Here’s the Saturday front page of L’Equipe after a day of French excellence.
🥇🥇🥇🇫🇷 Le jour des gloires
— L'ÉQUIPE (@lequipe) August 2, 2024
La une du journal L'Équipe de ce samedi 3 août #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/ACS7heMSUd
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Time for me to sign off; I’ll leave you with Daniel Boffey’s roundup of another dramatic day in Paris. Thanks for joining me, and au revoir.
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Want to see the best pictures from Friday at the Games? Yeah you do.
And here’s Jeremy Whittle on British disappointment in the BMX finals.
Here’s Andy Bull on the night’s swimming action, with Leon Marchand claiming a fourth gold as Ben Proud and Duncan Scott took silvers.
What to look out for on Saturday? There are early golds up for grabs in shooting, rowing and dressage, before the men’s cycling road race gets under way at 10am (BST). From 11am, medals will be won at Roland Garros where Zheng Qinwen and Donna Vekic fight for women’s singles gold.
Britain’s Emma Wilson features in the windsurfing iQFOiL final, with GB gymnasts Jake Jarman and Luke Whitehouse in the men’s individual floor final from 2.30pm. Simone Biles then goes for a third Paris gold in the women’s vault final.
Medals will be handed out in badminton, fencing and boxing before the big swimming and athletics events in the evening. In the pool, Katie Ledecky chases 800m gold and there’s a star-studded women’s 200m medley final.
On the track, the women’s 100m final is the main event, with mixed 4x400 relay gold up for grabs and the decathlon reaching its climax. And if all that isn’t enough, there’s still the women’s shortboard surfing final in Tahiti.
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Here are the thoughts of Beth Shriever after missing out on a BMX racing medal earlier. “I had the perfect run-in pretty much. I won everything going in and I think maybe I might have got a little bit excited, my thoughts got away from me but I can’t complain.
“I’ve had the best time, the absolute best time and that’s what it’s all about,” the Tokyo gold medallist added. “The pressure is high, everyone’s feeling it, literally one little mistake cost me so, it is what it is.” Teammate Kye Whyte crashed out in the semi-finals, with Team GB reporting he suffered “no significant injuries”.
Shriever added that she spoke to Whyte before he was taken to hospital. “I know he was gutted, so I gave him a hug and then had to try and get my job done, so he’s good. I just said it doesn’t matter, you’ve got your friends and family, they love you no matter what, literally nothing changes, so that’s it.”
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The France players came back out on to the pitch in Bordeaux to celebrate with fans, suggesting the skirmish with Argentina players has settled down. France midfielder Enzo Millot was shown a red card, though – leaving Thierry Henry unimpressed. “That’s unnecessary, useless. He was on the bench. I’m really not happy about it.”
Here’s Sean Ingle on the first day of athletics, with the purple track delivering the pace many expected and records tumbling:
Nick Ames was in Bordeaux to see France edge out Argentina in a stormy contest.
The men’s hockey quarter-finals are set after the final pool games took place today – all matches will take place on Sunday.
India v Great Britain
Belgium v Spain
Netherlands v Australia
Germany v Argentina
There are still preliminary matches in the women’s event to come tomorrow, with Team GB looking to secure their quarter-final place against Argentina.
Novak Djokovic is guaranteed at least a silver medal in Paris, having won bronze in Beijing and finished fourth in London and Tokyo. In what is likely to be his last chance to complete the “golden slam”, Djokovic overcame Lorenzo Musetti to set up a final against Carlos Alcaraz.
“It’s a huge relief because I never got to the Olympics final, even though I played really well I thought at Olympic Games,” Djokovic said. “Just to secure a higher medal for the first time for my country, whatever happens on Sunday, it’s huge pride and happiness, and that’s why I celebrated the way I did.
“Of course I’m going to go for gold on Sunday, there’s no doubt about it, but this is a big deal,” he added. “I don’t consider myself the favourite [in the final] because Alcaraz has proven himself the best player in the world at the moment – but I feel like I’m a different player than I was in Wimbledon. I feel more confident about myself and my chances in the final.”
France 1-0 Argentina (FT): It’s all over in Bordeaux and France are into the semi-finals – but that may only be half the story. At the final whistle, things got ugly very fast, with scuffles breaking out all over the place. The players have now headed down the tunnel with hostilities still very much ongoing, while the referee and his assistants wait on the pitch.
My esteemed colleague Beau Dure writes in about US BMX rider Alise Willoughby who, like Beth Shreiver, was a long way off the medals in the racing final earlier.
“Crashed in Tokyo. Missed podium here. Just destined to be one of those people who wins the world championship every other year but is cursed at the Olympics?”
It may be the nature of the event, where your chance is gone in a split-second – but she may get another shot at LA 2028. Cam McEvoy, who got his gold tonight in the pool, may inspire her.
Sticking with the romantic theme – this is the city of love, after all – with a nice story from earlier today. China’s Huang Yaqiong won badminton mixed doubles gold with Zheng Siwei – and then received a proposal from her off-court partner, Liu Yuchen. Gold medal, diamond ring: a good day at the office.
Mixed doubles gold for Czechia!
Czechia, the Czech Republic, whatever you prefer: they’ve won their first gold of the Games. Katerina Siniakova and Tomas Machac fought back to deny China’s Wang and Zhang 10-8 in the final tie-break. The Czech pair have also been partners off the court since 2020.
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No goal for France! VAR has intervened and disallowed Olise’s goal for a foul in the buildup. France still lead by just the one goal.
Goal for France! The hosts are heading to the semi-finals as Michael Olise’s shot on the turn is deflected into the net. They lead Argentina 2-0, and coach Thierry Henry runs down the touchline to join in the celebrations.
In the mixed doubles tennis final, China’s Wang and Zhang have won the second set – so we’re going to a 10-point tie-break for the gold.
In the women’s 200m medley semi-finals, American Alex Walsh qualified fastest, ahead of Canadian superstar Summer McIntosh and US compatriot Kate Douglass. Britain’s Abbie Wood is into the final with the fourth fastest time, with Aussie duo Kaylee McKeown and Ella Ramsay also in a star-studded field. The final will take place on Saturday evening.
A thoughtful read from Barney Ronay on the boxing controversy that has swept far beyond the Olympic Games…
Gold for Hungary in men’s epee team final: Hungary did just enough to dethrone Tokyo champions Japan, winning 26-25 to snatch gold.
Having cruised through the early rounds, Hungary took an early lead but could not build a clear advantage, eventually winning in sudden death as Gergely Siklosi defeated individual gold medallist Koki Kano.
It is Hungary’s fourth gold in the event, but their first since 1972. The Czech Republic claimed the bronze medal, beating France 43-21.
Those BMX golds keep France and Australia in the medal table top three, behind leaders China.
In the mixed doubles tennis gold medal match, Czech duo Katerina Siniakova and Tomas Machac have won the first set against China’s Wang Xinyu and Zhang Zhizhen.
Here’s Jack Snape’s trackside report from the BMX women’s final:
Egypt are into the men’s football semi-finals after beating Paraguay 5-4 on penalties. They’ll face either France or Argentina in the semi-finals; the second half is just kicking off in that game, with France a goal up.
So, it’s 10,000m gold for Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei, silver for Ethiopia’s Berihu Aregawi and bronze for USA’s Grant Fisher, who made a late surge to deny Canada’s Mohammed Ahmed a medal. That was a seriously quick race.
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Uganda's Cheptegei wins 10,000m gold in Olympic record
Joshua Cheptegei waited patiently behind the Ethiopian trio but with 600m to go, he makes his move. Plenty of movement behind him but he holds his lead into the final turn and nobody is going to catch him from here. He coasts home in 26:43.14, easily a new Olympic record.
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No Tokyo repeat for Beth Shriever, who was squeezed out early on and couldn’t recover, finishing eighth. It’s a thrilling gold for Australia’s Saya Sakakibara, silver for the Netherlands’ Manon Veenstra, and bronze for Zoe Claessens of Switzerland.
Gold for Australia's Sakakibara as Shriever misses medals
Shriever in gate six for the final, and she doesn’t get the cleanest start as Australia’s Sakakibara leads. Her medal chances seem to disappear in a handful of seconds.
Switzerland’s Zoe Claessens and Dutch rider Manon Veenstra are chasing but nobody is catching Saya Sakakibara. Gold for the Australian!
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Women’s BMX racing final: Can Beth Shriever defend her Tokyo gold? We’re about to find out …
In the men’s hockey, Team GB have suffered their first defeat in the pool stage. Christopher Rühr scored twice for Germany, who held on to win 2-1 despite Gareth Furlong’s goal and a late run of penalty corners.
The men’s 10,000m has passed the halfway mark, with Ethiopia’s Selemon Barega setting the pace and compatriots Berihu Aregawi and Yomif Kejelcha trying to help him control the race.
France seal 1-2-3 in men's BMX racing final
Joris Daudet wins gold, while Sylvian André (silver) and Romain Mahieu (bronze) hold on as Butti and Wood push for the podium down the home straight. All over in about 30 seconds, but one of the best moments of the Games for the host nation!
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Here comes the men’s BMX racing final… and the French trio get away fastest, with Joris Daudet pulling away. Only a mistake will stop him taking gold, but can his compatriots fill the podium?
Back to the track, where the men’s 10,000m final is under way. Approaching the 2,500m mark, they’re at an Olympic record pace. Uganda’s world record holder, Joshua Cheptegei, is bidding to go one better than his silver medal in Tokyo.
The men’s final is led by three French contenders: Romain Mahieu, Joris Daudet and Sylvian Andre. Swiss duo Simon Marquart and Cedric Butti, Colombia’s Mateo Carmona, American Cameron Wood and Australian Izaac Kennedy complete the line-up.
Drama in the final BMX qualifying run, as Dutch rider Merel Smulders and Australia’s Lauren Reynolds both run off course, while Colombian contender Mariana Pajon just misses out. Pajon took silver in Tokyo, Smulders bronze.
