Page 31 - Olympics

Paris Olympics 2024: Sports Min hopeful of India bettering its medals tally

Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Sunday expressed optimism about the Indian contingent setting a new benchmark at the upcoming Paris Olympics, emphasising that sports have been a priority area in recent years. "I am confident that this contingent will sustain India's growth trajectory in sports," said Mandaviya during the ceremonial send-off of the Paris-bound athletes and the unveiling of the playing kits of the contingent. "We saw a spurt from two medals in 2016 Rio to seven in Tokyo as India rose from 67th to 48th (position), largely due to Neeraj Chopra's javelin gold. I am hoping that our athletes will take us even higher on the medal table this time." Attended by athletes, Indian Olympic Association president PT Usha and Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri, the event also highlighted the government's Target Olympic Podium Scheme in supporting athletes ahead of the Games. "The government has supported athletes through various schemes such as TOPS offer

Paris Olympics: PM Modi highlights firsts of athletes during Mann Ki Baat

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the Paris Olympic-bound athletes have prepared with "life and soul" for the upcoming Games by participating in nearly 900 international competitions collectively as he launched a campaign to generate online support for the travelling contingent. India won a best ever haul of seven medals three years ago in the Tokyo Olympics with javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra becoming the first athlete from the country to win a gold in track and field. The Prime Minister made the remarks in his 'Mann Ki Baat' radio address, the first after the general elections. The radio broadcast had taken a break in February ahead of the general elections. "Our athletes' performance in Tokyo won the hearts of every Indian. Since the Tokyo Olympics, our athletes have been preparing with all their life and soul. Combined, they have participated in around 900 international competitions," Modi said. After drawing a blank in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo, all eyes would be on th

Nada instructs AFI to stop Javelin thrower Manu from competing in Olympic

Javelin thrower DP Manu has been asked to stay away from competitions by the Athletics Federation of India on the instructions of the National Anti-Doping Agency as the Olympic hopeful is suspected to have been caught in the dope net. The 24-year-old Manu, who won a silver medal at the 2023 Asian Championhsips, was more or less certain to qualify for the Olympics through world ranking quota but is set to miss the Paris bus after the latest development. He was in the initial entry list for the National Inter-State Championships which began on Thursday here. But his name has been dropped from the updated roster. AFI president Adille Sumariwalla told PTI that NADA has asked the federation to stop Manu from competitions but he did not confirm whether the athlete has committed a doping offence. "There could be something like that, but we still don't know what is the actual thing. There was a phone call to AFI office (from the NADA) yesterday that he (Manu) be stopped from competitions,"

Olympic champ Herah to miss chance at 3rd straight title in 100, 200 meters

Elaine Thompson-Herah, the two-time reigning Olympic champion at 100 and 200 meters, will miss the Paris Games because of what she said is a small tear in her Achilles tendon. Thompson-Herah went down at the New York Grand Prix this month and had to be carried off the track. She had been signed up to run in the 100 meters this week at Jamaican national championships, but posted on social media Thursday that she withdrew. Funny enough, I got back home with a strong mindset to keep pushing and prepare, she said. But the leg wouldn't allow me to. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who won the Olympic 100 in 2008 and 2012, ran 10.98 seconds on Thursday in the opening round and Shericka Jackson ran 10.99. Thompson-Herah had not been signed up for the 200. Her absence leaves America's Sha'Carri Richardson, Fraser-Pryce and Jackson as the top three medal contenders in the shorter sprint in Paris. Thompson-Herah, who turns 32 on Saturday, said she plans on returning. It's a long road but I am will

Wimbledon Cup 2024: Alcaraz, Sinner, Swiatek, Gauff taking over tennis

There is a real shift happening at the top of tennis, a youth movement that long seemed inevitable but never actually arrived until now. As the sport's attention shifts to the grass of Wimbledon, where play begins Monday, Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff are the players whose names are on everyone's lips. Alcaraz is the defending men's champion and owner of three Grand Slam titles at the age of 21 after his triumph at the French Open. Sinner, 22, is the top-seeded man at Wimbledon and won the Australian Open in January. Swiatek, 23, is the top-seeded woman and just earned her fourth championship at Roland Garros and fifth major overall. Gauff, the youngest of the bunch at 20, is ranked a career-best No. 2, has reached at least the semifinals at the past three Slam tournaments and won her first such trophy at last year's U.S. Open. While Swiatek has entrenched herself at No. 1 in the women's game, and is now 11-1 against Gauff, neither has been past the ...

