I reckon I’ll wrap it up there, folks. That was fun, particularly the late-night pool party. Just before I go, in comes a message from Doug Fenner.
We finally had a GB boxer, in Lewis Richardson, progress. Surely worth mentioning the lad from Colchester.
Richardson defeated Serbia’s Vakhid Abbasov to advance to the quarter-finals of the men’s 71kg category. Up next: Jordan’s Zeyad Eashash.
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Tom Garry has been taking in Emma Hayes’ strong start with the USA.
Andy Bull, quite brilliantly, lays out the scale of Léon Marchand’s double achievement.
World Aquatics even had to rearrange the schedule so Marchand could even try and do it. The races were supposed to run back to back because it simply didn’t occur to them that anyone would try to take both events on, least of all Marchand, who had never competed in the breaststroke at an international championships.
Tumaini Carayol was at the Bercy Arena for Shinnosuke Oka’s all-round exhibition.
Some stunning grabs in here.
Léon Marchand’s grin refuses to go away, sticking around for the national anthem too. And who can blame him? Grin away; it’s the best night of your life.
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Those last few minutes have changed the complexion of the medals table.
Men’s swimming: An incredible session takes in another staggering feat, Pan beating his previous world record by four-tenths of a second. Kyle Chalmers takes silver, David Popovici bronze.
Pan Zhanle breaks world record to win men's 100m freestyle
Time for the 100m men’s freestyle … and it’s world record time! Pan Zhanle wins by more than a second, clocking 46.40!
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Léon Marchand wins the men's 200m breaststroke - his second victory of the night
Marchand is in lane four, next to Zac Stubblety-Cook, the Olympic record holder in this race. Marchand starts well and leads, and it grows after the 50m turn … he’s threatening the world record. This is history we’re seeing as he closes in … and he wins his second gold medal of the evening! Marchand has to settle for the Olympic record, not the world – that’ll come another time. He clocks 2:05.85. Stubblety-Cook takes silver, 0.94 seconds behind. Caspar Corbeau has bronze.
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Men’s swimming: OK, back to The Marchand Show we go. He’s won the 200m butterfly already tonight; 200m breaststroke next?
My dad saw it before I did. He saw the potential I had, but my potential wouldn’t have been unlocked without the girls that crossed the line with me today. I’m grateful for everyone who has got me here and he would be very proud if he was here.
Lola Anderson’s Olympic glory meant a great deal.
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Women’s 3x3 basketball: USA, the defending champions, have now lost both their games in Paris. Losing their opener to Germany was bad enough, but it got worse on Wednesday when they were well beaten by basketball powerhouse, Azerbaijan. It’s not over for the Americans: six of the eight teams in the group stage qualify for the knockout rounds, but on this evidence they’ve got A LOT of work to do.
As we wait for some more swimming action … here’s the overall leaderboard.
An email in from Laura, with the excellent subject line of ‘BMXcellent’:
We’ve been loving the BMX this evening on catch-up. Firm highlights- the skills from “Maligno” Torres, the commentators’ wild enthusiasm.
The lowlights – the mullets on show, the lack of adequate personal protective equipment, the stinging reminder of a failed cycling proficiency course. Keep up the blog!
Here’s a roundup of the tennis action from today. Andy Murray – refusing to end his one last ride – and Dan Evans will take on Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz tomorrow in the men’s doubles quarter-finals.
Ledecky has medals at four different Games now, reports Bryan Armen Graham. Silly stuff.
Katie Ledecky wins the 1500m women's freestyle ... again
Ledecky cruises to her eighth Olympic gold medal, with the real battle for the silver and bronze. There’s plenty of noise as France’s Kirpichnikova claims second and Germany’s Gose third. Ledecky has a new Olympic record, finishing on 15:30.02. She has more than 10 seconds on second place. Sublime.
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Women’s football: USA beat Australia 2-1 after goals from Korbin Albert and Trinity Rodman. Kieran Pender has more:
Women’s swimming: And we’re off in the 1500m women’s freestyle final, with Katie Ledecky, world and Olympic record holder, the overwhelming favourite. She’s into the lead quickly.
And a bit more reading for you, before the imminent start of the women’s 1500m freestyle.
As Sarah Sjöström wears her gold medal and stands for the anthem, here’s how she ended up there.
Women’s football: Late drama in USA’s group clash with Australia …
Men’s swimming: Silly me; I forgot to note that Marchand’s 200m butterfly final effort also saw him claim a new Olympic record, beating Milak’s 1:51:25 from the Tokyo Games.
Men’s tennis: The big-name pairing of Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz have lost in straight sets; the USA pair of Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram bag a 6-2, 6-4 win to advance to the doubles semi-finals.
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The heavily fancied duo Mollie O’Callaghan and Shayna Jack failed to get on the podium on the 100m freestyle, in a disappointing start to the evening at the pool for Australia. O’Callaghan, winner of two gold medals already this Games, could not add to her tally, touching home in fourth place. Jack finished in fifth.
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Men’s swimming: Marchand wins with 1:51.21, Milak is second on 1:51.75, and Ilya Kharun of Canada takes bronze.
Léon Marchand wins the men's 200m butterfly
Time for the men’s 200m butterfly and an epic matchup between home star Léon Marchand and Kristof Milak. Milak starts best, holding off Marchand by 0.64secs after 50m. The Hungarian swimmer keeps the lead at the 100m mark, and it doesn’t change at 150m but Marchand stuns at the backend, winning gold to send the crowd absolutely berserk!
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Women’s swimming: Sweden’s Sjöström wins with 52.16, having been fourth at the 50m mark. Torri Huske takes silver with 52.29, and Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey has bronze with 52.33.
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Sarah Sjöström wins the women's 100m freestyle
O’Callaghan is in lane three, it’s Walsh who starts well in lane eight. Huske has the lead as we close in, but it’s Sarah Sjöström who takes gold!
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Women’s swimming: Gretchen Walsh of the USA is the first swimmer out of the tunnel as we get set for the women’s 100m freestyle.
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Not long before the swimming gets going, with the women’s 100m freestyle first up on the schedule. Mollie O’Callaghan took the 200m freestyle gold on Monday and is gunning for another bit of bling.
Men’s gymnastics: Japan’s domination of this event continues; Daiki Hashimoto, who won gold in Tokyo, has to settle for sixth after erring on the pommel horse. Joe Fraser finishes fifth, while Ukraine’s Illia Kovtun falls juuust short of a medal.
Shinnosuke Oka wins the men's all-round gymnastics final
Zhang Boheng finishes up, cueing the anxious wait for the final results … my word it’s nervy. The audience claps away …. and it’s Oka who is the all-round champion. The 20-year-old has gold with 86.832, Boheng trails with 86.599. Xiao Ruoteng has bronze with 86.364.
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Men’s gymnastics: Xiao Ruoteng leaps to the top of the board, extinguishing Jake Jarman’s hopes of a medal. Right then, here comes Shinnosuke Oka, dreaming of gold. “Double twist and double straight,” comes the excited shout from comms as he dismounts … and he scores 14.500 to take the lead! Now time for Zhang Boheng.
Men’s tennis: Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal are down a set to Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram. It’s 1-0 to the Spaniards in the second, with the Americans now serving.
Men’s gymnastics: Can Jarman trump Fraser? The formers wins praise from BBC comms for his execution and finishes on 84.565, behind Fraser. Illia Kovtun leads after a fine floor routine.
Men’s gymnastics: Joe Fraser steps up to the high bar and pumps the fists after a wonderful routine, scoring 14.266 to finish on 85.532. He scored 84.666 in qualification.
Men’s gymnastics: The numbers before the final rotation.
1. Shinnosuke Oka – 72.332
2. Xiao Ruoteng – 71.998
3. Zhang Boheng – 71.966
4. Illia Kovtun – 71.465
5. Joe Fraser – 71.266
Men’s gymnastics: How do I feel watching this? Like I should probably head to the gym tomorrow, maybe stretch a bit more in the mornings, too. Shinnosuke Oka is still in business here, scoring 15.100 on the parallel bars to head to the top before the final rotation! He leads on 72.332.
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Men’s gymnastics: Xiao Ruoteng shoots up to first despite not matching his compatriot Zhang Boheng on the parallel bars; he scores 14.766 to Zhang’s 15.300.
Men’s gymnastics: GB’s Joe Fraser leaps up to third after scoring 14.933 in the parallel bars. Jake Jarman follows him on the same apparatus and looks a happy man with a dismount that really pleases the Beeb commentary team. He scores 14.300 to move up to fourth.
