 "Paris Olympics 2024: Biles makes more history as gender row erupts in boxing; Murray's career ends in defeat")
Simone Biles continued to create history in the Paris Olympics as she recaptured her all-round gymnastics crown on Thursday while boxing found itself embroiled in a gender eligibility row that has sparked a broader debate that has led to reactions from the likes of Donald Trump.
**Paris Olympics: News, schedule, medals tally and more**USA’s Biles, already considered the greatest gymnast of all time, won her second gold medal at the Paris Games and her sixth overall in the Olympics, breaking a 120-year-old record in the process. The 27-year-old also became only the third woman to win Olympic all-round title twice, having previously won it in the Rio Games in 2016.
Biles had led the United States to women’s team gold earlier this week, the feat widely considered the first chapter of what has been billed as a redemption tour of sorts for he as well as for her teammates — Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey and Sunisa Lee.
Greatest of all time. 🐐@Simone_Biles breaks a 120-year-old record to become the only U.S. gymnast to win six Olympic gold medals.#ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/7Gg3r6aavx
— Team USA (@TeamUSA) August 1, 2024
On Thursday, she would round off another scintillating performance with an electrifying floor routine that was performed to Taylor Swift’s Ready for It?, her high-flying tumbling bringing the crowd at the Bercy Arena to its feet.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsBiles famously withdrew from most of her events in Tokyo three years ago because of a debilitating condition that gymnasts call the “twisties” but earned plaudits for speaking openly about her mental health.
The 27-year-old could add three more golds in Paris as she competes in the apparatus finals on the vault, floor exercise and balance beam.
“Three years ago I never thought I’d step on a gymnastic court again, but worked hard, mentally and physically, even saw my therapist this morning, just making sure I’m mentally well,” she said.
The stars were out again for Biles, with US basketball players Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry watching at Bercy Arena along with NBA legend Tony Parker and footballing great Zinedine Zidane.
Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade took silver and defending champion Sunisa Lee bronze.
In swimming, Canadian teenager Summer McIntosh stormed to the women’s 200m butterfly title for her third medal of the Paris Olympics, and second gold, boosting her status as one of the breakout stars of the Games.
The 17-year-old hit the wall in an Olympic record 2min 03.03sec ahead of America’s Regan Smith and Chinese defending champion Zhang Yufei.
Hungary’s Hubert Kos triumphed in the men’s 200m backstroke while Kate Douglass of the United States clinched women’s 200m breaststroke gold.
Australia won the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay for their fifth gold in swimming in Paris.
‘Forever tarnished’
The sporting action threatened to be overshadowed by a major controversy involving an Algerian boxer who failed a gender eligibility test last year.
Imane Khelif took just 46 seconds to overwhelm her battered, beaten and distraught Italian opponent Angela Carini.
Khelif is one of two athletes competing in women’s boxing in Paris despite failing to meet the eligibility criteria for the world championships last year.
Carini refused to shake hands with Khelif after a one-sided fight and the Italian sank to her knees and sobbed in the middle of the ring.
She said: “My nose started dripping (with blood) from the first hit.”
The bout sparked an immediate reaction from Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who said the fight was “not on an equal footing”, while prominent public figures from around the world also weighed in.
Harry Potter author JK Rowling, who has previously been outspoken on similar issues, said the Games were “forever tarnished by the brutal injustice done to Carini”.
Also on social media, tennis great Martina Navratilova described the situation as “deplorable”, alleging that Khelif was a “biological man”.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) which is organising the boxing event in the Paris Olympics with the International Boxing Association (IBA) currently suspended, later defended the participation of Khelif as well as Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yu-ting, another boxer currently in the Paris Games who had failed a gender eligibility test last year.
According to a joint statement from the global body and from the Boxing Unit in charge of organising the event, Khelif and Lin were facing “aggression” due to a “sudden and arbitrary decision by the IBA”.
Joint Paris 2024 Boxing Unit/IOC Statementhttps://t.co/22yVzxFuLd pic.twitter.com/fZvgsW8OOi
— IOC MEDIA (@iocmedia) August 1, 2024
“These two athletes were the victims of a sudden and arbitrary decision by the IBA. Towards the end of the IBA World Championships in 2023, they were suddenly disqualified without any due process,” the IOC said in its joint statement.
“According to the IBA minutes available on their website, this decision was initially taken solely by the IBA Secretary General and CEO. The IBA Board only ratified it afterwards and only subsequently requested that a procedure to follow in similar cases in the future be established and reflected in the IBA Regulations. The minutes also say that the IBA should “establish a clear procedure on gender testing.
“The current aggression against these two athletes is based entirely on this arbitrary decision, which was taken without any proper procedure – especially considering that these athletes had been competing in top-level competition for many years,” added the Thomas Bach-led organisation.
Murray bows out
On the red clay of Roland Garros, British tennis legend Andy Murray bowed out of the sport when he and Dan Evans lost in straight sets in the men’s doubles quarter-finals.
The 37-year-old Murray, a two-time singles gold medallist and three-time major winner, had already announced that the Olympics would be his last hurrah.
“I’m proud of my career, my achievements and what I put into the sport,” said Murray.
Never even liked tennis anyway.
— Andy Murray (@andy_murray) August 1, 2024
The men’s golf competition teed off with Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama shooting a sparkling eight-under-par opening round to take the lead.
Israel won their first two medals in Paris, with their judokas taking a bronze and a silver through Peter Paltchik and Inbar Lanir.
Israel’s participation at the Games was strongly opposed by the Palestinian delegation because of Israel’s offensive in Gaza.
At the end of the sixth day in Paris, China topped the overall medals table with 11 golds, ahead of the US with nine.
With AFP inputs
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