Monday’s key talking points at Paris 2024: Tom Daley, disruptions and muddy waters

Team GB stars Tom Daley and Adam Peaty are awarded silver medals in Day Three of the Paris 2024 Olympics.

The Games hit their stride on Monday with 19 gold medals on offer including five in swimming.

The temperature is set to hit 30 degrees Celsius with clear skies but the hangover from the deluge of rain on Friday and Saturday means the fate of Tuesday’s triathlon in the Seine hangs in the balance.

Muddy conditions in the River Seine

Paris Olympics organisers cancelled the triathlon swimming training session in the Seine river for a second day on Monday, 24 hours before the men’s race, after heavy rain late last week increased both pollution levels and the speed of the current.

A final call on whether Tuesday’s race will go ahead will be made at 4 a.m., based on samples from the river taken 24 hours before.

France has invested some $1.4 billion in new wastewater infrastructure to cut the amounts of sewage flowing into the river, and city authorities have announced plans for three swimming sites to open to the public by June next year.

Tom Daley denied gold by Chinese divers

China has gone into top spot on the medal table after winning the men’s synchronised 10 metre dive, with Yang Hao and Lian Junjie ahead of British veteran Tom Daley and his partner Noah Williams. In shooting Sheng Lihao also brought the Chinese delegation success on Monday, winning his second gold of the games in the men’s 10 metre air rifle.

Japan is in second with wins over the weekend in judo, skateboarding, and fencing.

France gave the home crowds plenty to cheer about with another two golds on Sunday. Pauline Ferrand-Prevot took a high-quality field apart to win the women’s cross-country mountain bike race.

Then world record holder Leon Marchand won the 400 metres individual medley in emphatic style to send fans into delirium at La Defense Arena.

Far-left extremist groups causing disruption in Paris

France suspects members of far-left groups were behind last week’s sabotage of the high-speed rail network just as the Olympic Games were about to begin, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said on Monday.

Saboteurs struck France’s high-speed train network on Friday with pre-dawn attacks on signal substations and cables at critical points, causing travel chaos hours before the opening ceremony.

Algerian judoka accused of intentionally missing weight

Judo’s governing body is to investigate why Algeria’s Messaoud Redouane Dris failed the weigh-in for his under 73 kg bout with Israel’s Tohar Butbul at the Paris Olympics, saying athletes can become "victims of broader political disputes".

The International Judo Federation said Dris arrived for the weight control session on Sunday 10 minutes before the deadline and was found to be 400 grams over the allowed weight limit to compete on Monday.

Adam Peaty unable to break Michael Phelps’ record

Italy’s Nicolo Martinenghi won the men’s 100 metres breaststroke gold on Sunday and ended Adam Peaty’s "three-peat" bid to win the same event at three successive Games.

Peaty, hoping to become only the second male swimmer after retired U.S. great Michael Phelps to perform the triple, had to settle for silver alongside reigning world champion Nic Fink of the United States.

Reuters