A gold medal from the 1904 St. Louis Olympics, awarded to the 110-meter hurdles champion, is being auctioned as part of a collection featuring hundreds of Olympic memorabilia spanning decades, reports AP. The medal, inscribed with “Olympiad, 1904,” depicts a victorious athlete holding a wreath on one side and Nike, the ancient Greek goddess of victory, alongside Zeus on the other, with an engraving specifying the hurdles event. Awarded to American athlete Fred Schule, it comes with its original ribbon and leather case. This marked the first Olympics where gold medals were introduced, with the U.S. dominating by winning 78 of 96 events. Unlike modern Olympic gold medals, which are primarily silver with gold plating, these were smaller and crafted entirely from gold. Billie Eilish, Snoop Dogg and Red Hot Chili Peppers to perform at Paris Olympics' closing ceremony Bobby Eaton, an Olympic memorabilia specialist at Boston-based RR Auction, highlighted the rarity of such medals, noting that few of the roughly 100 awarded in 1904 remain, as many have been lost or are held in private collections and museums. The 1904 Games, remembered for both achievements and controversies, were initially set for Chicago but were moved to St. Louis after disputes with the World’s Fair organizers, who threatened to hold their own competing athletic events. The marathon was marred by scandal when Fred Lorz, initially thought to be the winner, was found to have traveled part of the race by car. Additionally, “Anthropology Days” saw indigenous tribes competing without prior notice as part of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. The event also introduced boxing and freestyle wrestling to the Olympics, alongside now-defunct events like croquet and tug-of-war. “These medals are more than symbols of competition; they represent the early days of the modern Olympics,” Eaton remarked, describing the auction as a rare opportunity for collectors. The auction also features other Olympic treasures, including a bronze medal from the 2024 Paris Olympics and gold medals from the 1932 Los Angeles, 1964 Tokyo, 1998 Nagano, and 2012 London Games. IOC president Thomas Bach plans to leave office next year. He says the Olympics needs a change Olympic memorabilia continues to attract high prices. In recent years, Luz Long’s 1936 Berlin Olympics silver medal sold for over $488,000, while a silver medal from the first modern Olympics in 1896 fetched $180,111 in 2021. More recently, Yuri Cheban of Ukraine sold his medals to support the war effort, and Ryan Lochte auctioned six of his medals for charity, retaining only his golds. Looking ahead, the Summer Olympics will return to Los Angeles in 2028, marking its third time hosting, after 1932 and 1984.

The Max Group 33rd National Swimming, Diving and Waterpolo Championship’2024 , organized by Bangladesh Swimming Federation (BSF) and sponsored by Max Group, begins on Saturday (November 9) at the Syed Nazmul Islam National Swimming Complex in Mirpur. BSF Senior Vice President and Chairman of the Max Group Engineer Golam Mohammad Alamgir will inaugurate the four-day meet on Saturday afternoon. Tournament’s sponsor Max Group will bear the entire expenses of the meet. Some 550 athletes and 185 officials from 52 teams including, different divisions, district, Army, Navy, Air Force, BKSP, BGB, Police, Ansar and swimming clubs will participate in 38 swimming (19 each for the male and female), three diving and one waterpolo event of the meet. The details of the meet disclosed by acting general secretary of the Swimming Federation M. Salim Miah at a press conference at the Dutch Bangla auditorium of the Bangladesh Olympic Association here on Thursday. Representative of the Max Group Ibrahim Khalil Palash was also present of the occasion. BSF president and Chief of Bangladesh Navy Admiral M Nazmul Hasan will be the chief guest at the closing and prize distribution ceremony on Tuesday (November 12). The champions, runners-up teams, the best male and female athletes of the meet will be awarded with trophies.

