#OlympicTorchRelay

Why Olympic wrestler Vinesh Phogat was disqualified India’s star Olympic wrestler Vinesh Phogat is out of the competition ahead of a gold medal match, after being disqualified for being over her class’s weight limit. It’s a devastating end to the Paris games for the wrestler who has led the charge against sexual harassment at the highest levels of her sport. Had she been able to compete and won Wednesday’s match, she would have been the first Indian woman to win a gold medal in any Olympic event. Phogat, who often wrestles at a 53-kilogram weight — or about 116 pounds — made the 50-kilogram (about 110 pounds) berth after another wrestler won the 53-kilogram spot on India’s wrestling team. She knew that getting down to competition weight would be difficult, she said in an April interview: “I gain weight easily. It doesn’t matter how fit I am, I still gain weight because I have a lot of muscle mass.” She had been able to maintain the lower weight until Wednesday, when she weighed in at just 100 grams over the weight limit — despite the drastic measures she had taken over the past week to maintain her 50-kilogram weight. Phogat barely ate, spent hours in a sauna and exercised, and even tried cutting her hair to make weight, according to Team India’s chief medical officer. But that 100 grams — around 3.5 ounces — meant she couldn’t compete in Wednesday’s match, and wouldn’t receive a medal at all despite her dominance. She put up a phenomenal performance in Paris, beating out Japanese Olympic gold medalist Yui Susaki in the first round, and dominating thereafter, seemingly guaranteeing India either a gold or silver medal. Her wins — and sudden disqualification — have put her recent crusade against sexual harassment in India’s national wrestling organization back in the spotlight. And though her Olympics are over, there’s now global attention on her activism as much as her athletic prowess. Sexual harassment is a problem in India — and in sports Phogat spent months last year as the face of a campaign to remove Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh as head of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), the body governing the sport in India. Phogat and other women wrestlers accused Singh of sexual exploitation, and Phogat in particular alleged that he emotionally and psychologically tormented her following the Tokyo Summer Games, where she just missed out on a medal. After filing a complaint with the Indian Olympic Association, and receiving little response, they mounted a May 2023 protest in New Delhi — where they were reportedly assaulted by police. Sexual harassment is a problem everywhere, and India is no different. A 2024 Centre for Economic Data & Analysis study found workplace sexual harassment to be on the rise in India (though reporting mechanisms have increased, too), and a 2022 World Bank report found harassment on public transportation to be a nearly universal experience in big cities, with 88 percent of those surveyed in New Delhi saying they’d experienced it. Scholars Anil Kumar and Ashutosh Pandey, both professors in the department of sociology at Bayalasi P.G. College, in Jalalpur, India, wrote in a recent study that the “prevalent perception of sexual harassment often portrays it as a joke, where women are deemed both responsible for and deserving of such behavior.” Despite the efforts of Indian feminists, particularly from the 1970s onward, there are still high-profile cases of harassment and violence against women, as well as protests against the police and governments’ handling of the problem. In the case of Phogat and her colleagues, New Delhi police did finally arrest Singh in June of this year on charges of “sexual harassment, intimidation and outraging the modesty of women,” according to The Hindu. He has maintained his innocence. That Singh was removed from his post as the head of the WFI and held to account for his alleged crimes is a testament to the women’s protests; in addition to his high profile in the athletic world, Singh was also a powerful member of Parliament with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Phogat’s Olympics are at an end, but more and more Indian women are taking up sports — and excelling. And her activism is part of a wider effort in India to help women athletes speak up about sexual harassment and assault. There’s a lot more to be done in that arena: As sports fans have seen in Spain, the US, and elsewhere, the serious consequences of sexual harassment aren’t unique to India. 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Olympic basketball: D'Tigress overcome adversity to shine at Paris 2024 Nigeria’s historic run in the women’s basketball tournament at Paris 2024 has been underlined by defensive steel, as well as a sprinkling of inspiration from their young coach. The team known as D’Tigress became the first African side - male or female - to reach the quarter-finals of an Olympic Games after beating Canada in their final group game on Sunday. The West Africans registered a win on their Olympic debut in Athens in 2004 but had to wait 20 years for their second victory. The challenge now is to build on their progress. “I'm really proud of them putting Nigeria on the map again after 20 years,” Mfon Udoka, a member of the 2004 squad, told BBC Sport Africa. “I'm just hoping in the near future that it doesn't take another 20 years to see the same success.” However, the squad has had to show plenty of resilience off the court to get to this stage. https://lottolenghi.me/olympic-basketball-dtigress-overcome-adversity-to-shine-at-paris-2024/ #Olympicbasketball #Paris2024 #SummerOlympics #OlympicGames #ParisOlympics #OlympicTorchRelay #ParisPreparations