The qualifiers for the final are: Saya Sakakibara (Aus), Beth Shriever (GB), Manon Veenstra (Neth), Laura Smulders (Neth – and Merel’s older sister), Alise Willoughby (US), Zoe Claessens (Sui), Molly Simpson (Can), Axelle Etienne (Fr).
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White went over soon after the start of a run; he’d been struggling with back problems so far in Paris. Hopefully the hospital trip is a precaution given the injuries he was carrying.
In the women’s semi-finals, Beth Shriever currently leads the standings and is firmly on course for the final before the final qualifying run.
GB's Kye Whyte taken to hospital after BMX crash
The BMX semi-finals are concluding before the finals take place later on – but worrying news on Kye Whyte. The Tokyo silver medallist has left the course on a stretcher after a nasty crash, and has been taken to hospital. We hope he’s alright, and will update with further news when we get it.
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An early goal in Bordeaux … and France lead Argentina! Crystal Palace striker Jean-Philippe Mateta heads home from former Crystal Palace winger Michael Olise’s corner.
Elsewhere, it’s Egypt 1-1 Paraguay in extra time, the inevitable penalty shootout looming ever larger.
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Cam McEvoy on breaking his Olympic gold medal duck: “Literally pure joy, like, it’s amazing to win, but that entire 21.25 seconds was just … it was bliss. Like the way the stroke moved in the water. I never thought I’d be able to experience it like that. It was very hard to contain myself. I don’t think I’ve ever celebrated that much after a race either, that’s a first for me also … it’s just unreal.
Djokovic to face Alcaraz in gold medal match
Novak Djokovic has prevailed 6-4, 6-2 against Lorenzo Musetti, setting up the gold medal match we all wanted to see, against Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz.
Musetti made it tougher than the scoreline suggests, Djokovic’s flop to the floor after match point showing the toll it took on him, particularly while playing below full fitness.
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50m freestyle silver for Ben Proud. How’s he feeling? “Super happy I got the medal. Not gold, but I’m still super happy. To be on the podium in that field is fantastic.”
Before these Games began, France’s swimmers had a total of eight gold medals in Olympic history. That tally is now 12, and Léon Marchand has won a third of their all-time collection.
He’s surely the star of these Games, even when considering Simone Biles’ brilliant comeback. Over in the Stade de France, the athletics events had to pause because everyone was watching his swim on their phones.
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Here’s more on a golden double for Australia, taking their tally in the Paris pool to seven:
200m medley gold for France's Marchand, silver for GB's Scott
Léon Marchand is pulling further and further away, only missing the world record by 0.06 seconds – and taking his fourth gold of the Games. It’s an Olympic record, faster than Michael Phelps. Absolutely sensational. Emmanuel Macron, up in the stands, is absolutely loving it.
Duncan Scott takes silver for Team GB, his eighth Olympic medal. Bronze to China’s Wang Shun, with Carson Foster fourth and Tom Dean in fifth.
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Marchand’s underwater turns are just ridiculous, and he emerges from the first turn clear of the pack, with China’s Wang second and Scott in third. Now the breaststroke leg, the crowd cheering every time his head bobs above the water …
Straight on to the men’s 200m individual medley final, with French hero Leon Marchand the man to beat. British pair Tom Dean (in lane seven) and Duncan Scott (in lane three) are among those trying to deny him a fourth gold medal of these Games…
Australia's Kaylee McKeown wins 200m backstroke gold
McKeown powers home to win gold, and set an Olympic record into the bargain. That’s the 13th Games record set in this pool, and completes a double-double of 100m and 200m backstroke golds in Tokyo and Paris.
Regan Smith is second, with Kylie Masse in third for Canada. Britain’s Katie Shanahan and Honey Osrin finish fifth and seventh respectively.
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Next up, it’s the women’s 200m backstroke final. Regan Smith makes a strong start for the USA, but Australia’s Kaylee McKeown is lurking with intent …
A redemption story for the leading pair, both winning their first individual Olympic medals in that race. McEvoy’s winning time was 21.25; the slowest in the field, Cayman Islander Jordan Crooks, finished in 21.64.
50m free gold for Australia's McEvoy, silver for GB's Proud
Ben Proud and Cam McEvoy get away quickest, with the Australian getting an edge after the halfway mark. Gold for McEvoy, Proud holds on for silver, and France’s Florent Manadou takes a popular bronze from lane one!
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France’s Florent Manaudou, the USA’s Caleb Dressel and Australia’s Cameron McEvoy are just three of the threats in an all-star field. Here we go…
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Time for the first swimming medal of the night: the men’s 50m freestyle. Just one length of the pool, it’s going to be a free-for-all, with Britain’s Ben Proud very much in the mix in lane four.
Trampoline gold for Ivan Litvinovich
Close, but no medal for Zac Perzamanos in the men’s trampoline final. His final mark of 59.840 is only enough for fourth place. Ivan Litvinovich, who won gold at Tokyo representing Belarus, defends his title as a neutral athlete. China’s Wang and Yan take silver and bronze.
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Tsige Duguma of Ethiopia pips medal contender Kenya’s Mary Moraa in the fifth 800m heat, but both are heading through to the semi-finals.
Novak Djokovic has taken the first set from Musetti in their semi-final, but the Italian has hit back to break in the first game of the second set.
You can join Rob Smyth for minute-by-minute coverage of France v Argentina in the men’s football quarter-finals. Should be spicy, that one.
Coming up in the Stade de France: men’s shot put and women’s discus qualifiers, the fifth leg of the decathlon (400m) and the men’s 10,000m final at 8.20pm, BST. We’ll be switching our attention to the pool shortly, with another three golds up for grabs tonight.
Women’s 800m heats: Keely Hodgkinson looks comfortable on the shoulder of America’s Nia Akins. Noélie Yarego of Benin is also threatening, but Hodgkinson pulls away down the straight to win it in 1:59.31.
“I don’t really like heats,” she tells Eurosport. “They’re horrible, [but] to get the first run out of the way, is really good. These are the championships where anything can happen, so I’ll stay on my toes.”
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In the third women’s 800m heat, British teenage star Phoebe Gill came home third, behind Ethiopia’s Worknesh Mesele and France’s Rénelle Lamote in the fastest heat so far. Now it’s time for Keely Hodgkinson’s heat …
The USA’s Heath Baldwin has won the high jump element of the decathlon, moving up to eighth place overall. Germany’s Leo Neugebauer currently leads Norway’s Sander Skotheim, who came second in the high jump. France’s Kevin Mayer is missing, having pulled out of the event with injury.
Women’s 800m heat two: Cuba’s Daily Cooper Gaspar comes home in 1:58.88, clear of South Africa’s Prudence Sekgodiso and Switzerland’s Rachel Pellaud. The former world champion, Halimah Nakaayi of Uganda, finished fourth.
The men’s trampoline final is about to get started; Ivan Litvinovich led the Chinese pair of Wang Zisai and Yan Langyu in qualifying. Britain’s Zak Perzamanos earned his place – can the 21-year-old from Liverpool repeat Bryony Page’s heroics?
Reekie is joined by Slovakia’s Gabriela Gajanova and the USA’s Juliette Whittaker in qualifying directly for the semi-finals.
At half-time in the third of today’s four men’s football quarter-finals, it’s Egypt 0-0 Paraguay. I’ll be honest, I fancy penalties there.
The women’s 800m heats are under way, with Jemma Reekie going in the first of six. She eases home in a pleasing time of 2:00.00; Team GB compatriot Keely Hodgkinson will run in the fourth heat.
Djokovic has early chances to break Musetti, but his Italian opponent holds firm. Musetti has given Djokovic problems in their previous meetings, although the head-to-head is 6-1 in the Serb’s favour.
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Here’s more on a big moment for the hosts of these Games, as Teddy Riner, aka “Teddy Bam Bam!” delivered judo gold.
Here’s Andrew Lawrence on Noah Lyles, the Yu-Gi-Oh! card collector and supreme sprinter set to be one of the stars of this Olympic Games.
Based on provisional times, Great Britain are third fastest qualifiers, behind the US and France. The Netherlands, Italy and Belgium are also through, and I think Jamaica and Poland will complete the line-up.
In the second mixed 4x400m relay heat, Team GB have set the pace throughout and Nicole Yeargin brings them home in first, ahead of the Netherlands, Italy and Nigeria. A British record, in a slower pace than the first heat.
Mixed doubles bronze for Canada! Joy for Gabriela Dabrowski and Félix Auger-Aliassime as they see out the second-set tie-break, winning 7-2 to deny Demi Schuurs and Wesley Koolhof.
The final, coming up later, will feature Czechia’s Katerina Siniakova and Tomas Machac against China’s Wang Xinyu and Zhang Zhizhen.
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After day two of the golf, an elite field continue to hold sway at the top of the leaderboard, with Xander Schauffele (US), Hideki Matsuyama (Japan) and Britain’s Tommy Fleetwood tied on -11, and Jon Rahm (Spain) lurking on -9.
This is a fairly new event, of course – the previous world record was set by the US at last year’s world championships – but still a sign that this purple track may be just as quick as everyone predicted.
France, in second, and Belgium in third qualify for the final, while Jamaica and Poland wait on the second heat – which includes Great Britain. A host of national records broken in that heat, too.
USA break world record in mixed 4x400 relay heats
In the first mixed 4x400m relay heat, the US quartet have absolutely sailed clear of the field – and they set a new world record of 3:07.41! And this isn’t even their strongest quartet.
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Thanks, Sarah. We’re into a second-set tie-break in the mixed doubles bronze medal match between the Canadian and Dutch pairs, while Novak Djokovic is out on court for his semi-final against Lorenzo Musetti.
And with that my watch is over, I’m handing over to Niall McVeigh who will take you through tonight’s action. Enjoy.
In the men’s football Spain have beaten Japan 3-0 in their quarter-final. Fermín López scored two with Abel Ruiz adding the last to seal their spot in the semis.