Men’s tennis: Some early jeopardy for Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz, a break down in their first set against Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram. The USA pair lead 3-1 in this doubles quarter-final.
Women’s football: Spain have beaten Brazil 2-0 in their Group C clash, with Alexia Putellas scoring in the, um, 17th minute of injury time. Marta was shown a straight red card for the Brazilians.
Men’s gymnastics: With two rotations left, here’s how we’re looking.
1. Oleg Verniaiev – 57.766
2. Illia Kovtun – 57.632
3. Xiao Ruoteng – 57.232
3. Shinnosuke Oka – 57.232
5. Jake Jarman – 56.932
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Bryan Armen Graham writes about Hannah Roberts, whose wait for Olympic gold continues.
Men’s gymnastics: And now we’re looking at a Ukrainian one-two! Illia Kovtun goes second by somehow exceeding the excellence of his compatriot on the parallel bars, scoring 15.400.
Hello, everyone! Let’s keep our focus on the big one …
Men’s gymnastics: Oleg Verniaiev nails it on the parallel bars to score 15! He’s at the top of the leaderboard. And up steps GB’s Jake Jarman on the vault … he sparkles with three and a half twists. He gets a staggering 15.166 for his efforts.
We have an exciting finish to this All-Around final coming up. Taha Hashim is the man to bring it to you.
Men’s gymnastics: Hungarian Mészáros puts in an inspired bit of work on the high bar, he is making a surge for the medals.
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Men’s gymnastics: Dolci is given 11.733 for his work on high bar. No room for sentimentality here.
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Men’s gymnastics: Felix Dolci is allowed a second chance at the high bar after the equipment failure last time. His hands must be painful after the cuts. He goes for a big swing and tries to grab hold but can’t grab the bar and falls to the ground because his hands are in agony. Such a shame. He goes back to complete the job with a fine dismount. You have to have a lot of respect for him.
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Men’s gymnastics: The main thing to takeaway from this event is that no one really likes the rings. They all just put up with it and do their best.
Men’s gymnastics: Jake Jarman is on the rings, not his favourite piece of apparatus. It is pretty solid and brings out a good finish, earning a respectable score of 12.800. He will be pleased to have that out of the way.
Women’s football: Want some more specific football content? There is a live blog of USA v Australia.
Men’s gymnastics: Verniaiev comes up with a stunning piece of work on the vault, needing a little hop forward to sort the landing. It is a cracking effort that will help his challenge for a medal.
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Men’s gymnastics: Felix Dolci is on the bar. He put in a stunning performance until right at the end when his handguard ripped in two and the Canadian fell to the ground in dramatic circumstance. He gets up and waves to the crowd. His hand is ripped to sheds. What a bad moment for him.
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Men’s gymnastics: Standings in the All-Around final after two rotations:
1. Oka Shinnosuke
2. Jake Jarman
3. Felix Dolci
4. Xiao Ruoteng
5. Oleg Verniaiev
6. Diogo Soares
Jess Fox has her second gold after an incredible display in the canoe slalom.
Men’s gymnastics: Jake Jarman, in the lead after the first apparatus, is on the pommel horse. He shows fine control after a nervy start and spins at speed, finishing with a fine handstand and finish. The scores are in … 14.066. That is good after an early error.
Men’s gymnastics: A bit of drama as Daiki Hashimoto falls off the pommel horse. He gets back on after having his head in his hands but there is no way back for him.
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Women’s football: Joe Pearson emails: “I’ve got the women’s soccer on another screen. In stoppage time of the 1st half, Marta picked up a straight red for a very dangerous challenge. Is this her Olympics career over?”
Fox first, Lilik second and Leibfarth third. A surprising podium for pretty much everyone.
Jess Fox wins women's C1 canoe slalom
Women’s canoe slalom: Satkova is the final challenger. But she pings in to gate 2 and gets a penalty. That is game over. She loses it at gate 8, too. A bad start for Satkova and there’s no way back. She ploughs on but it all falls apart and she gets over the line in deflated fashion with 114.22.
Jess Fox wins her second gold of Paris 2024.
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Women’s canoe slalom: Fox is punching the air, knowing how good she was on that run. Can Satkova beat her?
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Women’s canoe slalom: Here comes the French-born favourite Jess Fox. She is looking quick through the first eight gates. This some fine work from the Australian who is perfect through 17 and 18. She comes through in 99.06 to go first. What a performance. She is oh so close to a second gold of these Olympics.
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Women’s canoe slalom: Andorra’s Doria Vilarrubla flies out of the traps and pings into gates 1 and 2, which is not great. Another at 7 makes life impossible for the Andorran. It is 113.58 for her in the end.
Lilik is now guaranteed a medal but which colour?
Women’s canoe slalom: We have four more to come, starting with Hocevar. She completely loses it around gate 7 and leaves her completely out of contention at that stage because she has to turn back to go a long way back. She keeps battling but is well off the pace and comes in with 115.48 seconds.
Women’s canoe slalom: Satila of Brazil heads into the water. She’s left with a lot of time to make up from early on but she cannot do it. Her time is 112.70 and she looks exhausted and a little annoyed with herself.
Women’s canoe slalom: Here comes Franklin for Team GB. She has a hard act to follow. The union jacks are out in the stands. It is a smooth start and but gets a penalty at gate 7. She keeps losing time as the course goes on and adds another penalty at 14. In the end, she leaves herself too much to do thanks to a few minor mistakes. She ends up with six seconds of penalties and a time of 115.15. There will be no medal for her.
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Women’s canoe slalom: Germany’s Lilik offers speed and control through the first few gates and is up at the first checkpoint. The crowd recognise the quality of this run and are on their feet, making themselves heard. It is almost perfect from Lilik powers through to finish on 103.54. Lilik is screaming with delight, she knows her time will be hard to be beat.
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Women’s canoe slalom: Vikoriia Us heads out now. She picks up a penalty on gate 7 and loses a lot of momentum leaving her a long way behind the lead and ends up with 117.98.
Women’s canoe slalom: Pankova is aiming to provide Slovakia with a second medal. She, unlike many, gets through gate 2 cleanly. Pankova was looking very smooth until late on when a small mistake costs her seconds. She receives no penalties but still ends up with 111.07.
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Women’s canoe slalom: Lazkano from San Sebastian heads with great intent. She has the power to give herself a chance of a medal but picks up a couple of penalties early on. The crowd try to get her going but her challenge is done before the halfway stage. Six penalty seconds put last with 116.97 seconds.
Women’s canoe slalom: Marx of Switzerland takes a deep breath at the start and sets sail. The stopper causes her a few problems and it keeps her off the pace, which she cannot make up against Leibfarth, ending with 114.61 seconds.
Women’s canoe slalom: It’s also a big race for Australian paddler Jess Fox, her country’s flag bearer, after she qualified second fastest at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium. The 30-year-old is defending the gold medal she won in the event in Tokyo, and hopes to add to her Paris haul after claiming the kayak crown three days ago.
Women’s canoe slalom: Leibfarth is the first onto the course. The American has a bit of a battle in the early stages but manages to plot her course through the water. She gets a very respectable time of 109.95 with one penalty, which is about eight seconds quicker than her semi run.
Women’s canoe slalom: The final 12 are preparing for their runs that could end with gold. Team GB have Mallory Franklin as their hope. She had the sixth fastest time in the semi-final.
At the Paris Games, riders have already been eliminated from competition on welfare grounds. On Tuesday, the Olympic debut of the US team’s Marcus Orlob was terminated midway for blood on his horse’s leg, which he attributed to an accidental knock. Earlier, Italy’s Emiliano Portale was likewise excluded after his horse was found to be bleeding from the mouth post-competition.
Elle Hunt on whether equestrian sports should be part of the Olympics.
Men’s gymnastics: We will have the artistic gymnastics soon enough. Jake Jarman or Joe Fraser are Team GB’s medal hopes. They qualified fifth and sixth, so will need to improve if they are to get on the podium. Each competitor performs on all the apparatus (vault, pommel horse, rings, pommel horse, floor and high bar). Will be a fun watch for sure.
Hello everyone! There is plenty going on around Paris and beyond, so it’s a good time to check on the schedule.
Will Unwin is here to take up the cudgels. Thanks for your time and your attention and enjoy the rest of the evening.
Swimming: Despite appearing to win his heat earlier today and qualify for the semi-final, Great Britain’s Luke Greenbank was disqualified from the men’s 200m backstroke competition for breaking a little-known rule.
