Olympics
Fierce rivalries ready to be renewed on Paris 2024 Athletics track
Jamaica and the United States will renew their sprint rivalry at the Stade de France, as old grudges bubble to the surface across the Paris Olympics athletics programme which kicks off this week.
The track and field events at the Tokyo Olympics may be better remembered for good sportsmanship than bitter feuds, as the world came together in the face of a global pandemic to carry out the COVID-delayed Games.
Not so in Paris where the masks, and the gloves, are off.
U.S. world champions Noah Lyles and Sha’Carri Richardson are set to collide with a host of talented newcomers and established stars from longstanding rival Jamaica in the 100 metres.
“Rivalries have to be nurtured correctly – if they happen too often, then people get bored. If they happen too few, then again people get disappointed,” said Lyles.
“It’s something that has to be intentional, for sure. But at the same time, both parties have to agree with it.”
Jamaica’s men were absent from the Tokyo final but are fully expected to make a big impact this time around.
Rising star Oblique Seville handed Lyles his only 100 metres defeat of the season in Kingston last month, while Kishane Thompson captured the pre-Olympic spotlight with a 9.77 seconds world lead at the Jamaican national championships.
The rivalry resumes on the women’s side too after the U.S. struggled to make an impact in Tokyo without Richardson, who was denied a place at the Games due to a positive cannabis test.
America’s brightest hope of ending a 28-year gold medal drought in the women’s event, she will compete alongside Jamaica’s 2008 and 2012 Olympics 100 metres gold medallist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and five-time medallist Shericka Jackson.
“If the Americans are in the field, I’m sure that the Jamaicans are like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’ve got to bring my A-game’,” Gail Devers, the last U.S. woman to win the 100 metres after she took gold in Atlanta, told Reuters.
“And (it’s) the same way with the U.S.”
‘THE NEXT GUY’
In the men’s 1,500 metres, defending champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen resumes his feud with Britain’s Josh Kerr, who denied him the world championship crown last year.
The two have traded barbs since Budapest, with the Norwegian calling Kerr “just the next guy” and saying he expects his trip to Paris will be a breeze.
Kerr got the better of Ingebrigtsen in their last meeting over the mile at the Prefontaine Classic in May, and it will be game on Paris.
“The headlines will be me versus him but I will be racing those other guys on the line too. I’m the best in the world,” Kerr said in remarks reported by the Daily Record.
“I’m looking to go to war.”
The old foes in the 400 hurdles – Norwegian world record holder Karsten Warholm, American Rai Benjamin and Brazilian Alison dos Santos – will get a rematch after finishing first, second and third on the podium in Tokyo.
The trio’s rivalry intensified after Tokyo, as Dos Santos claimed gold at the world championships in Eugene in 2022 and Warholm won in Budapest last year.
American Benjamin has vowed to make an impact in Paris.
“Paris is going to be madness. I have to win there. I believe I can do it,” he told reporters after beating his two adversaries at the Monaco Diamond League earlier this month.
The Olympic athletics programme kicks off on Aug. 1.
-Reuters
Roy Jones Jr has been handed the Olympic gold medal he was controversially denied in 1988 in an extraordinary act of sportsmanship by the South Korean fighter who beat him.
Hall of Fame boxer Jones shared a video on Wednesday from two years ago that showed Park Si-hun visiting the American’s ranch in Pensacola, Florida to present him with the light middleweight gold medal.
“I had the gold medal, but I want to give it back to you. It belongs to you,” Park said in the video through his son, who translated.
Jones, who was overcome with emotion by the gesture, covered his face with his hand before saying: “Wow, that is crazy.”
Their match at the Seoul Olympics remains one of boxing’s most contentious moments as Jones appeared to dominate the fight but lost to Park by a 3-2 decision that drew instant criticism and sparked enduring controversy.
Despite losing the gold medal match, Jones was selected as the Val Barker Trophy winner as the best boxer of the 1988 Olympics.
Jones went on to become a four-division world champion and is regarded as one of the sport’s best pound-for-pound fighters of all time.
“In 1988, I was robbed of the gold medal in what became one of the biggest controversies in boxing history,” Jones wrote in his Instagram post.