The second women’s 5000m heat has finished. The qualifiers into the final are: Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet, Ethiopia’s Media Eisa, Australia’s Rose Davies, Norway’s Karoline Grovdal, Burundi’s Francine Nyomukunzi, USA’s Whittini Morgan, Finland’s Nathalie Blomqvist, Venezuela’s Joselyn Brea.
In the men’s football quarter-final, Spain look to have sewn this up with another goal. this time the scorer is Abel Ruiz. They have less than 10 minutes to play.
Dominica’s Thea Lafond has qualified for the women’s triple jump with 14.35 on her second jump. She jump 41cm before the board though so she left a lot out there.
In the tennis mixed doubles bronze match, Canada’s Félix Auger-Aliassime and Gabriela Dabrowski are 4-3 up in the second set after winning the first 6-3 against the Netherlands’ Wesley Koolhof and Demi Schuurs.
Elsewhere in the tennis competitions, in the men’s singles Serbia’s Novak Djokovic is due out on court in just under 10 minutes to play Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti. It is a repeat of the Wimbledon semi-final.
Italy’s Dariya Derkach has qualified for the women’s triple jump final with a jump of 14.35. It was her second jump of the qualifying and it was her season’s best.
Some stories to have a read of from today’s action:
France’s Teddy Riner won gold in the +100kg judo earlier today and he has confirmed he will be targeting defending the medal at the 2028 Games.
He said: “It’s a great source of pride, even if it’s complicated to understand straight away.
“It’s special because it’s at home. And then to have Guadeloupe behind me, the Antilles, it’s crazy! I have dreamed of it several times in my career to experience a final like that, with an ippon like that, today I’ve done it at home.
“2028? Of course. But everything comes in time. It’s 2024. I’m going to enjoy of this medal.”
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In the men’s trampolining qualification Team GB’s Zak Perzamanos has just had his first exercise and he had jumped into top spot. What a performance, he scores 58.8. There are seven other athletes to go through their first exercise and then they all go again before the positions are confirmed. The top eight qualify.
In the men’s football quarter-final, Spain have doubled their lead against Japan and it is Fermín López who scores again. They have just under 20 minutes to go and so Japan have a lot of work to do to stay in the competition now.
Four athletes have qualified for the women’s triple jump and they all did so, impressively, with their first jump. The USA’s Jasmine Moore (14.43), Cuba’s Liadagmis Povea (14.39), Spain’s Ana Peleteiro-Compare (14.36) and Jamaica’s Shanieka Ricketts (14.47) are all through.
There will be more qualifiers, of course, with at least 12 best performers progressing but only four have been confirmed so far.
The women’s first 5000m heat has concluded and I had said there was a worry around Japan’s Nozomi Tanaka, who used a lot of energy being the pace setter and we were right to worry, Towards the end of the race the other athletes found their extra gear and Tanaka finished ninth – the top eight qualify.
The qualifiers: Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon, Netherlands’ Sifan Hassan, Italy’s Nadia Battocletti, Kenya’s Margaret Kipkemboi, Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay and Ejgayehu Taye and Americans Elise Cranny and Karissa Schweizer.
Australian boxer Teremoana Junior battled valiantly against defending Olympic champion Bakhodir Jalolov in the super heavyweight category, but was ultimately unable to end Jalolov’s six-year unbeaten streak – losing on points in a unanimous decision.
The women’s triple jump qualification has started and the group is currently led by the USA’s Jasmine Moore who has jumped a season’s best with 14.43. More to come from that as it continues.
The field has started breaking up around halfway through this first women’s 5000m heat. Japan’s Nozomi Tanaka has led throughout but the question will be if she can continue to be the pace setter as qualify for the final, she pulled away and had a huge gap but the chasing group has caught her.
Canada’s Félix Auger-Aliassime and Gabriela Dabrowski has won the first set 6-3 with a very comfortable performance so far against the Netherlands’ Wesley Koolhof and Demi Schuurs. This match will determine the tennis mixed doubles bronze.
The first heat in the women’s 5000m is underway. One of the sport’s stars is in this heat with Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon featuring. The first eight finishers in each heat, of which there are two, will qualify for the final.
In the men’s decathlon – who are now on the high jump – both the USA’s Harrison Williams and Estonia’s Janek Oiglane have posted season best’s on the high jump with 1.87m. They could yet improve upon that as the fourth event in the decathlon continues.
Some news for you:
The men’s trampolining qualification for the final has started and Colombian athlete Angel Hernandez is first up. On his first exercise he scores a 57.9 but he will have another exercise to improve upon that score once all the rest of the athletes have their first.
GB have Zak Perzamanos in this event and he will be going ninth in the rotation.
In the mixed tennis doubles bronze match Canada’s Félix Auger-Aliassime and Gabriela Dabrowski are a break up in the first set against the Netherlands’ Wesley Koolhof and Demi Schuurs. The Canadian pair lead 3-1 in the first set.
Tumaini Carayol is in Paris for the Guardian:
Over the last few Olympic cycles, women’s artistic gymnastics has changed beyond imagination. After the emergence of the prodigious teenage gymnasts Olga Korbut and Nadia Comăneci in the 1970s, it was widely believed that female gymnasts peaked in their teenage years and as they continued to mature physically, the prospect of maintaining their complex routines was increasingly remote.
But in recent years, the average age of the best gymnasts has increased and numerous prominent athletes have enjoyed long careers. This theme has only further accelerated in Paris, which has so far been dominated by older gymnasts. This includes the enduring greatness of Simone Biles, who on Thursday became the oldest gymnastics all-around champion since 1952.
As such a strong, formidable athlete, Biles has helped change the image of gymnasts with the body types that can be successful in the sport and to break down old myths: “It was always, the smaller and lighter you are, especially in women’s gymnastics, the easier gymnastics was,” says the 2014 Commonwealth Games champion Becky Downie.
“When you are a child, you have a much smaller, robust body. But then there was that shift. Not just in terms of our sport and funding, but when we saw the rise of the Americans. They were strong, they were muscular, they weren’t really tiny bodied athletes. I think that really created a shift in the sport to be like you actually can be muscly and strong, and actually it’s helpful.”
Read more from Tumaini Carayol here: Biles is epitome of shift in gymnastics that prioritises autonomy over age
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France's Riner wins +100kg judo gold
France’s Teddy Rinner has won the +100kg judo gold after beating the Republic of Korea’s Minjong Kim 10-0. In the bour Rinner scored an ippon.
Earlier on Uzbekistan’s Alisher Yusupov and Tajikistan’s Temur Rakhimov won bronze.
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The Matildas are out of the women’s football event after losing two of their three group matches. Here’s some reaction:
There’s about to be an action packed evening of athletics. First up is the men’s decathlon who take on their fourth event in the high jump. There will also be the first round of the women’s 5000m and the women’s triple jump qualification.
Elsewhere, the men’s trampolining qualification also gets underway in less than 10 minutes.
An update on the men’s football quarter-final, VAR have ruled out Japan’s equaliser for offside. Re-watching the goal I think that is a fairly harsh call but Spain lead 1-0.
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The mixed doubles bronze medal match has just started in the tennis. Canada’s Félix Auger-Aliassime – who lost earlier today in the men’s singles to Carlos Alcaraz – and Gabriela Dabrowski play against the Netherlands’ Wesley Koolhof and Dmei Schuurs.
Japan have equalised against Spain in the men’s football to make it 1-1 and it was a bit too easy for Mao Hasoya to score. He was passed the ball in the box and had two Spanish defenders swarm him. But the player span and sliced it into the bottom left corner. Game on.
In the men’s football, Spain are still leading Japan 1-0. Earlier on Morocco beat the USA 4-0, you can catch up on that here:
The women’s kayak cross time trial has ended and Mallory Franklin has been hit off the top spot. France’s Camille Prigent recorded a time of 70.33 to top the table with Australia’s Jessica Fox score of 70.84 putting her in second, ahead of Franklin. GB’s other paddler Kim Woods finished 16th.
This determines the seedings for the next round, which will take place tomorrow.
The champion American gymnast Simone Biles found time overnight between counting her record haul of Olympic medals to ding Donald Trump on social media after his offensive and untrue remarks at a gathering of Black journalists earlier in the week.
She posted on X early on Friday: “I love my black job” with a black heart emoji alongside, responding to another post of her beaming with her latest Olympic gold medal.
There is more from Joanna Walters on this story here: ‘I love my black job’: Simone Biles mocks Trump’s offensive panel remarks
Souza wins +78kg judo gold
Brazil’s Beatriz Souza has won the +78kg women’s judo gold medal after beating Israel’s Raz Hershko 1-0.
Souza scored a waza-ari early on and it was the score that made the difference.
Earlier on the Republic of Korea’s Hayun Kim and Romane Dicko both won the bronze for the same category.
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The Olympic Games in Paris have provided many fashion moments. The latest comes at a micro level. Competitors, chiefly in gymnastics and athletics, are making nails a big part of their look.
Sha’Carri Richardson is the pioneer here. Her statement nails have long been part of her style. For the 100-metre heats on Friday, her nails were pointed, jewelled and brightly patterned. They were decorated with the US flag for the opening ceremony last weekend.
The gymnasts Sunisa Lee and Jordan Chiles both have long nails – Chiles decorating hers with jewels and vivid colours. Shot putter Raven Saunders has talons decorated with the Olympic rings. Noah Lyles, the US track and field star, has “icon’” spelt out across his. To continue the trend, there’s even a nail salon in the Olympic Village.
Sportspeople have traditionally kept their on-field style minimal in a bid to focus on optimum performance, so the nails here have raised eyebrows. However, Dr Danielle Adams Norenberg, the head of psychology at the UK Sports Institute, who works with Team GB, says they can actually give an edge: “I’m all for helping [athletes] figure out how they’re going to express themselves through their performance in a way that enhances their strengths and supports their methods.”
