We have arrived at Day 11 of the Paris Olympics and while attention has now turned to the track and field events, the Games’ boxing controversy continues to bubble away and on Tuesday, one Australian journalist was involved in a chaotic press conference.

Elsewhere, a British swimmer has made a gross claim about the food athletes have been given at the Games.

Follow along for live updates from the world’s biggest events and stories at Paris!

‘BLINDSIDED’ BRITISH SWIMMER CLAIMS WORMS IN FOOD

Olympic athletes have been finding worms in their food, according to a British swimmer who rages that conditions in the Paris 2024 Olympic Village are “just not good enough.”

Adam Peaty, 29, dropped the allegation as he became the latest athlete to trash the village food being served up during this year’s games as subpar, iNews reported.

Peaty, who won silver in the 100m breaststroke, ripped organizers for pledging to make 60% of meals meat-free in a sustainability push — arguing it has just been a punishment on athletes.

“I want to eat meat, I need meat to perform and that’s what I eat at home, so why should I change?” he told the outlet in an interview published Tuesday.

“I like my fish and people are finding worms in the fish. It’s just not good enough. The standard, we’re looking at the best of the best in the world — and we’re feeding them not the best.”

Peaty, who also battled COVID during the event, claimed athletes had been “blindsided” by the challenges of living in the Paris 2024 Village.

“The catering isn’t good enough for the level the athletes are expected to perform. We need to give the best we possibly can,” he said.

“Tokyo, the food was incredible, Rio was incredible. But this time around … there wasn’t enough protein options, long queues, waiting 30 minutes for food because there’s no queuing system.”

— New York Post

AUSSIE JOURNO LIFTS LID ON ‘WILDEST’ OLYMPICS PRESSER

News Corp journalist Peter Badel has lifted the lid on what one colleague described as “the wildest press conference” they had ever seen amid boxing’s gender controversy at the Paris Olympics.

It comes after International Boxing Association (IBA) called the press conference to claim on Tuesday that texts on Algeria’s Imane Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting showed they “are male”.

The IBA said previously that it disqualified the pair from its 2023 world championships after the fighters failed gender eligibility tests, without specifying what the tests were.

The boxing in the French capital is run by the International Olympic Committee because of financial, governance and ethical concerns at the IBA.

The IOC cleared the two boxers to fight and both are in the semi-finals and therefore guaranteed a medal.

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The two organisations have been in open dispute.

An IBA press conference in Paris was designed to clarify what tests Khelif and Lin underwent last year, and what the results showed.

Instead, Badel said what followed was a “circus”.

“I’ve been a journalist for 27 years. I have never seen such pandemonium at a press conference,” Badel said on the Matty & The Missile podcast.

“Jacquelin Magnay, my esteemed colleague, has done 15 Olympics. She says it was the wildest press conference she has ever seen. That just encapsulates what we saw today.”

IBA officials including Kremlin-linked Russian oligarch Umar Kremlev, the organisation’s president, who was on a remote video call, gave a series of contradictory statements to a room packed full of reporters.

The officials said they were also constrained by medical confidentiality. What was clear was when Ioannis Filippatos, former chairman of the IBA’s medical committee, said “abnormalities” were detected in blood tests in 2022.

The two boxers were tested again in 2023 to confirm the initial findings, IBA officials said, and after that they were disqualified.

IOC president Thomas Bach and high-level officials from Algeria and Taiwan have strenuously defended Khelif and Lin, saying they were born and raised as women, and have passports saying that.

The Olympic body, which has effectively expelled the IBA from the Olympic movement, has accused the IBA of making “an arbitrary decision” over disqualifying the duo in 2023.

Badel went on to add that the conduct of some journalists at the press conference was “disgraceful”, likening it to that of reporters “masquerading as activists”.

“There were 200 journalists and what was originally designed to be an explanation from the IBA as to why they kicked the two XY athletes out of last year’s World Championships turned into bedlam where some of the conduct of the journalists was disgraceful,” he said.

“They were attacking the IBA, there were journalists almost masquerading as activists, not so much asking questions as giving opinions.”

The IBA were also accused of dealing with the Russian mafia, with Badel explaining that links back to Kremlev’s background and a result at last year’s World Championships.

“The president of the IBA, Umar Kremlev, is Russian,” Badel explained.

“There is a view there is Russian influence and that was behind why the two athletes were rubbed out of the World Championships because one of the athletes beat a Russian in that tournament and so there was a view there was corruption involved.”

There was also a moment when an Algerian supporter of Khelif, who Badel said is a boxer in a lower weight class, interrupted the press conference after walking in with an Algerian flag.

“All the journalists started interviewing her so we basically had two press conferences going on,” Badel said.

“It was just wild and it was a circus.”

Elsewhere, in the latest development to come out of the drama, Taiwanese sports officials have threatened the IBA with legal action.

