As the Paris Olympics 2024 has already begun, the fans will witness a unique initiative in the Olympic's history during the marquee event's opening ceremony which is held along the Seine River. The Opening Ceremony promises to be unforgettable, with athlete barges floating down the river starting at the Austerlitz Bridge. They will pass under historic bridges and by iconic landmarks such as Notre Dame and the Louvre, as well as Olympic Games venues including the Esplanade des Invalides and the Grand Palais. During the parade, hundreds of boats will carry approximately 10,500 athletes in the Seine River. The larger of the 206 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) represented in the parade will have boats to themselves, while the smaller ones will share boats. The online viewers will be able to witness this initiative with the cameras installed in the boats. The parade's climax will be at Trocadero Garden, where the Paris Olympics 2024 shows will unfold. Also Read: Paris Olympics 2024: Indian athletes, participating events, nations and schedule Disembarking at the Trocadero, the delegations will assemble for the official opening of Paris 2024. The river parade will follow the course of the Seine, from east to west, over 6 kilometres. The parade will depart from the Austerlitz bridge beside the Jardin des Plantes at 11.00 pm IST (7.30 pm CET) and make its way around the two islands at the centre of the city (the Ile Saint Louis and the Ile de la Cite) before passing under several bridges and gateways. Athletes aboard the parade boats will catch glimpses of official Games venues like Parc Urbain La Concorde, Esplanade des Invalides, and Grand Palais. The parade will then pause at the Iena Bridge before the grand finale at the Trocadero. The Paris Olympics 2024 for the first time in history will mark the opening ceremony outside the stadium. Following the ceremony, it will also provide exposure to a larger audience and geographical coverage. The opening of Paris Olympics 2024 will be open to all residents and visitors from across the globe. Ahead of the Paris Olympics 2024, the Indian contingent will be led by two-time Olympics medallist PV Sindhu and table tennis great Sharath Kamal. The 2024 edition will make the fifth Olympic appearance for Kamal. At the opening ceremony, the Indian men will be dressed in Kurta Bundi sets while the women will don matching saris, reflecting India’s tricolour flag. The outfits, featuring traditional ikat-inspired prints and Banarasi brocade, have been designed by Tarun Tahiliani. The opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics 2024 will start at 11.00 PM according to Indian Standard Time and will be available on Sports18 1 SD and Sports18 1 HD TV channels in India. The Jio Cinema will also be streaming the marquee event for free. (With IANS Inputs)
26 July,2024 12:27 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
New mom. Muscle stiffness. Fitness struggles. Former World No 1. Three-time Olympian. Strong revival within 19 months of delivery. Deepika Kumari has game. And if it weren’t for her archer husband Atanu Das’ steadfast backing, she would not have come this far. Most of all, he saw possibility. “I had never stopped believing in Deepika. During this whole time, she would break down almost every day and say things like, ‘I have to quit archery’, ‘I can’t do it any longer’, and everything is over for me now’. I had to take care of both Vedika (daughter) and her. I always pushed her, motivating her to excel. I can’t put it into words now. It took a lot of time, but we knew she would make a strong comeback one day,” Das, who missed out on the Olympic team this year, told Mid-Day. He continued, “After her gold in the Goa National Games (November, 2023), she began getting her confidence back. She is in fine form right now, I keep telling her to keep the pressure at bay…that ‘you have achieved a lot in all these years, there is nothing to prove to anyone today, so there is no pressure’.” Also Read: Mid-Day 45th Anniversary Special: Team India's iconic T20 World Cup 2024 triumph Perhaps then, Das can heave a little sigh of relief after India, by virtue of their fourth rank, secured a direct berth in the women’s team event on Thursday, positioning themselves merely two rounds away from contention for a podium finish. Ankita Bhakat secured 11th spot in the individual ranking round, achieving a score of 666, while Bhajan Kaur settled in the 22nd position. Meanwhile, Deepika orchestrated a notable comeback, finishing 23rd after initially occupying the 37th position during the early phase of the event. His perseverance, with her help, meant guiding India to its first-ever silver medal at the 2023 Asian Games in men’s recurve team event by bettering the twin bronze won in 2006 Doha and 2010 Guangzhou. Her perseverance, with his help, has instead turned her into the favourite to win a medal in the individual event this year, which could be India’s first Olympic medal in this discipline. “We speak every day on the phone. I was with her when her training kicked into high gear. I saw her pushing her body to its limits and testing her mental ability to deal with the stress and pressure that