Read more here: ‘Bougie and beautiful on the track’: nails complete the look at the Olympics
In the women’s tennis doubles AIN’s (individual neutral athletes) pair Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider have beaten Spain’s Cristina Bucșa and Sara Sorribes in straight sets to reach the gold medal match.
They will play Italy’s Jessica Paolini and Sara Errani who beat the Czech Republic’s Karolina Muchova and Linda Nuskova earlier today.
The Spain and Czech Republic teams will play each other in the bronze medal bout.
If I got you to guess which actor would do his own stunts at the Olympic closing ceremony I think you’d all get it right. But you can check if you were here:
Spain have gone 1-0 up against Japan in their men’s football quarter-final. A goal from Fermín López, who plays his club football at Barcelona, edges them ahead. A long way to go in that one.
Jack Snape has been at the Stade de France for the Guardian:
The world’s fastest women flew down the Olympic straight in the 100m heats on the first morning of athletics at the Stade de France, but one carried a heavier burden. Kimia Yousofi, part of the six-person Afghan team competing in Paris, trailed the rest of the pack and finished two seconds behind the winner.
Afterwards, she held up words scribbled on an A4 piece of paper. “Education” written in black. “Sport” underneath it in green. In red, the third colour of the Afghanistan flag, “our rights”. “I have a message for Afghan girls,” she said. “Don’t give up, don’t let others decide for you. Just search for opportunity, and then use that opportunity,” she said.
The 28-year-old carried the country’s flag at the Tokyo Games, but fled to Iran when the Taliban took control in 2021. Her team in Paris is made up of three men and three women, selected by the Afghanistan Olympic Committee which operates outside the country. “I just want to represent Afghan people with this flag, our culture. Our girls in Afghanistan, our women, they want basic rights, education, and sport,” she said.
Read more here: Afghanistan 100m runner Kimia Yousofi sends Olympic message to the Taliban
Who doesn’t love a quiz? I honestly don’t know anyone who doesn’t. Check this one out and test yourself:
The men’s kayak cross time trials happened earlier on and GB’s Joe Clarke finished with the fastest time. All the athletes make it through the first round but this determined the seedings for the next round. GB’s other athlete in the men’s event, Adam Burgess, finished 26th.
The women’s event is in the process of round one now and GB’s Mallory Franklin has just finished her course. She has shot to the top of the rankings with a time of 71.85. GB also have Kim Woods in the sport and I’ll let you know how she gets on once she has had her run.
In the men’s football Morocco have knocked the USA out of the event after beating them 4-0.
The second quarter-final has just started between Japan and Spain. I’ll keep you updated as that one rolls out.
Republic of Korea win mixed team archery gold 🥇🥇🥇
The Republic of Korea have beaten Germany 6-0 in the mixed team archery final to claim the gold medal.
The USA beat India 6-2 earlier today to win bronze.
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Thanks Martin, first up I have some gold medal news to bring you.
Here are Great Britain’s gold medal-winning equestrian jumping team.
The people get medals, hopefully the horses get some golden sugar lumps or something?
On that note, that is me Martin Belam done for the day. Sarah Rendell is back with you now. I will see you for the morning sessions tomorrow.
Better news for the archery section of Team USA, rather than the football section. The mixed team pair of Casey Kaufhold and Brady Ellison have claimed the bronze medal. They seemed pretty thrilled with it all.
Women’s tennis singles: a comfortable 6-2 6-1 victory for Poland’s Iga Świątek over Slovakia’s Anna Karolina Schmiedlova for the bronze medal in the end.
Men’s football: Ilias Akhomach and Achraf Hakimi have added a second and third for Morocco in their quarter-final against the USA. There are 15 minutes to go but it looks like the US are going home.
Zoe Williams has put together these lighthearted five key questions for the rest of the Olympics. Fortunately for my blushes she has not put in “Why can Martin Belam frequently not spell Guatemala correctly?”.
Bryony Page has said her gold medal hasn’t sunk in, and that she feels “so loved and supported”. She described her trampolining discipline as “flying through the sky”, before self-deprecatingly saying “I just jump up and down on a trampoline and try and make it look good.”
She told viewers of the BBC that she had initially been confused about when she was jumping, as she walked in second but was actually going seventh, but that worked in her favour, as “I had longer to prepare, get my heart rate at the right level.”
She said:
When I stood on the trampoline, the scores were coming in from the other athletes. I wasn’t able to watch the routines because I wanted to be in my own zone, but hearing the scores, I kind of knew that a medal was up for grabs if I just did kind of a normal routine. But I wanted to step up and do the top end of my routine, and I almost got there, so I’m really happy with that.
Barney Ronay has been in Paris for the Guardian:
One week in, the Games have so far been grand, exhilarating, and unusually light and sustainable in their staging. But the big moments have mainly been Francophone, from delight at the men’s rugby sevens victory – France’s players are still engaged in an unceasing celebration: a selection of them were seen most recently dancing in sunglasses in Ibiza – to an opening ceremony that was basically a slick and persuasive TV advert for Paris, to the wonderful spectacle of the triathlon that felt at times like a mash-up of ominous pollution bulletins and a super-shiny chocolate box Netflix series, E.coli in Paris.
Read more here: Chic and beautiful Olympic party in Paris still searching for moments of true unity
Ewan Murray at Vaires-sur-Marne earlier described victory for Emily Craig and Imogen Grant as “the ultimate redemption story” as they won the last ever staging of the women’s lightweight double sculls in Paris after a mere 0.01 seconds denied the pair a medal in Tokyo three years ago.
Speaking on Eurosport, Grant said “I’m not sure if he would have both been here to be honest (without the experience of Tokyo). The result today is a culmination of the Tokyo result, but [also] all of the hours and hours of training we’ve put into this.”
A clearly emotional Craig added:
I think both of us are standing here with everything we’ve ever wanted in our entire lives. And we don’t really know what to do with it.
Archery mixed team: we are going to get the medal matches shortly from Les Invalides. India and the USA will play for bronze, followed by South Korea and Germany facing off for gold.
Women’s tennis singles: Iga Świątek has won the first set in the bornze medal match 6-2.
Daniel Boffey has been in the Aquatics Centre in Paris for the Guardian. Here is his report on this morning’s diving:
Britain’s Olympic diving team were celebrating their best ever Games as Jack Laugher and Anthony Harding picked up a bronze medal in a tight men’s 3m springboard synchronised dive that went to the wire.
With the individual events yet to come, Britain has now earned four medals in the aquatics centre with Laugher acknowledging the pressure on him after the early success, including a bronze for his girlfriend Lois Toulson, in the synchronised 10-metre platform.
“I would never have heard the end of it if I didn’t get one and she did,” said Laugher, 29, from Ripon. “This is Team GB’s best ever diving haul. We’ve done fantastically. Four medals from four synchro events is unreal.”
China’s Long Daoyi and Zongyuan Wang won gold, continuing Chinese dominance in the diving pool, and Juan Manuel Celaya and Osmar Olvera representing Mexico took silver but the medal positions were in doubt right up until the last dive.
Read more from Daniel Boffey here: Laugher and Harding claim bronze to ensure GB’s best Olympic diving haul
Lin Yu-Ting, one of the boxers at the centre of controversy around gender qualifications in boxing, has reached the quarter-finals after a unanimous judges’ decision against Sitora Turdibekova of Uzbekistan.
Lin, 28, is one of two boxers, who were disqualified by the International Boxing Association (IBA) from last year’s World Championships for failing gender eligibility tests but were given the green light to compete in the Paris Olympics.
Earlier Lin was supported by Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan’s first female president from 2016-2024, who posted to social media to say “Let’s cheer for Lin Yu-ting together.”
Lin Yu-ting, who competes under the Chinese Taipei banner at the Olympics is the number one seed in the 57kg division, and exited the same competition at the round of 16 stage in Tokyo.
Our picture team have put together this gallery of the best images from today at the Olympics.
Men’s football: we have reached the quarter-final stage, and in the first match Morocco are holding a 1-0 lead over the USA. 28-year-old Soufiane Rahimi who plays for UAE Pro League club Al Ain with a penalty in the 29th minute.
My colleague Kieran Pender clarifies here what that basketball result earlier means for Australia’s men:
Men’s basketball: Australia are sweating on other results after losing 77-71 to Greece in Lille. The Boomers had opened their group strongly with a win over Spain, before slumping to Canada on Tuesday. A win over Greece would have guaranteed progression to the next round.
Jock Landale led the scoring for Australia with 17 points, while NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo contributed 20 points for Greece. The Boomers can still progress to the quarter-finals if Canada beat Spain in the other group A tie to be played later this afternoon.
Here is one of those winning fence jumps from Jefferson, who brings home the gold for Team GB.
Scott Brash knew he could afford a time penalty, and duly picked one up. Ben Maher also picked up a time penalty on the opening round, riding Dallas Vegas Batilly. Harry Charles on Romeo 88 was the other rider in the trio, and all three went clear in their rounds. Brilliant stuff from Team GB’s equestrian organisation here.
Team GB win gold in the equestrian team jumping 🥇🥇🥇🐴🐴🐴
Equestrian team jumping: it is a gold for Great Britain. Scott Brash on Jefferson knew a clear round would secure the top spot, and he and the horse did it. There were a couple of fences where it looked a tight squeak, but they did it.
The USA finish second on four penalties, to Britain’s two. France just pipped the Netherlands for bronze on time, with the two teams tied on seven penalties.
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Time isn’t a problem for Scott Brash on Jefferson. They just need to go clear.
Equestrian team jumping: there are groans in the crowd as Julien Epaillard on Dubai Du Cedre puts down a fence, but he makes a decent recovery. The USA have four penalties, France and the Netherlands are tied on seven penalties, France having gone slightly quicker by 0.57 seconds. They are in the medals at the moment. Great Britain are going for gold now. It is all down to Scott Brash on Jefferson.
