Add Category
Day five of the Paris Olympics was highlighted by the brilliance of Jess Fox as well as Leon Marchand and Katie Ledecky, while the Matildas suffered a heartbreaking exit.
Elsewhere in Paris, Nigeria's officials found themselves in hot water over an unforgivable blunder ahead of the 100 metre sprint, women's tennis world No.1 Iga Swiatek was branded as being fake by a rival, while it was revealed that Fox beat out a youngster who had idolised her for the best part of a decade.
Here are the quick hits from day five of the 2024 Games.
1. Nigerian 100m champ to miss Olympics after federation forgets to enter her
Nigeria's national champion in the women's 100m sprint won't run the race at the Paris Olympics because she says her country's track federation didn't enter her into the field in time.
Favour Ofili said on social media, "It is with great regret that I have just been told I will not be competing in the 100 metres at this Olympic Games."
ABC Sport is live blogging every day of the Paris Olympics
The women's 100m prelims kick off the start of Olympic track on Saturday.
Ofili won Nigeria's national title in June with a time of 11.06 seconds. Her personal-best time of 10.93 would have made her a contender to race in the final.
A recent graduate of LSU, she is still entered in the 200m and the 4x100m relay. According to the Olympic news service, Ofili missed the Tokyo Games because Nigeria had failed to meet minimum testing requirements for a number of its athletes, as required by track's Athletics Integrity Unit.
Now, she says, it forgot to sign her up for the 100m.
"I have worked 4 years to earn this opportunity. For what?" she said on social media.
In a statement, Nigeria's Sports Minister, John Enoh, said he had been in contact with officials from the country's athletics federation and they had assured him that Ofili had been included on registration forms for the 100m, 200m and 4x100m, and the forms had been passed on to the Nigerian Olympic Committee to submit.
Enoh said he was waiting for an explanation from the head of Nigeria's Olympic Committee on why she was left out of the 100m.
This isn't the first time Nigerian athletes have run into this problem. At the 2019 world championships, a paperwork mix-up almost disqualified Divine Oduduru and Blessing Okagbare from the meet, and they were allowed to race only after appealing to World Athletics.
Hammer thrower Annette Echikunwoke ended up missing the Tokyo Olympics because of the same drug-testing issue that cost Ofili.
World Athletics said that Ofili was only signed up for the 200m and 4x100m relay.
Ofili's drama is far from the only drama to engulf the women's 100m sprint, after outrage over the Solomon Islands selecting marathon runner Sharon Firisua to compete in the sprint despite never having competed in the event before.
2. Jess Fox beats out American youngster she previously inspired
Jess Fox was one of the stories of day five at the Olympic Games after adding a C1 gold medal with a stunning final run.
Fox, who won the K1 kayak single event earlier in the week, was the second-last competitor in the C1 final at the Vaires-Sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.
She was chasing the time of German canoeist Elena Lilik, who set the standard with a run of 103.54 seconds.
Loading Instagram content
Fox held her nerve and showed her experience and skill, flying down the course. On the key third section, she established a nearly three-second break, before powering to the finish to stop the clock at 99.06 seconds.
Fox was given a belated two-second penalty, and her amended time of 101.06 seconds was still nearly two-and-a-half seconds clear of Lilik in the silver medal position.
The 30-year-old also beat out 20-year-old American Evy Leibfarth, who she had incredibly inspired in the decade leading up to the Paris Games. In the above Instagram post from 2016 on Leibfarth's page, Fox is pictured alongside the then-12-year-old.
Fox spoke about her standing as a living legend and inspiration.
"I'm really proud to be doing it as a woman, so the little girls of the next gen can do it too. We saw it today, Evy Leibfarth and she was born in like 2004 or something, so she is just a baby, but we got a photo together when she was like 10 or something [she was 12], so you can see the impact it can have on the next generation."
3. Iga Swiatek blasted over 'fakeness' after being hit by a ball in fiery clash
Iga Swiatek dropped to her knees and clutched at her midsection after getting hit by a ball in the Paris Olympics quarterfinals on Thursday morning.
But it was her opponent, Danielle Collins, who stopped playing in the third set because of an injured stomach muscle she said was caused by cramping and dehydration from a lack of cold water available during a previous match.
When they spoke afterward, Collins gave Swiatek an earful, telling her "she didn't have to be insincere about my injury," according to Collins.
