The Seine River as a Centre for Sport in the Paris Summer Olympics: A Storylines to Follow As The Olympics Get Off Towards Paris
There’s also the matter of the Seine as a competition venue. They have been asking if the Seine will be swimmable in time for the Olympics. The sewage-polluted waters have been a hurdle to the city’s ambitious goal to hold the swim leg of the triathlon in the famous river where swimming has been historically banned.
The outdoor ceremony is set to be the largest one yet, and kicks off 16 days of sporting events across the city and beyond.
The Palace of Versailles is located not far from Paris, and will host equestrian and surfing events.
China, Great Britain, France, and then Australia will all be expected to win medals in Paris, which will be followed by the United States. Russia is sending just a small group of athletes to Paris following consequences stemming from their country’s anti-doping efforts and the invasion of Ukraine.
The open-air event is expected to draw some 300,000 spectators — most of whom will pay no admission fee to watch the parade from the river’s upper embankments.
The parade will start at Austerlitz Bridge and will travel east to west past major landmarks such as the Grand Palais. The parade is set to end at the Pont d’Iéna bridge before a finale show at the Trocadéro opposite the Eiffel Tower.
The parade’s route also offers a sightseeing tour of some of the temporary sports venues, including an outdoor arena abutting the Eiffel Tower where beach volleyball games will take place.
Source: 8 storylines to follow as the Paris Summer Olympics get underway
The men’s and women’s b-boys and girls’ breakers at the International Olympic Committee on Breaking (IOC 2016)
Testing of the water this week turned up unsafe levels of E. coli, but later tests showed acceptable levels. The waters of the Seine were declared safe last week by Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo after she promised to take a dip.
Breaking became more mainstream in the 1990s as it entered pop culture and expanded in popularity through international competition. In 2016 the IOC added breaking for the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires.
Although it’s an American export, other countries including Japan, Canada and The Netherlands boast talent that’s been known to surpass the U.S. competitively.
In Paris, 16 b-boys (male breakers) and 16 b-girls will go head to head in separate battles at Place de la Concorde, an outdoor public square. The men’s and women’s tournaments are on the same day. On Team USA, watch out for medal hopeful Victor Montalvo and Grace “Sunny” Choi.
The US women’s gymnastics team, which took home a silver medal at the Tokyo Games, is hoping to repeat their performance at the Olympics in Paris.
Three years ago, when she was 27 years old, the most decorated gymnast of all-time, suffered a case of the “twisties” which made her pull out of several events to focus on her mental health. In her place, Suni Lee had emerged as the unlikely champion, and went on to earn a gold medal in the individual all-around competition in Tokyo.
The women’s squad is the favorite to win the gold medal, with their goal of redemption, thanks to the form of team member and overall top scorer, Simone Biles. And especially so, given that Russia, the defending gold medalist, won’t be there. The IOC plans to allow only some Russian athletes to compete as “individual neutral athletes” under strict conditions it set in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine. The men’s chances of winning a medal in a sport normally won by Russia, China and Japan are improved by the country’s absence.
Entering her fourth Olympics, Katie Ledecky continues to dominate the 800- and 1,500-meter freestyle events, in both of which she still holds the world records. She is one win away from earning the most Olympic gold medals of any female athlete in history. Ledecky has a world record in the 400 meter freestyle, held by Canada’s Summer McIntosh, and Australia’s Borreau Titmus, who captured gold in Tokyo. The Titmus-McIntosh-Ledecky 400-meter race should make for a thrilling watch.
In men’s swimming, the U.S. is looking for a superstar and hoping that Caeleb Dressel is it. The 27-year-old won five gold medals in Tokyo — joining an elite few of swimmers that have won that many in a single Games, including Michael Phelps and Mark Spitz. After taking an eight-month break from the sport, Dressel showed at the Olympic trials last month that he’s still fast in sprints.
Heading into Paris, however, the two fastest swimmers in the world are not from the usual rival powerhouses (Australia and the U.S.) but from Canada — McIntosh on the women’s — and France — Léon Marchand.
Source: 8 storylines to follow as the Paris Summer Olympics get underway
The role of positive tests in the men’s 100-meter and 200-meter bronchite competitions: Israel, Jamaica, and the World Anti-Doping Agency
The Chinese officials claim the positive tests were caused by a mistake. After its investigation, the World Anti-Doping Agency stated that international rules don’t require them to ban athletes.
The agency’s handling of the positive tests has sowed doubt deeper among critics who question whether the regulatory body responsible for curbing cheating holds some countries to a lower standard than others.
In the men’s 100-meter race, Noah Lyles on Team USA will face Jamaica’s Oblique Seville and Kishane Thompson, each aiming to break the world record time set by eight-time Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt. Still, the field is brimming with talent that clouds podium predictions. Other top contenders include reigning Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs of Italy, Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo and a former world champion American Fred Kerley.