Inside Paris 2024: How the Olympic village plans to redefine city living

The Olympic Village, housing athletes during the Games, will later become offices and residences for thousands, addressing Paris's housing crisis

Take a look at India's six-member Archery squad for Paris 2024 Olympics

A six-member team was also announced, with Deepika Kumari and Tarundeep Rai set to make their fourth appearance

Paris Games 2024: Welcome to weird world of men's soccer at Olympics

Kylian Mbapp wanted to be there. France coach Thierry Henry wanted it too. In the end, not even French President Emmanuel Macron could pull enough strings to free up his country's finest soccer player to compete in the Paris Games. Welcome to the weird world of men's Olympic soccer. The world's most popular sport occupies a strange space at the Games confused by compromises and contortions that appear designed to ensure it remains a part of the roster so long as it provides the least possible disruption to teams, players and authorities, whose priorities lie elsewhere. It's become a complete mishmash over the years from being something that was quite important... to something that quite a lot of people would like scrapped because the calendar is so clogged up, soccer author Steve Menary told The Associated Press. Men's soccer has been part of the Olympics since the 1900 Games, also in Paris. The only time it hasn't featured since then was in Los Angeles in 1932 to help promote th

Delhi's Tulika Maan secures Paris Olympics quota for India in Judo

Commonwealth Games silver medallist Tulika Maan on Tuesday secured a Paris Olympics quota for India in judo, according to the international body's list. International Judo Federation (IJF) on Tuesday published a list of judokas who have qualified for the Paris Games and 25-year-old Tulika's name featured in the +78 kg category. The Delhi girl was ranked 36th with 1345 points. The qualification period was between June 22, 2022 and June 23, 2024. "The next step will take place on July 2 when the NOCs (National Olympic Committees) will have to nominate which athletes will represent them, knowing that only one judoka per NOC can participate in the Games in each weight category," the IJF said on its website. "In other words, if a country has several judoka qualified in a given weight category, only one can be chosen to participate this summer." A country can enter a maximum of 14 judokas, seven each for both men and women per bodyweight category. France, as host country, received a sp

Athletes have lost faith in WADA: Olympic gold winners tell US Congress

The USA Olympic athletes have lost faith in the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to rid their sports of cheaters ahead of next month's Paris Olympics, two former gold medalists told a House subcommittee. The testimony by Michael Phelps and Allison Schmitt followed revelations this spring that 23 Chinese swimmers had tested positive for a banned heart medication ahead of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 but were allowed by WADA to compete. Five of those swimmers went on to win medals, including three golds. Phelps is the most decorated swimmer in history and a 23-time Olympic gold medalist. Schmitt, a four-time gold medalist, was part of the US 800-meter freestyle relay team that finished a close second to China at the Tokyo Games. Both the Chinese and U.S. teams broke the previous world record in the relay. We raced hard. We trained hard. We followed every protocol. We accepted our defeat with grace, Schmitt said. Many of us will be haunted by this podium finish that may have been impacted

Paris Olympics: Geothermal rooms, hi-tech recovery space for athletes

Indian Olympic Association to organisers: Ensure all our rooms have fans

India will be sending full six-member archery contingent to Olympics

For the first time in 12 years, India will be sending a full six-member archery contingent to the Olympics, making them eligible to compete in all the five events at the Paris Games. This was made possible after the Indian men and women secured the team quotas based on the updated world rankings on Monday. Team qualification guarantees participation in all events in archery at the Olympics. The last time India fielded a six-member team at Olympics was in London 2012 where they competed in all the four events. The mixed team event was introduced in the last Olympics in Tokyo. India have never won a medal in archery at the quadrennial extravaganza. In the men's section, India and China made the cut, while in the women's category Indonesia were the second nation to secure the team quota. The team events will have 12 sides in each section, while five outfits will compete in the mixed competitions. For the first time, team quotas are offered to the top-two nations after the three-leg

IOA proposes to start medical insurance, pension for all former Olympians

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) is set to bring in medical health insurance and pension scheme for all former Olympians, the top sports body's president PT Usha said here on Sunday. Usha has proposed the recommendations to the IOA's Executive Committee which will come up for discussion soon. The IOA will solely cover all these expenses from its coffers and the idea came to Usha's mind after she witnessed the plight of Indian archer Limba Ram. "The IOA is taking many athlete-centric steps and one of these is medical insurance and pension for all our ex-Olympians," Usha told PTI while felicitating legendary Indian athlete Gurbachan Singh Randhwa on the occasion of International Olympic Dat at his residence here. "We have submitted the proposal to all EC members for all ex-Olympians. It is a small help from IOA for all ex-Olympians. We should remember all our ex-Olympians," she added. Usha said the idea struck her after she met ailing Olympian Limba Ram, who has suffered a brain

