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Paris Olympics 2024: What you need to know right now

July 30, 2024 5:14 PM IST

The triathlon, set to be a centrepiece of the Olympics, was postponed due to too high pollution levels in the River Seine.

Organisers are hoping the high temperatures forecast for Tuesday will help make the water swimmable on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Simone Biles will be aiming to win her fifth Olympic gold when she appears in the women’s team final.

Here’s what you need to know about the Olympics on Tuesday:

TRIATHLON POSTPONED

The men’s triathlon at the Paris Olympics will not go ahead as planned on Tuesday as pollution levels in the Seine remain too high, World Triathlon said in a statement, dealing a blow to organisers and leaving athletes facing more uncertainty.

The race was postponed to Wednesday at 10:45 a.m. (0845 GMT), immediately after the women’s event.

JAPAN’S EPIC COMEBACK

Daiki Hashimoto turned heartache into unimaginable joy as he overcame a fall from the pommel horse to power Japan to the gold medal and edge out China in a pulsating gymnastics men’s team final on Monday. That put Japan top of the medal table with six golds ahead of hosts France and China who have five.

SUMMER’S ARRIVED

Canadian teenager Summer McIntosh blew away the field to win the gold medal in the women’s 400 metres individual medley (IM) at the Paris Olympics on Monday, securing her second medal of the meet.

World record holder McIntosh touched the wall in four minutes 27.71 seconds, far ahead of American silver medallist Katie Grimes and her bronze-winning U.S. teammate Emma Weyant.

CLUBMATES’ DUEL IN THE POOL

Red-headed rocket Mollie O’Callaghan toppled fellow Australian and defending champion Ariarne Titmus to claim gold in the women’s 200 metres freestyle in an Olympic record in a duel of clubmates.

Both are coached by Dean Boxall and train at the same Brisbane pool but O’Callaghan came from third going into the final lap to finish 0.54 seconds ahead of Titmus in second.

UKRAINE’S FIRST MEDAL

Olga Kharlan won bronze for Ukraine as she rallied from a six-point deficit to beat Choi Sebin of South Korea and hand her country their first Paris Games medal, in the women’s sabre.

Kharlan, now a five-times Olympic medallist, triumphed 15-14 to the cheers of an ecstatic crowd at the Grand Palais.

The 33-year-old is at the Olympics through an IOC invitation after being disqualified for refusing to shake hands with a Russian opponent at last year’s World Championships in Milan.

SABOTEURS STRIKE AGAIN

Vandals targeted France’s telecoms networks overnight, piling pressure on French security services trying to secure the Olympics after authorities said they suspected left-wing groups of attacking rail lines ahead of the opening ceremony in Paris.

PEATY POSITIVE

British swimmer Adam Peaty tested positive for COVID a day after Italy’s Nicolo Martinenghi beat him to gold in the men’s 100 metres breaststroke and ended his “three-peat” bid to win the same event at three successive Games.

Peaty said he washopeful to be back in competition for the relay events later in the swimming programme.

ICE COOL COUTURE

Sailors donned ice vests to beat the searing Mediterranean heat in Marseille.

Daytime temperatures in the south of France of around 30 Celsius, combined with light breezes, mean some teams are employing “heat protocols”.

(Reuters)

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Last updated on: 16th November 2024