PARIS: A test run meant to allow Olympic athletes to familiarize themselves with the marathon swimming course in the Seine River was canceled Tuesday over concerns about water quality in the Paris waterway.
World Aquatics made the decision to cancel the exercise at an early morning meeting, the organization said in a statement. Fluctuating bacteria levels in the long-polluted waterway have been a constant concern throughout the Games with the swimming portion of the triathlon and the marathon swimming events both planned in the river.
Another marathon swimming test event is scheduled for Wednesday, and organizers will decide early that morning whether it will go forward, the statement said. The women’s marathon swim competition is set for Thursday, while the men are scheduled to race Friday.
The cancelation of Tuesday’s marathon swimming test event comes a day after the triathlon mixed relay event was held in the river that runs through the center of the French capital. World Triathlon released data Tuesday showing that when the triathletes swam Monday, the levels of fecal bacteria E. coli and enterococci were within acceptable levels for the length of the triathlon relay course.
The swimming portion of the triathlon and the marathon swim both start and finish at the Pont Alexandre III, but the marathon swimming course extends farther down the river. Marathon swimmers do six laps on the 1.67-kilometer (1 mile) course for a total of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles.)
Water samples drawn early Monday showed E. coli levels ranging from “good” to “very good” at four collection points in the river, World Aquatics said.
It takes longer to cultivate enterococci samples, so the decision to cancel Tuesday’s test run relied on samples taken Sunday, organizers said. Monday’s enterococci levels were available by midmorning Tuesday and while they showed an improvement in the river’s water quality, one of four tests still fell short of World Aquatics standards.
Under both World Aquatics and World Triathlon guidelines, “good” water quality can include up to 1,000 colony-forming units of E. coli per 100 milliliters and up to 400 colony-forming units of enterococci per 100 milliliters.
A sample taken early Monday at Port du Gros Caillou, which is on the marathon swimming course but is beyond the point where triathletes turned around Monday, showed a level of 436 units of enterococci, data released Tuesday show.
Organizers said they “remain confident” that the marathon swimming events will happen in the Seine as planned based on “a favorable weather forecast and forward-looking analysis.”
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, who took a highly publicized swim in the Seine last month to allay fears about water quality ahead of the Olympics, echoed that confidence.
“We will of course wait to get the results of the water quality but the event will take place because there’s been a clear improvement of the weather these past few days,” she said. “So I’m really proud and happy and to all those who want to continue saying it’s impossible to depollute a river, I tell them, ‘Yes it’s possible, we did it.’”
With a few exceptions, swimming in the Seine has been prohibited since 1923 because the water has been too toxic. Paris undertook ambitious plan, including 1.4 billion euros ($1.5 billion) in infrastructure improvements to ensure that some swimming events could be held in the river. That included the construction of a giant basin to capture excess rainwater and keep wastewater from flowing into the river, renovating sewer infrastructure and upgrading wastewater treatment plants.
Water quality in the Seine is closely linked to the weather. Heavy rains can cause wastewater and runoff to flow into the river, resulting in elevated bacteria levels, while warm temperatures and the sun’s ultraviolet rays can kill the germs and lower levels.
While the weather has mostly been hot and sunny during the Games, there have been several instances of drenching rains. Water quality concerns caused the cancelation of test swims in the Seine ahead of both the individual triathlon and triathlon mixed relay events and led to the postponement by a day of the men’s individual triathlon.
Four triathletes — of the more than 100 who competed in the men’s and women’s individual races last week — became sick in the following days, though it’s unclear whether the water was to blame.
Most strains of E. coli and enterococci are harmless, and some live in the intestines of healthy people and animals. But others are dangerous and even a mouthful of contaminated water can cause infections in the urinary tract or intestines. Several factors determine whether a person falls ill after exposure, chief among them a person’s age and general health.
Olympic marathon swim test run is canceled over water quality concerns for Seine River
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Olympic marathon swim test run is canceled over water quality concerns for Seine River
- World Aquatics made the decision to cancel the exercise at an early morning meeting, the organization said in a statement
- Another marathon swimming test event is scheduled for Wednesday, and organizers will decide early that morning whether it will go forward
Amorim after his shocking claim about Man United: ‘I won’t promise I won’t do it again’
- “If you want, I can be delusional and say different things,” Amorim said
- Amorim’s shocking comment came after a 3-1 home loss to Brighton in the Premier League on Sunday
MANCHESTER: Ruben Amorim has acknowledged he might have made a mistake when he went public in describing his team as “the worst, maybe, in the history of Manchester United.”
Just don’t expect him to hold back his opinions going forward.
“If you want, I can be delusional and say different things,” Amorim said Wednesday at his first news conference since his remark that captured headlines and widespread attention.
“I say it as I saw it. I said it to the players and I said to you,” he told reporters. “I think it’s a good thing to be honest. If you want me to say different things — you saw one thing, I saw one thing — I can start to do that. It’s easier for me. But what I’m seeing, they know. If you are in the stadium, you can understand. Let’s face it and work on it.”
