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PARIS OLYMPICS 2024: What you need to know right now

olympic games29 July 2024 08:05| © Reuters
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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.

Here's what you need to know about the Olympics on Monday:

MUDDY WATERS

Paris Olympics organisers cancelled the triathlon swimming training session for the second day in a row on Monday, with 24 hours to go until the men's race, after heavy rain affected water quality levels in the Seine.

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.

NO 'THREE-PEAT'

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 US great Michael Phelps to perform the triple, had to settle for silver alongside reigning world champion Nic Fink of the United States.

JAPAN TOP FOR NOW

Japan is sitting top of the medal table after two days of action, with wins in judo, skateboarding, and fencing.

France has given 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 EXTREMISTS IN FRAME FOR RAIL SABOTAGE

France is leaning towards the likelihood that far-left extremists were behind last week's sabotage of the country's SNCF rail network - which coincided with the Olympic Games opening ceremony, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said.

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.

ISRAELI DEATH THREAT PROBE

French police have opened an investigation into death threats against three Israeli athletes at the Games, the Paris' prosecutors office said on Sunday.

Anti-cybercrime officers are also investigating the release of athletes' personal data on social networks on Friday and seeking to have it removed, prosecutors said.

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