PARIS - Pakistan athletes continued their disappointing performance at the Paris Olympics 2024, as swimmers Ahmed Durrani and Jehanara Nabi failed to qualify for the next round in their respective events.
Ahmed Durrani participated in the men’s 200-meter freestyle swimming event and unfortunately finished last in his heat. In the initial 200-meter heat, he ranked fourth out of four swimmers, completing the race in 1 minute and 58.67 seconds. He was unable to match his previous best time of 1 minute and 55 seconds.
Later, he ended up in 25th place out of 25 swimmers. His time was 11 seconds slower than the swimmer who secured the final spot for the semifinals.In the women’s 200-meter freestyle swimming competition, Jehanara Nabi finished in 26th place out of 30 swimmers. Despite putting up a strong effort, she was unable to break into the top 16.
SIMONE BILES MAKES LONG-AWAITED OLYMPIC RETURN IN PARIS
A radiant Simone Biles made her long-awaited Olympic return at the Paris Games on Sunday, drawing boisterous cheers and applause from an ecstatic, star-studded crowd in a performance that gave U.S. gymnasts the lead in women’s qualifying.
After Biles’ brilliance the U.S. enjoyed a commanding lead with 172.296 points, more than five points ahead of second-placed Italy. China, Japan, Britain, Romania and the Netherlands rounded out the standings with five teams still to go later on Sunday. The top eight teams will compete in Tuesday’s team final.
The 27-year-old Biles showed she was back to earn some more glittering gold medals as she laid down the marker in the all-around competition by provisionally topping the qualifying standings with a score of 59.566, more than three points ahead of nearest challenger and reigning Olympic champion Sunisa Lee.Biles began on the balance beam, arguably the most difficult apparatus to start on, receiving 14.733 points, scoring just 0.133 less than Zhou Yaqin of China.
AMERICAN KING BIDDING TO BE BREASTSTROKE QUEEN AGAIN IN PARIS
Once the queen of breaststroke, American Lilly King has come to Paris to reclaim the 100 metres throne but there are no shortage of contenders eyeing the Paris Olympics golden crown. Kinggot her quest off to a controlled start on Sunday at a raucous La Defense Arena by winning her heat in one minute 6.10 seconds to place fifth best among the 16 semi-finalists.
French sensation Leon Marchand provided the ideal tune-up for King, who admitted to a few nerves going into her first event.South Africa’s Tatjana Smith is also looking for an upgrade in Paris and signalled her intent by clocking the top qualifying time of 1:05.00, just 0.87 of a second off King’s world mark. China’s Tang Qianting was second fastest while Ireland’s Mona McSharry was third best.
NADAL MAKES MAJESTIC RETURN TO ROLAND
GARROS FOR SPAIN
Spain’s Rafa Nadal made a triumphant return to Roland Garros on Sunday to blast his way into the second round of the Olympic tennis tournament and set up a blockbuster clash with nemesis Novak Djokovic of Serbia.That the Nadal-Djokovic clash will not determine gold was the only slip in the Olympic script as the Spaniard found a second wind on a Roland Garros stage on which he has built his legend, to beat Hungarian Marton Fucsovics 6-1 4-6 6-4.
In the women’s draw, Chinese sixth seed Qinwen Zheng made a mockery of former French Open runner-up Sara Errani’s clay credentials, pummelling the Italian 6-0 6-0 to advance.Greece’s Maria Sakkari also wasted no time dispatching Danka Kovinic, smashing the Montenegrin 6-0 6-1.US flagbearer Coco Gauff will light up the evening session on Sunday when she takes on Australian Ajla Tomljanovic, while reigning Olympic champion Alexander Zverev of Germany closes Day Two’s play against Spaniard Jaume Munar.