A bronze medallist in Tokyo, Greenbank’s was adjudged to have swam further than the permitted 15 metres underwater at the start of the race and was slung out of the competition.
Golf: “Tommy Fleetwood has promised to do everything he can to assist people in Southport after the knife attack and subsequent rioting which has shocked the golfer’s home town,” writes Ewan Murray at Le Golf National …
Women’s BMX Freestyle: The women’s BMX park event has given us the first major shakeup in the USA-v-China medal-count contest. Simply put, five-time world champion Hannah Roberts was expected to win. China’s Deng Yawen was not.
The US projection for gold medals has now dropped from the pre-Games number of 48 all the way down to 43. China, though, are also trailing their projection – down from 40 to 38. While China surprised at the BMX park, they were a stunning sixth in the women’s quadruple sculls. Easy come, easy go.
Cycling: Luke Plapp, the Australian cyclist who suffered a horror crash during the individual men’s time trial on the slick streets of Paris on Saturday, has been discharged from hospital, the Australian Olympic Committee said on Wednesday.
Plapp underwent abdominal surgery to treat the injuries he sustained but is now back in the Olympic Village, where the AOC say he will be monitored by team medical staff for at least the next few days. Needless to say, Plapp has no hope of competing again at these Games, and he has been replaced by Ben O’Connor for the road race.
Canoe slalom: A silver medallist at Tokyo, Great Britain’s Mallory Franklin has comfortably qualified for the final in sixth place in a semi-final won by the Czech Republic’s Gabriela Satkova, who finished ina time of 1205.55 seconds. Australia’s Jessica Fox came second, while Andorra’s Monica Doria Vilarrubla was third.
Canoeing: Mallory Franklin has booked her place in the canoe single final, completing the course in 111.62 seconds. That includes a six second penalty incurred for touching three gates.
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Gallery: While we’re currently in something of a welcome mid-afternoon lull ahead of the evening’s fun, it’s been an extremely interesting and exciting day at the Olympics. John Windmill has compiled this gallery of the best bits for your viewing pleasure …
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Rowing: The gold medal-winning British rower Lola Anderson paid tribute to the faith shown by her late father after a remarkable last-stroke victory for the women’s quadruple sculls crew. Nick Ames reports from Vaires-sur-Marne …
Tennis: A winner at Wimbledon, Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic won’t be repeating her victory at these Olympics after bowing out of singles with a 6-4, 6-2 loss to Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia in the quarterfinals.
Schmiedlova has now eliminated both women who played in the final at the All England Club only less than three weeks ago, having beaten Wimbledon runner-up Jasmine Paolini in the third round.
Canoeing: To the Vaires-sur-Marne nautical stadium, where Great Britain’s Mallory Franklin is trying to qualify for the final of the canoe single. A silver medallist in Tokyo, she has her eye on gold in the final, which is slated to take place later today. She needs a top 12 finish to make the final.
'Auntie’ Ni, 61, beams as she bows out
Table tennis: On Monday, Luxembourg’s Ni Xia Lian, who was born on 4 July 1963, became the oldest competitor in the history of the Olympics to win a table tennis match when she beat the 31-year-old Turkish player Sibel Altinkaya. Today, the 61-year-old was beaten by the world No1. Andy Bull reports from the South Paris Arena …
Team USA: As day four of the Olympics began, America were sixth in gold medals won. But their strengths are still to come and their overall total is solid, writes Beau Dure …
Men’s BMX Freestyle: Before we check what’s going on elsewhere, it’s worth noting that a whiff of controversy sour grapes has descended over this event, the suggestion being that the judges went too big too early and were subsequently forced to dial down their scores as the competition progressed towards its latter stages.
As the third rider out, the suggestion from the BBC commentators is that Jose Torres Gil may have benefitted from the jury’s early largesse but I think that’s a rather harsh assessment of what I’ve just seen. To these admittedly untrained eyes, Gil was a more than worthy winner.
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Men’s BMX Freestyle: While the French bronze medal winner Anthony Jeanjean sits with his head in his hands in despair, our winner, Jose Torres Gil, enjoys a Face Time call with the folks back home. Most of his family look very excited and are celebrating his victory, although the family dog looks fairly non-plussed.
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Gold for Argentina; Kieran Reilly takes silver
Jose Torres Gil (Arg) 94.82
Kieran Reilly (GBR) 93.91
Anthony Jeanjean (France) 93.76
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Men’s BMX Freestyle: Kieran Reilly finishes his second run and the outcome of an astonishingly fun and skilful competition contested by some incredibly courageous and talented young men is in the lap of the judges …
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Men’s BMX Freestyle: Apologies, Kieran is guaranteed a bronze medal, not a silver.
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Men’s BMX Freestyle: Another man under pressure after a bad first run, USA’s Marcus Christopher rather redeems himself second time out but doesn’t look to have done enough to force his way into the top three. He hasn’t – he goes fourth.
Now guaranteed a silver medal, Kieran Reilly of Great Britain is the only rider who can snatch gold from our unlikely leader Jose Torres Gil from Argentina.
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Men’s BMX Freestyle: Having made a mess of his first run, Team USA’s Justin Dowell abandons his second run halfway through, having clearly decided that it wasn’t going well enough to trouble the podium. Moments later, the defending champion, Logan Martin, is also forced to abandon his second run after messing up a landing.
Men’s BMX Freestyle: Having made a complete dog’s breakfast of his opening run, France’s Anthony Jeanjean does much, much better in his second under the most incredible pressure. He scores 93.76 to go into the silver medal position and the crowd aren’t hugely impressed with the judges. They think he should have got more …
Men’s BMX Freestyle: I can’t take my eyes off this weird world of windscreen wipers, triple-bars, double whips, downside whip transfers, wing-spreading, big tuck no-handers, double-tails, kick-throughs, double allez-oops and bar spins, so if you’re hoping for updates from the dressage in the next 30 minutes or so, you’re going to be disappiointed. Japan’s Rim Nakamura moves into the bronze medal position.
Men’s BMX Freestyle: Argentina’s Jose Torres Gil, the current leader has just had his second run. Can he improve on his opening score of 94.82. The verdict comes in – no, he can’t. He gets 92.12. With six riders left to drop, he faces an anxious wait to see if he can stay on the podium.
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Men’s BMX Freestyle: Kieran Reilly makes no mistake and absolutely nails his opening run, bringing the crowd to their feet with an incredible performance. The judges aren’t quite as impressed as everyone else and put him into the silver medal postion with a score of 93.70.
Your top three after the first run
Jose Torres Gil (Arg) 94.82
Kieran Reilly (GBR) 93.70
Rimu Nakamura (90.35)
Men’s BMX Freestyle: The standard has just plummetted as France’s Anthony Jeanjean, Australia’s Logan Martin (the defending Olympic champion) and the USA Marcus Christopher have just completely messed up their opening runs one after the other.
They’re all among the favourites and the upshot is that three of the lowest ranked qualifiers currently occupy the top three places. Kieran Reilly is the only man left to drop in the first run.
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An email: “Just finished watching the women’s BMX,” writes Espen B. “Some absolutely jaw dropping skills there. Got to say I absolutely love all the ‘new’ sports like skateboarding, BMX, and surfing. I have no idea what the judges are looking for but they are all a ton of fun to watch and the tricks the athletes are performing are ridiculously impressive.”
I’m n ot sure what the judges are looking for after but I live very near a skate park and the most impressive trick I’ve seen anyone do on a board or BMX is clear the surrounding wall, fly into the middle of the busy adjacent road and somehow avoid getting hit by an oncoming double-decker bus. I remember giving the unidentified lunatic in question a very high mark in my head.
Men’s BMX Freestyle: We’re three riders into the competition and just like in the women’s competition, the standard is little short of breathtaking.
Not one of our nine finallists has put a foot wrong yet and three of the opening four have scored in the 90s. Each rider gdets two runs and the highest single score wins. Argentina’s Jose Torres Gil is the early clubhouse leader and Kieran Reilly goes last of the nine.
Men’s BMX Freestyle is under way: And Great Britain’s Kieran Reilly is the hot favourite to win it. By a considerable distance, he was best of the qualifiers yesterday.
Women’s BMX Freestyle: Australian rider Natalya Diehm won bronze in the women’s BMX freestyle in sweltering Parisian conditions in the shadow of the Luxor Obelisk.
Diehm posted a score of 88.80 in her first ride, the first full run of the final after France’s Laury Perez crashed at the start of her opener. Diehm then faced an anxious wait as the rest of the field competed, only China’s Deng Yawen bettering the Australian’s score in the first round and American Perris Benegas in the second (only a rider’s best single score counts). Diehm’s second run, an 87.70, was not enough to change her position.
