Marathon swimming: Winner dedicates gold to dead dog (2024)

Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo won gold in the men’s Olympic 200m final as Noah Lyles was denied a sprint double at Paris 2024.

Lyles, who required medical assistance after the race and needed a wheelchair to leave the track, later said that he had tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of the event.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone meanwhile smashed her own world record as she claimed a sensational victory in the 400m hurdles gold.

Elsewhere, the United States men’s basketball team was made to work hard in a thrilling 95-91 win over Serbia. The U.S. will play France in the final.

Medal table | How to follow | U.S. men's basketball

As The Athletic mentioned earlier, it was an emotional victory for Sharon van Rouwendaal of the Netherlands in the women's 10km marathon swim earlier.

And the win, and gold medal, was imbued with extra meaning after the passing of her beloved dog Rio in May.

Van Rouwendaal said: “In May, my little dog died. He needed an operation on his lungs so I gave it to him in hope that we could live after the Olympics together in my house and with my garden. And he had complications after the surgery and he died.

“My world stopped and I didn't care about swimming for like three weeks. He was my little baby.

“But then my dad said, ‘Just see it like you have been away from him for seven years through competitions — just do one more race and give it everything and swim for him’.

“So I had a tattoo three days after the cremation and I said, ‘Let’s try it and I will swim for him with my whole heart’ — and I did it. I won for him.”

USA's Anna Hall is one of three athletes still battling in the high jump, the second event of seven in the women's heptathlon.

Belgian Nafi Thiam went over at her first attempt at 1.89, while Brit Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Hall went over at their second attempts at 1.89.

Thiam over at 1.92 too, 10 centimetres off her record of 2.02m, the world heptathlon best.

KJT and Hall both crash into the bar in their first attempt at 1.92, and both are close with their second attempt of three, nearly clearing it. Johnson-Thompson with her final try... and she clears it! Super jump! The Liverpudlian pounds the mat in delight.

Hall now, the 23-year-old from Denver, Colorado. Can she do it? No! Only Thiam and KJT are left. 1.95 next...

It's a gold medal for Austrian duo Lukas Maehr and Lara Vadlau in the mixed dinghy sailing, a new event for this Games.

They finish seventh out of 10 in the medal race, but their points accumulated previously were enough for them to top the podium.

Japan's Okada Keiju/Yoshioka Miho take silver, with Sweden's Lovisa Karlsson/Anton Dahlberg in bronze.

Everyone who missed out in the men's 800m has a second chance in the repechage races. There are four repechage heats, with only the winners of each heat guaranteed to progress, though a couple more will also go through, depending on their time.

In the first, Botswana's Kethobogile Haingura wins, with Mexico's Jesus Tonatiu Lopez taking the second, Italian Simone Barontini winning the third and American Brandon Miller the fourth with a fantastic 'lead-from-the-front' run of 1:44.21.

The fastest losers? Algerian Mohamed Ali Gouaned and Norway's Tobias Gronstad, who have Miller, 22, to thank after his pacemaking in that fourth heat. They're all smiles at the finish line, unsurprisingly.

An additional piece of info: the men's and women's 4x100m relay finals are on Friday, starting from around 1.30pm ET, 6.30pm BST, 7.30pm local time.

In the high jump at least, one of big favourite Nafi Thiam's favourite events, the Belgian is the only one so far clear at the height of 1.86m.

Both American Anna Hall, pictured, and Britain's Katarina Johnson-Thompson have both had one (unsuccessful) attempt at the height.

As well as this general, all-encompassing live blog, The Athletic will also be running one specifically covering the United States men's basketball team, as they take on Serbia and superstar Nikola Jokic in the semifinal at 3pm ET, 12pm/midday PT, 8pm BST, 9pm local time.

The other semi sees France take on Germany at 11.30am ET, 4.30pm BST, 5.30pm local.

It promises to be a brilliant match.

The women's 3m springboard semifinal was completed earlier, with our finalists now set.

China's Chen Yiwen, pictured, finished top, with Australian Maddison Keeney second, and Brits Grace Reid and Yasmin Harper seventh and 12th in the group of 12 qualifying for the final.

In the taekwondo men's 68kg class, round of 16, two of the big hitters are through.