Equestrian team jumping: McLain Ward goes on Ilex for the USA and he goes clear. It is a tremendous round under pressure. The US are now in the lead, on 229.90 seconds and four penalties. The hosts go next, and then Great Britain. This is not going to be for the faint-hearted.
Equestrian team jumping: a difficult round for Cian O’Connor on Maurice there, he picks up nine penalties and that places them fourth and outside the medal chances. Such a shame, especially after Daniel Coyle on Legacy had gone clear in the second round, putting the Irish within touching distance of the podium.
We often hear athletes say how frustrating it has been to narrowly miss out on a better result or look disappointed with a podium finish that isn’t gold, but not Team GB diver Anthony Harding, who has told viewers of the BBC that “It wasn’t to be to beat China or Mexico but I’m so happy to get the bronze. I can die happy now. I always believed I could make it to the Olympics … to walk away with a medal, with Jack [Laugher], is amazing.”
Equestrian team jumping: a clean round from Philipp Weishaupt on Zineday finishes Germany’s contribution to the contest. They are in the lead for now with eight penalties in total. There are five teams left to finish.
Lisa Nandy, the UK culture secretary, has described the Olympic boxing bout between Imane Khelif of Algeria and the Italian Angela Carini as “an incredibly uncomfortable watch” , as a row about the inclusion of two boxers who failed gender eligibility tests at the 2023 world championships continued.
Carini abandoned her bout against Khelif after 46 seconds on Thursday saying she “preferred to stop for my health” and adding “I have never felt a punch like this”.
Nandy acknowledged concern about “getting the balance right” in boxing and other sports when it comes to female competitors. But she said the “biological facts are far more complicated than is being presented on social media and in some of the speculation”.
Khelif and Lin Yu‑ting of Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) were disqualified from the 2023 women’s world championships with the International Boxing Association president, Umar Kremlev, saying DNA tests had “proved they had XY chromosomes and were thus excluded”. Lin is due to face Uzbekistan’s Sitora Turdibekova in a featherweight bout shortly.
Read more from Alexandra Topping here: ‘An uncomfortable watch’: UK minister speaks on Olympic boxing gender row
Men’s basketball: Australia narrowed the gap with Greece in the end, but slip to a 77-71 defeat. That means Greece leapfrog Australia into second place in the group. Canada against Spain is the final group match, at 17.30 local time today.
Equestrian team jumping: after two horses each – is that the technical term? It is now – Team GB are leading the competition, on a combined time of 157.93 with one penalty. Hosts France are putting up a strong show in second. The US are in third place. Scott Brash on Jefferson is the remaining rider for the British.
Julien Epaillard rides Dubai Du Cedre for France, and McLain Ward goes on Ilex for the USA. Ireland are poised in fourth to take advantage of any slip ups. Cian O’Connor on Maurice will anchor their team.
Carlos Alcaraz is safely through to the men’s singles final. Next up on that court in Roland Garros is Poland’s Iga Świątek and Slovakia’s Anna Karolina Schmiedlova for the bronze medal in the women’s singles.
Women’s windsurfing: if you were getting frustrated that we weren’t bringing you any action from the women’s windsurfing, that is because there isn’t any. At the Marseille Marina they have reached the quarter-final stage, but the weather conditions are causing a delay. Organisers say 15.15 local time – in about twenty minutes – is the earliest possible resumption time.
Men’s tennis singles: Carlos Alcaraz has just gone 4-1 up in the second set after taking the first 6-1, so I’d wager he will be in the final.
I could probably do an entirely separate live blog of just Bryony Page reaction shots, as the pictures coming through of her celebrating her gold medal are *chef’s kiss*.
Not a good moment for Australia in men’s team sports right this second. In Group B in the men’s hockey they are trailing 3-1 to India at the end of the third quarter. It is all essentially dead rubbers in that group, with Belgium, Australia, India and Argentina guaranteed to progress, and Ireland and New Zealand eliminated.
Australia are also behind the men’s basketball. Greece have a 59-41 lead there, and that result could jeopardise Australia’s hopes of progress.
I am live blogging from the Stade de Walthamstow, but Sean Ingle has been at the Stade de France for the Guardian this morning watching the athletics. Here is his report:
There was a whiff of London 2012 as the track action at the Stade de France got under way to huge crowds, a wall of noise, and early British promise. It came from the 2023 world 1500m champion Josh Kerr, who breezed into the semi-finals wearing a pair of gold-emblazoned spikes, and then declared: “I’m definitely better than last year – and we’ll see that.”
Kerr’s fighting talk came after the Olympic 1500m champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen had taken a dig at him off the track. Asked about his great rivalry with Kerr, he replied: “It’s hard to refer to him as a rival when he’s never there. He is known as the Briton who never competes. I try to participate in as many races as I can and to entertain.”
Kerr’s relaxed response after winning his heat in 3min 35.83sec “Everyone can have their own opinions. I’ve no problems with that and I will hopefully be remembered for something slightly different.”
Around 69,000 people watched the early skirmishes, which made for a welcome contrast to the 2016 Rio Olympics, which barely had a couple of thousand spectators in the 60,000-capacity venue on the opening day. And, of course, the delayed Tokyo 2020 Games, which were staged completely without crowds.
There were also huge cries of “allez bleu” before every appearance by a French athlete, while an in-house DJ kept the atmosphere going, much to the joy of the crowd.
They watched as all the pre-race favourites for the women’s 100m, including the American Sha’Carri Richardson, who ran 10.96 sec, breezed into the semi-finals.
Britain’s Daryll Neita looked particularly good in qualifying in joint-second fastest in 10.92sec, behind Marie-Josée Ta Lou, who ran 10.87. But Dina Asher-Smith (11.01) and Imani-Lara Lansiquot (11.10) also pronounced themselves satisfied after making it through.
Read more here: Josh Kerr relaxed after Ingebrigtsen’s criticism as wall of noise greets athletics
It is non-stop action today. In the men’s tennis Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz has just won the first set in the semi-final in the men’s singles against Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Here is Bryony Page’s reaction to winning …
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Well done Bryony Page!
Belarus-born Viyaleta Bardzilouskaya takes silver for the neutral athletes. Canada’s Sophiane Methot has bronze.
Bryony Page wins gold for Team GB in women's trampolining! 🥇🥇🥇
Glorious scenes for Team GB’s Bryony Page as she has won gold in the women’s trampolining!
She scored 56.480. Only the final Chinese athlete could stop her, and sadly for her she came off the equipment.
This is the first British medal in gymnastics in this Games.
Hu Yicheng is the only person who can stop Team GB’s Bryony Page getting a gold. She is up now.
Women’s trampolining: Team GB’s Bryony Page goes first! She is in the lead! 56.480. She screams with joy. There are hugs. There is just one gymnast left to go. Page is guaranteed a medal!
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Women’s trampolining: Team GB’s Bryony Page is waiting for her score – the commentators seem to think it has been a good routine.
Women’s trampolining: there are cheers and wows in the crowd as Canada’s Sophiane Methot scores a superb 55.650 and goes into silver medal position. That pushes Anzhela Bladtceva out of the medal positions and she is visibly distraught out there. Bryony Page is up next …
This picture sums up the pressure on these young gymnasts …
Paris prosecutors said Friday that police have opened a hate speech investigation after a complaint by Olympics opening ceremony artistic director Thomas Jolly over death threats, Associated Press reports.
The Paris prosecutors’ office said in a statement that Jolly filed a police complaint on Tuesday, four days after the opening ceremony, for death threats, “public insults” and “defamation.”
Jolly said he has been “the target of threatening messages and insults on social networks criticising his sexual orientation and his wrongly-assumed Israeli roots,” the statement said. France’s central office for combating crimes against humanity and hate crimes has been charged with the investigation.
There have already been tears in this trampolining final. It is such a high pressure individual discipline, you can see how much it means to these gymnasts as they wait for their scores. St Petersburg-born Anzhela Bladtceva has slotted into third place with 55.020.
Women’s trampolining: Defending champion Zhu Xueying from China has scored 55.510, placing her second behind Belarus-born neutral athlete Viyaleta Bardzilouskaya who got 56.060.
Equestrian team jumping: the final is about to get under way in this as well, which will give me a chance to break out the horse emoji again. Some bad news for the Mexican team is that they will not jump, because the horse Porthos Maestro WH Z, ridden by Carlos Hank Guerreiro, has been withdrawn.
I’m handing over to Martin Belam now, I will be back later this afternoon. Enjoy!
Alcaraz is really fighting against serve, he wants to break early on here. His work is paying off as he gets to 30-30 and now Auger-Aliassime pushes a shot long so Alcaraz has break point. A double fault from Auger-Aliassime sees Alcaraz break. The Spaniard now 2-1 up in the first set.
The women’s trampolining final is about to get underway, we will bring you developments on that as it unfolds.
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It’s looks to be a clean service game from Alcaraz as he zooms to 40-0 but a double fault lets Auger-Aliassime into the game. But the Spaniard makes sure to wrap it up on the next point. 1-1.
Félix Auger-Aliassime has held his first game after pressure from Carlos Alcaraz. The pair went to deuce three times but the Canadian eventually came out on top. 1-0 in the first set.
If you want to catch up on this morning’s rowing action:
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Carlos Alcaraz and Felix Auger-Aliassime are underway in their semi-final.
The Canadian started well but Alcaraz rushed back to 30-30, the last point coming after Auger-Aliassime hit the net. A lovely move from Alcaraz, marshalling his opponent around the court sends the game to deuce. The Canadian had the advantage but a double fault sends it back to deuce. This match could be a long one.
Spain secure men's skiff sailing gold 🥇🥇🥇
Spain pair Diego Botin le Chever and Florian Paul Trittel have won gold in the men’s skiff sailing.
New Zealand’s Isaac McHardie and William McKenzie won silver and the USA’s Ian Barrows and Hans Henken took bronze.
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The women’s trampolining qualifier has finished and so we have the eight athletes competing in the final.