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Men’s triathlon: Matt Hauser’s seventh place finish in the men’s triathlon earlier was the best Olympic finish for an Australian man since 2004.
The 26-year-old left the River Seine swim leg in third and was among the leading pack in the cycling. Although he fell leading into the second transition, he recovered in the run and finished 44 seconds behind winner Alex Yee from Team GB.
“I really wanted a medal, and I knew I was capable of that on my day, it just wasn’t my day today,” said Hauser, who was the best placed of Australia’s four triathletes in action across the men’s and women’s events on Wednesday.
The group has been taking antibiotics in a bid to combat the risk of swimming in the Seine, and is now preparing for the mixed relay on Monday.
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Cas dismisses Canada points deduction appeal
Women’s football: To the surprise of precisely nobody, including – one imagines – themselves, Canada have had their somewhat ludicrous appeal against a six points deduction imposed for using a drone to spy on a rival’s training session dismissed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The reigning champions have won their first two matchers to get back to zero points and could still qualify for the knockout stages if they beat Colombia in their final group game.
Fifa docked Canada six points and banned their British coach Bev Priestman from all football-related activities for a year after Canadian staff were spotted flying a drone over a New Zealand training session ahead of the opening match between the two nations.
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BMX freestyle: The women’s competition has just concluded and China’s Deng Yawen has won the gold medal ahead of USA’s Perris Benegas and Australia’s Natalya Diehm.
Tokyo 2020 British gold medalist Charlotte Worthington failed to qualify for the final this time around, while the USA’s Hannah Roberts has come up short in her second successive Olympics after failing to deliver on her final run while still in contention for the gold.
Thanks Will. It’s been quite the day for Team GB so far, what with them adding more metal to their medal tally than you’d find at a Monsters of Rock festival.
Whether or not we get the same kind of drama this afternoon remains to be seen. Coming up: BMX Freestyle (women’s and men’s finals), canoe slalom, men’s gymnastics and swimming among other disciplines.
Well, that was a bit of fun, wasn’t it? For even more fun, we have Barry Glendenning to take you through the next few hours.
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Men’s volleyball: Japan are 2-0 against Argentina and the South Americans have had a coach sent off for protesting a decision. Argentina had looked set to level the scores but Japan fought back to double their lead.
Men’s tennis: Djokovic is through to the next round after beating Koepfer in straight sets (7-5, 6-3).
Women’s judo: Jemima Yeats-Brown suffered a golden score defeat in the round of 16 in the -70kg event.
Up against Tokyo silver medallist Michaela Polleres, Yeats-Brown failed to reach the quarter final stage after battling through nearly two minutes of extra time. It was a tense encounter with both on two penalties, but Polleres ended Yeats-Brown’s Olympics debut with a Waza-ari.
She said: “That was tough. Last time I fought her she beat me pretty easily. But I thought, if I keep doing what I’m doing I’m going to beat her. I felt really good and thought I’d get the win. I was trying to go for one more attack, but she ended up catching me on the floor and I couldn’t get out. My family are all in the crowd. I wanted to put a bit of a show on for them. Hopefully I did. I love fighting in France. France is the ultimate judo show, so I knew I was going to enjoy it. I love fighting for the crowd, on a big stage.”
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“As an ex-rower I am overjoyed to see that, barring the Tokyo/post-Covid glitch, British rowing continues to deliver big time,” says Jeremy Boyce. “I went to a state Grammar School in the 60s/70s which was a rugby/cricket establishment, no footie. If you were crap at either of those (I was) you had the choice of cross country or rowing. Meanwhile at posh Shrewsbury School, just next door, parents paid a fortune for their offspring to have the option of rowing, then a chance at a seat in the Cambridge boat one day. I obviously took the latter option and never ever regretted it. If you’ve ever done rowing you will understand, if not, take it from me, rowing in a good crew requires a high degree of fitness, plus impeccable synchronicity to maintain the balance in those narrow boats and get the best out of every stroke. Rowing used to (and to some extent still does) have a “toff” image (thanks, OxBridge...) but like many other sports that are equipment and location dependent (skiing, for example), if you can get access to boats and water you can share in all that. Also, back in the 60s/70s we were rubbish. Then came lottery funding, and the rest is history...
“I have tried many sports before and since but I never found any that remotely came close to delivering the same feeling. Also, like kayaking/canoeing, the thrill gets even better the bigger the crew you’re in. The only other thing I can think that vaguely parallels it could be tandem cycling.”
Men’s tennis: Over at Roland Garros, Djokovic is a set up and leading 4-1 in the second against Koepfer. I think it is fair to say, he will heading into the next round.
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Australian BMX freestyle rider Natalya Diehm took an early lead in the women’s finals at a blisteringly hot La Concorde. The 26-year-old posted an 88.80 in her first ride. BMX freestyle competitors get two runs in the final, with the best scoring counting. Australia’s defending Tokyo gold medallist, Logan Martin, will ride in the men’s finals later this afternoon.
Women’s diving: Some reaction from the earlier bronze medal in the sychronised event.
Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix : “I don’t think there is anyway to describe what we are feeling. We are so happy. We have worked so hard.
“I am sorry we gave everyone a hard time, we always know how to close a competition.”
Lois Toulson said: “There was a blip in the middle with our third dive which is usually one of our strongest. We stayed confident and calm.”
The International Olympic Committee has asked for talks between the World Anti-Doping Agency and the United States, including the country’s anti-doping agency USADA, to resolve a dispute over jurisdiction in doping matters, it said on Wednesday.
A bipartisan group of US lawmakers on Tuesday threatened to cut USA funding for Wada, accusing it of failing to properly investigate alleged doping by Chinese Olympic swimmers. The USA, the largest single country funder of Wada, has accused the global anti-doping body of not disclosing that 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for performance-enhancing trimetazidine (TMZ) in China months before the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
“We have asked for a dialogue between WADA and all the stakeholders,” IOC spokesperson Mark Adams told a press conference. “From our understanding the question is about respect of international agreements and those international agreements have been signed by everyone around the world, including the United States.”
The swimmers were cleared by a Chinese investigation, which said they were inadvertently exposed to the drug through contamination at a hotel but the Department of Justice has since launched an investigation. WADA said it had no evidence to challenge China’s findings. The incident, however, cast a shadow over the Paris Olympics and sparked a major row between the global and American anti-doping agencies, drawing in the IOC which said Wada was the only global body responsible for anti-doping.
Wada responded to USA allegations by saying it would take the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (Usada) to the Independent Compliance Review Committee, a move that could jeopardise plans for the U.S. to host the 2028 summer and 2034 winter Olympics in Los Angeles and Salt Lake City respectively.
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Tom Callaghan emails: “The skill of British competitors has impressed me greatly. I’m especially impressed with the grit shown by Alex Yee, Tom Pidcock, and the women’s quadruple scullers. Truly a never-say-die spirit, don’t you think?”
It looks that way based on the past 24 hours or so.
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Alex Yee: “I don’t know what to say. I am lost for words. I am just so grateful to everyone who has supported me. I just thought I would give it one last chance and never gave up. I was just saying anything could happen. I am just a normal guy who works hard at his sport and loves what he is doing.”
The lad from Lewisham seemed somewhat shellshocked still by what he had achieved.
Women’s rowing: It should be said the Dutch team also look ecstatic when they could be forgiven by being upset by the margin by which they lost after leading for so long.
Women’s rowing: The national anthem blares out next to the water and you will not see four happier faces in Paris over the course of this Olympics.
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Nick Ames was on hand for the rowing, too. He has managed to put into words that incredible finish.
Speaking of all these medals, we should all take a quick look at the table in Paris. Team GB are up to fourth.
Sean Ingle was on hand to witness that incredible men’s triathlon finish. Here is his report.
Women’s rowing: Princess Anne is on hand to hand out the medals to the quadruple sculls’ top three teams. What a moment it will be for her to put the gold around the necks of the Brits.
This might be a good time to read up on Lola Anderson’s back story, courtesy of this interview with Nick Ames.
A very tearful Lola Anderson: “It feels like we’ve spent ages working towards this. You get to the and of the cycle and you never expect to experience this and it is quite overwhelming. I know my dad would be so so proud, I am thinking a lot about him.”
Hannah Scott: “It’s been a long time in the making and I can’t believe it. The crew today have been amazing - we kept our cool to the end. We went for it and it came off.”
And we cannot forget Tom Pidcock’s comeback victory on Monday. Maybe we are a plucky nation after all.