Olympics 2024: Pressure there, but we see it positively, say Chirag, Satwik

A medal prospect at the upcoming Paris Olympics, the crack team of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty say they are well equipped to handle the pressure of expectations as they "view it positively". As the Olympic Games approach, the duo acknowledged the high expectations placed on them. During an interaction with former India cricketer Dinesh Karthik on JioCinema's 'Get Set Gold' programme, Rankireddy emphasized their commitment to "make the country proud". "We take it as a responsibility to make the Indian flag fly high at the Olympics. We will work hard to achieve that," Rankireddy said. Shetty, unfazed by the pressure, aims to channel it positively to stay focused on their goals. "Pressure is there, but we view it positively". Rankireddy and Shetty, who won bronze at the 2022 BWF World Championships and gold at the 2022 Asian Games, were the first Indian men's doubles pair to achieve the world number one ranking. Shetty recounted their Olympic debut experience at Tokyo

India to push its 2036 Olympic bid in Paris, seek inclusion of Indic sports

India's sports administrators would be "lobbying" hard during the upcoming Paris Olympics to brighten the country's chances of hosting the 2036 Games where they will push for the inclusion of indigenous disciplines like yoga, kho kho and kabaddi if their ambitious bid is successful. The Sports Authority of India's Mission Olympic Cell (MOC) presented its detailed report on the measures needed for a successful bid to new sports minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Thursday. In this document, MOC has identified six disciplines, including yoga, kho kho, kabaddi, chess, T20 cricket and squash for inclusion in the 2036 Olympics if the country gets to host the quadrennial extravaganza. "We met the new Sports Minister yesterday and handed him the report. The minister said he will need a few days to go through it. But he asked us to prepare another report on how sports can be a career option in the country, how to build interest among youth, how to bring private players into sports," a senior memb

Novak Djokovic confirmed for Paris Games, says Serbian Olympic Committee

Novak Djokovic will compete in the upcoming Paris Games, the Serbian Olympic Committee confirmed. Djokovic had knee surgery after withdrawing from the French Open ahead of the quarterfinals and said he hoped to return to competition as soon as possible. The Serbian committee said in its announcement that Djokovic had confirmed he will play in Paris. It will be his fifth Olympics. The 37-year-old Djokovic had said surgery on his right knee went well. The tennis events for the Paris Olympics start on July 27 at Roland Garros, the site of the French Open. It was unclear if Djokovic will be ready to play at Wimbledon, where he has won seven of his 24 Grand Slam titles. That grass-court major begins on July 1. Djokovic has only won a bronze medal at the Olympics. That came in his first games Beijing in 2008.

Tennis stars Sabalenka, Jabeur rule out Olympics to avoid risking health

Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka and two-time Wimbledon finalist Ons Jabeur ruled themselves out of the Olympic Games in Paris. Both top-10 players said they didn't want to switch from grass at Wimbledon back to clay at Roland Garros for the Olympic tournament and then immediately start the hard-court season in North America. World No 3 Sabalenka from Belarus said she'd rather have a break. It's too much for the scheduling and I made the decision to take care of my health, she said in Berlin, where she's warming up for Wimbledon. I prefer to have a little rest to make sure physically and health-wise I'm ready for the hard courts. I'll have a good preparation before going to the hard-court season. I feel that this is safer and better for my body." World No. 10 Jabeur from Tunisia wrote on X that not being able to play at a fourth consecutive Olympics was unfortunate. We (and my medical team) have decided that the quick change of surface and the body's adaptation required w

Olympic Games: A billion-dollar business with political overtones

The Paris Olympics involve about 10,500 athletes from 200 countries or regions. But the Olympics are more than just fun and games. They are a giant business that generates billions of dollars in income for the International Olympic Committee. They're also a proxy for geopolitical influence seen through the standings in the medal tables, the presence of world leaders at the opening ceremony and the national anthems serenading gold-medal winners. Here's a look at how the IOC and the Olympics operate. It's a business, not a charity The International Olympic Committee is a not-for-profit, nongovernmental body based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It generates 91% of its income from selling broadcast rights (61%) and sponsorships (30%). Income for the latest four-year cycle of Winter and Summer Games ending with the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 was $7.6 billion. The IOC says it returns 90% of its income back into sports, although athletes directly get only a small slice. There may be a move afoot

Paris Olympics likely to be hottest one in the games 128-year-old history

Report by a group of Athletes, climate experts raise alarm bells on impact of heat on sportsperson

Making a racquet: Can Indian tennis match the success of badminton?

'What I can tell you is that we have been able to create an ecosystem for badminton. I also believe that Indians have a physicality for the sport'