All posts tagged "olympics"

Seine-sational! Paris bids triumphant ‘au revoir’ to Olympics

Hollywood star Tom Cruise abseiled from the roof of the Stade de France as Paris said farewell on Sunday to an Olympics hailed as one of the most successful in history.

Cruise descended on a wire in front of 71,500 spectators, grabbed the Olympic flag and jumped on a motorbike, to the delight of athletes and fans.

In a preview of what the world can expect when the Games head to Los Angeles in 2028, the “Mission Impossible” star was then shown boarding a plane and skydiving into the Californian city before adorning the iconic Hollywood sign with the Olympic rings.

Los Angeles band Red Hot Chili Peppers, singer Billie Eilish and rappers Snoop Dogg and Dr Dre then performed a mini-concert on a beach framed by the azure waters of the Pacific Ocean.

The closing spectacle marked the beginning of the four-year countdown to the LA Games, and American gymnastics icon Simone Biles joined Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass as the Olympic flag was formally handed over.

Earlier, International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach said the Paris Games had been “sport at its best”.

“These were sensational Olympic Games from start to finish,” Bach said. “Or dare I say: Seine-sational Games,” the IOC chief quipped in a pun about the river flowing through Paris which was the scene of the opening ceremony.

“Dear French friends, you have fallen in love with the Olympic Games. And we have fallen in love with all of you,” Bach added.

Around 9,000 athletes had flooded into the stadium to be entertained by 270 performers and artists in a ceremony billed as a celebration of humanity and the unifying power of sport.

“We knew you would be brilliant, but you were magic,” Paris 2024 organising chief Tony Estanguet told athletes. “You made us happy, you made us feel alive — the world needed this moment so much.”

Athletes party

The ceremony began when France’s swimming hero Leon Marchand — winner of four gold medals at these Games — collected the Olympic flame from the cauldron in the Tuileries Gardens to begin its journey to the stadium.

Local rugby hero Antoine Dupont — who led the host nation to a rugby sevens gold medal in one of the early highlights of the Games — carried a French flag into the stadium as partying athletes swarmed the field.

The ceremony followed 17 days of frequently breathtaking sporting action set against the backdrop of iconic Parisian landmarks from the Eiffel Tower to the Chateau de Versailles.

In contrast to the rain-soaked opening ceremony, Sunday’s festivities began as a golden sunset bathed the French capital.

The last day of sporting action saw the United States pip China for top spot in the battle for medals after the US women’s basketball team squeezed past France 67-66 to clinch the last gold of the Games.

The win — the eighth consecutive Olympic women’s basketball title won by the USA — ensured the Americans finished level with China on 40 golds each.

The USA however finished on top of the overall medal table with a total of 126 medals, with China in second place on 91.

Marathon magic

Sunday began with a gripping women’s marathon victory by Dutch long-distance running star Sifan Hassan.

Hassan had taken on what many considered to be a crazy gamble in Paris, competing in the 5,000m, the 10,000m and the marathon.

But in a jaw-dropping sprint finish, Hassan overhauled Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa to take gold by three seconds in an Olympic record of 2hr 22min 55sec.

She fell to the ground on the blue carpet in front of the golden dome of the Invalides memorial complex in the heart of Paris before grabbing a Dutch flag to celebrate an extraordinary achievement.

Hassan was presented with her gold medal at the closing ceremony.

Hollywood ending for Sifan Hassan — and Paris Olympics

Sifan Hassan completed her mission impossible with a grueling women’s marathon win on the sun-baked streets of Paris on Sunday, as Tom Cruise is rumored to close the Olympic Games with a Hollywood ending.

With China and the United States grappling for dominance at the top of the medals table, fourteen golds were on offer on the last day of what is widely seen as a successful Olympics.

Dutchwoman Hassan had taken on what many considered to be a crazy gamble, competing in the 5,000m, the 10,000m and the marathon — the last two events just two days apart.

But in a thrilling sprint finish, Hassan overhauled Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa to take gold by three seconds in an Olympic record of 2hr 22min 55sec.

On Friday she had taken bronze in the 10,000m in the Stade de France after coming away with a bronze in the 5,000m.

She fell to the ground on the blue carpet in front of the golden dome of the Invalides memorial complex in the heart of Paris before grabbing a Dutch flag to celebrate an extraordinary achievement.