Amorim’s shocking comment came after a 3-1 home loss to Brighton in the Premier League on Sunday.
It was a fourth loss in United’s last five home games in the league, and a seventh defeat in 15 games in all competitions since Amorim took charge in November as the replacement for Erik ten Hag.
United, the record 20-time English champion, are 13th in the 20-team Premier League and closer to the relegation zone than the European qualification spots after 22 of 38 games.
Amorim denied that he was shifting blame toward his players. The 39-year-old Portuguese coach said: “I am (most) responsible for the performances and the results.
“I am a young guy and sometimes I make a mistake. This time I needed to talk. Maybe it was a mistake and I get more nervous and go to the (media) conference really nervous, and then you say things you shouldn’t say … I won’t promise I won’t do it again but I will try to improve.”
Amorim was speaking ahead of United’s Europa League game against Scottish rival Rangers at Old Trafford on Thursday. He said his players were “more nervous” and “anxious” playing at home and that was making it harder for the team to pick up results.
“If you have a little inexperience when you fall into this type of context, it’s hard to go up — especially when you are in a massive club,” Amorim said.
“That was my only point in saying it after that loss. The way I do it? Maybe not but it is what it is. I am like that all the time.”
Australian Open: Ben Shelton will face defending champion Jannik Sinner in the semifinals
- “I’m relieved,” said Shelton, who will meet No. 1 Jannik Sinner of Italy on Friday
- Sinner looked and played much better than he did — hand trembling, head dizzy — during a four-set struggle against Holger Rune in the fourth round
MELBOURNE: Ben Shelton’s Australian Open quarterfinal foe, Lorenzo Sonego, produced the shot of the tournament — diving to his left for a volley with so much spin that the ball bounced on one side of the net, then floated back over to the other — but it was the American who ended up with the victory Wednesday.
The left-handed Shelton did some entertaining of his own, including earning cheers by doing a couple of push-ups after tumbling in the concluding tiebreaker, and he reached his second Grand Slam semifinal at age 22 by beating the unseeded Sonego 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (4).
“I’m relieved,” said Shelton, who will meet No. 1 Jannik Sinner of Italy on Friday for a spot in the final. “Shout out Lorenzo Sonego because that was some ridiculous tennis.”
Sinner, the defending champion at Melbourne Park, completely overwhelmed the last Australian in the men’s bracket, No. 8 Alex de Minaur, 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 at night.
“It’s been too many times playing him and seeing the same thing. So I’m not even surprised anymore when I face him,” said de Minaur, who is now 0-10 against Sinner over their careers. “Matches like these happen.”
Sinner looked and played much better than he did — hand trembling, head dizzy — during a four-set struggle against Holger Rune in the fourth round. After giving himself a bit of a break on Tuesday, sleeping in and only hitting on court for about 30 or 40 minutes, Sinner said his body was much better.
“For sure, was (my) best match of the tournament so far,” said Sinner, who stretched his unbeaten winning streak to 19 matches dating back to last season.
Shelton, who is seeded 21st, closed the first set against Sonego with a 144 mph (232 kph) ace, tied for the fastest serve over the past 1 1/2 weeks, and flexed his left arm after smacking a powerful forehand to close a 22-stroke point and earn a break in the second. His father Bryan, a former tour pro who is Ben’s coach, grinned, too, while patting his own right biceps.
A few points from the end, Shelton sprinted to get his racket on a seemingly unreachable ball, and fell into a courtside advertising board as Sonego hit an easy winner to take the point.
Shelton stayed on the ground for a bit, then earned applause for his effort — and post-fall calisthenics.
When Shelton closed things with a 26th forehand winner — he had zero via backhands — he flexed again and sneered until his expression morphed into a smile.
At his news conference, Shelton offered some unprompted comments critical of some of the people handling on-court post-match interviews.
As good as Shelton is with his serves and forehands, his improving return game is a significant part of what carried him to the final four at the Australian Open for the first time.
He did just enough in that department, accumulating 11 break points and converting three, against Sonego, an Italian ranked 55th. Shelton entered the match coming through on 52 percent of his break chances, the highest rate among the eight men’s quarterfinalists.
Shelton lost to Novak Djokovic in the 2023 US Open semifinals.
The other semifinal will be Djokovic vs. No. 2 Alexander Zverev. Djokovic continued his pursuit of an 11th Australian Open title, and unprecedented 25th major trophy, by overcoming a leg injury and Carlos Alcaraz 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 in a quarterfinal that began Tuesday night and ended at nearly 1 a.m. on Wednesday.
The women’s semifinals Thursday night are No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, the tournament winner in each of the last two years, against No. 11 Paula Badosa, and No. 2 Iga Swiatek against No. 19 Madison Keys.
The crowd-pleasing factor was high for Shelton vs. Sonego, who never before had made it this far at a major.
