer painted blue made thinly veiled references to his body parts. Blonde-bearded drag queen Piche crawled on all fours to the thumping beat of Freed From Desire by singer-songwriter Gala, who has long been a potent voice against homophobia. There were the beginnings of a menage trois the door was slamme

Paris Olympics 2024: Harmanpreet's late strike hands India 3-2 win over NZ

Skipper Harmanpreet Singh converted a penalty stroke in the dying moments to lead India to a tight 3-2 win against New Zealand in their Paris Olympics-opener, here on Saturday. Sam Lane (8th minute) and Simon Child (53rd) were the goal scorers for New Zealand, while Mandeep Singh (24th), Vivek Sagar Prasad (34th) and skipper Harmanpreet Singh (59th) struck for India. India started on the offensive, with Harmanpreet and Abhsihek putting pressure on the New Zealand defence. New Zealand were initially content to sit back and defend but they stunned India by scoring the first goal of the match through Lane from a penalty corner. Jolted by the early goal, India pressed hard and controlled the proceedings for most part of the match. The Indians utilised both flanks to build their attacks while the Black Sticks looked for counters. Despite the win, India's chief coach Craig Fulton would be a little worried about the team's penalty corner conversion rate. The team earned five penalty corne

Polish journalist suspended for communist remark during Olympic opening

The Polish state broadcaster suspended a television journalist who, during the Olympic Games opening ceremony, reacted to a performance of John Lennon's Imagine by saying it was a vision of communism. TVP, the broadcaster, issued a statement Saturday saying that the journalist and sports commentator, Przemyslaw Babiarz, would not be allowed to comment on air anymore during this summer's Games. Lennon's song asks to imagine no heaven or hell, no countries, and no possessions. This is a vision of communism, unfortunately, Babiarz said during the grand opening ceremony along the Seine River in Paris on Friday evening comments that immediately triggered controversy for those watching in Poland. TVP said in its statement announcing his suspension: "Mutual understanding, tolerance, reconciliation these are not only the basic ideas of the Olympics, they are also the foundation of the standards that guide the new Polish Television. There is no consent to violate them. State media has be

Paris Olympics: Nadal unsure about singles after doubles win with Alcaraz

Rafael Nadal is not sure whether he will compete in singles at the Paris Olympics, saying after he paired with Carlos Alcaraz to win their first-round doubles match that he wants to make the smartest decision possible to have the best chances to bring (a) medal back home. Nadal's first match in singles, against Hungary's Marton Fucsovics, is scheduled for Sunday. Tomorrow, I don't know what's going to happen, Nadal said Saturday. I don't know if I'm going to play or not. He said he wants to consult with his team before figuring out what to do. Nadal and Alcaraz Spain's old-and-new pairing of tennis superstars won the first match they've ever played together as a doubles team, eliminating Argentina's Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni 7-6 (4), 6-4. Nadal called it amazing and an emotional moment. The 38-year-old Nadal has not made clear whether the Summer Games will be the last event of his storied career, although there's been plenty of speculation it will be, given all of his

Olympics 2024: Preeti Pawar beats Vo Thi Kim Anh to enter pre-quarterfinals

Indian boxer Preeti Pawar defeated Vietnam's Vo Thi Kim Anh in women's 54kg category first round bout to enter the pre-quarterfinals at the Paris Olympics here on Saturday. Asian Games bronze medallist Preeti, competing in her debut Olympic Games, opened the proceedings for India and she won 5-0 on points. The 20-year-old from Haryana was unimpressive in the first round as her Vietnamese opponent dictated the proceedings. But the Indian made amends in the next two rounds, attacking and landing clear blows on her opponent. Preeti will face second seed and world championships silver-medallist Marcela Yeni Arias of Colombia in the round of 16 clash on Tuesday.

Simone Biles leads charge of older gymnasts, redefining sport at Olympics

It still happens to Simone Biles. Even now, after two Olympics, six world championships, and a decade-plus in the spotlight. The most decorated gymnast of all time and the face of the U.S. Olympic movement will be chatting with someone when her age comes up. They're like Oh my god, you're so cute, you're a kid'" Biles told The Associated Press with a somewhat exasperated laugh. Like I want to say 'I'm grown. I'm an adult now. I'm 27 years old.' Yet, the perception of Biles as a pony-tailed prodigy persists even as the demographics at the top of her sport shift. Maybe, it's because all but one of the last 13 Olympic champions have been teenagers, including Biles when she triumphed in Rio de Janeiro eight years ago and US teammate and good friend Sunisa Lee, who was 18 when she edged Brazilian star Rebeca Andrade in a taut final in Tokyo in 2021. They're both back on what they've labelled a redemption tour." When Biles and Lee step onto the floor at Bercy Arena on Sunday for Olymp

Paris Olympics 2024: Nita Ambani, PT Usha, others inaugurate India House

Speaking during the inauguration ceremony, Nita Ambani welcomed the world to the 'India House' to experience the beauty, diversity and rich heritage of India