comes with representing the country on the biggest global stage. I am rooting for her in the individual event,” said Atanu. Not even 10 years ago, it was all but unthinkable that a mother who had put her body through childbirth could make waves again in the field of sports. But the difficult moments were when it helped the most to have each other's support, as the 32-year-old puts it. Also Read: Mid-Day 45th Anniversary Special: AI-yo, cricket too! Paris 2024 is significant for Deepika in many ways. She could leave the Games having made history. However, among other things, this is the first Olympics that she will compete in as a mother. If she indeed medals in Paris, her daughter Vedika may be too small to comprehend the outcome of her mother’s achievement but for both Deepika and Atanu, it would be a fantasy come to life. “She doesn’t make a fuss but is very naughty. Staying apart from parents at this age is never okay, but we are no ordinary parents. I think she is coping well, given her age. It’s like a full-time job, it gets too tough sometimes (laughs),” he chuckled heartily. Deepika has had two previous attempts, in London 2012 and Rio 2016, to secure maiden Olympic archery gold for India, falling short both times. However, she believed Tokyo would be different. She had the ball rolling that year, clinching two gold in the Archery World Cup Stage I in April, followed by a hat-trick of gold medals at the prestigious Stage III event in Paris. Despite having surpassed her past Olympic performances by reaching the top eight, she suffered a disappointing loss in the quarterfinals to top seed An San of Korea, who defeated the Indian 6-0. Devastated by the defeat, Deepika came to find solace in knowing she was not alone in her struggles. But Das too failed to live up to the expectations and was brought to his knees by Japan's Furukawa Takaharu. “I think the men’s team has a good chance of bringing us a medal. Women’s team is good as well, so if they both manage to win this time, it is even better. In individual events, I am rooting for my wife and Dhiraj (Bommadevara),” he said. A medal would be nice, but by simply stepping foot in Paris after all that she had to go through — with her 19-month-old daughter and the whole world watching, Deepika, you have already won!
26 July,2024 11:55 AM IST | Mumbai | Srijanee MajumdarIga Swiatek is returning to a happy hunting ground as she seeks a first Olympic crown to add to her four French Open titles at Roland Garros. The Polish World No. 1 has been dominant on the red clay of Paris, winning four of the past five tournaments and is unbeaten there since a quarter-final loss to Greece’s Maria Sakkari in 2021. The five-time Grand Slam champion, who won the US Open in 2022, is seeking to go much further than she did at the Tokyo Games in 2021, where she lost to Paula Badosa in the second round. Also Read: Sumit Nagal to face France’s Moutet Corentin in Rd 1 Swiatek, 23, has had plenty of time to prepare for the Paris Olympics after her early exit from Wimbledon, where she lost in the third round to Yulia Putintseva. The painful defeat on the grass at the All England Club brought Swiatek’s 21-match winning streak to a shuddering halt. Meanwhile, Grand Slam record-breakers Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal were placed on an Olympics second-round collision course in the draw for the Paris Games on Thursday. Nadal, a singles gold medallist at the 2008 Olympics, is playing in his final Games having also won doubles gold in Rio in 2016. Serbia’s Djokovic, a 24-time Grand Slam champion and top seed in Paris following the withdrawal of World No. 1 Jannik Sinner, begins his campaign against Australia’s Matthew Ebden. Spain’s Nadal, who has won 14 of his 22 Grand Slams on the clay of Roland Garros, faces Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics in his opener. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
26 July,2024 07:57 AM IST | Paris | AFPIndia’s top singles player Sumit Nagal will begin his Paris Olympics campaign against French Moutet Corentin, who he had beaten in April and could run into Australian World No. 6 Alex di Minaur in the second round. Also Read: Paula Radcliffe apologises for supporting Dutch convict In the men’s doubles, Rohan Bopanna and N Sriram Balaji have been drawn to meet the French team of Fabien Reboul and Edouard Roger-Vasselin. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
26 July,2024 07:55 AM IST | Paris | PTIPaula Radcliffe, the former marathon world record-holder has apologised after defending the decision to allow Dutch beach volleyball player Steven van de Velde, a convicted child rapist, to compete in the Paris Olympics. Also Read: "Carrying the Olympic flame in Torch Relay was honour beyond words": Abhinav Bindra Radcliffe’s initial remarks, which appeared to extend support to van de Velde, have drawn widespread condemnation, prompting her to issue an apology and clarify her stance. Recognizing the widespread disapproval, Radcliffe took to social media to apologise. “I can only apologise, that isn’t what I intended to say. I stress that it isn’t something that can be excused in any way,” she posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