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Criticising Simone Biles and the US gymnasts seems somewhat shortsighted.
It has been a fine couple of days in the pool for the Irish.
I am having to write a lot of Team GB disappointment posts and then delete them thanks to the comebacks. Yee and the rowers are playing with emotions and my backspace button.
Women’s rowing: There are tears in the Team GB boat. To win it in such a special manner will make it even sweeter because they had to dig deep to chase down the Dutch.
Women’s rowing: It is the finest of margins but Team GB have prevented a Dutch double in the quadruple sculls. Another cracking British comeback in Paris. First Yee and now this.
Team GB win women's quadruple sculls
Team GB gave it their all to chase down the Netherlands and won it on the line in a photo finish!
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Women’s rowing: It is now or never with a third of a length between first and second. Team GB are giving it everything but the Dutch are edging towards gold.
Women’s rowing: The gap is closing very slightly and the Dutch will be nervous going into the final 500m.
Women’s rowing: Team GB are in second at the halfway make but Netherlands have a decent lead. Time to give it your all with less than 1000m to go.
Women’s rowing: The Netherlands are leading in the quadruple sculls with Ukraine second and Team GB third. The Brits are starting to move through the gears.
Men’s rowing: The men’s quadruple scull saw Team GB’s men finish fourth, just missing out on a medal. Netherlands were first, Italy silver and Poland third.
Women’s rowing: It is the quadruple sculls final up first. Team GB are highly fancied in this race.
Anyway … we better head over to the rowing. Plenty of medals on offer at the Stade Nautique.
That is Team GB’s fifth gold medal in Paris and 15th overall.
Men’s triathlon: The pundits and experts seem completely confused by how Yee managed to come back from the dead to win that race. Yee made up a 14-second gap in less than 2km. It really is incredible stuff. He is finally up and about, celebrating as he goes.
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Men’s triathlon: No one saw that coming for the majority of the final lap. Yee gave it absolutely everything and is currently just the other side of the finish line, sitting against the hoardings. Give that man a glass of water.
Yee wins men’s triathlon gold for GB with late surge
Team GB’s Yee pulled off a miracle with an incredible comeback in the final few hundred metres as he reeled in Wilde.
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Men’s triathlon: Yee is sprinting down the home straight here and is about to win GOLD!
Men’s triathlon: Yee overtakes Wilde!
Men’s triathlon: Yee has closed the gap and this is going to be a great finish!
Men’s triathlon: Bergere is five seconds behind Yee and the crowd is giving him every bit of encouragement they can to get him to chase down the Brit.
Men’s triathlon: The home director seems desperate to focus on the battle for third. We do cut back to Wilde who is well clear of Yee.
Men’s triathlon: Behind Yee is Le Corre and Bergere who are in a battle for third. It is an all-French fight for bronze and the home crowd are loving it.
Men’s triathlon: Wilde takes the bell with a big lead. We have 2.5km to go and Yee needs to produce something that would redefine special as he is 14 seconds behind.
Men’s triathlon: Yee has cut Wilde’s lead down to 12 seconds from 15. The Brit needs to step up his speed even more if he is to have any hope of gold.
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Men’s triathlon: Wilde is giving off the impression of being unflustered at the front and might even have more to give if he really wants to break Yee soon. The Brit just about has the Kiwi in his sights but it is a long way back.
Men’s triathlon: Wilde is up to a 15-second lead over Yee as they begin the third lap of four. Yee will be hoping the leader has gone off too soon and can reel him in. In worse news for Yee, he is being chased down by two Frenchmen and a Canadian, who are around eight seconds behind.
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Women’s hockey: Great Britain have secured a vital first win in the pool stage, defeating South Africa 2-1. They are up to fourth in the table and face another big match against USA tomorrow.
Men’s triathlon: Wilde has opened up a good nine-second lead over Yee on the second lap and is looking comfortable. How can the Brit get back at him? The great crowds on the Parisian streets are getting behind the athletes to make a cracking atmosphere.
Women’s diving: Team GB have won a bronze in the pool. Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix and Lois Toulson’s podium position was in doubt after a poor third round effort but they came up with the goods when it truly mattered.
Men’s triathlon: There was a great moment when the athletes transitioned from bikes to running shoes, as Team GB’s Sam Dickinson started to get the crowd going by bigging up Yee.
New Zealand’s Wilde has chased down Yee and it looks like it could be an exciting battle for the gold. Yee is happy to sit in second as they complete the first lap.
Men’s triathlon: Yee is out at the front and is opening up a decent gap already. He is incredibly strong in this element and does a faster 5km than Mo Farah.
Men’s triathlon: As the race leaders dismount their bicycles and prepare to embark on what should be an exciting 10km race on foot, Will Unwin is here to steal my thunder and call them home after I did all the hard work …
Men’s triathlon: The crowds are 10-deep on the Champs Elysees as the competitors pedal their way around the final lap of the 40km bike-ride. Great Britain’s Alex Yee, the fastest man in the field over 10 kilometres on foot, is exactly where he needs to be in the lead group of about 35 riders.
China gold, GB bronze in women's 10m synchro diving
Women’s diving: The Chinese have won, because of course they have as they are incredible at this discipline. However, there is delight for Team GB’s Andrea Spendolini-Sireix and Lois Toulson, who hug each other with delight when an insufficiently decent last effort from the Americans means they are guaranteed the bronze medal. North Korea take the silver.
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Men’s triathlon: The lead group in the bike stage of the contest has mushroomed in size and looks about 35 riders strong with just over one lap of the cycle to go.
Women’s diving: With one round of dives left in the wopmen’s 10m synchro, Great Britain’s women have it all to do if they are to win a medal. They’ve slid down the placings to fourth and need to pull something extremely special out of the bag if they are to make the podium.
But what’s this? They do exactly that, with Lois Toulson and Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix scoring 77.76 to put themselves back into medal contention in second place. China are runaway leaders and have secured gold with 351.90 points. It looks like silver and bronze will be contested by Team GB, North Korea and Canada.
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Women’s hockey: Great Britain are 2-1 up against South Africa courtesy of a tidy strike Hannah French in the third quarter.
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Men’s triathlon: Our lead group of 19 are working reasonably well together at the front of the race, maintaining a 22-second gap between themselves and the chasers (which contains the reigning Olympic champion Kristian Blummenfelt) as they complete their third lap of seven on the bikes.
Women’s diving: Two rounds into the 10m synchro, it will come as no surprise to anyone to learn that the Chinese duo already look home and hosed with 111 points. Andrea Spendolini-Sireix and Lois Toulsen are currently in second place with 97.20, with their Ukraine counterparts in third on 96 points.
Men’s triathlon: The lead group is 19 riders strong and they have a gap of 24 seconds over the chasing pack on lap two of the bike race. A silver medallist at Tokyo, Team GB’s Alex Yee is in the lead group and will be happy with his performance so far.
Table tennis: Great Britain’s Liam Pitchford has been beaten in the men’s singles, going out to Slovenian 13th seed, Darko Jorgic, who advances to the last 16 on the back of a 4-2 win.
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Men’s triathlon: We’re 33 minutes into the race and our front group is about 16 riders strong and they have a lead of about 20 seconds over the chasing pack.
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Men’s triathlon: Your six leaders: Alessio Crociani (Ita), Matthew Hauser (Aus), Henri Schoeman (RSA), Pierre Le Corre (Fra), Dorian Coninx (Fra), Alberto Gonzalez Garcia (Esp). And in the time it took me to research all that they’ve been joined by several more, including Alex Yee on his arresting pink bicycle.
Men’s triathlon: A lead group of six riders have opened a gap on the chasers but Alessio Crociani (Ita) is visibly frustrated at being forced to do all the work with five others aren’t prepared to share the load at the front and do their turn.
Men’s triathlon: The race leaders have just finished their 1,500m swim in the Seine and Crociani (Ita), Schoeman (RSA), Hauser (Aus) and Coninx are the first four out of the water.
Alex Yee is back in 18th, 27 seconds behind as the competitors head to mount their bikes. With the sun out and the road dry, the conditions for the men’s cycle are a lot more forgiving than those the women had to endure earlier this morning. The time on the clock is 24min 02sec.
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Women’s diving: The 10m synchro diving has just started, with British duo Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix and Lois Toulsen going first for Team GB. We are obliged, by law, to mention that Andrea is the daughter of Fred Sirieix, who I’m told is a celebrity maitre d’ on some TV dating show I’ve never seen. As a proud Frenchman, Fred is also working for the BBC at these Olympics and is poolside to watch his daughter in action today. He must be bursting with pride …
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Women’s hockey: It’s the end of the first quarter in the pool game between Great Britain and South Africa and it’s the latter who lead by the only goal of the game so far, which was scored by Kayla De Waal.