Paraguay’s Luana Alonso has denied reports that she was removed from the Paris Olympics Village for inappropriate behaviour. Paraguay’s Luana Alonso has denied reports that she was removed from the Paris Olympics Village for inappropriate behaviour. This denial comes after several news outlets ran stories on her expulsion from the athletes’ village. The story was first published by British tabloid The Sun, quoting Larissa Schaerer, head of the Paraguayan Olympic Committee. Paraguay’s Luana Alonso denies reports of her expulsion from the Olympics Village.(Instagram/@luanalonsom) “Her presence is creating an inappropriate atmosphere within Team Paraguay,” Larissa Schaerer said in a statement published by the outlet. “We thank her for proceeding as instructed, as it was of her own free will that she did not spend the night in the Athletes’ Village.” The Sun report suggested that Luana Alonso, 20, sneaked out of the Olympic Village to visit Disneyland Paris instead of cheering for her teammates. A separate report in Daily Mail also said that she was a distraction to her teammates “with her skimpy clothing and socialising with other athletes.” It added that she was seen walking around the Village in her own clothes rather than the official Paraguayan kit provided to all athletes. In an Instagram Story shared yesterday, the 20-year-old swimmer dismissed reports of her expulsion from the Olympic Village. “I just want to clarify that I was never removed or expelled from anywhere,” Luana Alonso wrote in Spanish on Instagram Stories. “Stop spreading false information. I don’t want to give any statement but I am not going to let lies affect me either,” she added. Take a look at her Instagram Story: Luana Alonso addresses reports of her expulsion from Olympic Village Alonso failed to advance into the women’s 100m butterfly semifinals on July 27, missing out of qualifying by a mere 0.24 seconds. She announced her retirement from the sport shortly after the event, but continued to stay on in the Olympics Village. “I have been swimming for so long, 18 years, and I have so many feelings,” she wrote on Instagram while announcing her retirement. “Unfortunately, I made the decision to stop and I am happy that my last race will be at the Olympic Games.” Alonso was just 17 when she participated in the Tokyo Olympics. The Hindustan Times YouTube channel now has 7 million subscribers. We thank our viewers for their support. Follow the channel for exclusive video news on politics, sports, entertainment & more. Click here. See more Get Latest Updates on Trending News Viral News, Video, Photos and Weather Updates of India and around the world News / Trending / Swimmer Luana Alonso breaks silence on her expulsion from Olympic Village: ‘Stop spreading false info’ https://lottolenghi.me/swimmer-luana-alonso-breaks-silence-on-her-expulsion-from-olympic-village-stop-spreading-false-info-trending/ #Paris Olympic2024 #Paris2024 #SummerOlympics #OlympicGames #ParisOlympics #OlympicTorchRelay #ParisPreparations