China’s Xueying Zhu, AIN’s Viyaleta Bardzilouskaya, China’s Yicheng Hu, AIN’s Anzhela Bladtceva, GB’s Bryony Page, Japan’s Hikaru Mori, New Zealand’s Madaline Davidson and Canada’s Sophiane Methot are all through.
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Almost two months ago Carlos Alcaraz won the French Open title at the Roland Garros, will he also win a medal here? Being in the semi-final means he will contest for one but the outcome of this match against Felix Auger-Aliassime will decide which colours.
Remember he and Rafael Nadal were knocked out of the men’s doubles and so the singles is Alcaraz’ chance at a medal.
Auger-Aliassime, meanwhile, is still in the mixed doubles competition. He will be competing alongside Gabriela Dabrowski in the bronze medal match later today.
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The women’s trampolining qualifiers for this afternoon’s final are ongoing but I can tell you that GB’s Bryony Page has secured her spot.
In just under 10 minutes time the men’s singles tennis semi-final between Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz and Canada’s Félix Auger-Aliassime will get underway. Four-time Grand Slam winner Alcaraz will be favourite to progress but Auger-Aliassime did knock-out Casper Ruud yesterday and is on form, so anything could happen.
After the conclusion of that match on the Philippe Chatrier we will have the women’s singles bronze medal match. Contesting that is Poland’s Iga Swiatek and Slovakia’s Anna Karolina Schmiedlova.
Shall we take a peak at what is happening in the men’s golf event? Let’s do it. Reigning champion Xander Schauffele is leading with Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama in second and GB’s Tommy Fleetwood is tied third with Belgium’s Thomas Detry. Fleetwood and Detry are seven-under.
In the women’s 3x3 basketball Spain beat Australia 21-17 in the pool round earlier today. There is a game currently in progress between the USA and France which the former is leading 11-9.
And there’s more on Slovakian swimmer Tamara Potocka here:
Here’s a story from the pool:
The men’s decathlon have finished their third event in shot put and overall Germany’s Leo Neugebauer is in the lead with 2876 points. Canada’s Damian Warner is second with 2798 and Puerto Rico’s Ayden Owens-Delerme is third with 2786. So far they have competed in the 100m, the long jump and shot put.
In the shot put event of this decathlon it was French athlete Makenson Gletty who finished top with a throw of 16.64. Gletty is 11th in the overall standings.
Next up they have high jump.
Over to the men’s hammer throw now and both qualification groups have finished and we now know who is progressing. Earlier we told you Canada’s Rowan Hamilton and Ukraine’s Mykhaylo are through but since then another group has gone and there are seven other athletes who have qualified.
Canada’s Ethan Katzberg threw the longest throw in that group with 79.93 to secure his spot. The USA’s Rudy Winkler, Norway’s Eivind Henriksen, Hungary’s Bence Halasz, Poland’s Pawal Fajdek, Greece’s Christos Frantzeskakis and Germany’s Merlin Hummel also progress.
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In women’s hockey Belgium are taking on the Netherlands in their pool A game. So far the Netherlands lead 1-0.
A summary from those women’s 100m heats. The fastest time was posted by Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith with 10.87 seconds. Legend Shelly-Ann Frser-Pryce is through to the semi-finals.
For GB three athletes progress in Daryll Neita, Dina Asher-Smith and Imani Lansiquot. Neita was the fastest of the three with a time of 10.92.
The final heat of the women’s 100m has finished and there are quite a few qualifiers in a fast race. Ivory Coast’s Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith, Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Germany’s Gina Lueckenkemper all qualify as they finished in the top three.
Belgium’s Rani Rosius and Puerto Rico’s Gladymar Torres also progress with fast times.
Some worrying news from swimming. Slovakian Tamara Potocka is under a medical assessment after she collapsed following her 200m indidiuval medley heat. She was stretchered away with an oxygen mask, the venue’s media manager has confirmed she is under assessment and conscious.
She failed to progress to the semi-finals after finishing seventh in her heat.
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Heat 7 in the women’s 100m has finished and Gambia’s Gina Mariam Bass Bittaye, Switzerland’s Mujinga Kambundji and Belgium’s Delphine Nkansa have progressed to the semis.
Nkansa equalled her personal best time of 11.20 to qualify.
Australia’s Bree Masters progressed through her heat in the women’s 100m, running alongside American star Sha’Carri Richardson. She said a note from her roommate in the village, Torrie Lewis, helped her relax. “[Lewis] was asleep this morning by the time that I left, so she left me a note and it said: ‘If I’m not awake in time, I wish you the best of luck. You’ve worked so hard to get in this individual 100 meters now go beat Sha’Carri.”
Masters didn’t beat Richardson, but her 11.26s was good enough for third place and a place in the semi-finals. Lewis - the national 100m record holder - chose not to run the event at Paris to concentrate on the 200m and 4x100m relay.
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The Netherlands win women's skiff sailing gold 🥇🥇🥇
Dutch pair Odile van Aanholt and Annette Duetz have won the women’s skiff gold in sailing.
Sweden’s Vilma Bobeck and Rebecca Netzler have won silver and France’s Sarah Steyaert and Charline Picon claim bronze. GB’s Freya Black and Saskia Tidey finished 16th.
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Back on the track and GB’s Dina Asher-Smith has progressed through the women’s 100m heats with a time of 11.01 seconds. Other qualifiers that have progressed in the latest heats are Poland’s Ewa Swoboda, Nigeria’s Rosemary Chukwuma, USA’s Twanisha Terry, Jamiaca’s Shashalee Forbes, Trinidad and Tobago’s Leah Bertrand.
Asher-Smith will have to improve that time throughout the competition to be in the final and medal contention but there’s a long way to go yet.
That earlier bronze in the women’s coxless pair was Australia’s first rowing medal of the Paris Games. Jessica Morrison and Annabelle McIntyre began strongly, moving ahead of the pack alongside a powerhouse crew from the Netherlands. But the Dutch pair soon established a significant lead in the gold medal position, leaving Australia in an awkward spot ahead of the field but well-behind the leading boat. After holding second for almost the entirety of the 2,000m race, a fast finish from Romania pipped Australia to the line – leaving Morrison, 32, and McIntyre, 27, to settle for bronze, in a time of 7:03.54.
The pair won gold in Tokyo as part of the coxless four, and both have a handful of world championship medals to their name. The bronze medal improves on their pair performance at the last Olympics, where they finished seventh. Australia will have more medal opportunities at the Games regatta on Saturday.
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While that rowing final was happening, there were some heats in the pool in the mixed 4x100m medley.
It was the USA who recorded the fastest time with 3:40:98. Others to progress include GB, China and Australia.
GB win women's lightweight doubles sculls gold 🥇🥇🥇
GB win gold after finishing in fourth in Tokyo.
Here’s how the rest of the race went: GB are slowly advancing on Romania, who still have the lead before halfway. They then overtake their rivals and GB are ahead after 500m but can they stay there?
GB slowly extend their lead and they are half a boat ahead at the halfway point.
Team GB are almost a length ahead coming into the closing stages but they will know the other boats will go full strength in these final few metres. Romania close the gap but they can’t do enough to get gold and GB have done it. Romania have silver and Greece bronze.
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We are underway in the women’s lightweight double sculls final.
Favourites here are GB with Emily Craig and Imogen Grant looking for gold.
It is Romania with the best start with GB a few strokes behind, this was expected but it will all be about tactics as this race continues.
Up next in the rowing is the final of the women’s lightweight doubles sculls.
GB’s Daryll Neita has posted a season’s best in the women’s 100m heats which secured her qualification for the next round. She posted a time of 10.92 seconds.
Joining her from the heats is USA’s Melissa Jefferson, Hungary’s Boglarka Takacs, Saint Lucia’s Julien Alfred, New Zealand’s Zoe Hobbs, Italy’s Zaynab Dosso, USA’s Sha’carri Richardson, Luxumbourg’s Patrizia van der Weken, Canada’s Audrey Luduc, Jamaica’s Tia Clayton and GB’s Imani Lansiquot.
There are more heats taking place and I will bring you any other qualifiers when I know them.
So let’s dip into the swimming pool before coming back to the rowing.
The USA’s Katie Ledecky has posted the fastest time in the women’s 800m freestyle heats. She went in the second heat and posted a time of 8:16:62. It isn’t surprising as she is the holder of both the world and Olympic records.
Ireland win lightweight men’s double sculls gold 🥇🥇🥇
Ireland have won the gold, what a performance. Fintan McCarthy and Paul O’Donovan are champions.
Italy may have slipped back but they are fighting here. The main three battling for gold being Italy, Ireland and Greece.
Ireland have gone ahead but the two other boats were within touching distance.
Italy take silver and Greece the bronze.
Updated
Lightweight men’s double sculls is under way and we’re halfway with Greece ahead.
It was a good start from Italy but Ireland also began in good shape. The entire field were close. Greece and Italy shortly were vying for the lead with Ireland in third.
The commentators were speaking on how Italy may have gone too fast too quickly and it started to show with Ireland’s stroke rate slowly edging them ahead with Greece maintaining their lead.
Updated
Athletics: Morgan Lake of Team GB has not had a great morning at the Stade de France, and has failed to qualify for the final of the women’s high jump. She will be disappointed with that.
And on that note, I am handing you over to Sarah Rendell, who is already on the case with the rowing. I will see you back here later on …
Men’s 3m synchronised diving gold goes to China, silver for Mexico, Team GB take bronze! 🥇🥇🥇
Men’s 3m synchronised diving: China win gold, Mexico take silver and it is bronze for Jack Laugher and Anthony Harding of Team GB! What a tense final round of dives that was, but all three pairs who have ended up on podium pulled out brilliant final dives.
Updated
Men’s 3m synchronised diving: Jack Laugher and Anthony Harding dive for Team GB. They will probably win bronze here. It is a good dive. They score 94.62, that’s great. It puts them second for now. Mexico go next, they can score well and nick second place back …
Men’s 3m synchronised diving: the last two dives will be Great Britain and then Mexico. That will shake out the medals.