“By the grace of God, a couple of years ago, the man who won that medal made the trip from South Korea to my home to return it to me, feeling it was rightfully mine.
“I hope you enjoy this moment as much as I did.”
-Reuters
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U.S. President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Tuesday creating a White House Olympics task force to handle security and other issues related to the 2028 Summer Olympic Games, an administration official told Reuters.
The task force, made up of members from Trump’s cabinet and government agencies, will coordinate federal, state and local government work on transportation, the official said.
It also will “streamline visa processing and credentialing for foreign athletes, coaches, officials, and media,” the official said in an email.
The United States will host the Olympics in Los Angeles in three years. Trump, a Republican who lost the 2020 election to Democrat Joe Biden, has expressed pleasure that his second term will coincide with the Olympics and the World Cup.
“During his first term, President Trump was instrumental in securing America’s bid to host the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. The president considers it a great honor to oversee this global sporting spectacle in his second term,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement on Monday.
Last month organizers of the Los Angeles games released the first look at the Olympic competition schedule . The city had also hosted the Olympics in 1932 and 1984.
“The creation of this task force marks an important step forward in our planning efforts and reflects our shared commitment to delivering not just the biggest, but the greatest Games the world has ever seen in the summer of 2028,” Casey Wasserman, the chair and president of LA28, said in a statement.
–Reuters
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By DAVID LEE
Home is many places for swimmer Adaku Nwandu, who was born in China, lives in Singapore and wears the Nigeria flag on her swimsuit.
And it is at her current home in Singapore that the 17-year-old is making her debut at the World Aquatics Championships (WCH).
In the second heat of the 100m freestyle at the WCH Arena, the teenager, who has a Nigerian father and Chinese mother, led at the turn before finishing third in 1min 0.89sec – she eventually placed 59th out of 82 athletes overall.
After her race, Adaku shared with The Straits Times that she was born and raised in Shanghai, and started swimming when she was eight. Interestingly, it was ice cream that kept her in the sport.
Adaku, who still has the 50m freestyle heats on Aug 2, said: “At a school competition, I didn’t do so well and I asked my dad if we could make a deal. He said if I do better, he would buy me ice cream once every week, and that’s a promise we have kept with each other. And that’s what brought me here.”
In 2023, the family moved to Singapore due to her mother’s work posting. With her fluent Mandarin and love for Asian and spicy food, it did not take long for her to pick up Singlish and enjoy local delights like chicken rice and chilli crab.
She said: “We came here mainly because of my mother’s work, and also because the swimming scene back where I lived in China was a little bit toxic, so she also thought Singapore would be a new experience and better for my swimming.”
By then, she had already committed to representing Nigeria after its aquatics association contacted her after the National Sports Festival in Asaba, where the then 16-year-old was part of the national record-breaking women’s 4x200m freestyle relay team.
But Singapore is where she has been honing her swimming skills, as she has set her 50m and 100m freestyle long- and short-course Nigeria national records at meets here.
Noting her improvements, Singapore swimming coach and performance director Gary Tan said: “Adaku has been participating in our system for a while, and we hope it helps her develop as a swimmer and achieve what she wants while training in Singapore with her school (German European School Singapore).”
For someone who is inspired by Olympic champions David Popovici, Caeleb Dressel and Adam Peaty for “their dedication and the way they are able to take breaks for themselves to improve and get back to the water”, qualifying for Paris 2024 on ranking points was a dream come true.
Her Olympic debut was also unforgettable as her swimsuit ripped 20 minutes before her 50m freestyle heat, but she managed to finish second in her heat and 33rd out of 78th overall in 26.62 seconds, just 0.03 of a second off her personal best.
Back in Singapore, Adaku, who is in the International Baccalaureate (IB) programme at her school, realised that she needed more of such resilience to reach her goals.
The swimmer, who also plays for the school’s volleyball team, said: “I had a lot of improvement the first year I came to Singapore. But this past year has been especially hard for me with family problems and also school. The workload in my first year of IB made it hard to balance training and school.
“Especially in the next year, I want to focus more on swimming and try to get some new personal bests because this year I just plateaued. I’m looking forward to training harder and preparing for my next competition and hopefully qualify for the next Olympics.”
-Strait Times, Singapore
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