"There's a lot that happens on camera. And there are a lot of people with a tonne of charisma … (who) are one way on camera and another way in the locker room," said Collins, a 30-year-old American who has announced she will retire after this season.
"I don't need the fakeness."
Swiatek, a five-time Grand Slam champion who is the top-seeded woman at the Summer Games, was leading 6-2, 1-6, 4-1 when Collins retired from the match after taking a medical timeout.
When a reporter wanted to know about their post-match conversation, Swiatek replied: "I think it's better to ask her."
Collins, the runner-up at the 2022 Australian Open, said she went into convulsions after competing in heat that reached 36 degrees Celsius during the match.
She blamed Olympic organisers for not having insulated water bottles, for the water not being cool enough and for not "prioritising the health of the athletes.
"Nearly collapsed when I came off court, and I was on a medical table for three hours" on Monday, Collins said. "It did a number on my body. When you have full body cramps from your toes to your neck, and when you've suffered heat stroke, it's very, very difficult to come out here."
In the opening game of the final set, with Collins serving at deuce, she directed a backhand down the middle of the court. Swiatek was up at the net and was unable to get out of the way of the shot.
Swiatek looked stunned as she let go of her white racket and dropped down on the red clay at Court Suzanne Lenglen. Collins — who asked, "Iga, are you OK?" — walked around the net to check on Swiatek, and chair umpire Damien Dumusois climbed out of his perch to see how the world's No.1 player was, too.
"I could not breathe for a moment. It hurt for a bit," Swiatek said.
"But with the adrenaline that you have on court, you don't feel as much as you should."
Swiatek eventually rose and nodded to indicate she could continue.
She is seeking her first Olympic medal at a place she knows so well.
The 23-year-old from Poland has won four of the past five championships at the French Open, the Grand Slam tournament held each year at Roland Garros, the same site being used for tennis at these Games.
In the semifinals on Friday, Swiatek will face sixth-seeded Zheng Qinwen of China. Zheng, who reached the final at the Australian Open in January, eliminated Angelique Kerber of Germany 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (6).
4. Canada advances despite six-point deduction from drone drama, as Matildas head home
Vanessa Gilles scored in the 62nd minute to give Canada a 1-0 victory over Colombia and send the team into the quarterfinals of the Paris Olympics on Thursday morning despite losing six points in the tournament because of a drone-spying scandal, with the result sending the Matildas packing.
Canada will face Germany in a quarterfinal clash on Sunday morning in Marseille.
The win over Colombia came just hours after the defending Olympic champions lost their bid to overturn the FIFA-ordered points deduction for filming an opponent's practice in France.
Canada, which won its first two matches but earned no points from those victories, went into Wednesday's match in Nice in need of a win to stand a chance of advancing.
"Going into the match we wanted to win regardless of what that ruling was," Canada captain Jesse Fleming said. "It did not change our game plan or what we wanted to do."
Canada had asked the Court of Arbitration for Sport to overturn the six-point penalty imposed by the sport's world governing body for spying on New Zealand practices ahead of their opening game last week.
"Chances were stacked against us, but we pulled through, we stayed together through it all and we have seen results of that," Gilles said after the victory.
In the group's other match, Marie-Antoinette Katoto scored goals in the 22nd and 49th minutes for France to down New Zealand 2-1 in Lyon.
Kate Taylor scored in the 42nd minute for the Ferns.
5. Fans refuse to let up on Dutch volleyball player previously convicted of rape
Dutch beach volleyball player Steven van de Velde, who served time in prison after he was convicted of raping a 12-year-old girl, won his second match at the Paris Olympics and received an even harsher reaction from the crowd overnight than for his first match.
Three days after they made their Olympic debut to some boos — mixed in with cheers from the orange-clad Dutch fans — Van de Velde and Matthew Immers were heartily jeered after a 21-19, 21-16 victory over Chile. There were more boos when Van de Velde played most any shot.
"I was disappointed with the crowd, for sure," Immers said. "I cannot do anything about his past anymore. I'm here to play with him … So, yeah, I'm disappointed with it. But I think mentally we're really strong, and I'm really strong to get through this, together. And we're going to do that."
Van de Velde, 29, served 13 months in prison after his 2016 conviction for raping a 12-year-old girl in England. Although victims advocates, lawmakers and fans have called for him to be banned from the Olympics, the IOC has said it was powerless to stop the Netherlands from sending an athlete who qualified in the usual way.
