Page 4 - Olympics

Cincinnati Open: Top seed Iga Swiatek, Jannik Sinner advance to round 3

Top-ranked Iga Swiatek survived in her return to hard courts in the Cincinnati Open, outlasting Varvara Gracheva 6-0, 6-7 (8), 6-2. Playing for the first time since finishing third for Poland in the Paris Olympics, Swiatek set up a third-round match against Marta Kostyuk a 6-3, 7-5 winner over Lulu Sun. Swiatek won her third straight French Open title in May and has six WTA Tour victories this season. On the men's side in the U.S. Open tuneup event, top-ranked Jannik Sinner got past American Alex Michelsen 6-4, 7-5 in his first match. In the late match, Jiri Lehecka upset fourth-seeded Daniil Medvedev 7-6 (2), 6-4. Earlier in women's play, 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva beat 11th seeded Emma Navarro 6-2, 6-2. Andreeva was playing her first match since taking a silver medal in doubles in Paris. I just went out there, tried to show my best level, and tried to win a match, and I think I did it, Andreeva said. Andreeva will face 2016 Cincinnati champion Karolina Pliskova. Toronto ...

Paola Egonu's graffiti by Laika vandalised after Italy wins Olympic gold

Rome's mayor and a chorus of others have denounced the defacing of a street-art celebration of Paola Egonu, who helped lead Italy to its first-ever Olympic gold medal in women's volleyball in Paris and who has faced years of racist abuse at home. Egonu, who was born in Italy to parents of Nigerian origin, was named tournament MVP after she led Italy to beat the U.S. defending champions on Sunday on the final day of the Games. The gold medal capped a dominant Olympic tournament in which the Italian women lost just one set. Hours after the Games ended, street artist Laika celebrated Egonu with a work of graffiti opposite the Rome headquarters of the Italian Olympic Committee. Entitled Italianness, the graffiti showed Egonu, with her trademark long ponytail and wearing her Azzurri blue uniform, spiking a ball that had the words Stop racism, hatred, xenophobia, on it. It was a reference to the years of racist abuse Egonu has endured as a Black athlete in Italy, with prominent figures ..

Australian Olympic Committee condemns breaker Rachael Gunn's criticism

The Australian Olympic Committee has criticized an anonymous online petition attacking controversial Paris Games breaking competitor Rachael Gunn, saying the petition was vexatious, misleading and bullying. Last weekend, the sport of breaking made its Olympic debut. One of the lasting images was the performance of an Australian b-girl known as Raygun 36-year-old Sydney university professor Gunn who did a kangaroo dance among other questionable moves during her routine, and scored zero points. Gunn was subsequently heavily criticized for her performance with parodies even being played out on a late night television show in the United States. Gunn, who has not yet returned to Australia following the Games, received strong support from Australian team chef de mission Anna Meares while still in Paris. On Thursday, the AOC went a major step further, refuting numerous erroneous stories it says have appeared online since. Chief executive officer Matt Carroll said the the AOC had written

PM Modi invites Paris Olympics heroes at his residence, lauds their efforts

Earlier in the day, India's Olympic medal winners were also invited as a special guests at the Red Fort

Entire India with the champion: Fraternity on CAS rejecting Vinesh's appeal

The Indian sporting fraternity reacted with disappointment at the Court of Arbitration for Sport's (CAS) verdict rejecting wrestler Vinesh Phogat's appeal against her Olympic disqualification but said she will remain a champion for them. The ad-hoc division of the CAS on Wednesday rejected Vinesh's appeal against a gut-wrenching disqualification from the Paris Olympics 50kg final for being 100gm overweight, which dashed any hopes of securing a belated silver medal. "It's disappointing but we can't do anything about that," hockey legend PR Sreejesh, who retired after inspiring the Indian team to a second consecutive Olympic bronze medal in the Paris Games, told PTI Videos. Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Bajrang Punia said a medal has been snatched away from Vinesh. "I believe your medal was snatched away in this darkness. You are shining like a diamond in the whole world today," Punia, who led a long sit-in protest along with Vinesh and Sakshi Malik accusing former WFI chief Brij .

