Olympics
Kishane Thompson so close as Jamaica-US rivalry rumbles on
Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson came so close to emulating his compatriot Usain Bolt and becoming Olympic 100 metres champion on Sunday but American Noah Lyles denied him by a heartbeat.
Thompson led for most of the race and clocked the same 9.79 time as Lyles who won by five thousandths of a second in a photo finish after timing his dip to cross the line to perfection.
Even Lyles admitted he thought Thompson, who came into the final as the fastest man this year, had beaten him.
“He said, ‘Hey Kishane I thought you got it’ and I said, ‘I’m not sure’,” Thompson said.
“I wasn’t patient enough with myself to let my speed bring me at the line, in the position that I know I could have gone to, but I have learned from it.”
Asked if he thought the pair should share the medal, Thompson said: “I think the sport is too competitive, no offence to any other sport. It’s too competitive for us to share a gold medal.”
Thompson’s time – 9.789, against Lyles’ 9.784 – was two hundredths of a second off his personal best of 9.77 set in June.
The Lyles-Thompson showdown was the latest chapter in a sprint rivalry between the U.S. and Jamaica that has gripped the sport for almost two decades.
Bolt won three successive 100 and 200 metres Olympic golds, and Yohan Blake weighed in with a silver in 2012. In world championships, Bolt and Blake won four 100s in a row between from 2009 to 2015 while Bolt nailed four successive 200s and helped his country to four sprint relay golds.
It was a domination the United States could not match during the best part of a century as the sprint superpower, and with Jamaica’s women also routinely filling the top step of their podiums, the Caribbean nation was on top of the world.
Since Bolt’s retirement in 2017, however, Jamaica’s gold rush has dried up, and a succession of male sprinters have been built up as “the new Bolt”, a pressure they could surely do without.
“I know that Jamaica would have wanted me to get the gold, everybody loves winners,” Thompson said. “I would have loved to win today, but big up to the whole field.”
Fellow Jamaican Oblique Seville, who had beaten Lyles to win their semi-final on Sunday, was left in tears after finishing last, albeit in an impressive time of 9.91 seconds.
-Reuters
The Olympic rings installed on the Eiffel Tower since June to celebrate the upcoming Olympic Games were removed from the Parisian monument early on Friday morning, as confirmed by an AFP photographer. But the Paris City Hall intends to replace them with a more permanent structure until 2028.
The five-coloured rings, measuring 29 metres in length and 15 metres in height, were placed between the first and second levels of the iconic iron structure on 7 June.
According to Inside the Games publication, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo wants the Olympic symbol to continue decorating the monument until the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.
But the descendants of the tower’s creator, Gustave Eiffel are opposing the move. They are insisting that the Olympic rings are aesthetically in conflict with the concept and design of the Tower.
The 30-tonne rings initially installed on the Eiffel Tower were also not designed to withstand winter weather conditions.
Olympics
Despite Egypt winning 3 medals at Paris Olympics, President Al-Sisi orders sports system overhaul
Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi ordered a comprehensive evaluation of sports federations that participatedat the Paris Olympic Games, following a mission report submitted by the country’s sports minister.
The mandate includes a thorough expenditure check and a performance review to better highlight areas of improvement and fund allocation in future Games.
Additionally, the president plans to take necessary measures against federations —such as limiting funds— that had negative results in the Paris Games.
Egypt’s participation in sports where it lacks a competitive advantage will also be limited, as the president aims to direct resources to promising athletes to ensure optimal results. The president also aims to reduce administrative and technical staff within Olympic delegations and task relevant ministries with preparing future Olympic athletes.
Al-Sisi’s Olympic overhaul is to be presented to the cabinet for approval and urged the government to prioritise amending the sports law for the House of Representatives for review.
Egypt took home a total of three medals in the Summer Games. Ahmed El-Gendy triumphed in modern pentathlon, Sara Samir claimed the silver in weightlifting, and 21-year-old fencer Mohamed El-Sayed earned the bronze.
-Insidethegames
Paris 2024 sold a record 12 million tickets for the Olympics and Paralympics, beating the Games record previously set by London 2012, organisers said on Sunday.
Some 9.5 million tickets were sold for the Olympics and 2.5 million for the Paralympics, which end on Sunday.
In 2012, London organisers set the record for the Paralympics with 2.7 million tickets sold but only 8.2 million were sold for the Olympics.
-Reuters
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