PARIS: Novak Djokovic overcame a gritty Rafael Nadal comeback on Monday in probably the last chapter of their epic tennis rivalry at the Paris Olympics, where British diver Tom Daley grabbed his fifth medal in five Games.

With glorious blue Paris skies banishing the memories of the soggy opening ceremony, the hottest ticket in town was at Roland Garros with two tennis legends going head-to-head.

King of clay Nadal has always enjoyed the edge over his rival in Paris but at the age of 38 and with injury worries slowing him down, he had warned he would struggle to be competitive against Djovokic.

That proved painfully prescient in the first set as the ruthless Serb dispatched his opponent 6-1.

But 22-time Grand Slam champion Nadal rolled back the years in the second, roared on by a packed Roland Garros crowd, fighting back from 4-0 down to 4-4 with two breaks of serve.

Djovokic found an extra gear at the end to claim a 6-1, 6-4 victory, the pair embracing at the net and the popular Nadal waving to the Roland Garros faithful.

Nadal, now 161 in the world, said he would decide on his future after the Paris Games “based on my feelings”, complaining he did not “have the legs of 20 years ago.”

In diving, Daley took an emotional silver medal with partner Noah Williams in the men’s synchronised 10m platform behind China’s Lian Junjie and Yang Hao.

Williams choked back tears as he recalled his former coach Dave Jenkins, who died in 2021 after the last Olympics.

Daley, whose father Rob died of cancer in 2011, told the BBC: “I’ve never seen Noah cry in my whole life, I know how much today mean to him. It’s very sad Dave is not here, but I know Dave and my dad would both be so proud to see us here today.”

Daley made his Olympic debut as a 14-year-old at the 2008 Beijing Games and won his first Olympic medal with a bronze at the 2012 London Games. He took another bronze in Rio, then another at Tokyo before finally winning gold in the men’s synchronised 10m platform event at those Games.

China scooped the first diving gold in Paris with victory ahead of the US and Britain in the women’s synchronised 3m springboard.

NO APOLOGIES FROM PIDCOCK

In mountain biking, Britain’s Tom Pidcock staged an extraordinary comeback from a puncture to win his second straight gold, holding off French home favourite Victor Koretzky in a thrilling sprint finish.

Pidcock, who turns 25 on Tuesday, found himself 40 seconds behind Koretzky after a front-wheel puncture on the fourth of eight laps of the 4.4km Elancourt Hill.

He battled back to set up a last-lap shootout with Koretzky on the snaking gravel circuit through the trees and boulders, only for the Frenchman to surge ahead once more and look poised to emulate Sunday’s women’s winner Pauline Ferrand-Prevot.

Pidcock then pulled off an audacious move that almost saw Koretzky crash and he was booed by the partisan crowd as he crossed the line nine seconds ahead of the French hero. He was booed again during the medal ceremony.

The incident was reviewed by organisers who saw no wrongdoing and Koretzky did not have many complaints,

“I knew how fast he was on the last lap. In the end I just had to go for a gap,” Pidcock said.

“That’s what I’ve always done. The Olympics is no different. I’m sorry for him, the support for him is incredible but it’s the Olympics, you’ve got to go all in. I did nothing wrong.”

Yuto Horigome retained men’s skate­boarding street title after the event was postponed on Saturday because of rain.

South Korea won gold in the men’s team archery to claw their way back to the top of the medal table ahead of China. France put up a fight but South Korea’s sharp shooters piled on the pressure, hitting the bullseye with all but one of their arrows in the third set.

Gold in the men’s slalom C-1 canoeing propelled France to third spot on the table.

In judo, Christa Deguchi won the women’s under 57kg gold to hand Canada its first-ever judo title before Hidayat Heydarov of Azerbaijan disappointed a partisan crowd by triumphing in the men’s under 73kg final against Frenchman Joan-Benjamin Gaba at Champ-de-Mars Arena.

Elsewhere, Daiki Hashimoto conjured up some late magic to help Japan win men’s team gymnastics gold as arch-rivals China crumbled with the title within their grasp.

For Japan this was a record-extending eighth team title. The US took bronze.

Published in Dawn, July 30th, 2024