Alexander Zverev advanced to the semifinals of the Paris Masters by beating Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-5, 6-4 on Friday and knocking the Greek player out of contention for the ATP Finals. The third-seeded German saved the only break point he faced. Zverev, the French Open runner-up, next faces 2022 champion Holger Rune for a shot at the title. He's into his third Paris semifinals in the past four years, though he's never won the hard-court tournament. The first break point opportunity came in the 11th game as Tsitsipas struggled with his first serve. Zverev got the break for 6-5 on an unforced error. Tsitsipas then saved two set points but squandered his only break point chance with his 17th unforced error before Zverev closed out the set. Zverev broke again in the third game of the second set to take full control. He rattled off 12 straight points in his final three service games. With the victory, Zverev became the first player born in the 1990s to record 100 wins over top-20 players. Daniil Medvedev is on 99. The 10th-seeded Tsitsipas, who reached the ATP Finals for five consecutive years, had 28 unforced errors to 18 winners. Rune outlasted Alex de Minaur 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 in a 2 1/2-hour baseline fight. Rune improved to 3-2 against the Australian. Later Friday, home favorite Ugo Humbert will face Australia's Jordan Thompson, a day after the Frenchman stunned Carlos Alcaraz. The nightcap pits eighth-seeded Grigor Dimitrov against 2018 champion Karen Khachanov. Top-ranked Jannik Sinner pulled out of the Paris Masters, as did the record seven-time champion Novak Djokovic. The ATP Finals in Turin start on Nov. 10.

Top-ranked Jannik Sinner beat Novak Djokovic in straight sets to win the Shanghai Masters on Sunday. The Italian bettered the 24-time Grand Slam champion 7-6 (4), 6-3. Sinner hit eight aces and 22 winners to four and 12, respectively, for Djokovic. Sinner never faced a break point. 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal will retire from tennis after next month's Davis Cup finals Djokovic was aiming for his 100th tour-level title. Only Jimmy Connors with 109 titles and Roger Federer with 103 have hit the century mark in men’s tennis. Wuhan Open Second-ranked Aryna Sabalenka rallied from a slow start to beat an in-form Coco Gauff 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the semifinals to advance to her third straight Wuhan final and preserve her perfect record at the tournament. Sabalenka will face seventh-ranked Zheng Qinwen in the final. The Paris Olympics champion beat No. 51-ranked Wang Xinyu 6-3, 6-4. Sabalenka will be bidding for her fourth title of the season, which includes the Australian Open and U.S. Open. The Belarussian's 16th straight victory at Wuhan ended Gauff's own recent win streak at nine, including the China Open title last week. But it looked anything but certain for Sabalenka as she crashed 6-1 in the opening set. "In the first set she was just crushing it,” Sabalenka said. “Whatever she was doing, everything was flying in. Everything was so aggressive. I didn’t have much opportunities.” In a fight between the last two U.S. Open champions, Gauff led by a break early in the second but Sabalenka responded to pull level at 4-4 and saved a break point on serve to take a 5-4 lead. Serving to stay in the set, Gauff was broken as Sabalenka hit a lunging forehand volley to force a deciding set. Chess Star Rani Hamid: The Pride of Bangladesh The Belarussian carried her momentum into the third, extending her streak to seven games for a 3-0 lead. Gauff fought back to level at 4-4, but Sabalenka held strong to halt Gauff’s run. Sabalenka broke once more after Gauff hit her season-worst 21st double fault on match point, ending the 2 1/2-hour match. “I know what she’s going through. This is really difficult,” said Sabalenka, who had issues on her serve in the past. "But I know that if she’ll be able to overcome this serve situation, I’m pretty sure she’s going to be one of the greatest players.”

Just weeks after hosting the Olympics, the summer of sports in Paris begins its final chapter Wednesday with the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games. More than 4,000 athletes with physical, visual and intellectual impairments will compete in 22 sports over the next 11 days. Organizers are promising a spectacular show to open the Games. Once again it's being held outside the confines of a stadium, but unlike the Olympic opening ceremony, which featured a boat parade on the Seine River, the Paralympic ceremony is happening exclusively on land, with athletes parading down the famous Champs-Elysées to the ceremony at the Place de la Concorde. Artistic director Thomas Jolly, who also led the opening ceremony for the Olympics, said the event will “showcase the Paralympic athletes and the values that they embody", and promised “performances that have never been seen before." Organizers say more than 2 million tickets have been sold for the Paris Paralympics. Competition begins Thursday with the first medals handed out in taekwondo, table tennis and track cycling. Athletes are grouped by impairment levels to ensure as level a playing field as possible. Only two sports on the program, goalball and boccia, don't have an Olympic equivalent. International Paralympic Committee President Andrew Parsons said that the big crowds expected in Paris will mean a lot to the athletes, many of whom competed in front of empty stands at the Tokyo Paralympics three years ago due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “As our ambition is to be perceived and understood as the most transformational sport event on the planet, by having this atmosphere, it’s important," he told The Associated Press on the eve of the opening ceremony.