Tokyo gold medalist Ulugbek Rash*tov wins, while the man he beat in the final, Britain's Bradly Sinden, thrashes Kevin Kassman of Papua New Guinea to move into the quarters.

In the second event of seven in the women's heptathlon, we are in and amongst it in the high jump.

Belgium's Nafi Thiam and Britain's Katarina Johnson-Thompson have cleared the height of 1.80m, while USA's Anna Hall fails to clear it at her first attempt.

More on that as it comes.

Good question.

The 2024 Summer Paralympics, also in Paris, France, will take place from August 28, 2024, to September 8.

That is a 12-day (inclusive) run of a little less than a fortnight.

It is the first time Paris has hosted the Paralympics in its history, though Tignes and Albertville in south-eastern France jointly hosted the 1992 Winter Paralympics.

The Olympic Games in Paris runs from July 26, 2024, to Sunday, August 11, a short, sharp 17-day (inclusive) run of two-and-a-half weeks.

Its official name is: Games of the XXXIII Olympiad, which if you know your Roman Numerals/studied Latin at school indicates it’s the 33rd iteration of the event, though ‘Paris 2024’ is a bit easier.

There are around 45,000 volunteers worldwide working on the Games, chosen from around 300,000 applicants.

Wow! Jamaica, such historic contenders in the 4x100m sprint relay, finish outside the top three after two poor changeovers.

Have they gone fast enough as fastest losers? NO! THEY ARE OUT! I don't believe it!

China (38.24), hosts France (38.34) and Canada (38.39) were the top three finishers, qualifying automatically for the final.

And Jamaica, in fourth with 38.45, have not done enough to qualify as a fastest loser, with Japan (38.06) and Italy (38.07) well ahead of their time.

Rebecca Welch and David Coote have both been appointed to the women’s and men’s gold medal matches respectively at the Paris Olympics.

Welch will assume the role of fourth official when the USA take on Brazil on Saturday (11am ET, 4pm kick-off UK time), while Coote will operate as assistant VAR for France’s game against Spain tomorrow (12pm ET, 5pm kick-off UK time).

The appointments conclude a successful tournament for our Olympic trio - which includes assistant referee Emily Carney - with them having received 13 appointments, including a semi-final and two finals.

A super run from the United States, who absolutely smash the first heat of the men's 4x100m relay, winning it in 37.47.

South African Akila Simbine took his baton fifth but ripped it down the home straight to get his nation home in second in 37.94, with Britain third in 38.04, just ahead of Japan in 38.06 and Italy in 38.07. Season's bests for South Africa and Britain.

The top three qualify automatically for the final, with Japan and Italy hoping for a fastest loser spot.

After the women, it's the turn of the men.

United States, Britain, Australia and Italy among those in the first heat.

Christian Coleman and Fred Kerley among those in action for the Americans.

Team USA's shot putter Chase Jackson there, being consoled by husband Mitch after going out in qualifying.

Such a shame for the two-time world champ.

Athletes in the women's 10km marathon swim this morning said they encountered some plastic bags, tree branches, rotted plants, and some other detritus, but they mostly put the water quality out of their minds and dealt with the immediate challenge of the current.

Katie Grimes, an American who finished 15th, a little less than three minutes back, described swimming against the current as “the hardest thing I’ve ever done.” Grimes finished 5th in the 1,500 in the pool last week.

Like many of the swimmers, she skipped the training session Wednesday for fear of getting sick from the water.

Bettina Fabian of Hungary, who is just 19 and finished fifth, 42 seconds behind Van Rouwendaal, said she trained in the Danube River leading up to the race, which got her used to the challenge of swimming upstream and helped her deliver one of the best performances of her career.

“I managed it well,” she said. She didn’t even mind the water quality, saying it tasted like a lake. She did swallow a lot of water though but her coaches have a plan for dealing with that – Hungarian fruit brandy.

“I’m going to neutralize it with alcohol,” she added.

A good run for the Brits there, nice and smooth throughout, taking it in 42.03 as Desiree Henry brought it home, with France second in 42.13 and Jamaica a distant third in 42.35.

From the first heat, Belgium and the Ivory Coast have been disqualified.

That means the top FIVE from the second heat have qualified for the final, with Canada and the Netherlands making it through too.