Olympics day 13 early wrap: Van Rouwendaal wins swim marathon in Seine, India get hockey medal

There were medals in the women's swimming marathon, hockey, table tennis and climbing in the early action on day 13 of the 2024 Paris Olympics on Thursday:

Swimming: Netherlands' Van Rouwendaal wins marathon gold after slog through Seine

Netherlands' ironwoman Sharon van Rouwendaal claimed her second Olympic women's 10km marathon swimming gold as she snatched victory from her Australian friend and training partner Moesha Johnson in the long slog through the river Seine on Thursday.

The 30-year-old Van Rouwendaal has now medalled at three straight Games after the 2016 champion won silver in Tokyo, making her the most accomplished open-water swimmer at Olympics.

She bided her time before striking late in the final leg upstream, swimming close by a pylon at the Pont des Invalides where the current was weaker before powering past Johnson.

She held on to finish first after a lung-busting two hours, three minutes and 34.2 seconds, 5.5 seconds ahead of Johnson.

Ginevra Taddeucci won the bronze for Italy in 2:03.42.8.

Van Rouwendaal was grief-stricken after her dog died in May and lost interest in swimming for a few weeks before her father convinced her to race.

“My dad said you’ve been away from him for seven years during competitions. Just give it one more race, give it everything and swim for him,” she said.

“So I had a tattoo three days later after the cremation. And I was like, 'Let’s try it and I’ll swim for him with my whole heart'. And I did, I won for him.”

Johnson was thrilled with her silver and said she had no regrets about how the race ended.

“Sharon's my best friend, also the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) of the sport, so to be right up there with her sharing that podium, it's like more than a dream come true,” she said.

“I took my line, stuck to it ... I committed and I'm happy with my decision. I still got silver.”

The race went ahead as scheduled after organisers said the water quality in the river flowing through Paris had met acceptable thresholds.

The swimmers dived off a pontoon by the Alexandre III bridge right on schedule and swam furiously toward the Pont de l'Alma on a 1.67km loop to be completed six times between the bridges.

They flew downriver with the current but had to slog their way upriver on each of the return legs, hugging the banks to try to minimise the force of strong currents.

Johnson rounded the first lap in front, conceded the lead to Van Rouwendaal but won it back downstream on lap four.

The pair were joined by Taddeucci in a three-woman breakaway and blew out the gap to the rest of the field by more than 30 seconds before the wily Van Rouwendaal's late burst saw her take control.

Brazil's Ana Marcela Cunha, who pipped Van Rouwendaal to gold in Tokyo three years ago, finished fourth.

The men race on Friday but the completion of the women's event without any apparent incident will have been a relief for city officials who have staked so much on cleaning up the urban waterway.

French authorities spent 1.4 billion euros ($1.5 billion) on upgrading the city's sewage systems, promising the river would be clean for residents to swim in by next summer.

However, water quality issues proved a headache during the triathlon events, with familiarisation sessions cancelled and the men's race postponed by 24 hours.

Taddeucci brushed off concerns about feeling ill post-race.

“Of course I've swum in better places, and I was only caring about not feeling sick, but it was fine,” said the Italian.

Hockey: India beat Spain to secure second consecutive bronze medal

India beat Spain 2-1 to win bronze in men's hockey at the Paris Olympics on Thursday as skipper Harmanpreet Singh scored twice to put his side in front after they fell behind in a tournament where his heroics proved decisive in all of their wins.

The win gave India's their second consecutive bronze medal as part of a 13-medal haul for the once dominant side that won gold for six Games in a row from 1928 to 1956.

India goalkeeper PR Sreejesh was another driving force alongside their captain in his last international tournament, helping to turn away all but one of Spain's 15 shots, including a pair of saves in the closing minutes.

“You know, there's God's hand for the football, and this is how God always keeps it for me. The last save, again the same way. I'll celebrate that,” Sreejesh, 36, told Reuters.

“What else do you want in your life? It's not an ordinary stadium, it's an Olympic stadium. And a medal, that's great.

“And I think for the last 24 years, what I've done, I dedicated my entire career to this game, and I think this is the best way to send me off by these guys.”

Indian businessman Mukesh Ambani, the 11th richest person in the world according to Forbes, was in the stands to support the Indians as chants of “India! India!” rang out during the match.

Spain opened the scoring in the 18th minute when skipper Marc Miralles put a penalty shot past Sreejesh after Manpreet Singh obstructed fellow midfielder Gerard Clapes in the circle.

Spain keeper Luis Calzado stretched to deflect a dragflick by Harmanpreet less than two minutes before the end of the first half. Harmanpreet would not be denied, though, and scored with 15 seconds left on the clock on another penalty corner.

The second half opened with Harmanpreet netting the go-ahead goal on a penalty corner in the 33rd minute, his 10th goal at the Games giving him a clear lead as tournament top scorer.

India kept a tight defence and shut down Spain's attack for most of the second half. The physical contest saw several players from both sides helped off the field after collisions.

