Olympic chaos as boat disrupts triathlon start - in pictures


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Norwegian Kristian Blummenfelt won the men's triathlon Olympic title in a race marred by a bizarre start.

The 27-year-old crossed the line in a time of 1hr 45min 4sec before raising the tape above his head and throwing himself to the ground in celebration.

But the main talking point was the chaotic start, which saw around two thirds of the 56 competitors dive into the water and set off on the swimming leg only to be hauled back.

The farcical scenes were caused by a media boat filming the competitors lined up before diving into the water for the 1.5km swimming leg.

The pilot of the boat carried on his trajectory unaware the siren had gone for the start.

While Great Britain's Jack Yee and others who had been filmed were able to dive in to clear water, the triathletes further along were blocked by the boat, which also reversed dangerously close to athletes already in the water.

Those able to had begun their race but were recalled once organisers realised the full extent of the disruption.

"I saw the boat like going past the pontoon and I was like surprised that I had this start so quickly and I saw on my left side that there was the camera boat in front of mid-group," said Blummenfelt.

"So when I swam the first 50 metres I was aware that this couldn't be right and I was keeping a little bit steady and I looked at (it) as a positive thing, as I hadn't been swimming for 30 minutes. It was good practice."

Bronze medallist Hayden Wilde, from New Zealand, said it was "kind of good but kind of annoying".

"It is what it is and you've just got to keep composed, and sometimes that happens and you've just got to roll with the punches," he said.

It was the first time since triathlon made its Olympic debut in Sydney in 2000 there had been a false start.

"It's simply remarkable to see that," the announcers said.

Yee took silver 11 seconds behind the winner in an event Britain had dominated this event in the past two Olympics through the Brownlee brothers.

However, two-time champion Alistair Brownlee was not selected and his brother Jonathan - who has previously taken silver and bronze - finished fifth, 49 seconds off the champion in a race held in trying conditions.

Brownlee had looked a threat as he was part of a group of six approaching the bell for the last of the four running laps.

But his hopes of becoming the first triathlete to win all three types of medals were dashed as Blummenfelt upped the pace at the front.

Yee stayed with Blummenfelt for most of the final lap but the Norwegian had far too much in reserve and pulled away to become the first from his country to medal in the event.

"It hasn't really sunk in quite yet, it doesn't feel real like it's me yet," said Yee. "I still feel like a normal boy from south east London."

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  • 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
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Groom and Two Brides

Director: Elie Semaan

Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla

Rating: 3/5

Winners

Ballon d’Or (Men’s)
Ousmane Dembélé (Paris Saint-Germain / France)

Ballon d’Or Féminin (Women’s)
Aitana Bonmatí (Barcelona / Spain)

Kopa Trophy (Best player under 21 – Men’s)
Lamine Yamal (Barcelona / Spain)

Best Young Women’s Player
Vicky López (Barcelona / Spain)

Yashin Trophy (Best Goalkeeper – Men’s)
Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City / Italy)

Best Women’s Goalkeeper
Hannah Hampton (England / Aston Villa and Chelsea)

Men’s Coach of the Year
Luis Enrique (Paris Saint-Germain)

Women’s Coach of the Year
Sarina Wiegman (England)

The specs

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How to protect yourself when air quality drops

Install an air filter in your home.

Close your windows and turn on the AC.

Shower or bath after being outside.

Wear a face mask.

Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

Vidaamuyarchi

Director: Magizh Thirumeni

Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra

Rating: 4/5

 

LA LIGA FIXTURES

Saturday (All UAE kick-off times)

Valencia v Atletico Madrid (midnight)

Mallorca v Alaves (4pm)

Barcelona v Getafe (7pm)

Villarreal v Levante (9.30pm)

Sunday

Granada v Real Volladolid (midnight)

Sevilla v Espanyol (3pm)

Leganes v Real Betis (5pm)

Eibar v Real Sociedad (7pm)

Athletic Bilbao v Osasuna (9.30pm)

Monday

Real Madrid v Celta Vigo (midnight)

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Updated: July 26, 2021, 8:09 AM