Olympic Swimmers Plunge Into Seine, Lyles Eyes Sprint Double

Paris, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 8th Aug, 2024) Olympic marathon swimmers dived into the Seine Thursday with the river deemed clean enough to compete, as US sprinter Noah Lyles hoped to pocket a 200m gold to go with his stunning 100m success.

As the Paris Games builds to a crescendo, LeBron James leads his dream team of US superstars into a semi-final against a Serbia powered by Nikola Jokic, a three-time NBA most valuable player.

After a running saga over the quality of the water in the Seine, 24 women took the plunge for the 10-kilometre marathon swim through the heart of the city.

Sharon van Rouwendaal from the Netherlands won a gruelling battle against her competitors and a strong current in 2hr 3min 34sec, devoting her gold to the memory of her pet dog, Rio, who died in May.

"Swimming is my everything, but so was he... My father said: 'swim one more time and do it for him. And that's what I did'," she added.

Water quality in the Seine has been in the spotlight during the Olympics despite a 1.4-billion-euro ($1.5-billion) effort to improve sewerage and water treatment.