Spain took off Calzado in the 56th so substitute forward Borja Lacalle could come on as they tried to find an equaliser.

The Spaniards dominated possession towards the end but were unable to score as Sreejesh stood tall for India, making several key saves off penalty corners in the closing minutes.

Table tennis: China's teams march into finals with eyes on a gold-medal sweep

China's men and women reached the table tennis team finals at the Paris Olympics on Thursday, with their sights set on winning the last two gold medals to complete a sweep of the five on offer at the Games.

China's women easily overcame South Korea in a one-sided match, with Korea surprisingly not using their best singles player, Shin Yu-bin, in the first singles match at South Paris Arena.

World number one Sun Yingsha dominated Lee Eun-hye, winning three straightforward games and allowing her opponent to score only nine points in total. This was followed by another win from Wang Manyu, who defeated Jeon Ji-hee and limited her to just three points in the final game.

“No matter what order they play in, it's the same for us,” said Chen.

Earlier in the day, China's men's met a bit more resistance, beating hosts France with a 3-0 score that belied the close nature of the matches that captivated a packed stadium of French and Chinese fans.

From the start, French duo Alexis Lebrun and Simon Gauzy put pressure on China's top players Ma Long and Wang Chuqin and got to an 11-11 tie, but the Chinese seized match point and took the game 13-11 and then the match 3-0 to reach the final against Sweden.

Lebrun's 17-year-old brother Felix, who had lost 4-0 to Fan Zhendong in the men's singles semifinals, managed to switch things up when the two met again and play a better game. He kept it tied until 11-11 in the second game and took the third game 11-8.

In the fourth game, Felix delayed his opponent's victory as much as possible with some incredible saves, earning loud cheers. Eventually, Fan won 16-14, far beyond the usual 11 points required to win a game.

“I think today was our best performance. We lost 3-0 but we all played great today, so I hope we can play even better tomorrow,” said Felix, whose team will face Japan in the bronze-medal match on Friday.

Alexis, 20, also played an impressive match against world number one Wang Chuqin, involving many spectacular lobs. He won multiple points by disrupting Wang's rhythm and forcing errors, taking the first game 11-7.

Wang then regained his footing and took three games in a row, limiting Alexis to just one point in the last game.

“His lobs were quite threatening and I became a bit anxious, worried that he might switch to an offensive play,” said Wang. “I lost some patience but as the match went on, I gradually became more comfortable with those high balls, so I started to get a better feel for the flow of the game.”.

Despite table tennis not being a top sport in the country, Thursday's men's match was widely broadcast on French television and streaming services. The French players are not only gaining more fans at home but are also earning praise and causing concern among the Chinese team.

“They're already one of our strongest opponents, especially judging from their performance in this match. Whether it's Simon or the Lebrun brothers, they are all relatively young, making them one of the best teams in the world,” said China's Ma, one of the most decorated players in the sport.

Germany and Japan were playing in the second women's semifinal later on Thursday.

Climbing: Indonesia's Leonardo upsets American Watson to win speed gold

Indonesia's Veddriq Leonardo won a gold medal in the men's speed climbing at the Paris Games on Thursday in a historic Olympic title for his country, while American Sam Watson walked away with a bronze despite setting a world record in his last race.

Leonardo, 27, improved his time with each race starting with the quarterfinal, ultimately beating China's Wu Peng by two hundredths of a second with a personal best of 4.75 seconds.

His win gave speed-climbing powerhouse Indonesia their first Olympic gold in a sport other than badminton, and only their ninth since the country's first appearance at the Games in 1952.

In a cruel twist of fate for Watson, his best performance on Thursday came in his final sprint up the 15m wall for the bronze medal, when he beat Iran's Reza Alipour.

As the clock flashed a world record of 4.74 seconds, the 18-year-old remained stone-faced knowing the title had been his to lose after setting the previous world mark of 4.75 two days ago.

But the day belonged to Leonardo, a three-time World Cup champion and the first speed climber to break the five-second barrier.

In the women's lead semifinal, Slovenia's sport climbing great and defending champion Janja Garnbret soared to an event-best 96.1 points, adding to her near-perfect boulder result two days ago to take her to the final atop the leader board.

In the lead event, athletes have six minutes to climb as high as possible up a 15m structure in a single attempt, racking up points with every hold reached.

The wall is at a 42-degree reverse incline in the steepest zone and its profile is unique in every competition.

Athletes' scores from the lead and boulder events are added up to determine the best eight who advance to the final.

Japan's Ai Mori, 20, was the only climber to match the Slovenian in lead, earning her a standing ovation from the sold-out crowd.

Her progress to the final meant a changing of the guard for Japan, with 27-year-old Tokyo silver medallist Miho Nonaka just missing out on the top eight.

Another surprise elimination was American Natalia Grossman, while compatriot Brooke Raboutou went through in third place in her second attempt to win an Olympic medal. 

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