Van de Velde again did not walk through the mix zone to address the media on Wednesday, something typically required of every athlete. When Immers arrived, Dutch press attache Hans Nieuwenburg told reporters, "Sport questions only."
"He said everything on (Sunday)," when the two lost their opening match to Italy, Nieuwenburg said.
Immers was asked about the reception and said the two spoke on the court and recognised they would need to be extra supportive of each other. Asked if he understood why they received that reception, he said, "I don't want to talk about that, if it's OK."
"I think what's in the past is in the past, and we're here to go for a good result together," Immers said, noting that there were Dutch fans cheering for them. "And I want to say there was also a lot of people supporting us, and we're doing it for them. I really like this sport and I still love the crowd and the people who support us."
6. Rafael Nadal bids farewell to the Olympics, and maybe his favourite court, for the last time
Rafael Nadal's Paris Games — and, almost certainly, his Olympic career — ended on Thursday morning when he and Carlos Alcaraz were eliminated in the men's doubles quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-4 loss to the fourth-seeded American duo of Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram.
The match was played at Court Philippe Chatrier, the same stadium where Nadal has won his record 14 French Open titles, part of his haul of 22 Grand Slam trophies. The full house roared and sang to support Nadal and Alcaraz — well, mainly Nadal — especially as they tried to stave off defeat in the final game.
The 38-year-old Nadal has not announced anything about his plans or possible retirement, but given his age and recent history of injuries, an appearance at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics seems far-fetched. He might not even compete at all beyond the Paris Games, but that is far less clear.
Nadal won gold medals for Spain in singles at Beijing in 2008 and in doubles at Rio de Janeiro in 2016. This time around, he was defeated in singles by long-time rival Novak Djokovic in the pair's 60th career meeting.
The doubles outcome seemed pretty much decided when Ram smacked a return winner off a serve by Alcaraz to break him at love and lead 4-3 in the second set. The Spaniards thought the ball landed out and bent down to get closer to the clay while arguing their case with French chair umpire Morgane Lara. But the call did not change.
Still, Nadal never has been one to concede a thing, and so it was fitting that he and Alcaraz earned a break point, a chance to extend the evening, as Krajicek tried to serve out the victory. Didn't happen for the Spaniards, though, and soon Alcaraz and Nadal were hugging on one side of the net — and Ram and Krajicek were doing the same on the other.
After collecting his equipment from the sideline, Nadal walked off the court. He paused to look around the place that has meant so much to him during his time in tennis and to wave to the spectators, who were bidding adieu with the latest in a series of standing ovations for him during these Olympics.
Nadal paused for a moment before stepping through the doorway that leads toward the locker room, and Alcaraz placed his right hand on his partner's left shoulder.
Nadal is as popular a player who ever has competed at Roland Garros. So popular that there is a steel statue of him that stands just outside Chatrier.
No one, perhaps not even Nadal, knows whether he ever will be back there to play again.
7. Gymnast-turned-shooter wins Guatemala's first Olympic gold
A spinal injury ended Adriana Ruano's chances of competing at the Olympics as a gymnast. She came back as a shooter and won Guatemala's first gold medal.
Ruano was training for the 2011 world championships in gymnastics, a qualifier for the London Olympics the following year, when she felt pain in her back.
Scans showed she had six damaged vertebrae — a career-ending injury at age 16 — and she spent a year recovering, wearing a brace. Ruano's doctor recommended she take up shooting if she wanted to stay in sports without aggravating her injured back.
"When I had my injury, I didn't have anything. I started to get desperate, and I was frustrated. Then the door opened for me with this sport," Ruano said.
More than a decade after Ruano swapped the balance beam and vault for a shotgun, her doctor's advice paid off Wednesday when she won the women's trap with an Olympic-record score of 45 out of 50.
Ruano closed her eyes and took a deep breath before hitting her 43rd target to make sure Italian silver medallist Silvana Stanco couldn't catch her for the gold. She missed her next two shots after that, but it didn't matter.
It was a stint volunteering at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro that put her on the path back to elite-level sports.
"I said to myself, 'If I can't be there as an athlete, maybe I can be there as a volunteer', so I applied," she said. "They put me on shooting, and I was able to watch my teammates. I could see the competition, and that was the moment that inspired me to think, 'OK, maybe if not in gymnastics, I can do it in shooting.'"