Simone Biles toasts Olympic glory with racy snaps alongside Team USA gymnast Jordan Chiles Simone Biles celebrated her three gold medals at the 2024 Olympics in Paris by posing for a set of eye-popping snaps with fellow Team USA gymnast Jordan Chiles. Barely 24 hours after the 27-year-old openly complained about reporters constantly asking her about ‘what’s next’ following her new achievements at the Olympics this summer, Biles took to social media to put her close bond with Chiles, 23, on display. ‘red, white, biles&chiles,’ she captioned her post on Instagram. The pair can be seen hanging out on a balcony in what presumably is the Olympic Village, which is located in the northern Paris suburb of Saint-Denis. Both gymnasts wore booty shorts with ‘TEAM USA’ printed on them as they also showed off their back muscles with crop tops Chiles also posted a series of pics with Biles on Instagram. She wrote ‘team usa girlies…’ with a red heart emoji as a caption to her post. After claiming gold in the teams finals, all-around events and women’s vault earlier this week, Biles expressed her frustration with the line of questioning taking place after her performances in Paris. Addressing reporters on X, she posted: ‘you guys really gotta stop asking athletes what’s next after they win a medal at the Olympics.’ Biles then added in another post: ‘let us soak up the moment we’ve worked our whole lives for’. When asked by a fan what does come next for her after winning another gold, she replied: ‘babysitting the medal’. https://lottolenghi.me/simone-biles-toasts-olympic-glory-with-racy-snaps-alongside-team-usa-gymnast-jordan-chiles/ #ParisOlympic2024 #Paris2024 #SummerOlympics #OlympicGames #ParisOlympics #OlympicTorchRelay #ParisPreparations

Experience Watching the Olympics With Peacock’s New Interactive Tools You can now watch live coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympics on Peacock, and the streaming service added a new lineup of features just in time for this summer’s Games. Viewers can watch athletes compete for medals in more than 320 live events, including breakdancing, boxing and swimming. In March, the streamer said it would introduce special functions in its app for fans to keep up with the Olympics, and now you can use three interactive features to enjoy some of the biggest events. All coverage lives inside of Peacock’s Olympics hub, which has “curated rails of live and upcoming events, dedicated in-depth hubs for nearly 40 sports, medal standings and an interactive schedule.” Viewers can navigate to the hub that includes an All Sports rail, the ability to search by athlete and these new features spotlighted below. All the added perks are available to any Peacock subscriber, whether you have the ad-supported premium plan or ad-free Premium Plus. And although the streaming service implemented a price increase this month, let us remind you that you may be eligible for a free subscription if you have Xfinity internet service or Instacart Plus. https://lottolenghi.me/experience-watching-the-olympics-with-peacocks-new-interactive-tools/ #ParisOlympic2024 #Paris2024 #SummerOlympics #OlympicGames #ParisOlympics #OlympicTorchRelay #ParisPreparations

Countdown to Paris 2024: Torch Relay Kicks Off as Olympic Fever Grips France As of late July 2024, the Paris Summer Olympics, set to commence on July 26, 2024, are generating significant buzz with several key updates and developments capturing global attention. First and foremost, the Olympic torch relay, which began its journey in Greece, is now making its way through various French cities, creating a festive atmosphere nationwide. The relay, which will conclude at the opening ceremony in Paris, has already been marked by vibrant celebrations and enthusiastic crowds, setting an exciting tone for the games. In terms of infrastructure, Paris has made substantial progress in preparing for the Olympics. The city has invested heavily in upgrading existing venues and constructing new facilities, including the stunning Aquatics Centre and the new Olympic Village, designed to be both environmentally sustainable and technologically advanced. The Paris 2024 organizing committee has emphasized eco-friendliness, with many venues utilizing green energy sources and sustainable materials. Athlete preparations are also in full swing, with numerous national teams conducting their final training camps and trials. A particular highlight is the anticipated debut of several new sports, including breakdancing, which will feature prominently for the first time in Olympic history. The inclusion of these sports has sparked considerable interest, especially among younger audiences. https://paris2024.ai/ #Paris Olympic2024 #Paris2024 #SummerOlympics #OlympicGames #ParisOlympics #OlympicTorchRelay #ParisPreparations