Five-time Olympic medalist Tom Daley announced his retirement from diving on Monday. Daley told British Vogue magazine he had decided to call time on his career. The 30-year-old British diver competed at five Games, making his debut at Beijing 2008 and winning gold and bronze in Tokyo, silver in Paris and bronzes at London 2012 and Rio 2016. Daley, who claimed his fifth Olympic medal in the 10m synchronised event in Paris last month, said in the interview: “It feels very, very surreal. I felt so incredibly nervous going into this, knowing it was my last Olympics.” “There was a lot of pressure and expectations. I was eager for it to be done. But when I walked out and saw my husband (Lance) and kids (Robbie and Phoenix) and my friends and family in the audience, I was like, you know what? This is exactly why I did this. “It was emotional at the end, up there on the platform, knowing it was going to be my last competitive dive. “But I have to make the decision at some point, and it feels like the right time. It’s the right time to call it a day.” Daley's gold came in the 10m synchronised event in Tokyo in 2021 alongside Matty Lee. He was back to defend his title in Paris after being convinced by his son Robbie to return to the sport. Daley won silver in the French capital alongside Noah Williams. China took gold.  

Refugee breaker Manizha Talash, or “b-girl Talash,” was disqualified from the first-ever Olympic breaking competition on Friday, after she wore a cape that said “Free Afghan Women" during her pre-qualifier battle against India Sardjoe — known as “b-girl India." The 21-year-old, originally from Afghanistan and representing the Olympic Refugee, team lost in the pre-qualifier battle against Sardjoe, and would not have advanced even if she hadn't been disqualified. Political statements and slogans are banned on the field of play and on podiums at the Olympics. World DanceSport Federation, the governing body for breaking at the Olympics, issued a statement afterward that said she "was disqualified for displaying a political slogan on her attire during the Pre-Qualifier battle.” Talash sought asylum in Spain after fleeing Taliban rule in her home country in 2021. “I’m here because I want to reach my dream. Not because I’m scared,” she told The Associated Press before the Olympics from Spain, where she was granted asylum. The one-off pre-qualifier battle between Talash and Sardjoe was added in May, when Talash was included in the Olympic roster after the b-girl from Afghanistan missed registration for qualifying events. The International Olympic Committee’s executive board invited her to participate after learning of her efforts to defy the strict rule of the Taliban in her home country.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo awarded Ukrainian athletes on Thursday with the Grand Vermeil Medal, the French capital’s highest distinction, as a move of solidarity during the 2024 Olympics. “I can imagine today both your sadness and your pride,” Hidalgo said. “The sadness of knowing that your country is still being attacked and is at war, that many of your friends, your relatives are on the front lines and fighting.” Ukrainian rower Anastasiia Kozhenkova and diver Oleksii Sereda received the medal on behalf of all Ukrainian athletes, and both already have finished their Olympic competitions. They led a group of other Ukrainian athletes who attended the reception at Paris' imposing City Hall. The athletes who won two of the country’s Olympic medals so far – bronze in women’s individual saber fencing and silver in men’s 50-meter rifle – were not at the event. The reception started with a minute of silence to honor those killed in Russia's war. Ukrainian Olympians stood still, mostly looking down. A screen hung above the stage showing photos of coaches and athletes who were killed over the past two years. It was dubbed “heaven’s team.” Ukrainian acting sports minister Matvii Bidnyi thanked Hidalgo for the support France has provided to Ukrainian athletes. Recently, the first-ever Ukrainian house opened, made possible thanks to French support. Many of the athletes at the event had finished their Olympic competitions. Another Ukrainian rower, Kateryna Dudchenko said she hoped to perform better at her first Games. The women's team placed fifth in quadruple sculls Wednesday. “Unfortunately, something went wrong, and we didn’t have enough strength at the finish because our competitors turned out to be stronger and they overtook us,” she said. “But I think that right now, for the country, the fact that we are here, that the team is participating, that we are representing our country, is already a victory.” Hidalgo, during her last visit to Ukraine, said the athletes would be welcomed as heroes in Paris. “And it’s very, very nice and very emotional for me to see that in France and the Parisian people during the opening ceremony celebrating the Ukrainian athletes as heroes,” the mayor said.