India will bid to host 2036 Summer Olympics, says PM Modi in I-Day speech

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that after hosting the G20 summit in Delhi, India has proved that it can organise large-scale events

French prosecutors investigate cyber harassment of Olympic champ Khelif

French prosecutors opened an investigation into an online harassment complaint made by Olympic boxing champion Imane Khelif after a torrent of criticism and false claims about her sex during the Summer Games, the Paris prosecutor's office said Wednesday. The athlete's lawyer Nabil Boudi filed a legal complaint Friday with a special unit in the Paris prosecutor's office that combats online hate speech. Boudi said the boxer was targeted by a misogynist, racist and sexist campaign as she won gold in the women's welterweight division, becoming a hero in her native Algeria and bringing global attention to women's boxing. The prosecutor's office said it had received the complaint and its Office for the Fight against Crimes against Humanity and Hate Crime had opened an investigation on charges of cyber harassment based on gender, public insults based on gender, public incitement to discrimination and public insults on the basis of origin. Khelif was thrust into a worldwide clash over gend

Olympics 2024: CAS rejects Vinesh's application for a joint Silver medal

The verdict was scheduled to come on August 16, but IOA confirms the plea getting rejected on Wednesday (August 14)

Vinesh Phogat not to return home until announcement of CAS's decision

The 29-year-old was set to face Sarah Ann Hildebrandt of the United States for the gold at 2024 Paris Olympics but was disqualified for the weight limit breach

WFI chief Sanjay Singh wants CAS's verdict to be in India's favour

Vinesh Phogat was disqualified on the morning of the Paris Olympics final for exceeding the 50kg weight limit. During the weigh-in, she was found to be 100 grams over the limit

WFI vice-president believes CAS's verdict will be in Vinesh's favour

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has delayed the verdict on Vinesh Phogat's appeal regarding her disqualification from the women's 50kg final at the Paris Olympics to August 16

Cincinnati Open: Krueger knocks out Olympic silver medalist Vekic in R1

Donna Vekic was defeated in her first match since winning the silver medal in the Olympics, falling to Ashlyn Krueger 5-7, 7-6 (4), 6-2 on Tuesday at the Cincinnati Open. Krueger played her win into the field through the qualifying rounds, where she defeated Naomi Osaka. The American then opened her first appearance in the main draw in Cincinnati by knocking off Vekic, the No. 16 seed from Croatia who lost to Zheng Qinwen in the women's gold-medal match in Paris. On the men's side, Brandon Nakashima upset No. 11 seed Taylor Fritz 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (4), while No. 12 Ben Shelton edged Reilly Opelka 7-6 (3), 7-6 (3) in another All-American matchup. Shelton, Nakashima and Krueger were among five Americans who advanced Tuesday in the hard-court tuneup for the U.S. Open. Alex Michelsen and Frances Tiafoe also moved on. The only other seeded competitor to advance in men's action was No. 14 Lorenzo Musetti of Italy, the bronze medalist in Paris who outlasted Chile's Nicolas Jarry 4-6, 7-6 (5),

Sreejesh ranks Tokyo Bronze above Paris, feels they should have won Gold

A proud owner of two consecutive Olympic medals, Indian hockey star P R Sreejesh says the bronze claimed in Tokyo three years ago is closer to his heart than the one fetched in Paris as the former was like a mythical tale coming true after decades of merely hearing about it. The 36-year-old goalkeeper, who bid adieu to his international career at the end of India's Paris campaign, was, in fact, a shade disappointed with the colour of the medal this time as he felt the team should have done better. "Tokyo for sure because we won an Olympic medal after a long time. Earlier we used to hear what an Olympic medal means as hockey has a rich history of gold, silver and bronze medals. But it never came in our hands. So when we got it for the first time, that was a moment," Sreejesh told PTI editors at its headquarters when asked to make the difficult choice here on Tuesday. "That time we were not sure about winning a medal but this time we were in top six and capable of beating any team. Bu

How many new Olympic record & world record created at Paris Olympics 2024?

OMEGA timekeeping confirms 132 Olympic and 38 World records across 329 events and 32 different sports

Mirabai Chanu comes very close to medal but leaves empty-handed from Paris

Mirabai Chanu winning a second consecutive Olympic medal was always going to be a daunting task considering her age and injury-ravaged body. But it was not far-fetched. The star Indian lifter, however, did herself no favours by delivering a performance that fell well short of her best in Paris, leaving her with no option but to live with the agony of a fourth-place finish. The most decorated weightlifter in the country, she had ended India's 21-year wait for an Olympic medal in the sport by clinching a silver at the Tokyo Games three years ago. Her glittering trophy cabinet is a testament to her consistency. But in the French capital last week, Chanu fumbled three of her six lifts, two of which came in the clean and jerk section, considered her forte. Chanu, a former world champion, had put herself in the third spot after she nailed a national record-equalling 88kg snatch lift at the South Paris Arena. Given that her clean and jerk personal best was second only to China's Hou Zhih