Sonego went 67-for-90 on trips to the net, and his highlight-reel volley came at the outset of the second set. It was so remarkable that Shelton acknowledged the effort by offering a congratulatory handshake.
There was another terrific shot by Sonego in the fourth set, when he raced with his back to the net and spun to hit a hook shot of sorts that resulted in a winner.
It’s Shelton, though, who will get to keep playing in Melbourne this year.
Lewis Hamilton waves to fans as he drives a Ferrari F1 car for the first time
- Hamilton was behind the wheel of a 2023-specification Ferrari SF-23 bearing his racing number, 44, at the team’s Fiorano test track
- The 40-year-old British driver set out for his first lap at 9:16 a.m. local time in light fog and twice waved to a crowd of around 1,000 spectators
MODENA, Italy: Lewis Hamilton greeted a crowd of waiting fans on Wednesday as he drove a Ferrari Formula 1 car for the first time since joining the Italian team for the 2025 season.
Hamilton was behind the wheel of a 2023-specification Ferrari SF-23 bearing his racing number, 44, at the team’s Fiorano test track, and wore a new helmet design in yellow with a prominent Prancing Horse logo.
The 40-year-old British driver set out for his first lap at 9:16 a.m. local time in light fog and twice waved to a crowd of around 1,000 spectators, who had gathered on a nearby bridge despite the cold and wet weather.
Part-way through the day, Hamilton headed over to fans who had waited for hours in the wet conditions since early morning for a glimpse of him behind the wheel. Wearing a jacket in Ferrari red, he waved, gave a thumbs-up gesture and put a hand to his heart.
There was excitement Wednesday from one of Italy’s biggest sports stars, too.
After reaching the semifinals at the Australian Open, top-ranked tennis player Jannik Sinner was asked by an Italian reporter if he had seen anything on social media about Hamilton’s Ferrari debut.
“It’s still pretty strange to see him in red,” Sinner said, “but it’ll be a great season.”
Hamilton has shaken up F1 with his move to Ferrari after 12 years with Mercedes, where he won six of his seven world titles. He has said he’s fulfilling a childhood dream.
“I’ve been lucky enough to have achieved things in my career I never thought possible, but part of me has always held on to that dream of racing in red. I couldn’t be happier to realize that dream today,” he said Monday after arriving at Ferrari’s Maranello headquarters for his first day at work with the new team.
F1 tightly restricts teams from testing current-specification cars but the rules are more loose for older cars like the SF-23 that Hamilton drove Wednesday. The F1 regulations for 2025 allow Hamilton to drive up to 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) over four days in older F1 cars under the “testing of previous cars” rule. The SF-23 is the most recent Ferrari that’s eligible.
Pre-season testing for the new season’s cars is from Feb. 26 through 28 in Bahrain.
India win toss and bowl first against England in first T20 as fit-again Shami left out
- India is the reigning world champion at the T20 format
KOLKATA: India won the toss and chose to bowl first in the series-opening T20 against England’s cricketers in Kolkata on Wednesday.
Mohammed Shami missed out for India despite the fast bowler being available after more than a year on the sidelines.
India is the reigning world champion at the T20 format.
It is Brendon McCullum’s first white-ball match since becoming England’s all-format coach.
Teams:
India: Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Azar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy.
England: Phil Salt, Ben Duckett, Jos Buttler, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell, Jamie Overton, Gus Atkinson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood.
Struggling Dortmund sack coach Sahin after four-game losing run in 2025
- “Borussia Dortmund have released head coach Nuri Sahin with immediate effect,” said the club
- Dortmund said current Under-19 coach Mike Tullberg would be in charge
BERLIN: Borussia Dortmund have fired coach Nuri Sahin, the German soccer club said on Wednesday, after Tuesday’s shock 2-1 loss to Bologna in the Champions League that stretched their losing run to four games across all competitions.
“Borussia Dortmund have released head coach Nuri Sahin with immediate effect following an internal analysis of recent sporting developments,” said the club in a statement.
The Ruhr valley club, last year’s Champions League finalists, conceded two goals in two minutes in the second half against the Italians after taking a 15th minute lead.
They have also lost all three league matches in 2025, dropping down to 10th place in the Bundesliga and putting their participation next season in Europe’s premier club competition at risk.
“After four defeats in a row and only one win from the last nine games ... we have unfortunately lost faith in being able to achieve our sporting goals in the current constellation,” Dortmund managing director Lars Ricken said in the statement.
“This decision also hurts me personally, but it was no longer avoidable after the game in Bologna.”
Dortmund said current Under-19 coach Mike Tullberg would be in charge for their league game against Werder Bremen on Saturday.
Sahin, 36, leaves the club just a little over half a year after being appointed to replace Edin Terzic as the new coach.
The German-born former Türkiye international was a former youth and senior player at the club. He became an assistant coach at Dortmund in 2024 after a two-year coaching spell at Türkiye’s Antalyaspor. He had signed a contract to 2027.