Flo-Jo’s world record in the 200 meter was set in 2002, so we have a chance to see the fall of it. Jackson will go head-to-head with Elaine Thompson-Herah and a Team USA teammate.
The 200 will be less open than the 100, but it will be Lyles’ better event. He is the favorite ahead of Tebogo, who won the race last week at an international meet in Monaco.
Nigerian women’s soccer in the opening day of the Women’s World Cup: A remarkable performance against Zambia in the first ten-player tournament
The U.S. women’s national team has four world championships and four Olympic gold medals. But with a new head coach in Emma Hayes, the team is looking to turn the page after dismal showings in recent major tournaments, including the earliest-ever exit at the Women’s World Cup in 2023.
The US hasn’t sent a men’s soccer team to the Olympics since 2008 and haven’t medaled in the event since 1904. Since the rule to restrict the competition to players under 23 went into effect in 1992, the men’s team has advanced to the knockout stage only once.
France is the favorite to win the tournament and the men’s opening game is on Wednesday. The women’s squad plays Zambia on Thursday.
The U.S. scored three times in the first 25 minutes of the game, putting aggressive pressure on Zambia from the opening whistle. The first goal was scored at the 17th minute by Trinity Rodman, and the second and third goals came at the start of the second half.
The majority of the game was played without a player, after the U.S. player Sophia Smith was given a yellow card. The yellow card was upgraded to a red, leaving just 10 players for the game.
Despite strong play from Zambia’s Barbra Banda, a star on the Orlando Pride, the U.S. lead remained unthreatened. It was thought that the team’s performance against Mexico and Costa Rica might have hurt their chances of scoring in the Olympics.
Thursday’s win was quite a contrast to the last Olympic opener three years ago in Tokyo when the U.S. lost to Sweden. Still, the Olympic road gets a lot tougher for the U.S. On Sunday, fifth-ranked Germany is in Marseille.
The U.S. side that won the World Cup in Marseille is past that, having played in men’s soccer since 2005 and winning a World cup in 2021
Lacazette continued his brilliant play in the 69th minute with an assist. He scooted around the defense and passed to Olise who doubled the French lead to 2-0.
The US could not get on the board first. In the 59th minute, Djordje Mihailovic fired a blistering right-footer that smashed off the crossbar.
Both the U.S. and France started the second half in the same way they finished the first, exchanging passes and trying to get the ball into their own half. The overwhelmingly French crowd cheered and yelled to will on their squad that finished 13th at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
In Olympic men’s soccer, roster restrictions require nearly all players to be under 23 years old. The U.S. squad is made up of players who played in Major League Soccer or an MLS academy club. Walker Zimmerman, age 31, is one of a trio of “overage” players. He appeared in all four U.S. matches at the World Cup in Qatar.
Speaking at a news conference in Marseille, France, head coach Emma Hayes insisted the team is looking forward, following its earliest ever exit at a Women’s World Cup last year.
“We’ve moved past that. I believe this team is past that. Our motivation isn’t always about righting the wrongs. Not far from it. She said they’re excited and prepared.
U.S. Women’s Soccer Coach Explains “Tough Group Games” During the Rio-de-Brazil 2012 Olympics
The U.S. women’s team has won four Olympic gold medals, but none since 2012. The team failed to win a medal at the Rio de Brazil Olympics, but they did win a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics.
In an interview with NPR before the team traveled to France, Hayes described the United States’ group-stage matches as “three very tough group games” with “three very different propositions.”
“We have learned a lot, we’ve grown a lot, and we’re introducing a lot of new things that will help us have success in this tournament,” she said.
“I know what a threat she can be,” said defender Emily Fox, of Banda. Their entire team is dangerous because of their transition. We’re ready for it. What’s the matter? We know Zambia is going to be a really tough opponent to play against, so focusing on them and going from there.”
Asked, as a new coach, how much pressure she personally feels to perform at the Olympics, Hayes said that she pays little attention to external pressure and that she is “very grateful for the history of the program.” She said that the quality of women’s soccer in other countries may be more important than the U.S. dominance.
The U.S. is ranked in the top five. That is the lowest ranked women’s team that’s ever existed.
Source: U.S. women’s soccer coach says the team has ‘moved past’ losses, is ready for Paris
The fate of football in the 21st century and the need for a new generation of top-quality football players in the world football field
“The reality is the world’s game has caught up and in some places taken over,” Hayes said. We need to focus on what we have to do in order to find those levels again. There was not as much parity in the world game a decade ago. Now there is equality.
“So I don’t think anybody should expect one team to completely dominate the football landscape in today’s football in the way that it was 10 years ago,” she added.