Olympics
Olympic 200m women’s champion, Thomas was almost calling it off before her feat
Olympic 200 metres champion Gabby Thomas wanted to walk away from athletics on several occasions, she said on Tuesday following her dominant victory in Paris.
The 27-year-old American, who captured bronze at the 2020 Tokyo Games and silver at last year’s world championships, secured her first global title after beating 100 metres champion Julien Alfred and compatriot Brittany Brown to win gold.
“Running track in college, there were many times where I thought I would quit,” Thomas told reporters. “When I went pro, growing pains of joining a professional training group are real, there are a lot of egos, I didn’t think that I was going to be cut out for it.
“I told my agents ‘I’m out and I’m done’. I wrote am email, I said ‘I’m done running professionally, I’m going to go pursue other endeavours with my life’.
Thomas said she initially took up running grudgingly at the encouragement of her mother Jennifer Randall, who saw how fast she was on the soccer field.
Thomas ran for Harvard while completing a degree in neurobiology before earning a Master’s in public health from the University of Texas.
She adopted a pug named Rico, saying the dog helped her through trying times when running was not going well.
“In every race that I ran, there were a lot of eyeballs on me,” she said. “There were a lot of expectations. And that was definitely a lot more pressure. And I had to adapt.
“That’s what all of the best athletes do. That’s what all of the greats do. You’re forced to adapt when you’re faced with a new challenge.”
Thomas was still not entirely prepared for the ear-splitting screams of a jam-packed Stade de France.
“I envisioned this race over and over from start to finish,” she said. “I was not prepared for how I was going to feel when I crossed the line as an Olympic champion.
“There’s no way to really prepare yourself for that. Tokyo Olympics was a lot of fun and it was great for me to experience that before coming here. But there is nothing like walking into a stadium of 80,000 people and they’re screaming and they’re right on top of you.
“That is a lot of pressure to put on someone and a lot of pressure for us to kind of deal with.”
It was the first time since 1976 that there was no Jamaican on the podium in the Olympic women’s 200 metres.
-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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