Latest news with #AhramOnlineSports
Al-Ahram Weekly
5 hours ago
- Sport
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Swimming: Marchand smashes long-standing 200m medley world record - Omni sports
Leon Marchand said it would take a few months for it to sink in after smashing the 200m individual medley world record in Singapore on Wednesday, two years after beating Michael Phelps's 400m mark. Swimming in the semi-finals at the world championships, the 23-year-old Frenchman clocked 1min 52.69sec to wipe more than a second off the previous 200m IM record of 1:54.00 set by Ryan Lochte in 2011. Marchand now owns both medley world records after taking down Phelps's 400m mark at the 2023 world championships. That time had stood since the 2008 Beijing Olympics and was the American great's last remaining record. Marchand became a national hero in France after winning four individual golds at the Paris Olympics a year ago. He said it would take time to come to terms with his latest feat. "I'm going to try to sleep well tonight," he said. "It's going to be tough tomorrow but the final is going to be cool. "I'm going to try to understand what I've just done. It may take a few months, and after I'll look at what's next." Marchand took an extended break from swimming after his Paris Olympics heroics and only returned to competition in May. He is focusing on the medley events in Singapore and had said he was going for Lochte's record. Marchand got his world championship campaign under way on Wednesday morning, clocking a time of 1:57.63 in the heats. He said he would go all-out for the record in the semi-finals rather than conserve his energy for Thursday's final "For me it's a victory," he said. "I still have a little trouble believing it but I'm so happy, it was so good. It's all the strength work that I've done this year." (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.) Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Al-Ahram Weekly
7 hours ago
- Sport
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Swimming: Tunisia's Jaouadi wins 800m freestyle gold for first major title - Omni sports
Tunisia's Ahmed Jaouadi won his first major title with victory in the 800m freestyle at swimming's world championships on Wednesday with a perfectly timed attack. Jaouadi made his move midway through the race in Singapore and eased away to touch the wall in 7min 36.88sec, ahead of German pair Sven Schwarz (7:39.96) and 400m champion Lukas Maertens (7:40.19). Jaouadi, who finished fourth at last year's Paris Olympics, clocked the third-fastest time ever. "I didn't really think about strategy, I was just trying to control the race and see what happens," said the 20-year-old. "At some point I saw that the rhythm wasn't that fast so I decided to just go and make the move." Ireland's Olympic champion Daniel Wiffen finished last in 7:58.56. Bobby Finke, the Olympic 1,500m champion, was fourth in 7:46.42. Jaouadi dedicated his win to fellow Tunisian Ahmed Hafnaoui, a former Olympic and world champion who received a 21-month suspension in April for three anti-doping violations. "This one is for Hafnaoui -- he's having some hard times now," said Jaouadi. Australia's Sam Short, who qualified second-fastest for the final, was forced to withdraw hours before the race with stomach trouble. Short, the silver medallist in the 400m freestyle, is the latest swimmer to be hit by illness this week in Singapore. The United States team said the "overwhelming majority" of their swimmers had suffered from acute gastroenteritis, while Italy's Nicolo Martinenghi complained of feeling unwell before his 100m breaststroke final. (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.) Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Al-Ahram Weekly
11 hours ago
- Sport
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Tennis: Venus Williams gets US Open mixed doubles wild card spot - Omni sports
Venus Williams, who made a comeback last week after more than a year's hiatus from competitive tennis, will compete alongside Reilly Opelka in mixed doubles at the US Open. Williams, a seven-time Grand Slam singles champion who turned 45 last month, and US compatriot Opelka were among 14 teams named on Tuesday to the revamped August 19-20 event by the US Tennis Association. Williams won her opening singles and doubles match at the DC Open last week in her first WTA tournament since last year's Miami Open. She is also set to play as a wild card in next month's Cincinnati Open and could ask for a US Open singles wild card. Those are expected to be announced in about two weeks. The US Open winning mixed doubles team will receive $1 million. Eight teams received direct entry into the field by combined singles rankings, including top-ranked Jannik Sinner of Italy -- the reigning US Open, Wimbledon and Australian Open singles champion -- with American Emma Navarro. Other duos making the field on rankings included Britain's fifth-ranked Jack Draper and Spain's Paula Badosa, Germany's third-ranked Alexander Zverev and Swiss Belinda Bencic, fourth-ranked