Lebanese athletes continued their competition at the Paris 2024 Olympics on Sunday, July 28, with the support of Olympic Committee President Dr. Pierre Jalakh and mission head, Olympic Committee member and treasurer, lawyer François Saadeh, along with officials and coaches. Tennis player Benjamin Hassan achieved a historic victory in the Men's Singles category by defeating American Christopher Eubanks with a score of 6-4, 6-2, showcasing impressive performance, continuing the remarkable image presented by his teammate Hadi Habib in his match against Spanish player Carlos Alcaraz (ranked third worldwide), despite Habib's honorable loss (3-6, 1-6).
In swimming, 17-year-old swimmer Lynn Al-Haj participated in the 100-meter breaststroke, recording a time of 1:10.27 after a fierce competition with world champions. Mission official and secretary of the Lebanese Swimming Federation, Fred Abi Raad, commented on this result, stating: "This is Lynn's first time at the Olympics after her recent participation in the World Championship and several qualifying races where she had a better time of 1:09.67, making her the top-ranked swimmer in Lebanon. Based on this, she was selected to compete in the Paris Olympics, but the competition here is different against the giants, as her time increased by half a second. We have high hopes for her and her ability to improve her technical level over the next four years."
Abi Raad also highlighted renewed hope with swimmer Simon Douaihy, who is set to compete in the 100-meter freestyle on Tuesday, July 30, aiming to enhance his current record of 49.69 seconds, achieved recently in Spain. The competition schedule for Monday, July 29, includes fencing (foil) where athlete Philip Waked will take part in his first match against Taiwanese player Hsin Yi Tung at 10:25 AM Beirut time.
On the eve of the match, fencing mission official and secretary of the Lebanese Fencing Federation, lawyer Imad Nahas, mentioned that Douaihy is training in France during the summer and is from the Mont La Salle Club. He is being trained by French coach Tansion Angouran, and it will be his first Olympic experience, which is not an easy task with 37 of the best participants in this competition. However, we do not rule out surprises.