26 July,2024 07:52 AM IST | New Delhi | IANSBeijing Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra feels honoured to carry the 2024 Paris Olympic flame and said he is humbled to be part of the sporting pinnacle. Bindra, who made history by simultaneously being the world and Olympic champion for the men’s 10-metre air rifle event, joined the Paris 2024 Torch Relay event on Wednesday and was thrilled to hold the spirit of the Games. Also Read: Dina Asher-Smith can dash ’em all Carrying the Olympic flame yesterday in the Paris 2024 Torch Relay was an honor beyond words. ?? The spirit of the Games lives in each of us, and I am humbled to be part of this incredible journey. Let's continue to inspire, dream, and achieve together! ?????? #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/6f9oEiWu61 — Abhinav A. Bindra OLY (@Abhinav_Bindra) July 25, 2024 “Carrying the Olympic flame yesterday in the Paris 2024 Torch Relay was an honour beyond words. The spirit of the Games lives in each of us, and I am humbled to be part of this incredible journey. Let’s continue to inspire, dream, and achieve together! #Paris2024,” Bindra posted on X. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
26 July,2024 07:50 AM IST | New Delhi | IANSDina Asher-Smith once watched up close as Jessica Ennis-Hill won Olympic heptathlon gold and now Britain’s greatest ever female sprinter hopes the roles will be reversed in Paris. Asher-Smith carried bags for athletes at the 2012 London Games and watched one of her heroines Ennis-Hill take the title on what became known by the hosts as ‘Super Saturday’ as Greg Rutherford won the long jump and Mo Farah the 10,000 metres. Last chance to win Oly medal At 28 this could be Asher-Smith’s last chance of securing an elusive Olympic individual medal at 100m or 200m. In a neat flip, Ennis-Hill will be watching from the BBC studio in the Stade de France. Also Read: Indian men’s TT team to face China first up Jessica Ennis-Hill Asher-Smith has already emulated Ennis-Hill and her other athletics role model Christine Ohuruogu in winning her first global title—the 200m world outdoor title in 2019— at 23, the same age they won their maiden crowns. Ennis-Hill remains a believer that Asher-Smith is a contender. “She’s had a good winter, she’s not had any particular niggles and she’s consistently built for Paris, so I think she can be right up there in the medals, definitely,” Ennis-Hill told The Standard. “She knows the field for both the 100 and 200 will be absolutely phenomenal. But she’s also got the talent to do it.” With her morale boosted by her second European 100m title in Rome in June, she pits her wits against world 100m champion Sha’Carri Richardson and the Jamaicans are bound to be strong. Stepping up into the 200m, she will find Jamaica’s world champion Shericka Jackson and American Gabby Thomas, who produced a remarkable come-from-behind run to win the London Diamond League meeting on Saturday as Asher-Smith faded to third. ‘Golden age of sprinting’ “We’re definitely in the golden age of women’s sprinting and it’s great to be acknowledged in that group,” the Briton told Eurosport. “We’ve been in the golden age of women’s sprinting for a while now—the times on the women’s side, what it takes to make the podium, what it takes to make the final, it’s incredibly fast. It just pushes you to really fulfil your potential.” With the Olympics she insists past disappointments do not play on her mind. “Some people are very motivated by previous frustrations. But I’m somebody who just needs to feel free and light and joyful to run fast. That’s my mentality.” This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
26 July,2024 07:46 AM IST | Paris | AFPIndian men’s table tennis team is set to face a formidable challenge as they compete against four-time gold medallists China in the opening round of the Paris Olympics. The women’s team, meanwhile, will face Romania in the round of 16. They could face , the Rio 2016 silver medallists Germany, in the second round. Notably, India have qualified for team events in table tennis for the first time. On the other hand, China have won the gold medal in the men’s event at all the editions, since the introduction of team events at the Olympics in 2008. Also Read: PV Sindhu confident of hat-trick of medals In the singles women’s singles event, star paddler Manika Batra, who is seeded 18, will begin her campaign against Anna Hursey, teenager from Great Britain. Manika, who is competing in her third Olympics after making her debut in Rio 2016, made it to the third round at Tokyo 2020 in women’s singles. Hursey, on the other hand, will be making her Olympic debut. Another Indian, Sreeja Akula was seeded 16, and will take on Sweden’s Christina Kallberg in her round-of-64 match. In men’s singles, Sharath Kamal, who will mark his record fifth Olympic appearance, will face 27-year-old Deni Kozul of Slovenia in the opening round. Harmeet Desai will be a part of the preliminares. Desai will face Zaid Abo Yaman of Jordan on July 27. Harmeet will face world no. 5 Frenchman Felix Lebrun if he wins the preliminary round. Table tennis competitions will take place between July 27 to August 10. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
