Paris, July 30 (IANS) Egyptian fencer Nada Hafez revealed that she competed at the Paris Olympics while seven months pregnant after she crashed out in the last 16 of the women’s sabre individual event.

The 26-year-old, who was competing in her third Olympics, won her first match against USA’s Elizabeth Tartakovsky but lost the second match 7-15 to Korean fencer Jeon Hayoung on Monday at the Grand Palais in the French capital.

“7 MONTHS PREGNANT OLYMPIAN !” Nada posted on Instagram few hours after her match. “What appears to you as two players on the podium, they were actually three! It was me, my competitor, & my yet-to-come to our world, little baby!” the post further read.

“My baby & I had our fair share of challenges, be it both physical & emotional. The rollercoaster of pregnancy is tough on its own, but having to fight to keep the balance of life & sports was nothing short of strenuous, however worth it.

I’m writing this post to say that pride fills my being for securing my place in the round of 16!

“I’m lucky to have shared the trust of my husband @ibrahimihab11 and that of my family to be able to come this far. This specific Olympics was different; Three times Olympian but this time carrying a little Olympian one!” it added.

–IANS

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Paris, July 30 (IANS) Indian table tennis star Manika Batra expressed her joy after becoming the first Indian paddler to reach the round of 16 at the Olympics. Despite reaching a significant milestone, Batra emphasised her focus on playing each match with her best effort and enjoying the experience.

Manika, ranked 28th in the world, stunned local favourite world No. 18 Prithika Pavade 4-0 (11-9, 11-6, 11-9, 11-7) in the South Paris Arena 4 in the French capital late on Monday night.

The Indian table tennis player will face either Hong Kong China’s Zhu Chengzhu or eighth-seeded Japanese player Miu Hirano next.

“I’m not focusing on that (reaching Roud of 16 for the first time). My focus is to play every match with my best effort and enjoy the Olympics and yes, I’m really happy that I reached round of 16 and blessed. So I just give my best for every round I play against whoever I play,” said Manika after her win.

India will also be part of the team competitions at Paris 2024, the first time India qualify for the Table Tennis team events at the Olympics. The men’s team, featuring Sharath Kamal, Harmeet Desai, Manav Thakkar, face a daunting task against four-time champions the China in the first round.

The women’s team, comprising Manika, Sreeja Akula and Archana Kamath, meanwhile, has been drawn to play Romania in their first match.

Manika highlighted the historic achievement of both the Indian men’s and women’s teams qualifying for the Olympics. She expressed confidence in the team’s preparation and commitment to giving their best for the nation.

“Of course, this is the first time we qualified in teams women and men. So, it’s really a proud moment for India that table tennis is growing and I’m really happy with that. And yes, I think we are all very well prepared and we just give our best for our country and hundred percent for ourselves,” said the 27-year-old paddler.

Manika and Prithika were evenly matched at 8-8 in the first game, but Manika pulled ahead to take the lead. The Indian won the second game comfortably and raced to a 10-4 lead in the third. Despite Pavade saving five game points, Manika extended her lead to 3-0. Her lethal backhands helped her close out the match smoothly.

Manika will face either Hong Kong China’s Zhu Chengzhu or eighth-seeded Japanese player Miu Hirano next.

Reflecting on her preparation, Manika credited her rigorous practice and mental conditioning with her personal coach, Aman Balgu, as key factors in her readiness for the Olympics.

She noted the importance of staying focused in a high-pressure environment and appreciated the support from the crowd, even when playing against a local favorite.

“I think, I played my like normal game before coming here, I practiced really hard. We were in Saarbrucken (Germany) and before that I was with my personal coach Aman Balgu,” said Manika.

“So, I think I was well prepared for this Olympics mentally and physically. Mentally of course more because it’s a big event. You have to be focused for every point and I was playing against France and there were more crowd cheer for her not for me. So, I’m really happy that people were there to cheer for me. And yes mentally, I really worked before coming to Paris,” she concluded.

–IANS

Paris, July 30 (IANS) Ever since the Paris Olympics began, the organising committee has received severe criticism from foreign athletes and team members over the lack of basic facilities at the venues and Games Village.

