France and Britain victorious in triathlon as Guatemala celebrates first gold

PARIS: France’s Cassandre Beaugrand and Britain’s Alex Yee won gold as the Paris Olympics triathlon went ahead Wednesday in a huge relief for organisers on an action-packed day five of the Games.

Adriana Ruano Oliva became Guatemala’s first Olympic champion after the accidental shooter won the women’s trap event and Japan’s Shinnosuke Oka emerged the surprise winner of the men’s gymnastics all-around title.

Australia canoer Jessica Fox etched her name into Olympic history after completing an unprecedented double, while Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz remained on course for a blockbuster tennis showdown after advancing to the quarter-finals.

Hazardous pollution levels in the River Seine in recent days had threatened to cause chaos to the triathlon competition and embarrassment to Paris Games chiefs.

Organisers were forced to cancel training this week in the river and postponed the men’s race on Tuesday after the Seine was found to be too dirty for athletes following rainstorms last week.

But despite heavy rain overnight, which can stir up pollution, organisers said early on Wednesday the water levels had been “assessed as compliant” for the women’s event and the men’s immediately afterwards to go ahead.

ALEX Yee of Britain runs during the individual triathlon event on Wednesday.—Reuters

The women’s field dived into the Seine at the historic Alexandre III bridge in the heart of the City of Light before a cycling stage and then a running stage, as big crowds lined the route.

Beaugrand, a 27-year-old from the Parisian suburbs, only emerged from the leading pack on a thrilling final lap of the running stage before crossing the line and sinking to her knees in elation.

She said she had “never doubted” that the swimming would go ahead, despite the threat of cancellation, which would have turned the race into a duathlon of only cycling and running. “It would have been shameful for our sport… it would have been a disgrace,” she told reporters after victory.

In the delayed men’s triathlon, Yee surged past New Zealand’s Hayden Wilde in the final stretch in a dramatic finish to improve on his silver from the Tokyo Games.

The 20-year-old Oka succeeded Daiki Hashimoto, the defending champion from Tokyo who finished in sixth place. China’s Zhang Boyeng took silver with his compatriot Xiao Ruoteng in bronze.

Hashimoto was aiming to emulate countryman Kohei Uchimura by retaining the all-around gold but countryman Oka’s win kept it in Japanese hands for an unprecedented fourth consecutive Games.

Accidental shooter

In Chateauroux, Guatemala’s Adriana Ruano Oliva hit 45 of her 50 targets, an Olympic record, in the finest moment of her shooting career, which could have never taken off but for a spinal injury in 2011.

Italy’s Silvana Stanco hit five fewer targets to claim the silver, while Australia’s Penny Smith struck 32 out of 40 to win bronze.

Oliva began as a promising gymnast, who represented her country at the 2010 Pan American Championships but had to quit the sport after the injury.

It took her one year to recover and her doctor suggested she tried shooting instead.

She began trap shooting in 2013 and worked as a volunteer at the 2016 Rio Games before eventually making her Olympic debut in Tokyo, where she came 26th.

“When I was younger, I was dreaming about (competing in) Olympics in gymnastics,” she said. “I never thought I’d excel in this sport. It was all new to me. It was only when I started viewing and visiting shooting events that I thought it would be possible to represent Guatemala in Olympic Games. Lately, my dream was to win the gold medal in Olympics.”

At the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium, Fox pulled off another sensational descent to win her second gold of the Games, adding the women’s canoe single title to the kayak single gold she secured on Sunday.

The win means the 30-year-old from Sydney — the daughter of British and French Olympians — is the first ever athlete to win golds in both Olympic canoe and kayak.

Britain pulled off a stunning victory with the last stroke of their oars to win the women’s quadruple sculls final, beating Netherlands in a thrilling finale.

Minutes after the Dutch men’s team won gold, they looked set to add a second but following a titanic struggle the British foursome pulled themselves across the line with one last big effort to win by 0.15 seconds, with Germany third.

Georgia’s Lasha Bekauri retained the men’s under 90kg judo title he won in Tokyo three years ago, while Croatia’s Barbara Matic won her country’s first gold medal of the Games in the women’s under 70kg category.

JAPAN’S Shinnosuke Oka in action during the floor event of the artistic gymnastics all-around final at the Bercy Arena on Wednesday.—AFP

Table tennis stunner

In early action, China’s table tennis world number one Wang Chuqin suffered a shock defeat, a day after having his bat broken.

Wang won mixed doubles gold on Tuesday but his elation turned to anger after a photographer accidentally snapped his bat while jostling to take a picture.

Less than 24 hours later, Wang went out in the singles after a 4-2 defeat to Truls Moregard of Sweden.

China ramped up their bid for a clean sweep in diving, prevailing in the women’s synchronised 10m platform ahead of North Korea and Britain.

The pair of Quan Hongchan and Chen Yuxi established their lead in the first round and finished with 359.10 points.

Under a baking-hot Paris sun, first-time Olympians from Argentina and China took gold in the BMX Freestyle finals as a string of dramatic crashes knocked out the reigning medallists.

Argentina’s Jose Torres Gil, 29, shot off the ramp in his first run, flying higher and gyrating faster than all competitors, his 94.82 score remaining at the top of the scoreboard throughout the event.

China’s Deng Yawen, 18, won the women’s gold medal after a score of 92.60 in her first run for a series of high-flying tricks.

Meanwhile on the famous red clay of Roland Garros, Djokovic, seeking a first Olympic gold to add to his record-breaking collection of 24 Grand Slam singles titles, defeated Germany’s Dominik Koepfer 7-5, 6-3, while Spain’s Alcaraz swatted aside Roman Safiullin 6-4, 6-2.

AUSTRALIA’S Jessica Fox celebrates winning the canoe single final.—AFP

Irish delight

In Tuesday’s late action, Daniel Wiffen wiped away tears on the podium at La Defense Arena after becoming the first Irishman to win Olympic swimming gold, and a medal of any colour, with a thrilling 800 metres freestyle victory.

The 23-year-old powered home in 7min 38.19sec, the fifth-fastest time ever, ahead of American defending champion Bobby Finke and Tokyo silver medallist Gregorio Paltrinieri of Italy.

Wiffen, who was born in England and is the world champion, will also contest the 1,500m freestyle and 10km open water swim in Paris.

Kaylee McKeown retained her crown in the women’s 100m backstroke, producing a blistering second lap to beat world record-holder Regan Smith of the USA. It was Australia’s fourth gold in the pool in Paris.

Elsewhere in the pool, Britain retained their men’s 4x200 freestyle relay gold medal, fending off a dogged challenge by the United States.

Medals table

(Tabulated under country, gold, silver, bronze and total)

China 8 6 2 16

Australia 7 4 3 14

Japan 7 3 4 14

France 6 9 7 22

Great Britain 6 6 5 17

South Korea 5 3 3 11

USA 4 12 12 28

Italy 3 6 4 13

Canada 2 2 2 6