26 July,2024 07:43 AM IST | Paris | IANSFrom spending time in a hypoxic chamber to sparring with a variety of partners to adapt to different styles, Indian badminton ace PV Sindhu has left no stones unturned to be battle-ready for the Paris Games, where she will be chasing an unprecedented third consecutive Olympic medal. Sindhu’s form has been patchy of late, but she says the hat-trick of medals is very much possible because the last eight months spent with mentor Prakash Padukone has instilled confidence in her. No Indian player has won three Olympic medals on the trot and a podium finish will make Sindhu arguably India’s greatest athlete. “I am aiming for a medal, definitely, yes. Whether it’s one or two or three, it doesn’t matter. I’ve won two medals and I don’t want to take pressure by thinking that, oh, what is the third one,” she said after a training session at Porte de la Chapelle Arena here. Also Read: England unchanged for Edgbaston Test “Every time I play Olympics, it’s a new Olympics for me. So every time I go out there, I want to get a medal and hopefully, I will do that hat-trick soon.” Sindhu had won silver and bronze in the last two Olympics at Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo respectively. Sindhu said she has improved her strokes and is more consistent during the long rallies. “In women’s singles now, there are a lot of long rallies and long matches, being consistent. I am confident in that now,” she said. “With every opponent, it’s a different style and, you need to play the right stroke at the right time. And that’s what Prakash sir also keeps saying. We’ve been working on that. And that’s almost there. There’s a lot of improvement. You will see that on court.” This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
26 July,2024 07:37 AM IST | Paris | PTIBadminton legend and ace shuttler PV Sindhu’s mentor, Prakash Padukone believes that India have a strong chance of bagging three medals in badminton in the Paris Olympics including a hat-trick of medals for Sindhu. Also Read: Paris Olympics 2024: Dhiraj Bommadevara, Ankita Bhakat guide India to quarter-finals of archery India have sent a seven-member badminton squad including the high-flying men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty and double Olympic medallist Sindhu. Padukone picked Rankireddy and Shetty in the men’s doubles, Sindhu in women’s singles and Lakshya Sen and HS Prannoy in men’s singles as possible medal contenders. “We have a chance in all three events: men’s singles, women’s singles and men’s doubles,” he told Jio Cinema. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
26 July,2024 07:32 AM IST | New Delhi | IANSLed by the in-form Dhiraj Bommadevara and Ankita Bhakat, India’s campaign at the Paris Olympics began on a positive note as the country’s archers secured a direct entry into the quarter-finals of both the men’s and women’s team events after finishing third and fourth respectively in the ranking round here on Thursday. Debutants Dhiraj and Ankita’s spectacular show in the qualifications helped India finish in the Top-4, giving them favourable draws to clinch an elusive Olympic medal in archery. The Top-4 in the team standings directly advance to the quarter-finals, while those ending between 5th to 12th play the Round of 16 fixtures. Also Read: IND vs SL: Dilshan Madushanka replaces Nuwan Thushara following an injury Medal just two wins away The Indian men’s team is seeded third, which means they will not feature in the same pool as the invincible Koreans in the next round. Now, both the Indian teams need just two wins to secure Olympic medals. Dhiraj, the World Cup bronze-medallist who defeated Tokyo Olympics silver winner Mauro Nespoli in Antalya, lived up to the expectations by finishing fourth in the individual round. Archer Ankita Bhakat competes in Paris yesterday The duo of Ankita and Dhiraj, who were the star of the day with an excellent performance in the second half of his competition, will be seeded fifth in the mixed team round of 16 event. India’s mixed team finished fifth with 1,347 points. Dhiraj got 681, while Ankita scored 666 earlier in the day. The mixed team score is determined by summing the best individual score from the women’s and men’s individual event. The Indian men’s team made it to the quarter-finals by finishing third in the ranking round with 2,013 points. Dhiraj shone with a fourth-spot finish in individual section with 681 points. Appearing in his fourth Olympics, Tarundeep Rai ended 14th with 674 points while Pravin Jadhav finished 39th with 658 points. Deepika Kumari 23rd Earlier in the day, Games debutant Ankita left behind seasoned campaigners like Deepika Kumari to emerge as the best-placed Indian archer at 11th in the women’s individual qualifications as the country secured a quarter-final spot by finishing fourth. The 26-year-old Ankita was the top-ranked Indian woman, followed by Bhajan Kaur (22nd with 559 points) and Deepika (23rd with 658 points). India grabbed the fourth spot by scoring 1,983 points. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
26 July,2024 07:27 AM IST | Paris | PTIADVERTISEMENT
