Pakistani swimmers fall short in 200m freestyle at Paris Olympics

PARIS: At the Paris Olympics 2024, Pakistani swimmers Ahmed Durrani and Jehanara Nabi had a disappointing performance in the 200-metre freestyle events on Sunday.

Ahmed Durrani, competing in the men’s 200-metre freestyle, finished last overall with a time of 1:58.67. He placed fourth in his heat, with splits of 26.62, 29.21, 31.06, and 31.78. This result was a significant drop from his national record of 1:55.68, set in April at the Malaysian Age Group Championships.

In the women’s 200-metre freestyle, Jehanara Nabi clocked 2:10.69, finishing third in her heat and 26th overall. This was more than two seconds slower than her personal best and national record of 2:08.57, achieved in April at the Thailand Age Group Swimming Championships.

Nabi’s splits were 29.80,32.49, 33.80, and 34.60. Despite finishing ahead of competitors from Albania, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Nepal, she did not advance to the semi-finals.

Both Durrani and Nabi are among Pakistan’s three wild card entries, including sprinter Faiqa Riaz. Wild cards are given to athletes from countries that did not meet standard entry requirements.

India’s wild card swimmers also competed on Sunday. Fourteen-year-old Dhinidhi Desinghu finished with a time of 2:06.96, surpassing Nabi’s performance. Two-time Olympian Srihari Nataraj completed the 100-metre backstroke in 55.01, but neither swimmer achieved a personal best in Paris.

As their Olympic journey ends, Durrani and Nabi will watch the semi-finals from the stands. Romanian David Popovici leads the men’s semi-finals with a time of 1:45.65, followed by Lithuania’s Danys Rapsis with 1:45.91 and Belgium’s Lucas Henveaux with 1:46.04.

In the women’s 200-metre freestyle, Australia’s Mollie O’Callaghan leads the semi-final rankings with a time of 1:55.79. Her teammate, Ariarne Titmus, advances as the third seed with 1:56.23, just behind Canada’s Mary-Sophie Harvey, who recorded 1:56.21. Titmus recently won Australia’s first gold medal in Paris, defending her 400m freestyle title with a time of 3:57.49, ahead of Canada’s Summer McIntosh and USA’s Katie Ledecky.

On Saturday, shooters Gulfam Joseph and Kishmala Talat struggled in their events at the Paris Olympics 2024.

Joseph competed in the 10-meter air pistol event but did not qualify for the finals, finishing 22nd out of 33 competitors with a score of 571 points out of 600.

Similarly, Kishmala Talat also missed the final round of the 10-metre air pistol event, scoring 567 points across six series.

Both shooters will next compete in the mixed-team event on July 29. Kishmala’s primary Olympic hopes rest on the women’s 25m pistol event.

Pakistan has sent seven athletes to the Olympics, accompanied by 11 officials.