Men’s 3m synchronised diving: favourites and leaders Daoyi Long and Zongyuan Wang have done their final dive. It was good. They finish on 446.10 points with a 95.76. That is probably the gold in the bag. It will take scores in the mid-to-high 90s to dislodge them from the top of the podium.
Updated
Men’s 3m synchronised diving: while all the rowing excitement was happening, the diving has been plugging away, and they are now on the last round of dives. The tldr is that defending champions China lead, Mexico are second, Team GB are third, but there’s not a huge spread of points between them.
I haven’t got time to dwell on the rowing because of the diving …
Gold for the Netherlands in women's rowing pairs, silver for Romania, bronze for Australia! 🥇🥇🥇
Women’s rowing pairs: a dominant display from Dutch pair Ymkje Clevering and Veronique Meester saw the world champions clinch gold well ahead of the Romanian pair of Ioana Vrinceanu and Roxana Anghel.
Australian pair of Jess Morrison and Annabelle McIntyre were pipped on the line and took bronze, having been second for much of the race, but the Romanians found another gear when it mattered.
We are in the last 500m here, and I would be astonished if the Netherlands blew it from here, they have a five second lead.
Jess Morrison and Annabelle McIntyre are doing Australia proud here in second place but the Dutch are miles* ahead.
[*not literally miles, obviously]
Women’s rowing pair: The Dutch have clear air ahead of Australia now. Lithuania and Romania are battling in the bronze position.
Women’s rowing pair: it is the Dutch duo who take the early lead, Ymkje Clevering and Veronique Meester. Australia are second.
Women’s rowing pair: we are straight on to the next final on the water here – Lithuania, USA, Netherlands, Australia, Romania and Greece duking it out for the medals here, and they are already off!
That was an incredible performance by the British pair, who produced an almost flawless race, leading for nearly all of it. But Croatia’s Sinković brothers would not take no for an answer at the end.
The Croats really left it late, the gap ended up being 0.45 seconds between gold and silver!
Gold for Croatia in the rowing men's pair, Team GB win silver! 🥇🥇🥇
Rowing men’s pair: Croatia’s Martin and Valent Sinković take gold! Such a tight finish, and Oli Wynne-Griffiths and Tom George take silver for Team GB. Switzerland take bronze.
Rowing men’s pair: Croatia are pulling level with 75m to go.
Rowing men’s pair: Oli Wynne-Griffiths and Tom George are pulling clear here with 300m to go!!!
Oli Wynne-Griffiths and Tom George won bronze for Team GB in Tokyo in this event. Can they do better in Paris?
Rowing men’s pair finals: this is under way, with Great Britain taking an early lead! Romania and Ireland are also in the hunt here.
Athletics: there are several qualifying events taking place in the Stade de France this morning. In the women’s high jump, competitors have to hit the qualifying standard of 1.97m. At the moment the bar is set at 1.92m so they are working their way towards it.
This is a fantastic photo of Ukraine’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh who appears to have perfected the art of looking relaxed before competing. Olympic sleeping – there is a sport I might personally have a chance with.
The men’s hammer qualification is also taking place. Rowan Hamilton of Canada and Mykhaylo Kokhan of Ukraine are the first men to go beyond the 77m qualifying mark.
Associated Press reports that Japan’s Rui Hachimura, who plays for the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers, will sit out Japan’s game against Brazil due to a left calf injury.
Men’s 3m synchronised diving: this final has started, with French pair Jules Bouyer and Alexis Jandard opening the event for the hosts.
You probably won’t be surprised to learn that Long Daoyi and Wang Zongyuan of China lead after the first dive. In Tokyo only Team GB’s Tom Daley and Matty Lee stopped the Chinese taking a clean sweep of the diving golds, and this time out China have taken the three golds on offer so far.
Anthony Harding and Jack Laugher are representing Great Britain in this event today, and after the first round of dives they are one of three pairs tied in third place on 49.8.
If the question is “can there ever be too much sport happening at the same time?” I would usually say no, but I am having second thoughts this morning because there is a lot happening.
Having diving, swimming and athletics on at the same time would be a handful just by itself, but there is also golf, handball, beach volleyball, hockey and rowing happening as well. And badminton and judo. Hoo boy.
Men’s decathlon: the 100m element is over, with Canada’s Damian Warner, Puerto Rico’s Ayden Owens-Delerme, Sven Roosen of the Netherlands, Till Steinforth of Germany and Australia’s Ashley Moloney making up the top five. Warner was fastest, running 10.25 seconds. The long jump is up next.
Say what you will about the choice of purple for the Olympic track, it is sure going to make footage from these Games instantly recognisable in the future …
Let us have a team sport round-up then. Denmark did beat Hungary in the men’s handball, 28-25, giving the Danes a perfect four from four, and leaving Hungary sweating on other results later today. France play Argentina in this group at 11am Paris time.
In the men’s volleyball, Germany beat Argentina 3-0. These were their final Pool C matches. Germany progress, Argentina are eliminated. The final match in that pool is at 9pm Paris time tonight, and features the USA v Japan. Both are guaranteed to go through, it is just question of playing for form and jockeying for position in the group and consequently in the quarter-final line-up.
In the women’s 3x3 basketball, Germany beat China 18-15 and Australia beat Azerbaijan 21-12. Everybody is in action twice today.
In the women’s hockey, Germany are at present 3-0 up against China in Pool A at the end of the second quarter. China will probably still be placed to progress though if they can get something out of their final match against the hosts, which is tomorrow.
What a dramatic end to that contest. I’m going to have to calm myself down, and then we’ll have a round-up of what is going on elsewhere …
Chiara Leone wins gold in women's 50m rifle three positions for Switzerland 🥇🥇🥇
Women’s 50m rifle three positions: the gold goes to reigning European champion 26-year-old Chiara Leone of Switzerland. She held a narrow lead going into the final shot, and delivered a sensational nearly perfect 10.8 under all that pressure. She sets a new Olympic record in the process, and it is Switzerland’s first gold of these Games.
Sagen Maddalena of the USA has to settle for silver, but it is her first Olympic medal after a lengthy career, and she will end up looking back fondly on it no doubt. World champion Zhang Qiongyue from China finished third.
Women’s 50m rifle three positions: a shoot-off for bronze between 20-year-old world champion Zhang Qiongyue and the USA’s Sagen Maddalena, tied on 452.9. Maddalena wins! China take bronze.
Women’s 50m rifle three positions: we are about to lost the fourth place shooter … and it is Jeanette Hegg Duestad of Norway who finished agonisingly fourth for the second Olympics in succession. What a shame for her. It means medals are guaranteed for the USA, China and Switzerland. We are about to find out the bronze medallist on the next shot …
Women’s 50m rifle three positions: Natalia Kochanska of Poland has gone in sixth place. Jeanette Hegg Duestad of Norway has pulled out a 10.9 and a 10.4 and is hanging in there. She is fourth, where she finished in Tokyo. Nadine Ungerank of Austria is eliminated in fifth.
Women’s 50m rifle three positions: this final is going to move quite fast now, as they are down to the last six, and then there is an elimination every shot. Hold on to your horses, as they say.
Women’s 50m rifle three positions: the competitors are on the last round of standing shooting now. At the end of this two will be eliminated. The standing position has shaken up the standings, with Zhang Qiongyue of China out in front, with Chiara Leone of Switzerland, Nadine Ungerank of Austria and Jeanette Hegg Duestad of Norway in contention for the medals.
Men’s decathlon: Norway’s Markus Rooth means business, and has just won the first men’s 100m race in the decathlon in 10.71 seconds, which is a personal best. He was well pleased, judging by the celebrations. Here is a shot of the crowd in the Stade de France for this morning session of athletics.
If you didn’t already have that Olympics feeling, then may I present to you a morning of track and field. Track and field, baby.
Track and Field at the #ParisOlympics begins TODAY!
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 2, 2024
What do you rate the purple track at Stade de France stadium? 🟣 pic.twitter.com/QD9jwSQ2tz
Or “the athletics” if you prefer the King’s English. We are an international blog here, with an international audience, so you can take your pick.
#Athletics in the Stade de France starts today 🤩 pic.twitter.com/6D8Tn458yd
— The Olympic Games (@Olympics) August 2, 2024
On the programme this morning is men’s decathlon, women’s high jump qualification, men’s hammer qualification, prelims and round 1 in the women’s 100m and men’s 1,500m. I cannot wait.
Women’s 50m rifle three positions: they have moved into the prone position part of this competition now. Sagen Maddalena of the USA holds the narrowest of leads, 0.1 in front of world champion from China, Zhang Qiongyue. There are three rounds of prone shooting, then a nine minute changeover period while they get ready for the business end of the standing position.
Men’s handball: Denmark are leading Hungary 16-12 in their Group B match at half-time. Denmark’s Mathias Gidsel has six goals already, including three in the last five minutes of the half.
Denmark have won all their matches so far and are top of Group B, already having secured a quarter-finals spot. Hungary are not in such a comfortable position. They have only won one of their three matches. France and Argentina, the two teams below Hungary in the table at the moment, play at 11am Paris time today. If Hungary lose and France go on to win, the hosts would overtake the Hungarians in the standings.
Women’s Badminton doubles: Malaysia’s Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan have got back in to their semi-final with China’s world number one pairing of Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan by taking the second game. Muralitharan has just taken a heavy tumble though, appearing to hurt her wrist, and needed some medical treatment. They are back playing but it looked painful and worrying. The Chinese are leading the third game 16-12.
The social media accounts of the Pairs Olympics are bidding farewell to the wonderful Andy Murray this morning.
He finishes on the most beautiful stage possible, the Olympic Games. @andy_murray, you made us dream and thrill right to the end!
