Cypriot swimmers knocked out of Olympics in heats

Cypriot swimmer Nikolas Antoniou was knocked out of the Olympic Games on Tuesday despite winning his men’s 100-metre freestyle heat at La Defense Arena in Paris.

Antoniou’s winning time of 50.35 seconds saw him pip Saint Lucian Jayhan Yamaud Odlum-Smith and the UAE’s Yousouf Almatrooshi to the line by just 0.04 seconds.

However, this was not enough to see him qualify for the semi-final as his time was only the 43^rd best of the 79 competitors, with the top 16 times qualifying.

Meanwhile, Antoniou’s sister Kallia Antoniou was also knocked out of the women’s 100m freestyle competition, finishing in sixth place in her heat and posting the 18^th best time of the 29 competitors, clocking in at 54.75 seconds.