“It was not easy,” said Hassan. “It was so hot, but I was feeling OK. I’ve never pushed myself through to the finish line as I did today.”

It was a sensational ending to an Olympics athletics programme that saw US sprinter Noah Lyles win the 100m by just five thousandths of a second.

The US dominated the athletics and are going for gold in the last event of the Games, as their women basketball stars hope to add to the men’s title against hosts France.

An eighth straight triumph would give them the record for most consecutive golds in any team sport at the Olympic Games — breaking a tie with the US men, who won seven basketball titles in a row from 1936 to 1968.

“I think the gold medal is the standard,” U.S. forward Alyssa Thomas said. “No matter where we are in the world, it’s our goal and that’s what we came here for.”

Wrestling, weightlifting, water polo, volleyball, modern pentathlon, handball, and track cycling are the other sports to crown Olympic champions on the last day.

Old rivals Serbia and Croatia meet for gold in men’s water polo in what could be a feisty affair.

In the men’s handball final, Germany are in their first gold medal match for 20 years where they will face Denmark, who are in a third consecutive final.

The weightlifting concludes with the battle to become the strongest woman at the Games in the over 81kg category led by China’s world record holder Li Wenwen.

Helped by a clean sweep in diving and table tennis, China lead the medals table with 39 golds, one ahead of the US, but the Americans have more gold shots on the final day.

‘Precious’

As the sport nears an end, attention turns to the closing ceremony at the Stade de France and the next Olympics in Los Angeles in four years.

LA is expected to play heavily on its Hollywood star power and will roll out its big guns, with pop star Billie Eilish, rapper Snoop Dogg, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers all confirmed.

The worst-kept secret in Paris is that “Top Gun” star Tom Cruise appears poised to close the ceremony with a spectacular stunt sequence.

Cruise is filming the latest episode of the “Mission Impossible” franchise in Europe and has been a regular feature at Olympic events in Paris.

“On August 11, the Olympic Games will be over, and the Olympic flame will be extinguished,” said Thomas Jolly, who masterminded the unique opening ceremony along the River Seine.

“That moment will remind us just how precious are these Olympic Games,” said Jolly, whose ceremony sparked outrage in some quarters with a scene that appeared to parody the Last Supper.

USA fends off France for women’s Olympic basketball gold

The United States held off France 67-66 to win an unprecedented eighth successive women’s Olympic basketball gold on Sunday and extend their run of victories at the tournament to 61 games.

A’ja Wilson scored a game-high 21 points for the Americans who won the title for the 10th time overall, surviving a buzzer-beating shot from France’s Gabby Williams.

The hosts needed a three to force overtime in Paris but Williams’ foot was on the three-point line as she let go of the ball, so her shot counted for just two points in a dramatic finale.

“It’s all a blur right now,” said Wilson, who also registered 13 rebounds and four blocks.

“We were just resilient and when we needed to we just kept going.”

Kelsey Plum and Kahleah Copper both scored 12 points off the bench for the US. Williams led France with 19.

An eighth straight triumph gave the US women the record for most consecutive gold medals in any team sport at the Olympics, breaking a tie with the US men, who won seven basketball titles in a row from 1936 to 1968.

“That was an absolutely incredible basketball game. Two teams that left it all out there,” said US coach Cheryl Reeve.

“Coming home with gold, I can’t think of anything greater in life than what we just did together.”

For the 42-year-old Diana Taurasi it was a record sixth Olympic gold, moving her one ahead of Sue Bird.

The US women got support from LeBron James, who sat courtside wearing his gold medal and was joined by team-mates Bam Adebayo and Derrick White, after they won the men’s gold by beating France 98-87 in Saturday’s final.

It was the first time in Games history the men’s and women’s finals featured identical match-ups.

Frantic finish

A low-scoring first quarter saw a cold-shooting France muster just nine points, but the US only fared marginally better and led by six after 10 minutes.

Nevada-born Williams, who qualifies to play for France through her mother, trimmed the gap to a point with a three early in the second period before a basket from Valeriane Ayayi tied the game at 20-20.

Marine Fauthoux drained a three from near midcourt with the shot clock expiring to send the Bercy Arena crowd wild, but Napheesa Collier’s putback ensured the teams headed into the break level at 25-25.

France strung together a 10-point run to start the third period as Fauthoux and Ayayi both nailed threes.

