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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Paris, July 29 (IANS) Led by a fine routine by Hashimoto Daiki, the reigning Olympic champion on the horizontal bar, Japan clinched the gold medal in men’s team gymnastics quelling the USA in a dramatic final in the 33rd Olympic Games here on Monday. Japan won the gold with 259.594 and China had to be satisfied with a silver medal after managing only 259.062, finishing second with a very narrow margin. The United States finished with 257.793 and bagged the bronze medal.

The United States had fought back with a clean routine from Stephen Nedoroscik, the former pommel horse world champion. Nedoroscik had a score of 14.866, which ensured at least bronze for the U.S., and he ran over to his teammates as they started jumping up and down in a big bear hug.

But a disappointing routine on the high bar by Su Weide, who scored just an 11.600 after his two falls, meant that Japan overtook the USA and the People’s Republic of China with just one gymnast left to perform for each team.

The Japanese had Hashimoto Daiki on the horizontal bar and he nearly stuck the landing, just a small single step back, and the Japanese fans in the arena were up on their feet and roaring.

China’s hopes depended on Zhang Boheng. He needed 15.266 to pull China ahead of the United States and go ahead of Japan. He had scored higher than that in qualifying. Zhang had a pretty good routine, but he took a pretty big left-foot step back on the dismount, and that could made all the difference. Zhang got a score of 14.733, which means Japan took the gold.

Sugino Takaaki also contributed to the win with a clean routine but for a slightly wobbly dismount. Japan needed to make up over three points to China as he gets 14.566. Xiao Ruoteng followed for China but had a loose dismount, landing on his knee with a couple of steps forward. He gets only 13.033 opening the door for Japan.

Meanwhile, the battle for bronze is also a close one with Ukraine in hot pursuit of the USA. Ukraine’s first routine is from Nazar Chepurnyi, who struggles on his final pass and takes a big step while Paul Juda nails his pommel horse set, a well-executed routine with slightly lower difficulty. The score is 13.366 for Chepurnyi and 13.900 for Juda means the U.S. pulled further ahead.

–IANS

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London, July 29 (IANS) Arsenal have signed Italian defender Riccardo Calafiori from Serie A side Bologna on a long-term contract, the Premier League club said on Monday. The 22-year-old was a member of the Azzurri squad at Euro 2024, after a season full of impressive performances at the heart of Bologna’s defence.

“It feels amazing,” he said after putting pen on paper. “It was tough until now, but finally we’re here and I cannot wait to start to train with the team and play for the fans.

“It’s actually been my dream since I was 12 or 13 years old because I can see the level of the league here and the best players in the world, for me, play here. It’s a dream and not only for me but for everybody,” the Italian added.

Riccardo will wear the number 33 shirt and has travelled to the US to join up with his new teammates in Philadelphia, as the Gunners continue their preparations ahead of the 2024/25 season.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said, “Riccardo is a big personality and character, with specific skills which will make us stronger as we push to win major trophies. He has already shown great development in recent seasons with his performances for both Bologna and Italy, with his progression and development in the past year being really impressive.

“We’re looking forward to working with Riccardo, integrating him into the squad, and supporting him in the years to come,” he added.

–IANS

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Kolkata, July 29 (IANS) East Bengal started their campaign in the 133rd Durand Cup, with a comfortable 3-1 victory over the Indian Air Force Football Team (IAFFT) in a Group A encounter played at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (VYBK) here on Monday.

The Airmen took the lead against the run of play in the 19th minute through Somananda Singh, but goals from David Lalhlansanga, Dimitrios Diamantakos and Saul Crespo, gave a comfortable victory to last year’s runners-up, as they went on top of the group standings over their arch-rivals Mohun Bagan Super Giant.

East Bengal FC Head Coach Carles Cuadrat named a strong starting eleven with new signings Madih Talal, Jeakson Singh, David Lalhlansanga and Mark Zothanpuia making their debut for the Kolkata giants along with star names like Naorem Mahesh Singh, Hijazi Maher and Saul Crespo. Indian Air Force Head Coach Priya Darshan fielded a young starting lineup with the experienced duo of Arashpreet Singh and Vivek Kumar on the bench.

David Lalhlansanga came close to giving the hosts the lead from a Mahesh free kick, but his glancing header hit the woodwork and went out. The top scorer from last year came close to scoring again in the sixth minute, as he found himself in a one-on-one situation with the goalkeeper, but Shubajit Basu did well to thwart the attack and keep the scores level.

The first quarter of the match was played inside the Air Force half, with East Bengal pushing to take the lead, but the Air Force defence stood its ground to keep Carles Cuadrat’s men at bay.

Against the run of play, the IAF took the lead in the 19th minute, leaving the East Bengal supporters stunned. The East Bengal defence which did not have much to do until that point was caught napping as Saurav Sadhukhan’s cross from the right wing was met by Somananda Singh and the striker’s powerful header beat Prabhsukhan Singh Gill for the first goal of the game.

The Airmen then went into defensive mode, making it difficult for East Bengal to penetrate and create clear-cut openings, which was evident from the number of attempts the Kolkata side took in the first half, 15 in total.

The equaliser came in the 43rd minute as Madih Talal found David Lalhlansanga through a great chipped ball to put the forward through on goal and the Mizo striker fended off a challenge from the defender and chipped the Air Force goalkeeper to score the first goal for his new club.

Second-half substitutions changed the dimension of the game for East Bengal.

Carles Cuadrat brought in Greek forward Dimitrios Diamantakos and Vishnu P.V, in place of David Lalhlansanga and Naorem Mahesh Singh. The move brought the needed dividends for the Spaniard tactician as his team increased the pace of the game and were looking dangerous with every move. They took the lead in the 61st minute as Diamantakos planted a strong header past the Indian Air Force goalkeeper from a beautiful cross from left-back Mark Zothanpuia, released by the ever-present Madih Talal.

East Bengal widened the gap with their opponents, scoring the third goal after seven minutes. Diamantakos was found by Sourav on top of the pass who found Saul Crespo with a square pass. The Spanish midfielder took a brilliant first touch to spin away from his marker and nailed a right-footer on the turn past Subhajit.

East Bengal saw off the rest of the match with ease, not without missing a couple more chances in the dying minutes of the game.

–IANS

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