One athlete on condition of anonymity alleged to IANS that there is “no food” available in Games Village when they return after participating in their events.

“And when we asked officials of the Organising Committee or volunteers, they had no answers. These basics need to be addressed by the OC (organising committee) urgently,” the athlete told IANS.

Another athlete said, “We are finding it difficult to explain our requirements. Even a star international tennis player — can’t name him — also didn’t get the food. Which was shocking for all of us.”

Earlier, the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics copped significant backlash for its depiction of Leonardo da Vinci’s painting “The Last Supper” with “drag queens” making up for the participants. This has left many people fuming as they view it as disrespectful and hurting their religious beliefs.

The Catholic Church of France expressed its disapproval, starting on its account on X: “Unfortunately, this ceremony contained scenes that mocked Christianity, which we deeply regret.”

The organisers later apologised for this mishap.

The Indian Olympics Association (IOA) president PT Usha was not happy with the Opening Ceremony and said the event did not focus enough on the athletes.

“In the opening ceremony, the organisers should have focused more on athletes. This is an athlete’s event, they should give more importance to players as the attention was on them for only a few seconds, otherwise, everything was good,” PT Usha told IANS.

Even the IOC was not spared embarrassment as the Olympic flag was raised upside down when it was hoisted in front of all delegates at the end of the Parade of Nations route in front of the Eiffel Tower during the opening ceremony. It definitely was not funny for the IOC bigwigs.

As far as the lack of proper food is concerned, the head of the Great Britain delegation raised this issue ahead of the first day of competitions. Many GBR athletes had to spend the night without food, forcing the delegation chief to urgently summon a chef from home to take care of their culinary needs for the rest of the Games.

–IANS

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Paris, July 30 (IANS) Defending champion Tom Pidcock produced one of the great rides to snatch his second gold medal in the men’s mountain bike cross country at the Paris Olympics on Monday. The British rider overcame a front wheel puncture that saw him drop 36 seconds through the race to overtake France’s Victor Koretzky as they battled head-to-head in the final stretch of the race.

Pidcock finished the eight circuits of the 4.4-kilometre course in one hour, 26 minutes and 22 seconds, nine seconds ahead of Koretzky and with South Africa’s Alan Hatherly claiming the bronze medal two more seconds back.

Pidcock’s win means he successfully defends the gold he won in Tokyo and comes a day before his 25th birthday, reports Xinhua.

The 36 men, representing 27 nations, tackled eight laps of the man-made course that featured fast compacted gravel, a challenging drop-off, and tough rock garden features. For half the race, Koretzky had promised a French double, following Sunday’s victory for Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, but despite the deafening support, it was not to be. Pidcock recovered the time lost due to the puncture to take glory.

“This week, with the Olympics there are so many things to consider by the time you get to the start line. I knew that it would not be easy today,” said the new Olympic Champion, Tom Pidcock. “I knew after the puncture that I had almost five laps, and that’s 50 minutes, so I thought, anything’s possible.

“In the end, it was really fast with Victor, I just couldn’t get rid of him! I just had to go for a gap. The Olympics is no different. I’m sorry for him, the support for him was incredible,” he added.

–IANS

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Paris, July 30 (IANS) A superb victory in the men’s team competition in Artistic Gymnastics helped Japan surge to the top of the medals table midway through Monday’s schedule at the Olympic Games here. The gold in Gymnastics helped Japan move to six gold medals and 12 medals overall to take the top position.

Australia, who were in the lead at the end of competitions on Sunday, slipped to the fifth spot as China, South Korea and hosts France surged ahead in the standings.

India slipped to joint 25th position with one bronze medal, bagged by Manu Bhaker in the Women’s 10mm Air Pistol shooting on Sunday.

Here’s the medal tally at 00:30 IST:

MEDAL TALLY

Top 5 and India:

Nations G S B T

1) Japan 6 2 4 12

2) China 5 3 2 10

3) S. Korea 5 3 1 9

4) France 4 7 3 14

5) Australia 4 3 0 7

25) India 0 0 1 1

–IANS

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