South Africa’s Tatjana Smith ‘blessed’ after more Olympic glory

South Africa’s Tatjana Smith ‘blessed’ after more Olympic glory

South African Tatjana Smith claimed the Olympic 100m breaststroke title on Monday with a late surge to win a thrilling battle and with it a second career gold. The 200m breaststroke winner in Tokyo triumphed in Paris with a time of 1:05.28, ahead of China's Tang Qianting, with Ireland's Mona McSharry taking bronze. The 27-year-old from Johannesburg won silver in the event in Tokyo three years ago but […]

July 30, 2024 37

Sport

Nadal v Djokovic lights up Olympics as ‘goofy Tassie’ eyes more gold

Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic will do battle once more when they meet at the Paris Olympics on Monday while Australia's Ariarne Titmus is hotly tipped to win her second swimming gold of the Games. Also on the third day of action, Britain's Tom Daley will try to prevent an anticipated Chinese clean sweep in diving, while China and Japan will duel for gold in the men's team […]

July 29, 2024 6

Sport

Olympic swim star Titmus warns she is better now than Tokyo

Swim star Ariarne Titmus says she has never prepared as well for a major event and is in better shape now than when she won Olympic 200m and 400m freestyle gold in Tokyo. The Australian heads to Paris on the back of shattering the 200m world record last month and clocking the second quickest 400m of all time, behind only her own world best. It makes her red-hot […]

July 18, 2024 6

Sport

Fandom usually means tracking your favorite team for years − so why are the Olympics so good at making us root for sports and athletes we tune out most of the time?

A fan cheers for U.S. tennis players in the men’s doubles gold medal match during the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano By Noah Cohan, Washington University in St. Louis Every four years, millions of Americans join billions of their fellow humans across the globe to celebrate the astonishing athletic feats at the Summer Olympics. Warm-weather sports such as swimming and track that usually […]

July 4, 2024 12

Sport

Dressel eyes relay history but won’t defend 100m free Olympic title

Caeleb Dressel won't defend his 100m freestyle title at next month's Paris Games, but after a third-placed finish in a storming final Wednesday at the US Olympic swimming trials he's ready to make relay history. Dressel won five golds in Tokyo in 2021, including the 50m and 100m free, and the 100m butterfly. He took his career tally to seven Olympic golds, but stepped away from the sport abruptly […]

June 20, 2024 8

Sport

Eleven swimmers in doping scandal named in China Olympic team

China will send 11 swimmers implicated in a doping scandal to next month's Paris Olympics, after the country named its squad for the Games. Twenty-three Chinese swimmers tested positive for the heart drug trimetazidine (TMZ) -- which can enhance performance -- ahead of the 2021 Tokyo Games, it emerged in April. Eleven of those were named in the squad on Tuesday. em-reb/pst/kma AFP (NAMPA / AFP)

June 19, 2024 10

Sport

King, Murphy punch tickets to Paris as Ledecky wins again

Lilly King and Ryan Murphy are bound for their third straight Olympics after victories Monday at the US Olympic swimming trials, where Katie Ledecky expanded her options for her fourth consecutive Games in Paris. World record-holder King led all the way to win the 100m breaststroke in 1min 05.43sec and line up a chance to regain the Olympic title she won in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. She […]

June 18, 2024 9

Sport

Walsh follows up 100m fly world record with Olympic berth

Newly minted world record-holder Gretchen Walsh punched her ticket to the Paris Olympics on Sunday with a victory in the women's 100m butterfly in a blistering 55.31sec. The 21-year-old Tennessean couldn't match the astonishing 55.18 she threw down in the semi-finals to shatter Sarah Sjoestroem's previous mark of 55.48 -- but she clocked the second-fastest time ever and completed the most important job of the week in securing her […]

June 17, 2024 9

Sport

New Zealand swim star Pascoe pulls out of Paris Paralympics

New Zealand's most decorated Paralympian Sophie Pascoe announced Monday that she will not compete at the Paralympic Games in Paris, after becoming a mother. The 31-year-old announced the birth of her first child earlier this month. The elite swimmer, who has won 19 medals including 11 golds at four Paralympics, pulled out of this year's Games, running from August 28 to September 8. "Although I'll miss the opportunity […]

April 29, 2024 22