Ruano placed 26th at the last Olympics in Tokyo, shortly after her father had died.
Coming into Paris, though, she was the defending Pan-American Games champion.
Now she has given her country an Olympic gold medal, a day after Jean Pierre Brol won bronze in the men's trap to claim Guatemala's first medal since race walker Erick Barrondo's silver at the 2012 London Olympics.
Stanco won the silver on 40 and Australia's Penny Smith took the bronze.
8. Cindy Ngamba one win away from creating history for Refugee Team
Her name echoing around the stadium, Cindy Ngamba climbed into the Olympic ring and danced from foot to foot as she threw jabs with her bright blue Paris 2024 boxing gloves.
By winning her first fight at the Paris Olympics, the 25-year-old Ngamba is one victory away from clinching the Refugee Team' s first Olympic medal. After a gruelling bout against 2022 world champion Tammara Thibeault of Canada, the possibility of a medal feels closer than ever.
"I'm going to be the first ever refugee to make it out there," she said. "There's a lot of pressure out there. I am human, I have emotion, and I'm not going to hide about that … but I never let pressure bring me down. I've gone through so many obstacles in life, just like millions of refugees."
Ngamba is among the 37 athletes who make up the biggest Olympic Refugee Team selected since the concept of bringing such a group together was conceived ahead of the Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
It's a welcoming place for athletes who've had to flee their countries due to war or political persecution, giving them a chance to continue to pursue their sports.
Many saw Ngamba's triumph over Thibeault as a message of hope at a time of record migration, and as 100 million people around the world have been forcibly displaced from their homes.
The team is "a symbol of inclusion, of equality, of achievement for a large community around the world of refugees and displaced people," UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi told the AP in an interview on Sunday.
Ngamba was born in Cameroon and moved to England when she was 11.
She moved "for a better life" and struggled to start anew in England, and learn a new language. Now she trains alongside the British team in Sheffield.
"There are so many refugees that are going through so many issues," she said. "They don't believe in themselves and they feel like it's the end of the world. I hope by them watching me, they see that anything in life I've gone through I've been able to overcome."
The Refugee Team has had some profile at the Paris Games, being among the first Olympic delegations to cruise along the Seine River in the opening ceremonies last week.
On Wednesday, a crowded stadium roared for Ngamba and a pack of people cheered and carried signs reading "For the refugees." As they did, Ngamba went to work with her gloves, expelling air as she landed blows.
Thibeault won the world middleweight title in 2022, and she was seeded No. 3 in Paris. Rankings meant nothing to Ngamba, who outpointed Thibeault in a split decision. Ngamba finished strongly, claiming the third round on four cards to secure the win.
"I pushed my body so hard to the point where I'm thinking 'wow, why am I doing this?" she said. "You strive each day, each second, each hour. When I qualified for the Olympics, I said, 'Wow I actually think I'm made for this.'"
9. Léon Marchand proves he is worthy of the Michael Phelps comparisons
Turns out, those comparisons to Michael Phelps weren't far-fetched at all when it comes to Léon Marchand.
They certainly weren't a burden for the 22-year-old Frenchman.
Marchand completed one of the most audacious doubles in swimming history on Thursday morning, winning the 200m butterfly and the 200m breaststroke about two hours apart in front a home crowd cheering his every stroke.
Two gruelling races. Two very different strokes. Two Olympic records. Two gold medals.
Take that, Phelps, who did several doubles of his own while claiming a record eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
"I really enjoyed every moment of those two finals," Marchand said. "It was really amazing for, for me to swim. Those were really good opponents too. The (200) fly was crazy for me. I'm really proud of everything."
Thrilling the French fans and claiming the spotlight even on a night when Katie Ledecky romped to another gold medal, Marchand notched his second and third victories at La Défense Arena and stamped himself — with the Olympics not even a week old — as one of the faces of the Games.
After rallying to beat world-record holder and defending Olympic champion Kristóf Milák in the 200m fly with a finishing kick for the ages, Marchand made it look easy in the 200m breast.
He led all the way, touching in 2:05.85 as more than 15,000 fans — many of them holding up cardboard cutouts of his smiling face — nearly blew the roof off La Défense Arena.
"Léon! Léon! Léon!" they screamed, a chant that was sure to carry on through the night in Paris.
ABC/AP/AAP/Reuters
Sports content to make you think... or allow you not to. A newsletter delivered each Saturday.