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Men’s triathlon postponed due to poor water quality
The Olympic men’s individual triathlon at Paris 2024 has been postponed after tests revealed water quality in the River Seine did not reach the required standard.
The race was due to start at 07:00 BST (08:00 local time) on Tuesday and will now take place on Wednesday at 09:45 (10:45 local time), following the conclusion of the women’s event.
Swimming training sessions were cancelled on Sunday and Monday because of the water quality, which was impacted by recent heavy rainfall.
Friday, 2 August remains a contingency date for both races, while organisers have said the event could be contested as a duathlon as a last resort.
“Tests carried out in the Seine today revealed water quality did not provide sufficient guarantees to allow the event to be held,” World Triathlon said. “Despite the improvement in the water quality levels, the readings at some points of the swim course are still above the acceptable limits.”
Great Britain’s Alex Yee is one of the favourites for gold in the men’s race, while team-mate Beth Potter is the reigning women’s world champion.
Tests are being carried out daily on the water quality in the River Seine, which is also due to host the triathlon mixed relay on 5 August, the Olympic marathon swimming on 8 and 9 August, and the Para-triathlon event at the Paralympics, which start on 28 August.
Organisers said about 1.4bn euro (£1.2bn) had been spent on a regeneration project to make the Seine safe to swim in after a 100-year-old ban.
But as recently as June this year the level of E. coli was 10 times the acceptable level imposed by sports federations.
Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo recently swam in the river to highlight the clean-up efforts which have been undertaken and, earlier this month, tests showed the river was clean enough for swimming.
However, heavy rain in Paris on Friday and Saturday has caused the water quality to diminish and, at a meeting held at 03:30 local time, the decision was taken to postpone the event.
Paris organisers remained confident on Monday that the men’s race would go ahead on Tuesday morning.
Thundery showers are forecast for Wednesday morning, following predicted hot temperatures of up to 35C on Tuesday.
“In the case of triathlon the heat has a positive effect because the sunlight and the increased temperature is beneficial in the sense that it kills bacteria,” Paris 2024 operations director Lambis Konstantinidis told BBC Sport.
Organisers have extreme heat contingency plans for each sport and venue and some sports have a specific temperature threshold where play cannot continue if exceeded.
[BBC]
Three Chinese nationals have been arrested with 12 gold bars and $800,000 (£650,000) in cash in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, officials say.
The gold and money was hidden under the seats of the vehicle they were travelling in, according to Jean Jacques Purusi, the governor of South Kivu province.
He said the operation to arrest the men had been kept secret after the recent release of another group of Chinese nationals accused of running an illegal gold mine in the area.
Eastern DR Congo has abundant reserves of gold, diamonds and the minerals used to make batteries for mobile phones and electric vehicles.
This mineral wealth has been plundered by foreign groups since the colonial era and is one of the main reasons why the region has been plagued by instability for the last 30 years.
Militia groups control many of the mines in eastern DR Congo and their leaders become wealthy by selling it to middle-men.
Purusi said some of these dealers in precious metals enjoyed good relations with influential people in the capital, Kinshasa, and this was why the mission to carry out these latest arrests had to be kept quiet.
He said they had been acting on a tip-off and that the gold and money was only found after a meticulous search of the vehicle in the Walungu area not far from the border with Rwanda.
He did not say exactly how much gold had been seized.
Last month, the governor told reporters he was shocked to hear that 17 Chinese nationals, who had been arrested on allegations they had been running an illegal gold mine, had been freed and allowed to return to China.
He said this undermined efforts to clean up DR Congo’s notoriously murky mineral sector.
They owed $10m in taxes and fines to the government, the Reuters news agency quotes him as saying.
The Chinese embassy has not commented on the allegations.
The arrests come as fighting continues to flare in the neighbouring North Kivu province, where a Rwanda backed rebel group has captured large areas of territory.
Last month, DR Congo said it was suing Apple over the use of “blood minerals”, prompting the tech giant to say it had stopped getting supplies from both DR Congo and neighbouring Rwanda.
Rwanda has denied being a conduit for the export of illegal minerals from DR Congo.