American Taylor Fritz and Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, Dane Holger Rune and American Amanda Anisimova, 2021 US Open winner Daniil Medvedev and fellow Russian Mirra Andreeva, Americans Jessica Pegula and Tommy Paul and Poland's Iga Swiatek and Norway's Casper Ruud. Other wild card entry teams include five-time Grand Slam singles champion and world number two Carlos Alcaraz of Spain with Britain's Emma Raducanu, Americans Madison Keys and Frances Tiafoe, world women's doubles number one Taylor Townsend and fellow American Ben Shelton, Italians Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori and Serbians Olga Danilovic and Novak Djokovic -- who has won a record 24 men's Grand Slam singles titles. Two other wild card teams will be announced later. (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.) Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Al-Ahram Weekly
13 hours ago
- Sport
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Swimming: Marchand gears up for 200m IM world record bid - Omni sports
Leon Marchand geared up for an assault on the 200m individual medley world record Wednesday as he cruised through the heats to start his world championship campaign in Singapore. France's Olympic hero, who won four individual golds at last year's Paris Games, is looking to break Ryan Lochte's 200m IM world record of 1min 54.00sec, which has stood since 2011. Marchand is competing only in the medley events in Singapore and he hinted he would go all out for the record in Wednesday evening's semi-finals. "I'll try to get close to my best time tonight," said Marchand, whose personal best in the event is only six hundredths of a second outside the record. "I want to start faster than usual and see what happens." Marchand clocked the fastest time in Wednesday morning's heats in 1:57.63. Japan's Kosuke Makino was second in 1:57.74, with American Shaine Casas third in 1:57.76. Marchand's biggest rival is more likely to be Lochte's world record, having already taken down Michael Phelps's 400m IM mark two years ago. "It was good, I swam well, I think I pretty much did what I wanted to do," Marchand said after his heat. "There are a few technical details that I'll go over with my coach, things I can improve on for tonight." Summer McIntosh was back in action, finishing fastest in the women's 200m butterfly heat in a time of 2min 07.07sec. The Canadian teenager has already bagged two gold medals in Singapore and she is looking to join Phelps as the only swimmer to win five individual titles at a single world championships. Chinese 12-year-old Yu Zidi joined McIntosh in the semi-finals, coming through in a fifth-fastest time of 2:08.95. Yu finished fourth behind McIntosh in the 200m IM final on Monday. Romania's David Popovici followed up his gold in Tuesday's 200m freestyle final with a fastest time of 47.41sec in the 100m heats. Australia's Kyle Chalmers (47.48) was second, with China's Olympic champion and world record holder Pan Zhanle (47.86) and American Jack Alexy (48.07) also progressing. "I'm the major underdog and the media has made that quite clear in the lead-up to this, that it's a race really between Alexy, Popovici and Pan," said Chalmers, who clocked the same time as he did in the Paris Olympics final, where he claimed silver. "I'm really enjoying being able to fly under the radar." (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.) Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Al-Ahram Weekly
a day ago
- Sport
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Cycling: Wiebes claims Tour de France stage as Vos holds lead - Omni sports
Dutch cyclist Lorena Wiebes won the fourth stage of the women's Tour de France on Tuesday, outpacing her compatriot and yellow jersey-holder Marianne Vos at the end of a bunch sprint. Just as in the previous day's stage, the SD Worx team sprinter once again beat the overall leader by a wheel to claim her second consecutive stage victory. Ireland's Lara Gillespie completed the podium at the end of a stage which was thankfully much cleaner than Monday's in Angers, when several riders found themselves caught up in a mass crash. The main victim of that crash, Dutch rider Demi Vollering, appeared apprehensive at the start in Saumur on Tuesday. But the overall favourite for the Tour finished in the peloton in the same time as Wiebes. Vollering sits sixth overall, 25sec behind leader Vos and 13sec behind second-placed Wiebes. Tuesday's stage was led by Franziska Koch of Germany and Brazilian Ana Vitoria Magalhaes, after they made a break just over an hour into the day's racing. They were caught 3km from the finish line by the SD Worx team, who catapulted Wiebes to her 16th victory this season and the 109th of her career. Wednesday will be the longest stage of the 2025 edition with its 165.8km run between Chasseneuil-du-Poitou/Futuroscope and Gueret, complete with a slog to the finish featuring three climbs inside the final 35km. (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.) Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