The US hit back to lead 45-43 going into the final quarter, with Plum connecting on a pair of threes, one after Marine Johannes took a nasty blow from Wilson that went unpunished, to France’s fury.

Wilson belatedly found some rhythm offensively after a difficult first half, but France had an answer each time and went back in front, 51-49, on Marieme Badiane’s layup.

The US nudged back ahead, Wilson getting a kind bounce off the backboard and Plum sinking a pair of free throws to leave them leading by three with two minutes to play.

Williams’ jumper made it a one-point contest before Copper drove to the basket to keep the US on top.

A travelling call against Wilson gave the ball back to France with around 45 seconds left, but Fauthoux’s desperation three came up well short under pressure from Breanna Stewart.

Wilson then made a free throw to extend the lead to four and Plum looked to have clinched the win with a pair of foul shots, but Williams kept France alive with a clutch three.

Copper held her nerve to sink two more free throws for the US to restore their cushion to three.

They needed every point as Williams nearly pulled off a miraculous escape act as the buzzer sounded, only to be denied by a matter of centimeters.

Boxer Cindy Ngamba wins Refugee Olympic Team’s first medal ever

Cindy Ngamba guaranteed the Refugee Olympic Team their first medal in history after comfortably winning her boxing quarter-final in Paris on Sunday.

Ngamba, who was born in Cameroon but sought safe haven in Britain aged 11, beat France’s Davina Michel with a unanimous points decision to reach the last four of the women’s 75kg category and win at least bronze.

The 25-year-old boxer is a lesbian, which is illegal in her native country.

The Refugee Olympic Team first competed at the Rio 2016 Games and is designed to represent forcibly displaced people worldwide.

There are 37 athletes competing for the team in Paris from more than a dozen countries.

Ngamba qualified by right for the boxing competition — the first Refugee Athlete to achieve that — and has shown she has every right to be in the French capital, winning a second bout in a row with ease for a place in the semi-finals.

Boxing hands out bronze medals for losing semi-finalists.

Britain wanted to select her in their boxing team for the Paris Games and boxing officials appealed unsuccessfully for her to receive a British passport.

Ngamba has had her brushes with officialdom however, as she was arrested and thrown into a detention camp aged 20 when she went to tell the authorities where she was living.

“Imagine thinking you’re just going to sign then go back to your house to go about your day, and then you’re put in the back of a van with handcuffs on,” Ngamba previously told the BBC.

She had a tough upbringing, bullied at school for her poor English, her weight and her body odor. Two gym teachers took her under their wings and introduced her to boxing.

But that is all behind her now and she said that just being in Paris “meant the world” to her.

“I am sure it means the world to people all around the world, not even athletes, that are going through life with so many issues and obstacles, they don’t believe in themselves, and feel like it’s the end of the world,” she said.

Fox News host on Olympic boxer: We're giving 'gold medals to men for beating up women'

Multiple prominent Fox News hosts doubled down on right-wing attacks against an Olympic boxer who defeated her opponent in under a minute and has since faced a deluge of smears on social media, including from former President Donald Trump and his running mate, J.D. Vance.

Algerian Imane Khelif defeated Italian boxer Angela Carini when Carini forfeited. Khelif is a woman from birth and has naturally occurring high levels of testosterone. She was excluded from competition last year for failing an unspecified gender eligibility test, leading many right-wing commentators to falsely claim she is transgender or a "biological man."

The fight became a talking point for right-wingers, with Trump saying being punched by Khelif would be "like getting hit by a horse" and Vance saying "This is where Kamala Harris's ideas about gender lead: to a grown man pummeling a woman in a boxing match."

ALSO READ: We asked 10 Republican senators: ‘Is Kamala Harris Black?’ Things got weird fast

On Friday, Fox News' afternoon show "The Five" waded into the fray, including anchor Jesse Watters, who suggested that Olympic committees "got greased" by Khelif.

"All of these international Olympic committees are corrupt," he said.

Watters added that "whenever you have a trans situation in anything, it gets a lot of publicity. So they're probably thinking this is great publicity."

But, he suggested, "We're now at the point where we're going to give gold medals to men for beating up women. We might have a gold and silver medalist who just beat up a bunch of women. They're going to stand up on the podium with a bunch of medals around their neck for punching girls in the face!"

When fellow co-host Jessica Tarlov tried to interject and say, "No one is saying that they're men, they're not men," Watters doubled down.