Women’s triathlon report: Early risers were treated to an epic women’s triathlon – and an epic result for France and Paris as Cassandre Beaugrand secured victory. Not far behind was Britain’s Beth Potter, who took a gritty bronze medal in conditions that were brutal even by the standards of this tough sport. Sean Ingle reports from the banks of the Seine …
Men’s triathlon: After Cassandre Beaugard’s incredibly popular home win in the women’s event earlier this morning, the men’s begins in considerably warmer conditions.
There are 55 competitors, with Britons Alex Yee and Sam Dickson among them. Because of the Seine’s currents, the women’s swim was brutal, while the cycling coughed up plenty of casualties too. Let’s see how their male counterparts fare as they dive off the pontoon and into the dirty drink …
Women’s hockey: Team GB have just started their latest pool match against South Africa at Yves-du-Manoir and while the contest is not necessarily must-win for the British women, it is certainly could-do-with-one.
They have lost their first two games of these Olympics and are currently bottom of the six-team pool on goal difference. Only the top four advance but Team GB have two matches remaining after this one. It’s scoreless between the sides in the early stages.
Tennis: Andy Murray and his doubles partner Dan Evans looked to be on the way out of Paris 2024 but yet again the commendably stubborn duo found a way to win. Jonathan Liew reports from Roland Garros …
Swimming: Duncan Scott won the seventh Olympic medal of his career as Team GB successfully defended their 4x200m relay title, while Ireland’s Daniel Wiffen was victorious in the 800m freestyle. Andy Bull reports from the París La Défense Arena …
Women’s gymnastics: The American dream played out in a piece of irresistible theatre to bury the memories of the Damned Games of Tokyo, writes Barney Ronay.
Catch-up: With some time to kill before the men’s triathlon begins at 9.45am (BST) and the women’s 10m synchronised diving starts at 10am (BST), now seems as good a time as any to flag up some of our writers’ musings on events from last night. Stay tuned …
Women’s triathlon: Great Britain’s Georgia Taylor-Brown finishes sixth, shaking hands with assorted members of the crowd on her way up the home straight. She seems happy enough with her performance but it’s her Scottish teammate Beth Potter who takes the bronze medal.
“I was going for the gold but Cassandre and Julie were just too good for me today,” she tells the BBC. “I’m so happy to be here with the bronze medal. I did it for me but I also did it for everyone who has helped me in the past eight years.”
Beaugrand wins women's triathlon, Potter bronze for GB
To rapturous applause from the home crowd, the 27-year-old from Paris becomes the first ever French triathlete to win Olympic gold in a time of 1hr 54min 55sec. She’s followed home by Switzerland’s Julie Derron, with Team GB’s Beth Potter taking the bronze medal.
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Women’s triathlon: France’s Cassandre Beaugrand ups the pace and puts significant daylight between herself and Sweitzerland;’s Julie Derron. Beth Potter is in the bronze medal position for Britain and looking over her shoulder to see how far behind her Emma Lombardi is. About ten metres, Beth.
Women’s triathlon: Our four leaders take the bell and have 2.5km of this triathlon left to complete. That’s about eight minutes of racing in old money.
Women’s triathlon: Our four leaders pass the water station again and drench themselves with cold water as they continue to pass a steady stream of tail-enders. Switzerland’s Julie Derron tries to put some distance between herself and the other three leaders but they’re not having it and immediately up the pace. The race for all three medals is wide open and one of this quartet is going to miss out and suffer heartbreak. A reminder – they are: Julie Derron (Sui), Emma Lombardi (Fra), Cassandre Beaugrand (Fra) and Beth Potter (GB).
Women’s triathlon: A total of 1hr 35min after diving into the Seine, our four leaders pass a water station and you could throw a blanket over them. Switzerland’s Julie Derron is making the pace. Interestingly, there appeared to be a mass false start, when well over half the field appeared to jump the gun while diving into the Seine. I have no idea if any of our four leaders benefitted from that.
It could be significant as the swim looked horrendous, what with the strong currents in the famous river, and a lot of competitors’ chances of winning a medal ended before they had even getting on their bikes.
Women’s triathlon: Julie Derron (Sui), Emma Lombardi (Fra), Cassandre Beaugrand (Fra) and Beth Potter (GB) have opened a significant gap on the rest of the field with 7.5km of the run to go. It looks like our three medallists will come from this quartet. Georgia Taylor-Brown has dropped off the pace and will not be making the podium this year.
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Women’s triathlon: Our nine leaders have finished the cycle and are in the early stages of the 10km run that will decide our winner. They’re well over a minute clear of the best of the rest.
Women’s triathlon: Taylor Knibb (USA) is leading the chase group. Some readers may remember her as the women who crashed no fewer than four times during the women’s Individual Time Trial. Her inability to stay upright didn’t seem to phase her and after the Race of Truth she jokingly described herself as “probably the worst bike handler out there”.
Women’s triathlon: Our nine leaders take the bell to signal one more five-kilometre lap of the cycle remaining ahead of the run. The Paris 2024 organisers are not being particularly efficient when it comes to telling how far behind the chasers are but it seems inconceivable that the winner will not come from this front group of nine who have just swung a right off the Champs-Elysees. The gap seems to be at about 1min 18sec.
Women’s triathlon: The road surface is extremely greasy and various riders are dropping like flies. In the lead group, German athlete Laura Lindemann is the latest to go down, skidding on some cobbles and cracking her right knee on the cobbles. She gets back on the bike and pedals away but is no longer in the lead group, which is now down to nine riders.
Good morning from London. And happy whatever-time-of-the-day it-is wherever you are. It’s Barry Glendenning here, picking up the cudgels from Jonathan, as our lead group of 10 in the women’s triathlon are about to start lap six of seven in the cycling.
Our leaders: Derron (SUI), Lombardi (FRA), Kingma (NED), Lindemann (GER), Beaugrand (FRA), Duffy (BER), Taylor-Brown (GBR), Potter (BR), Spivey (USA), and Kuttor-Bragmayer (HUN). Back in the field, Team USA’s kirsten Kasper has just hit the deck, landing heavily on her backside.
Although it looked like the jig was up for her, she remounted and set off again, only to come a cropper for a second time as she looked over her shoulder upon hearing a race motorbike coming upsides her.
While the triathletes sweat Seine sludge around the streets of Paris, I’m going to put my feet up and make a cup of tea. It’s over to Barry Glendenning for the conclusion of the race.
Now two-thirds of the way into this cycling leg the leading ten remain over one minute clear of the chasing pack. Time-trial specialist Taylor Knibb (USA) is leading the chasing group and her expertise is helping chip away at the deficit, but it’s a Sisyphean task.
The course is lined with supporters four or five deep, urging on these triathletes. They are especially enthused with the presence of two French athletes in the leading pack: Emma Lombardi and Cassandre Beaugrand the number one and number three ranked triathletes in the world.
The top ten have settled into a rhythm, about half the way through this cycling portion of the triathlon. Those athletes are: Derron (SUI), Lombardi (FRA), Kingma (NED), Lindemann (GER), Beaugrand (FRA), Duffy (BER), Taylor-Brown (GBR), Potter (BR), Spivey (USA), and Kuttor-Bragmayer (HUN).
They have established a 68 second gap to the chasing pack.
It looks like we’re down to a race within a race for those leading ten with responsibility for leading the peloton switching periodically as everyone settles in ahead of the final running leg.
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It’s Wacky Races out on the slippery cobblestones with bikes sliding along the Parisian streets sending triathletes crashing to the ground. The chasing peloton is now nine-strong with Seregni (ITA), Tertsh (GER), and Lopes (BRA) all losing ground after falls.
But that chasing group has done its job, with Flora Duffy (BER) on the cusp of being reeled in.
Citius altius antibioticus pic.twitter.com/PWUPLM7UGc
— Barney Ronay (@barneyronay) July 31, 2024
That chasing pack is now 11-strong with Beaugrand (FRA), Lombardi (FRA), Tertsh (GER), and Taylor-Brown (GBR) among the peloton. However, they are failing to make any inroads on Flora Duffy with the Bermudian extending her lead, one that she established early on the swimming leg.
Further back we’ve already seen at least three cyclists stack hard on the slippery cobblestones.
