Sawt Falasteen - Olympic swimmers plunge into Seine, Lyles eyes sprint double

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.

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.

Organisers have been forced to scrap several training sessions and postpone the men's individual triathlon after assessing the water to be too dirty to swim in.

On the track, Lyles was characteristically confident heading into the 200m final, despite not winning his semi-final.

"I spent years working on the 100m, but the 200 is where it's at. This is where I get to show my speed and endurance and my top-end speed," said Lyles.

"This is where I get to show I'm stronger than everybody else."

The American will face competition from team-mates Kenny Bednarek and Erriyon Knighton, as well as Botswana's Letsile Tebogo, who beat him in the semi-final.

The men's javelin final could be a cracking grudge match between India's defending champion Neeraj Chopra and Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan.

- 'Clear favourite' -

In what could be the race of the Games, the two fastest women in history over the 400m hurdles clash on the lilac track of the Stade de France.

Reigning champion Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone from the United States and Dutchwoman Femke Bol go head-to-head in a mouth-watering 400m hurdles final.

"I am looking forward to racing Sydney. That will push us both. Sydney is the clear favourite, but I will be ready for it," said Bol ahead of the race.

Bol already has one gold after running an extraordinary anchor leg to bring the Dutch to victory in the 4x400 mixed relay.

But McLaughlin-Levrone is the world record holder and defending Olympic champion in the 400m hurdles. Bol is plotting revenge after finishing third in Japan.

In a packed athletics programme Thursday night, three-time world champion Grant Holloway from the US hopes to go one better than the silver he won in Tokyo in the men's 110m hurdles.

- 'Super positive' -

As the basketball tournament approaches the business end, the US and Serbia face each other for the third time in as many weeks, after a pool match and a pre-Olympics warm-up.

The US have won both previous times by 26 points but coach Steve Kerr is taking nothing for granted, saying: "We can't get lulled to sleep because we beat them twice."

Hosts France, led by San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama, play World Cup holders Germany in the first semi-final.

France are also in the driving seat in the women's golf tournament with Celine Boutier going into the second round with a three-shot lead.

South Africa's Ashleigh Buhai lies second, while reigning champion Nelly Korda battled back from a poor opening stretch to finish on even par, seven strokes behind Boutier.

World number seven Boutier, who grew up just 20km from Le Golf National, has not posted a top-10 finish in her last 11 tournaments but found her best at the right time.

"It's true that it's nice to be able to post a good first round, and yes super positive for the rest of the week," said Boutier.

In men's hockey, world number one Netherlands take on world champions Germany.

The match could be the first part of a golden double for the Dutch whose women's team face China in their final on Friday.

G.AbuGhazaleh--SF-PST