"They're men. Everybody knows they're men, Jessica. And if Trump were president he would slap Algeria with sanctions."

Watch the clip below or at this link.

'Grown man pummeling a woman': Vance smears Olympic boxer as Trump compares her to 'horse'

Former President Donald Trump launched into a tirade Thursday against an Olympic boxer on The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show as his running mate smeared her on social media.

Algerian Imane Khelif, who defeated Italian boxer Angela Carini in under a minute when Carini forfeited, is a woman from birth; however, she has naturally occurring high levels of testosterone and was excluded from a competition last year for failing an unspecified gender eligibility test, which has led many right-wing commentators to falsely claim Khelif is transgender or even a "biological man."

In fact, gender transitions are banned in Khelif's home country of Algeria, so if she hadn't been female at birth, she likely could not even have competed under their flag as a woman.

But Trump, who has made keeping transgender women out of women's sports a routine talking point at his rallies and posted a clip of the bout on Truth Social with the words, "I WILL KEEP MEN OUT OF WOMEN'S SPORTS!" raged against Khelif's participation. Neither he nor the hosts appeared to know Khelif is a woman.

Khelif's punch, Trump said, "was like getting hit by a horse." He complained that "Men can do anything they want, they can go into the locker rooms," and promised the right-wing hosts that if elected, he would undo President Joe Biden's new guidelines on Title IX protecting gender identity from discrimination.

His running mate, J.D. Vance, took to the social media app X and said: "This is where Kamala Harris's ideas about gender lead: to a grown man pummeling a woman in a boxing match. This is disgusting, and all of our leaders should condemn it."

Public polling has broadly found support for transgender rights; however, on the issue of transgender athletes specifically, polls have found U.S. voters are much more skeptical, which has led Republicans to prominently feature the issue in attacks on LGBTQ rights.

Meanwhile, Republican state attorneys general have been fighting in courts to get the new Biden administration Title IX rules rolled back.

Watch the full interview below or at the link here.

Anti-doping agency sharpens its tools for Paris Olympics

In the battle against drug use at the Paris Olympics, the International Testing Agency (ITA) plans to deploy a more streamlined, high-tech approach to identify and target potential cheats.

In an interview with AFP, Benjamin Cohen, Director General of the ITA, said potential tools as its disposal included biological and performance passports as well as a mountain of other data.

Upgraded software, possibly using artificial intelligence, could also help; an investigative unit aided by whistleblowers was making inroads; and increased cooperation with sports bodies and police was bearing fruit.

ITA, which was founded in 2018, runs the anti-doping programme for the Olympics, the Tour de France and “more than 65 international organisations”, said Cohen.

The challenge was to refine the “risk analysis” and identify athletes to monitor using as little time and resources as possible, said Cohen, a Swiss lawyer who has headed the agency since its creation.

The problem is accentuated in the run-up to the Paris Games.

“We still have 30,000 potentially qualifying athletes and we cannot wait to have the final list to focus on the 11,000 participants,” Cohen said.

“Certain doping practices enable athletes to achieve results very quickly,” he said. “Traditionally the pre-Olympic period is high-risk time…the last moment to make a difference. Athletes know that they will be very closely monitored at the Olympics, so I would hope that very few, if any, will be tempted to take drugs in the Olympic Village in Paris.”

At the Games, only medallists are automatically tested, but ITA wants to find ways to target potential dopers before the finish.

Cohen said ITA tries to identify patterns. They look at the demands of each discipline and the substances it might tempt athletes to use. Then ITA looks at delegations and “the history of doping in that country”. Finally, it scrutinises each individual athlete and “the development of his or her performances, any suspicious biological passport profiles, suspicious anti-doping tests, and so on.”

“That’s hundreds of thousands of pieces of data.”

‘Risk analysis’

“Today we have our own software, and the next stage” will involve “programming computers to extract this data, because we still do a lot of this work manually.”

After that, the ITA hopes to “seize all the opportunities offered by artificial intelligence”, provided “we use these new tools ethically.

“If it’s done properly,” he said. “AI will enable us to go much further in risk analysis and prediction.”

ITA is developing a “performance passport” as a counterpart to the long-established biological passport.

The objective is to “predict results on the basis of what an athlete has done over the last four years”, said Cohen.

“Artificial intelligence will enable us to say: ‘this is really an unusual result, which could suggest doping’,” he said. “It could help us flag them.”

