Olympics digest

SWIMMING

'It's a girl' — Murphy finds out child's gender

It's a girl.

That's the surprise message that United States swimmer Ryan Murphy got on the pool deck, as he looked up at his wife, Bridget Konttinen, in the stands on Monday night at the Paris Olympics.

Murphy won a bronze on Monday in the 100m backstroke.

As the medal ceremony wound down, he saw Konttinen holding up a sign to let him know that their first child, due in January, will be a girl.

"I was walking back around and Bridget was holding up a sign and it said — 'Ryan, it's a girl,'" he said. "That was the first time I heard the gender."

"Honestly, we both thought it was going to be a boy," he said. "And everyone — like everyone — we were talking to, they thought it was going to be a boy."

A big fan of the Jacksonville Jaguars, Murphy pointed out that quarterback Trevor Lawrence and his wife also have a daughter on the way.

"I hope our daughters can be friends," he said.

Murphy won three gold medals in Rio in 2016, and a gold, a silver and a bronze in Tokyo in 2021. He won his first medal in Paris after finishing behind winner Thomas Ceccon of Italy and Xu Jiayu of China.

As soon as Murphy started talking about his daughter, none of the questions returned to his race. It was all about the baby.

"I think that just kind of lit me up." he said. "And really brought this night to a whole other level."

Golden Summer helps relieve scandal fallout

Summer McIntosh's rampaging win in the women's 400m individual medley (IM) at the Paris Olympics on Monday could not have come at a better time for a beleaguered Canadian team that's sinking under the weight of a soccer spying scandal.

World record holder McIntosh left a quality field in her wake, getting to the wall almost six seconds clear of chasing US rivals Katie Grimes and Emma Weyant, in a display of utter domination that was cheered by a capacity crowd at the La Defense pool, and, no doubt, lifted Canadian hearts back home.

It was the type of swim that might be remembered as one of Canada's great Olympic moments, and it might also take something that special to polish the country's tarnished sporting image.

Canadians have been desperate for a sporting hero or heroine to emerge from the dark cloud cast by the drone spying scandal engulfing the women's soccer team, which has seen coaches banned and the Olympic champion's medal hopes hanging by a thread after being served a six-point deduction.

It was 17-year-old McIntosh who came to the rescue, with a performance that she hoped made her team proud and provided some inspiration for kids back home.

FENCING

Egyptian fencer carries a 'little Olympian'

Egyptian fencer Nada Hafez had double reason to celebrate after picking up her first victory at an Olympics in the women's sabre event on Monday, as she revealed that she did so while seven months pregnant.

The 26-year-old Hafez, competing at her third Olympics, beat American world number 10 Elizabeth Tartakovsky 15-13 before losing 15-7 to Jeon Ha-young of South Korea in the round of 16 at the Grand Palais.

Later Hafez said that she was proud not only of her performance, but of having competed while expecting her baby.

"What appears to you as two players on the podium, there were actually three! It was me, my competitor, and my yet-to-come, little baby!" Hafez wrote on Instagram.

"I'm writing this post to say that pride fills my being for securing my place in the round of 16. This specific Olympics was different. Three times an Olympian, but this time carrying another little Olympian!"

Hafez, who previously competed at the Games in 2016 and 2021, said she revealed the news to "shed light on the strength and perseverance of Egyptian women".

"The roller coaster of pregnancy is tough on its own, but having to fight to keep the balance of life and sports was nothing short of strenuous, however worth it."

TRIATHLON

Men's race postponed due to Seine pollution

The men's triathlon did not go ahead as planned on Tuesday, as pollution levels in the Seine were deemed to be too high, World Triathlon said in a statement.

The race has been postponed to Wednesday morning, immediately after the women's event, which is scheduled for an 8 am start.

The decision is a blow to organizers, who previously said they were confident that water quality would improve in time for the race, after heavy rains last Friday and Saturday dirtied the river.

The 55 triathletes who were primed to compete on Tuesday now face more uncertainty.

"Despite the improvement in water quality levels over the last few hours, the readings at some points of the swim course are still above the acceptable limits," organizers said.

World Triathlon met with coaches on Tuesday to provide them with all the information and the updated schedule for the race, they said.

If levels of bacteria remain too high by Wednesday morning, both the men's and women's races are likely to be postponed to Friday, the contingency day reserved for the events.

For the mixed triathlon relay event on Aug 5, the contingency day is Aug 6.

BEACH VOLLEYBALL

Ex-NBA player Budinger wins Games debut

Chase Budinger has never forgotten how badly he played in his first NBA game. He'll have only good memories from his Olympic debut, though.

The former professional basketball player and his teammate, Miles Evans, beat host France in straight sets on Monday to coast through their opening match of the Paris beach volleyball tournament.

"I tried to use my basketball experience of playing in front of big crowds to be composed," Budinger said after the pair's 21-14, 21-11 victory. "But it definitely was not like that inside."

Budinger spent seven years in the NBA, mostly as a bench player for the Houston Rockets and Minnesota Timberwolves, before turning to beach volleyball to fulfill an Olympic dream. "I played awful," he said, recalling his first NBA game.

"On the bus ride over here, I was telling Miles about my first basketball game, of how nervous I was and how the nerves really got to me," Budinger said. "I was 0-for-2 (from 3-point range), had two turnovers and one of the shots I had was an airball. So the nerves affected my game play."

SOCIAL MEDIA

Google AI ad rankles some viewers

Google irked some viewers of the Olympic Games over the weekend with an ad showing its artificial intelligence program help a girl write a letter to her sports idol.

The "Dear Sydney" ad, intended to adorably tout the capabilities of Google's Gemini AI, featured a dad warmly describing how the tool wrote his daughter a letter to US hurdler Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone.

However, some viewers bashed the ad as promoting the notion that parents should coax their children to rely on AI, rather than learn to express themselves.

"It is one of the most disturbing commercials I've ever seen," Syracuse University professor of advanced media in residence Shelly Palmer said in a blog post.

"This is exactly what we do not want anyone to do with AI. Ever."

Agencies