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Duffy (BER) has a 17 second lead early in the cycling portion of the race. Behind her looms a chasing pack of four: Seregni (ITA), Lopes (BRA), Kingma (NED) and Potter (GBR).
Flora Duffy (BER) is first out of the water into her transition. It is a transition that includes a climb of 35 steep steps from the river up to the bridge where the bikes are waiting.
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As well as the four triathletes mentioned, French contenders Beaugrand and Lombardi are in the top ten, with Taylor-Brown (GBR) and Tertsch (GER) still in the mix.
Of the pre-race favourites, Kate Waugh (GBR) is way back in 43rd, 90 seconds off the pace.
Those four triathletes drag their sodden bodies out of the Seine, jog along the starting pontoon and dive back into the water for a much shorter lap two. The field is strung out to extraordinary proportions with a massive 50 seconds separating first and 15th and an unbelievable one minute 58 covering first to last.
#Paris2024 #Olympics #Triathlon
— World Triathlon (@worldtriathlon) July 31, 2024
⏱️ 13’30”
📍 Swim lap one
📖Out of the water and back in after a tough first lap it’s @floraduffy 🇧🇲 with a very useful gap followed by Bianca Seregni 🇮🇹 and @beth_potter having a great swim in 4th! pic.twitter.com/NzCNgOAqy9
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Duffy (BER) continues to lead the swimming leg, putting clean(ish) water between her and the chasing pack. It looks like one heck of a slog though during this upstream portion of the race. Bianca Seregni (ITA) is in second place with Vittoria Lopes (BRA) in third and Beth Potter (GBR) fourth.
The triathletes have reached the first turn at 910 of the 1500m course. Some of the back markers are almost swimming on the spot to fight the extraordinarily strong current.
Defending champion Flora Duffy (BER) has moved her way to the tip of the arrowhead of swimmers, hugging the riverbank to minimise the impact of the current.
The current in the Seine is reportedly one metre per second, which means swimming upstream is going to be exhausting. Some beautiful *triathlon cliches* on the world feed commentary with the truism that you can’t win the triathlon during the swimming leg, but you can lose it.
Replays of the start suggest it wasn’t a clean breakaway and their may be some false start penalties.
#Paris2024 #Olympics #Triathlon
— World Triathlon (@worldtriathlon) July 31, 2024
⏱️ 00’00”
📍 Swim Start
📖 THATS IT - the @paris2024 start horn gets the women’s triathlon underway!!
Standby for updates, there’s two hours of unmissable action ahead 👀 pic.twitter.com/OkCXCTWoZk
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55 intrepid women triathletes have splashed their way into the soupy Seine for one of the most anticipated events of the Paris Games.
It has been raining all morning but there are thousands of fans camped on the bridges and riverbanks of the French capital to cheer on the competitors. Allez!
Stunning views at the triathlon. And the rain has stopped too. Women’s race strats in 5 minutes… pic.twitter.com/GHkePruPyH
— Sean Ingle (@seaningle) July 31, 2024
The women’s triathlon features an opening swimming leg of 1500m (two laps of a 750m course in the Seine), then a 40km bike ride (seven 5.7km loops through Paris), finishing with a 10km run (four 2km laps).
It’s nearly @Paris2024 triathlon showtime. Final preparations. 8am CEST is GO.
— World Triathlon (@worldtriathlon) July 31, 2024
Stand by for fireworks. #Triathlon #Paris2024 #Olympics pic.twitter.com/JKQZPTv7W3
French supporters will be lining the triathlon route cheering on home stars Emma Lombardi and Cassandre Beaugrand the number one and number three ranked triathletes in the world.
Sandwiched between the two Frenchwomen is German Lisa Tertsch, while rankings four and five are occupied by a pair of British athletes, Beth Potter and Kate Waugh.
The defending champion is Flora Duffy, who became Bermuda’s first Olympic gold medallist when she finished ahead of Georgia Taylor-Brown (GBR) and Katie Zaferes (USA). Taylor-Brown lines up again today.
Here’s the triathlon course that will show off the incredible sights of Paris city centre.
Your @Paris2024 @Olympics Triathlon course map - she’s a beauty.
— World Triathlon (@worldtriathlon) July 31, 2024
🏊🏻♀️ 1500m swim
(Lap 1: 910m Lap 2: 590m)
🚴🏼 40km bike (7laps)
🏃🏼♀️ 10km run (4laps)
8am is GO time for the women
Buckle up! pic.twitter.com/84o0qBeMTc
We’re just about half-an-hour away from the start of the women’s triathlon. It’s an event that has featured heavily in the build-up to the games with the swimming portion of the race taking place in the river Seine.
Among the starters is American dual-sport phenomenon Taylor Knibb. The 26-year-old is a longer distance Ironman 70.3 specialist, who also qualified for Team USA in the road cycling time trial earlier this Olympics, finishing 19th.
In modern times, competing in two sports in the same summer is considerably less common. A Guardian analysis of data from the Olympic-stats site Olympedia turned up no athlete pulling double duty at the same Summer Olympics since 1992 (athletes such as cyclist-rower Rebecca Romero and baseball player-speed skater Eddy Alvarez have won medals in two sports at separate Olympics).
That drought will end on Wednesday, pollution permitting, when triathlete/cyclist Taylor Knibb competes in the women’s triathlon in Paris, four days after finishing 19th in the road cycling time trial, in which she crashed several times on a slippery day in Paris.
Staying with football, it’s a huge day for the women’s competition with the eight quarter-finalists to be decided after the final round of games. With 12 teams starting the tournament only four sides will miss out, with the winless trio of New Zealand, Nigeria and Zambia unlikely to proceed. The final spot is very much up for grabs on and off the pitch.
Defending gold medallists Canada head into the final round of matches on zero points despite winning both their matches. That is because they were deducted six points for spying on a training session of group rivals New Zealand. However, Canada have appealed that penalty with the court of arbitration for sport and a decision is expected to be handed down around 12:00 local time.
Should that penalty be reduced or erased, the qualification race becomes significantly tougher for the likes of Australia, Brazil and Colombia. Australia’s Matildas, heavily fancied coming into the tournament, were thumped 3-0 by Germany then escaped with a 6-5 victory over Zambia. They face Emma Hayes’ resurgent USWNT in Marseille desperate for a result that keeps them in the mix.
Speaking of things hotting up, Paris was sweltering yesterday with temperatures in the mid-30s. The athletes’ village is not fitted with air-conditioning.
The issue of air conditioning had been a hot one before the Games. As part of Paris’s commitment to a greener Olympics, it was decided that air conditioning would not be installed with officials instead promising that the athletes rooms would be kept cool through a geothermal water system pumping cold water underneath the buildings.
The men’s football tournament is hotting up with hosts France through to a blockbuster quarter-final match-up against bitter rivals Argentina.
Tensions have been heightened between the two football nations since the 2022 World Cup final, when Argentina fans chanted about French players with African heritage. After the albiceleste won the Copa América final in July, a video showed Argentina players singing similar chants.
That led the French football federation to file a complaint with Fifa over “racist and discriminatory remarks”. While that investigation is still ongoing, a full-scale diplomatic incident erupted between the countries before the Argentina president Javier Milei met with France’s leader, Emmanuel Macron, to smooth things over.
Friday’s quarter-final line-up is as follows:
France v Argentina
Egypt v Paraguay
Morocco v USA
Spain v Japan
The bespectacled Irishman Daniel Wiffen was a novelty when he swam to an 800m-1500m freestyle double at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships, but he is now a bona fide star of his sport and a national hero after battling to 800m freestyle gold last night.
Wiffen is the first Irishman to ever win an Olympic gold medal in the pool, and only the second Irish athlete ever to do it after, ahem, Michelle Smith de Bruin, who won three of them back at Atlanta in ‘96 and was banned for four years soon after when she was caught tampering with her urine samples. Wiffen wasn’t even born when all that happened, and while it won’t much worry him either way, some of the older people around Irish swimming will feel awfully glad they finally have another Olympic champion to celebrate after all these years.
Clarisse Agbegnenou was one of just four individual gold medal-winners for France in Tokyo, making her one of the faces of the Games in the build-up to Paris. But the judoka had to settle for bronze in the 63kg category.
It was still a moment to cherish though with Agbegnenou making her daughter part of her celebrations, following her close involvement throughout her preparation for the competition. Angelique Chrisafis has more.
Agbégnénou’s popularity in France rests on her extraordinary personal story. She was born premature in the Brittany city of Rennes, where she had major kidney surgery as a tiny baby, and was in a coma. She is now a patron of premature baby charities. Talent-spotted as a teenager, she received elite training and quickly rose up the ranks to become one of France’s biggest judo stars, in both individual and team competitions.