The performance passport project was initially tested in swimming and weightlifting, two indoor sports where athletes compete in identical environments each time.

Weightlifting also happens to be one of the two sports, along with athletics, that have returned, between them, the vast majority of positive tests at Summer Olympics.

In 2021, ITA carried out “a major investigation into weightlifting” and that enabled them to set up a specialised unit in cooperation with the sport.

Focus on cycling

It now has more than ten such units. “Cycling is a particular focus” but “other sports are beginning to understand the benefits of gathering intelligence, having anonymous sources and promoting whistleblowers.

“It’s a new method that complements traditional testing.”

Cohen said ITA has been working to build links with law enforcement and exploit ‘synergies’.

“They are bearing fruit,” he said, referring to the case of 23-year-old Italian cyclist Andrea Piccolo, arrested on June 21 by the Italian Carabinieri who caught him returning to the country with growth hormones.

“ITA asked the Italian authorities to open his luggage, which would not have been possible six years ago,” Cohen said.

“We carry out the controls, we monitor the performances of these athletes, we know the networks, the doctors involved and the drugs they are taking. And they can seize and open suitcases and enter hotel rooms.”

Quincy Wilson, at 16, becomes youngest male USA track Olympian

Quincy Wilson, at age 16, could become the youngest American male athletics competitor to appear at an Olympics as a member of the 4x400m relay pool at Paris.

Wilson finished sixth in the 400m final in 44.94secs, missing out on an individual spot, but USA Track and Field’s relay selectors delivered the news Sunday he was in the relay group.

“WE GOING TO THE OLYMPICS,” Wilson posted on Instagram.

The previous youngest U.S. athletics competitor at an Olympics was Jim Ryun, who was 17 years and 137 days when he ran at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

Wilson, about to start his junior year at Bullis School in Potomac, Maryland, twice broke the under-18 world record for 400m during last week’s U.S. trials in Eugene, Oregon.

He broke the age group world record with a run of 44.66 seconds in the preliminary heats, then lowered that two-day-old mark with a 44.59-second effort in the semi-finals.

Caitlin Clark faces U.S. Olympic snub: reports

Women’s basketball phenomenon Caitlin Clark will not be selected for the United States Paris Olympics team, multiple US media reports said Saturday.

USA Today cited three sources with knowledge of the situation as saying that the 22-year-old Indiana Fever rookie had been left off the roster.

The Athletic also reported that Clark was expected to be snubbed for an Olympic ticket.

Clark entered the WNBA this season after a record-shattering college career that has sent interest in women’s basketball skyrocketing.

News of Clark’s Olympic omission comes after she shot a record-tying seven three-pointers in a 30-point haul for Indiana in a victory over the Washington Mystics on Friday night.

The game in the US capital was watched by a packed crowd of 20,333 — the largest crowd for a WNBA game in 17 years.

Clark shot to prominence during her college career, which saw her eclipse Pete Maravich’s 54-year-old all-time college basketball scoring record, largely due to her long-range shooting prowess.

She averaged 31.6 points per game in her final season in college basketball, where she led Iowa to the championship game for a second straight season.

Even though Iowa was beaten in the final, the game smashed ratings records, drawing an average audience of 18.7 million viewers, making it the most watched women’s basketball game in history.

It was also the most watched basketball game of any kind — men’s or women’s, college or professional — since 2019.

Clark’s entry into the professional ranks has been tinged with recent controversy, with accusations that some players have targeted her for rough treatment.

Last week, Chicago Sky player Chennedy Carter was retrospectively sanctioned for a hit on Clark which triggered widespread condemnation.

The WNBA upgraded the foul after an outcry from Indiana officials.

“There’s a difference between tough defense and unnecessary targeting actions,” Fever general manager Lin Dunn said. “It needs to stop! The league needs to clean up the crap.”

Snoop Dogg to cover 2024 Olympics for NBC

Snoop Dogg will contribute to NBC’s coverage of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

The “Gin and Juice” rapper will join broadcaster Mike Tirico when the games begin on July 26.

NBC announced the partnership during “Sunday Night Football.”

A social media post confirming Snoop Dogg’s participation shows him standing in front of the Eiffel Tower.

“I grew up watching the Olympics and am thrilled to see the incredible athletes bring their A-game to Paris,” Snoop Dogg said in a statement. “It’s a celebration of skill, dedication, and the pursuit of greatness.”