RIVER QUALITY
Seine training canceled
The Olympics’ triathlon swimming training session scheduled for yesterday was canceled after recent heavy rain in Paris affected pollution levels in the Seine, organizers said in a statement. A lot is riding on Olympic triathletes being cleared to swim in Paris’ central waterway when the competition starts tomorrow, with France investing 1.4 billion euros (US$1.52 billion) in new wastewater infrastructure to cut sewage levels and make the river swimmable for residents as a key legacy of the Games. “We have had some rainfall, but everything that has been put in place has worked, it prevents overflows from occurring, so I think we will reach a satisfying quality of the water very soon, but it will depend on the weather forecast as well,” Pierre Rabadan, the city’s deputy mayor for sports, told a news conference yesterday. Organizers said that, given the forecast for sunshine and higher temperatures over the next 48 hours, they were “confident” water quality would improve again before the triathlon events begin tomorrow with the men’s race.
ACCOMMODATION
Bath leak warps bed
Much has been made about the robustness of the Olympic Village’s cardboard beds, but one did not prove up to the test for top Japanese gymnast Shinnosuke Oka. Oka, who on Saturday produced a solid performance on the first day of the Paris Games in the men’s qualification, said a “water leak” from the bath had caused damage to the cardboard frame of his bed, forcing him to seek a swap. “The cardboard sort of collapsed because of a water leak, from, er, bathwater,” the 20-year-old first-time Olympian said, with an embarrassed smile. Oka said he noticed himself sinking gradually on the bed as he slept, and then realized that the frame was warped. “It kind of messed up my back. Not enough to affect my performance or anything, but I thought: ‘I probably don’t want to sleep this way for the rest of the time.’” The cardboard bed frame was introduced at the Tokyo 2020 Games for sustainability reasons — a central theme for Paris 2024 organizers.
SOCCER
Canada lose points for drone
Canada’s Olympic women’s soccer team have been deducted six points and their coach Beverly Priestman suspended for a year after a staff member used a drone to spy on a rival team at the Paris Games, FIFA said on Saturday. Canada’s soccer association was “responsible for failing to respect the applicable FIFA regulations in connection with ... the prohibition on flying drones over any training sites,” FIFA said. It also handed down a fine of 200,000 Swiss francs (US$226,110). The ruling is a hammer blow to Canada’s hopes of defending the Olympic title they won at the Tokyo Games three years ago. It leaves them on minus-three points in Group A before they played hosts France in Saint-Etienne yesterday. The match started after press time last night. Canada Soccer chief executive Kevin Blue had tried to convince FIFA not to punish the team, saying the players had not seen any footage produced by the drone. “There was a lot of emotion, frustration and humiliation because as a player, it doesn’t reflect our values and what we want to represent as competitors at the Olympics,” defender Vanessa Gilles said.
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff’s dreams of a first women’s singles title in Melbourne were crushed in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa. World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was ruffled by a stray feather in his men’s singles quarter-final, but he refocused to beat 12th seed Tommy Paul and reach the semi-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to advance the semi-finals. Hsieh and Ostapenko converted eight of 14 break
The San Francisco Giants signed 18-year-old Taiwanese pitcher Yang Nien-hsi (陽念希) to a contract worth a total of US$500,000 (NT $16.39 million). At a press event in Taipei on Wednesday, Jan. 22, the Giants’ Pacific Rim Area scout Evan Hsueh (薛奕煌) presented Yang with a Giants jersey to celebrate the signing. The deal consisted of a contract worth US$450,000 plus a US$50,000 scholarship bonus. Yang, who stands at 188 centimeters tall and weighs 85 kilograms, is of Indigenous Amis descent. With his fastest pitch clocking in at 150 kilometers per hour, Yang had been on Hsueh’s radar since playing in the HuaNan Cup
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
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