She said in the run-up to the Paris Olympics that her trailblazing for elite women athletes who had children was one of her biggest achievements – she took her baby to training in order to feed her. “I want women athletes who follow me to feel free and legitimate, to break codes to change mentalities and change the rules. We can have a life as a woman and mother as well as champion at the same time,” she told Le Parisien before competing in Paris.
We’re roughly halfway through the swimming carnival, but there is concern for the final few days with Covid rearing its ugly head. Great Britain’s Adam Peaty and Australia’s Lani Pallister are among the confirmed cases, with the USA and Romania also believed to have recorded positive tests.
As we know all too well from the rolling lockdowns of 2020-2021, this is likely to be the tip of the iceberg.
There is no mandatory requirement to withdraw from the Games in cases of Covid, leaving nations to implement their own policies with athletes and staff.
Australia’s swim team, especially its female contingent, are dominating in the pool. That includes Kaylee McKeown, who defended her 100m backstroke title, and looks destined for more glory before the end of the meet.
The Queenslander very much swims her own race, in and out of the pool. While many athletes offer up platitudes to that effect, there is a sense with McKeown that her offbeat approach is very much the real thing.
Speaking of Andy Murray, the great Scot prolonged his valedictory tournament with another gritty victory alongside doubles partner Dan Evans. Jonathan Liew had the pleasure of reporting on another trademark Murray performance.
There is pain in his joints and a heaviness in his step, and yet as Andy Murray reels away in victory as the clock strikes 10.30pm local time, he looks like a child again: the child who first swung a racket in anger, the child who first discovered the pure joy of victory.
Into the good night they went, Murray and Dan Evans, and not gently either but with force and purpose and every intention of returning to fight another day. In a way this has been the motif of Murray’s elongated final curtain call, perhaps even his career: a refusal to vacate the stage before he is ready, a desire to eke out every ounce of talent in his body.
Perhaps, as he and Evans came back from two match points down in a deciding tie-break, there was even a kind of revulsion to them, a determination that no, it would not end here, at a quarter-full Court Suzanne-Lenglen against the world No 35s from Belgium. The mind is still willing, the body is still just about there for him, and the neck is just two more wins from a fourth Olympic medal.
Unsurprisingly, Biles features in another magnificent gallery of images from yesterday’s action. But for my money the shot of the day is the one capturing Andy Murray and Dan Evans in synchronised delight following their second nail-biting victory of the men’s doubles tennis competition.
There’s only one place to begin our look back at day four and that’s the Bercy Arena, where Simone Biles exorcised the demons of Tokyo and ensured she would leave Paris as one of the shining lights of the Games. Barney Ronay got to enjoy the spectacle firsthand.
Paris was getting the Biles-industrial complex, the Biles narrative arc, which reached its full extension on a wonderful night of flex and twang and defiance of the elements; one that ended, naturally, with gold for the US women.
That final Biles routine was visceral and at times hair-raising. She played the hits. She did Biles 1, Biles 2. She produced an extraordinary release of energy, that explosive athletic grace that looks at times almost like an optical illusion.
What is gymnastics exactly? Performance art? Hard-edge competitive sport? At one point in her balance beam routine Biles did an insane triple backflip (repeat: on a thin, square bar) like a wheel rolling down an incline, one of those moments where she seems to turn the entire event into something else, movements that are strange, liquid, and basically unlike any other human on the planet.
The business end of the medal table remains a free for all with Japan still leading the way with seven gold medals. The unfamiliar look is largely a consequence of the USA experiencing a poorer than expected start to the Games, especially in the pool. US athletes have won 26 medals overall (twice as many as Japan) but only four of them have been gold. In the pool, US swimmers have won 15 medals, but only two gold.
The number of NOCs on the medal table is now up to 43 with the likes of Tajikistan and Guatemala joining the party.
Triathlon is on. But it is absolutely hammering it down in Paris. Hopefully it clears before the women’s race starts at 8am local time
— Sean Ingle (@seaningle) July 31, 2024
Triathlon is on!
After the disappointment of yesterday’s postponement of the men’s race, and longstanding concerns over the water quality in the Seine, it will come as a huge relief to event organisers that the triathlon has been confirmed on today’s schedule. The women’s race is up first at 08:00 followed by the men at 10:45.
We will swim 😤 pic.twitter.com/fJR5UVpn2B
— World Triathlon (@worldtriathlon) July 31, 2024
Preamble - Day Five Schedule
Hello everybody and welcome to live coverage of the fifth official day of competition of the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics.
Day four was dominated by another show stopping performance from Simone Biles who helped the USA to team gold in the women’s gymnastics. There was also a landmark gold in the pool with Daniel Wiffen powering to 800m freestyle glory and becoming the first Irishman to swim his way to an Olympic medal. Elsewhere in the swimming competition Great Britain (men’s 4 x 200m freestyle relay) and Australia (women’s 100m backstroke) continued their impressive meets.
But Tuesday was also one of disappointment. The postponement of the men’s triathlon due to the water quality of the Seine raised the possibility of the three-discipline event being reduced to just running and cycling, while 12 time zones away in Tahiti the surfing competition succumbed to mother nature on a day scheduled for medal events. And there was also the first major let down for the hosts with one of the faces of the games, Clarisse Agbegnenou, failing to defend her 63kg judo crown, although she did claim bronze.
So what can we look forward to today?
Medal Events
🥇 Triathlon – women’s & men’s individual (from 8:00)
🥇 Diving – women’s 10m platform synchro (from 11:00)
🥇 Rowing – men’s & women’s quad sculls (from 12:00)
🥇 BMX Freestyle – women’s & men’s park (from 13:00)
🥇 Shooting – women’s trap (from 15:30)
🥇 Judo – men’s 90kg / women’s 70kg (from 16:00)
🥇 Canoe Slalom - women’s C-1 (17:25)
🥇 Gymnastics - men’s all-around (17:30)
🥇 Fencing - men’s sabre team (19:30)
🥇 Swimming - women’s 100m & 1500m freestyle / men’s 200m butterfly, 200m breaststroke, 100m freestyle (20:30)
*(All times listed are Paris local)
Simon Burnton’s day-by-day guide:
BMX freestyle
In Tokyo Britain’s Charlotte Worthington and Declan Brooks went into their finals seeded fourth and seventh respectively and came out with a gold and a bronze, illustrating the event’s unpredictability. Both are back again but Britain’s best medal chance looks to be 23-year-old Kieran Reilly, the reigning world champion who made his name by becoming the first person to land a triple kick flair in 2022.
Gymnastics: men’s all-around final
Daiki Hashimoto won gold in Tokyo three years ago, has won two world championships since and goes into today’s all-around final as favourite. “I will remain steadfast in surpassing my previous accomplishments. My commitment is unwavering, fuelled by a resolute determination,” he said this year. Meanwhile the US are hoping for what would be just their second title, and first since 2004. “We’re going to be very deadly. This is going to be a fun Olympics. We are fully loaded,” said Fred Richard, who won world championship bronze last year.
Swimming
France’s Léon Marchand is the son of Xavier Marchand and Céline Bonnet, both former Olympic swimmers, is coached at Arizona State by Michael Phelps’s former mentor Bob Bowman, is probably the greatest swimmer in the world, and is about to have the biggest night of his life. The 200m butterfly and 200m breaststroke finals were originally due to run consecutively, but after intensive lobbying the schedule was changed to separate the events by an hour and a half and give Marchand a greater chance of success. Now he has to perform.
Other unmissable moments will include the women’s and (rescheduled) men’s triathlon races in the Seine and through the heart of Paris; Australian flag bearer Jess Fox looking for her second gold of the Games in the C-1 canoe slalom; Katie Ledecky cruising to an eighth career gold in the 1500m freestyle and the fastest sharks in the pool flexing their muscles in the men’s & women’s 100m freestyle; Viktor Axelsen beginning the defence of his men’s singles badminton title; Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz taking the court in the men’s singles tennis; and crunch time in the women’s football with the final round of group matches including the Matildas v USWNT.
I’m sure I’ve failed to include something notable to you in this short rundown, so feel free to let me know what’s on your agenda by emailing: jonathan.howcroft.casual@theguardian.com or, if you’re still rummaging around in the post-Twitter dumpster fire, find me on X @jphowcroft.
I’ll be around for the first few hours of the blog here in Australia, after which I’m handing over to Barry Glendenning in the UK.
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