I'll meet hockey team to chalk out future plans: Sports minister Mandaviya

Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday informed that he will hold a meeting with the bronze medal winning Indian men's hockey team before September 10 to chalk out future plans in its endeavour to clinch the gold medal in 2028 Los Angeles Games. Mandaviya on Tuesday felicitated star custodian PR Sreejesh, defender Sanjay, Amit Rohidas and striker Abhishek after their return from Paris on Tuesday morning. "It's been a wonderful performance from you guys, we didn't get the gold but we came very close to it and the way you guys inspired after the semifinal loss is commendable," Mandaviya said. "But it's not the end of the road and I will sit with you by September 10 and churn out future course of action so that we should return with nothing less than gold from Los Angeles. I will seek your opinion how to go about it and try to provide you all possible support from the government." The minister also said he was satisfied with the performance of the Indian contingent even though t

Arshad Nadeem gets 10 million rupees and car in reward by Pakistan's govt

Olympic javelin throw champion Arshad Nadeem was on Tuesday rewarded with 10 million rupees and a brand new car by the Punjab government for his historic gold medal-winning feat in the just-concluded Paris Games. Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz handed Nadeem the cash prize and the car keys when she visited Nadeem's village in Mian Chunnu to meet him and his family. Arshad deserves everything he gets because he has brought so much joy and pride to the nation, she said. Flanked by Nadeem's parents, the CM handed the keys of the new car to the athlete with a special number plate of 92.97 which is the distance he threw to set a new Olympic record while winning gold in Paris on August 8. The deputy commissioner, who accompanied Maryam Nawaz, said that the cheque and car were all prepared in record time on the instructions of the CM who wanted to meet Nadeem. She gave orders for the special number plate as well, he said. The CM also gave away a cheque of 50 lakh rupees to Nadeem's c

We didn't even get desired coach for Olympics: Indian shuttler Ashwini

Indian doubles badminton specialist Ashwini Ponnappa on Tuesday said she received little to no individual financial assistance from the sports ministry in the build up to Paris Olympics and even her request for a coach was turned down ahead of the just-concluded Games. The Sports Authority of India (SAI) had come out with a document, detailing the financial support provided to the Paris-bound Indian athletes. It mentions that Ashwini was provided Rs 4,50,000 under TOPS and Rs 1,48,04,080 under Annual calender for Training and Competition (ACTC), which included the procurement of Game Ready recovery equipment, international competitions and sparring partner in the Tokyo cycle. "I'm absolutely shocked.. I don't mind not getting money but telling the nation that I got money is ridiculous. I haven't received it. Like if you're talking about national camp, then that 1.5 Crore is spent on all the campers," Ashwini told PTI. "I don't have a specific coach. As for my personalised trainer,

Manu Bhaker to take long break, may skip New Delhi World Cup in October

Paris Olympic double medallist Manu Bhaker may skip October's World Cup here as the ace pistol shooter has decided to take a three-month break, her coach Jaspal Rana said. The 22-year-old Bhaker scripted Olympic history for India in Paris as she won a bronze each in the women's 10m air pistol and 10m air pistol mixed team event, in which she had paired with Sarabjot Singh. After the feat, the ace pistol shooter, who returned from Paris in the wee hours on Tuesday, is set to take a three-month break from the sport. "I am not sure whether she will be at the Shooting World Cup in October because she is taking a three-month break. "It's a normal break, she has been training for a long time." Rana told PTI Videos. The shooting World Cup is scheduled to take place in New Delhi from October 13 to 18. Rana, who played a pivotal role in Bhaker's twin bronze medals after the agony of returning empty-handed from Tokyo Games three years back, said they will work to peak at the 2026 Asian Gam

Shooter Manu Bhaker aims multiple medals in upcoming Summer Olympics

Ace Indian pistol shooter Manu Bhaker has set her sights on winning multiple medals at the Olympics in the future following her historic feat at the Paris Games. The 22-year-old scripted history to become the first Indian athlete in post-independence era to win two Olympic medals in a single edition of the Games. Bhaker won a bronze each in the women's 10m air pistol and 10m air pistol mixed team event -- where she had paired with Sarabjot Singh. She also came close to winning a third bronze in 25m pistol before finishing a creditable fourth in Paris. No Indian athlete has won more than two individual medals at the Olympics. "I think we all work hard to win medals. But if that happens (winning more than 2 individual medals at Olympics) then that would be great. The aim is to work hard and better this performance in the future," Bhaker told PTI Videos. "(I am) aiming to win many more Olympic medals for India," added Bhaker, who returned to the country after participating in the clo