It accused the IBA, which has effectively been expelled from the Olympic movement, of “continuing to publish false information to mislead the public and attempt to interfere with the Games”.

“The Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee (Taiwan) has retained a lawyer to send a letter of warning to the IBA, and reserves the right to pursue legal action and file a lawsuit if necessary,” the sports administration added.

Khelif fights in the semifinals at 6.34am on Wednesday morning AEST while Lin fights Esra Yildiz Kahraman on Thursday morning.

GERMANY OVERCOME FAST START FROM GREECE IN BASKETBALL

World Cup champions Germany reached the Olympic men’s basketball semi-finals for the first time Tuesday, coming from behind to beat Greece 76-63 and dumping two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo out of the Games.

Trailing by as many as 12 in the first quarter, Germany had knotted the score at 36-36 at halftime and after a tense third quarter roared away in the fourth to book a meeting with either host nation France or Canada for a place in the final.

Germany, fuelled by 18 points from Franz Wagner, withstood a 22-point performance from Antetokounmpo to remain unbeaten in four games.

Johannes Thiemann’s dunk with 1:24 left in the third put Germany up 54-50. Thiemann finished with 10 points, six rebounds and a steal and Dennis Schroder had 13 points and assists coming off the bench.

Greece burst out of the gate and their fans were on their feet when Antetokounmpo threw down a dunk that pushed their lead to 16-4 with less than five minutes remaining in the first quarter.

Nick Calathes found Antetokounmpo for an alley-oop dunk less than a minute later and Calathes followed with a three-pointer that put Greece up by 12 with less than a minute left in the first.

But Germany slowly turned the tide, Franz Wagner and Moritz Wagner scored six first-half points apiece and Germany dominated on the boards as they clawed back to tie it up.

Schroder found Daniel Theis for an alley-oop that made it 36-36 seconds before halftime.

Schroder opened the third with a three-pointer that gave Germany their first lead of the game and after a back-and-forth battle Isaac Bonga’s three-pointer at the buzzer to end the third sent the Germans into the final period with a 59-52 lead.

OLYMPIC CHAMPION’S INJURY ‘NEGLECT’ ACCUSATION

South Korea’s sports ministry said Tuesday it would investigate allegations by new Olympic badminton champion An Se-young that she was neglected by her national federation while injured.

World number one An swept to gold on Monday in Paris with a 21-13, 21-16 victory over China’s He Bingjiao.

Shortly after, the 22-year-old An shocked fans at home in South Korea by telling reporters: “I think it may be difficult to continue with the national team after this moment.” An accused the Korea Badminton Association of not providing adequate support while she was suffering from a knee injury sustained last year.

An said she had to compete in pain because of the injury and had even been initially misdiagnosed regarding its severity.

“I was so disappointed with (the association) during my injury. I really can’t get over those moments,” An told reporters, without getting into further details.

She accused the association of “neglecting” its responsibilities. The sports ministry issued a statement Tuesday saying it planned to “ascertain the exact facts as soon as the Olympics conclude” and “review the need for appropriate improvement measures based on the findings”.

The ministry “plans to examine whether there are areas for improvement in athlete management across other sports as well,” it added.

In a separate interview with South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency published early Tuesday, An was quoted as saying the association had decided she would not be competing in certain events without providing her with any explanation.

She further accused the current training system of being outdated and not entirely safe for athletes, claiming it fails to “train in a way that prevents injuries or take proper measures if an injury occurs”.

An said the country’s doubles players — who have enjoyed more success in international competitions — were prioritised for training and medical support over singles players.

“I found my motivation in my anger as I set my goals and pursued my dreams,” the new Olympic champion told Yonhap.

“I wanted to make my voice heard. In a way, my dream was (to have) a ‘voice.’”

MORE SEINE RIVER TRAINING CANCELLATIONS

Training for open water swimming at the Paris Olympics was cancelled on Tuesday due to poor water quality in the River Seine — the fifth time organisers have acted to protect athletes’ health.

The first four occasions were related to triathlon events in the French capital, with the men’s triathlon postponed by a day.

The Seine has been the focus of attention during the Games, consistently failing water quality tests despite a 1.4 billion euros ($1.5 billion) upgrade to improve the Paris sewerage and water treatment systems.

Organisers issued a statement early Tuesday saying the marathon swimming “familiarisation session” would not go ahead.

“After the daily situation meeting this morning between Ville de Paris, Paris 2024 and World Aquatics, it has been decided that the familiarisation session to take place today, 6 August 2024 is cancelled,” the statement said.

Several triathletes had expressed frustration over the repeated cancellations and uncertainty.

The River Seine was judged clean enough to stage the mixed triathlon relay on Monday following uncertainty over pollution levels and illness in the build-up.

The race turned out to be a thriller, Germany’s Laura Lindemann holding off a fierce challenge from the United States and Britain to take gold.

The women’s 10-kilometre marathon swim is due to take place early Thursday, with the men’s event listed for the following day.