The men's Olympic triathlon planned for Tuesday has been postponed over concerns about water quality in Paris' Seine River, where the swimming portion of the race was supposed to take place. Organizers said they will try to hold the men's triathlon Wednesday instead. The women's competition is also scheduled on Wednesday, but both are subject to water tests. A risk of storms in the forecast for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings could complicate rescheduling the events. Heavy rains generally cause levels of E. coli and other bacteria in the Seine to rise. Paris experienced a downpour during the Olympic opening ceremony Friday, with rain continuing into Saturday. The swimming portion of training events meant to let the triathletes familiarize themselves with the course was canceled on both Sunday and Monday because of concerns over water quality. The decision to postpone the men's triathlon followed a meeting early Tuesday morning that included the sport’s governing body, World Triathlon, its medical team and city officials. The event is now scheduled to start at 10:45 a.m., which may make heat a factor. Wednesday's high temperature is forecast to be 95 F (35 C), and the event may be finishing at the hottest part of the day. Organizers and city officials had expressed confidence that bacteria levels would improve as skies cleared and temperatures warmed in the days that followed, but that apparently wasn't sufficient to ensure the athletes' safety. Paris made an enormous effort to improve the water quality in the long-polluted Seine so the swimming portion of the triathlon and the marathon swimming event in August could be held in the famed river that runs through the city center. But bacteria levels have remained in flux. Daily water quality tests measure levels of fecal bacteria known as E. coli, with a safe limit of 900 colony-forming units per 100 milliliters determined by European rules. Monitoring group Eau de Paris releases data each Friday, but it is updated only through the previous Tuesday. High levels of E. coli in water can indicate contamination from sewage. Most strains are harmless and some live in the intestines of healthy people and animals. But others can be dangerous. Even a mouthful of contaminated water can lead to diarrhea, and the germ can cause illnesses such as infections in the urinary tract or in the intestines. Efforts to make the river suitable for swimming cost 1.4 billion euros ($1.5 billion). They include 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. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo very publicly took a swim in the river two weeks ago, along with Paris 2024 chief Tony Estanguet, and the top government official for the Paris region, Marc Guillaume, along with swimmers from local swimming clubs. Data released last week show that E. coli levels at the Bras Marie were at 985 units per 100 milliliters that day, slightly above the established threshold. Other swimming events planned in the Seine are the triathlon mixed relay on Aug. 5 and the women's and men's marathon swimming events on Aug. 8 and Aug. 9.

Bangladeshi shooter Mohammad Robiul Islam will compete in the qualifying round of the men's 10-meter air rifles of the Paris Olympics' 2024 Shooting at the Chateauroux Shooting Complex on Sunday (July 28). He will be the 2nd Bangladeshi athlete to appear in the ongoing Paris Olympics after teenager archer M Sagor Islam. Bangladesh started their campaign in the 33rd Olympic Games, Paris 2024, with archer Sagor Islam competing in the ranking round of the  men's recurve singles last Thursday.  Archer Sagor Islam, who directly qualified for the Olympics as the 3rd Bangladeshi athlete after golfer Siddikur Rahman and archer Ruman Shana, ranked 45th among 64 archers scoring 652 in the ranking round of the games men's recurve singles archery on Thursday. Event's Olympics gold medalist South Korean archer Kim Woo-Jin finished top in the ranking round scoring 686.  Archer Sagor was in the top 10 position after throwing first 30 arrows, but failed to finish as per expectation, scoring zero in the last attempt. Sagor Islam will compete in the men's individual elimination round (Round of 1/32) against the Tokyo Olympics 2021 silver medalist Mauro Nespoli on Tuesday (July 30) at the same venue.  Thirty-two archers will qualify for the next round of the event on Tuesday. Besides, Swimmer Samiul Islam Rafi of Bangladesh will compete in the men's 100- meter freestyle heats at the Paris La Defense Arena also on Tuesday (July 30).  Another Bangladesh swimmer Sonia Khatun will compete in the women's 50-meter freestyle heats at the same venue on August 3. Bangladeshi fastest man Imranur Rahman will compete in men's 100-meter sprint heats on the following day (August 4) at the Stade de France. A 13-member contingent, consisting of five athletes and eight officials, are representing Bangladesh in the Paris Olympics 2024, the biggest sports carnival in the world. Leading athletes from 206 countries around the world are competing in 32 disciplines of sports  in a battle for 329 medals. Archer Mohammad Sagor Islam, who directly qualified for the Paris Olympics, carried the Bangladesh national flag in the march past the Friday's opening ceremony. Five Bangladeshi athletes are taking part in four disciplines of sports-- archery, athletics, swimming, and shooting.