In their lawsuit, lawyers acting for the Congolese government alleged that the minerals taken from conflict areas was then “laundered through international supply chains”.
“These activities have fuelled a cycle of violence and conflict by financing militias and terrorist groups and have contributed to forced child labour and environmental devastation,” they said.
[BBC]
Sushi restaurateurs in Tokyo say they have paid 207m yen ($1.3m; £1m) for a bluefin tuna which is about the size and weight of a motorbike.
The sale is the second highest price ever paid at the annual new year auction at Toyosu Fish Market in the Japanese capital.
Onodera Group, which had the winning bid, said the tuna – which weighs in at 276kg (608lb) – would be served at its Michelin-starred Ginza Onodera restaurants, as well as Nadaman restaurants across the country.
“The first tuna is something meant to bring in good fortune,” Onodera official Shinji Nagao told reporters after the auction, news agency AFP reported.
Mr Nagao added that he hoped people would eat the tuna – caught off the Aomori region in northern Japan – and “have a wonderful year”.
The group has paid the top price in the Ichiban Tuna auction for five years straight.
Last year, it forked out 114m yen for the top tuna.
The highest auction price since comparable records began in 1999 was 333.6m yen in 2019 for a 278kg bluefin.
It was paid by self styled Japanese ‘tuna King’ and sushi restaurant Kiyoshi Kimura.
Toyosu fish market, which opened in 1935, claims to be the biggest fish market in the world, and is known for pre-dawn daily tuna auctions.
But tuna was not the only catch on offer on Sunday, with Hokkaido sea urchins also fetching a record-breaking 7m yen according to the Japan Times.
[BBC]
Rashid Khan stepped up when Afghanistan needed him to as Zimbabwe find themselves on the brink of losing the second Test and with that, the series as well, to the visitors. Rashid broke the back of the Zimbabwean middle order with a six-wicket haul and if not for Craig Ervine’s fighting half-century, Afghanistan would have already completed formalities by now. However, the Zimbabwean veteran has dragged this series into the final day with his side needing 73 runs for the win – a hard task given they have only two wickets in hand.
Kickstarting the day with a lead of 205, Afghanistan managed to add some vital runs before Blessing Muzarabani got rid of Rashid. However, Ismat Alam kept the home side at bay and managed to bring up a terrific hundred to stun Zimbabwe. His efforts dragged the lead to 277 – a commendable effort considering Afghanistan conceded a first innings lead of 86.
Zimbabwe then made a positive start to the chase with the openers laying an ideal platform with a 43-run stand. But once that partnership was broken, Afghanistan started striking at regular intervals to storm back into the contest. Rashid bagged the big wicket of Ben Curran for 38 before adding two more to his tally to reduce the hosts to 99 for 4. Sikandar Raza then stood firm alongside Ervine to steady the ship as Zimbabwe slowly recovered.
For someone who plays extravagant strokes in the shorter formats, Raza showed commendable application once again in this Test to follow up with his first-innings fifty. His patient 38 turned the tide once again before Rashid did his bit to stun the opposition. Raza hit one straight to cover to get dismissed and his wicket triggered a collapse. Sean Williams missed a slog sweep to get castled and two balls later, Rashid hit the timber again, this time to send Brian Bennett back to the pavilion.
Ervine hardly had time to process the destruction at the other end as Zia-ur-Rehman then added to Zimbabwe’s woes with one more wicket. 157 for 4 in no time became 178 for 8 as Afghanistan inched closer to a memorable win. Ervine then took charge and opened up to find the boundary twice against Rashid before smashing Rehman for a six. Richard Ngarava managed to stay put at the other end as Ervine’s aggressive approach resulted in him getting to his fifty before bad light ended play.
Brief scores:
Zimbabwe 243 & 205/8 (Craig Ervine 53*; Rashid Khan 6/66) need another 73 runs vs Afghanistan 157 & 363
Chinese nationals arrested with gold bars and $800,000 cash in DR Congo
Motorbike-sized tuna sold to Tokyo sushi restaurateurs for $1.3m
Showers or thundershowers may occur at several places in Sabaragamuwa province and in Galle, Matara, Kandy and Nuwara-Eliya districts during the afternoon or night
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