Track cyclist Caroline Groot of the Netherlands got the Paris Paralympics up and running by winning the first gold medal of the Games on Thursday.
Groot won the final of the C4 and C5 classifications in the 500m time trial in women’s track cycling. It was the first medal event of the Paralympics that opened with a spectacular ceremony on Wednesday.
Groot went last after watching C4 world record holder Kadeena Cox crash on her attempt. The British cyclist was denied the opportunity of restarting because a mechanical error was not to blame for her fall.
Groot won in 35.390 seconds, a world record in C5. French cyclist Marie Patouillet (C5) took the silver, and Canada’s Kate O’Brien (C4) took bronze.
C1 to C5 are para cycling classifications for athletes with physical impairments that affect their legs, arms and/or trunk causing issues with functionality who can use a standard bicycle.
C4 is for cyclists with lower limb impairments or issues with lower limb functionality, while C5 is for cyclists with less severe impairments.
Meanwhile, UAE minister of sports Ahmed Belhoul Al Falasi backed the national team contingent to make the country proud at the Paralympics.
Al Falasi visited the residence of the UAE delegation participating at the Paralympics, along with Ghanim Mubarak Al Hajeri, director general of the UAE General Authority of Sports, and Sheikh Suhail bin Butti Al Maktoum, executive director of the Sports Development Sector.
“The resolve of the people of determination to raise the UAE flag high at the world’s largest events has always been our source of pride. We are confident that their participation in the Paris Paralympic Games will mark a new chapter of excellence in the UAE’s sports journey,” Al Falasi said.
“We will continue to support and nurture our people of determination champions so that their success is distinguished and sustainable on the international stage, setting an example for elevating UAE sports to new levels.”
Also, all triathlon events at the Paris Paralympics will take place on Sunday due to concerns that stormy weather could stir up pollution in the Seine river, organisers announced on Thursday.
The triathlon events were originally scheduled to happen over two days - Sunday and Monday - but those initially scheduled for the second have been brought forward due to the "high level of uncertainty" of the weather forecast over the coming days.
"All eleven medal events will now take place on September 1, instead of across two days. This decision has been taken to provide athletes and coaches with as much certainty as possible," organisers said in a statement.
The decision was made following a meeting between governing body World Triathlon, Paris 2024 organisers and the relevant French authorities involved in monitoring the water quality of the Seine.
The issue caused disruption to the Olympics triathlon and open-water swimming events, with several practice sessions being cancelled due to high levels of pollution caused by heavy rainfall.
Of 11 days of events and training scheduled in the river during the Olympics, only five got the green light.
At the Games, former Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp was in attendance as he gave support to his friend Wojtek Czyz who battled back from an horrific football injury to become a multiple Paralympic champion.
Klopp was in the stands at La Chapelle Arena on Thursday to support his 44-year-old friend as he competed in the badminton competition at Paris 2024.
The pair have known each other for more than 20 years after Czyz, a four-time Paralympic champion in athletics who has switched to compete in badminton for New Zealand, suffered the injury that not only ended his football career but led to his leg being amputated.
Klopp was far from a lucky charm though as Czyz lost 21-5, 21-2 against Britain's Daniel Bethell, the second seed, but the Champions League winning coach said the result was less important than taking part.
"I couldn't be prouder of him. Yesterday we were standing in front of the Eiffel Tower and we thought wow, it's super, super special," Klopp said.
"That's another thing being here I sit next to his incredible wife Elena, and we both had tears in our eyes, because I know sport is always about results, about winning, but that's much more behind that story and being here, it's always so touching that I couldn't get my head around it."
The specs: Macan Turbo
Engine: Dual synchronous electric motors
Power: 639hp
Torque: 1,130Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Touring range: 591km
Price: From Dh412,500
On sale: Deliveries start in October
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Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
Read more about the coronavirus
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
The candidates
Dr Ayham Ammora, scientist and business executive
Ali Azeem, business leader
Tony Booth, professor of education
Lord Browne, former BP chief executive
Dr Mohamed El-Erian, economist
Professor Wyn Evans, astrophysicist
Dr Mark Mann, scientist
Gina MIller, anti-Brexit campaigner
Lord Smith, former Cabinet minister
Sandi Toksvig, broadcaster
UAE jiu-jitsu squad
Men: Hamad Nawad and Khalid Al Balushi (56kg), Omar Al Fadhli and Saeed Al Mazroui (62kg), Taleb Al Kirbi and Humaid Al Kaabi (69kg), Mohammed Al Qubaisi and Saud Al Hammadi (70kg), Khalfan Belhol and Mohammad Haitham Radhi (85kg), Faisal Al Ketbi and Zayed Al Kaabi (94kg)
Women: Wadima Al Yafei and Mahra Al Hanaei (49kg), Bashayer Al Matrooshi and Hessa Al Shamsi (62kg)
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
UAE v Gibraltar
What: International friendly
When: 7pm kick off
Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
Admission: Free
Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page
UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), Esekaia Dranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), Jaen Botes (Exiles), Kristian Stinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), Emosi Vacanau (Harlequins), Niko Volavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), Thinus Steyn (Exiles)
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Naga
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
LILO & STITCH
Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders
Director: Dean Fleischer Camp
Rating: 4.5/5
More from Janine di Giovanni
The five new places of worship
Church of South Indian Parish
St Andrew's Church Mussaffah branch
St Andrew's Church Al Ain branch
St John's Baptist Church, Ruwais
Church of the Virgin Mary and St Paul the Apostle, Ruwais
Challenge Cup result:
1. UAE 3 faults
2. Ireland 9 faults
3. Brazil 11 faults
4. Spain 15 faults
5. Great Britain 17 faults
6. New Zealand 20 faults
7. Italy 26 faults
The Africa Institute 101
Housed on the same site as the original Africa Hall, which first hosted an Arab-African Symposium in 1976, the newly renovated building will be home to a think tank and postgraduate studies hub (it will offer master’s and PhD programmes). The centre will focus on both the historical and contemporary links between Africa and the Gulf, and will serve as a meeting place for conferences, symposia, lectures, film screenings, plays, musical performances and more. In fact, today it is hosting a symposium – 5-plus-1: Rethinking Abstraction that will look at the six decades of Frank Bowling’s career, as well as those of his contemporaries that invested social, cultural and personal meaning into abstraction.
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
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Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