— Paris 2024 Olympics (English) (@OlympicsParis) August 2, 2024
Congratulations and thank you for your great career 🙌🇬🇧
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Il finit sur la plus belle scène possible, celle des Jeux Olympiq… pic.twitter.com/xSUJVnHVT3
If you missed it, overnight my colleague Alexandra Topping reported on Murray’s exit from Roland Garros.
Women’s 50m rifle three positions: the final of this has started. Competitors are shooting in the kneeling position first. Sagen Maddalena of the USA leads after the first round of five shots each.
Women’s beach volleyball: it is the final day of matches in Pool E of the competition today. In the opening encounter Lithuania’s Monika Paulikienė and Ainė Raupelytė and Japan’s Akiko Hasegawa and Miki Ishii face each other. Both pairs have lost their first two matches, so this is effectively a straight knock-out match, with the winners getting a shot at a lucky loser play-off place, and the losers heading out. It is the Japanese who have taken the first set.
Men’s golf: they have begun to tee-off already at Le Golf National. Adrian Meronk of Poland, who is 2 over and ten shots behind leader Hideki Matsuyama has just given it a might thwack at the first hole.
Hello from London, Martin Belam here. It has just gone 9am in Paris which means lots of team sports have just got under way again. If you are just joining, here is a reminder of what should be in store in terms of medals today …
Medal Events
🥇 Shooting – women’s 50m rifle three positions (from 9.30)
🥇 Rowing – men’s & women’s pairs / men’s & women’s LWT double sculls (from 10.42)
🥇 Diving – men’s 3m springboard synchro (from 11.00)
🥇 Sailing – women’s & men’s skiff / women’s & men’s windsurfing (from 12.13)
🥇 Trampoline – women’s (from 13.50)
🥇 Equestrian – team jumping (from 14.00)
🥇 Badminton – mixed doubles (from 15.00)
🥇 Archery – mixed team (from 16.43)
🥇 Judo – women’s 78kg & men’s 100kg (from 16.00)
🥇 Tennis – mixed doubles gold (from 19.00)
🥇 Fencing – men’s epee team (from 19.30)
🥇 Trampoline – men’s (from 19.50)
🥇 Swimming – men’s 50m freestyle, 200m IM / women’s 200m backstroke (from 20.30)
🥇 Athletics – men’s 10,000m (from 21.20)
🥇 BMX Racing – men’s & women’s (from 21.35)
*(All times listed are Paris local)
As evening closes in around me in Melbourne it’s time to hand over to the highly-caffeinated Martin Belam in London.
Badminton: The world No 1 pair of Chen Qingchen & Jia Yifan (CHN) are cruising in their semi-final against Pearly Tan & Thinaah Muralitharan (MAS). They won the opening set in a hurry and already have a stranglehold on the second.
I always ask the start of the day for you to inform us of any oversights in our scheduling and point us in the direction of interesting stories, and Inge Kersten has done just that, reminding me that Sifan Hassan begins her absurd Olympic program today.
The Dutch distance runner won 5,000m and 10,000m gold in Tokyo, as well as 1500m bronze. In Paris she is attempting to defend those gold medals but has swapped the 1500m for the marathon. This is her itinerary:
Today – 5,000m heats
Monday – 5,000m final
Friday – 10,000m final
Sunday – marathon final
Hassan is ranked 7th in the world for the 5,000, 9th for the 10,000, and 2nd for the marathon.
Badminton: The world No 1 pair of Chen Qingchen & Jia Yifan (CHN) have already beaten Pearly Tan & Thinaah Muralitharan (MAS) 2-0 in the group stage.
The Chinese stars won silver in Tokyo, since when they have won their third and fourth world championship gold medals. They have yet to drop a set in Paris. The Malaysian team have nothing like those credentials.
The first action of the day has begun over in Porte de la Chapelle Arena. As has become customary at these Games the amuse bouche is badminton and on the menu is women’s doubles semi-finals.
First up we have:
Chen Qingchen & Jia Yifan (CHN) v Pearly Tan & Thinaah Muralitharan (MAS)
Followed by:
Liu Shengshu & Tan Ning (CHN) v Nami Matsuyama & Chiharu Shida (JPN)
Staying with athletes nearer the end of their careers than the start, the story of Luxembourg’s Ni Xia Lian makes for a fun read.
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. On Wednesday, she became the oldest player in the history of the Olympics to lose one, too, when she was beaten by the Chinese world and Olympic silver medallist Sun Yingsha. Sun, 23, who is the world No 1 and won team gold in Tokyo, isn’t just 38 years younger than Ni, she’s nine years younger than her son, too.
Helen Glover yesterday added a silver medal to the golds she won at London 2012 and Rio 2016, with the British rower hoping her success continues to normalise the participation of mothers in elite sport.
Normalising it is really important. Sport is a massive reflection of society and to show you can come back to something and excel, not despite having children but because you’ve had children, is a message that there should be a space for women to come back.”
I will never tire of studding this blog with surfing images. This latest excuse is to bring you up to speed with action that happened in the Tahitian timezone (Paris +12 hours).
In the women’s event, defending champion Carissa Moore was knocked out at the quarter-final stage, leaving the semi-final draw looking as follows:
Caroline Marks USA (9) v Johanne Defay FRA (2)
Tatiana Weston-Webb BRA (1) v Brisa Hennessy CRC (15)
While in the men’s competition we’re looking at:
Alonso Correa PER (5) v Kauli Vaast FRA (3)
Gabriel Medina BRA (1) v Jack Robinson AUS (13)
Updated
More on the story that’s captured global attention overnight.
And some background reading from Sean Ingle.
Australia are enjoying a superb Games in and on water, but as attention turns to track and field hopes are high the gold rush need not slow down.
Something else helping athletics is genuine star power. The likes of US sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson. Preliminary heats of the women’s 100m begin today at 10:35.
Athletics at Paris 2024 will be helped by some genuine rivalries. None better than Josh Kerr (GBR) v Jakob Ingebrigtsen (NOR) in the 1500m. Qualifying starts today at 11:10 local time with Kerr in heat one, Ingebrigtsen in heat three.
Kerr has accused his main rival of having “flaws on the track and in the manners realm” and being surrounded by “yes men”. Ingebrigtsen has countered by claiming he could beat Kerr blindfolded when fit.
It is the type of popcorn-grabbing fare that a struggling sport such as athletics longs for and has prompted natural comparisons with the golden era of British miling in the 1980s when Seb Coe and Steve Ovett rarely hid their antipathy for one another while battling for dominance.
Track and field inside the Stade de France begins today. After a post-Usain Bolt lull, and with the support of Netflix, athletics is bullish again about its primetime offering.
It’s not just athletes in the latest super spikes who have a spring in their step at these Olympics. The whole of track and field does too. And the sport is increasingly not afraid to shout about it.
“Athletics is the heart and soul of the Olympic Games,” said the World Athletics president, Sebastian Coe, on Thursday. “These will be exceptional Games with jaw-dropping sport and the most exceptional talents we have seen in any generation.”
Updated
After five days, Paris 2024 has seen only a single world record fall in a swimming event. That compares with six new swimming world records set at Tokyo in 2021 and eight at Rio in 2018. Even the much-hyped women’s 400 metre freestyle – billed as the “race of the century” – failed to topple any personal bests from the three most recent world-record holders, Ariarne Titmus (Australia), Summer McIntosh (Canada) and Katie Ledecky (United States).
Staying with Australia, the country’s women’s football team rank among the biggest disappointments of this Olympics so far, so it came as no surprise when it was announced yesterday that coach Tony Gustavsson would not have his contract renewed. The Swede benefitted from a lack of meaningful scrutiny during a four-year tenure that promised much and ultimately delivered little, despite enormous public support and a World Cup on home soil.
The next coach will be charged with refreshing a small core group of players that have been replied upon for a number of years. The growing popularity of the sport and the importance of the Matildas demands that such a process is more robustly appraised that Gustavsson ever was.
Two-time gold medallist Andy Murray is on the shortlist for Great Britain’s greatest Olympian of all-time. In Australia, that battle could be being played out in real time during the Paris Games.
Australia has a long and glittering Olympic history. But there is one record no Australian has previously surpassed. Since the first Australians competed at the 1896 Games, none have won more than three gold medals in individual events.
At Paris 2024, three Australians across two sports are on the cusp of history and an achievement that would guarantee elevation to the pantheon of greatest Olympians. Jess Fox, Ariarne Titmus and Kaylee McKeown have already won gold at the 2024 Games, and now have the possibility to go where no Australian has gone before.
Never even liked tennis anyway.
— Andy Murray (@andy_murray) August 1, 2024
I was at the Australian Open in January 2019 when tournament organisers clipped together a hastily arranged retirement montage for the chronically injured Andy Murray. Over five years, and many montages, later one of the greatest British athletes of all time finally has finally bowed out of top-level sport.
While the Olympics is necessarily about sporting greatness it is also an opportunity for the world to come together and consider a collective response to pressing issues of the time. One such is the issue of gender eligibility.
The topic exploded yesterday when Italian boxer Angela Carini abandoned her bout against the Algerian Imane Khelif after 46 seconds. Khelif is one of two boxers permitted to fight at the Olympics despite being disqualified from the women’s world championships last year for failing gender eligibility tests.
Before the fight The International Olympic Committee (IOC) came under fire for permitting Khelif and Lin Yu‑ting of Taiwan to compete in the women’s category at these Games.
Last year both fighters were disqualified from the world championships, with the International Boxing Association (IBA) president, Umar Kremlev, saying that DNA tests had “proved they had XY chromosomes and were thus excluded”. XY is the combination of chromosomes in males, while XX is the combination in females.
But last night the IOC issued a statement that confirmed that said both boxers had “complied” with its entry regulations and “have been competing in international boxing competitions for many years in the women’s category”.
“As with previous Olympic boxing competitions, the gender and age of the athletes are based on their passport,” it added.
From one GOAT to another; Katie Ledecky yesterday became the female swimmer with the most medals in Olympic history. She now has eight gold, four silver, and a bronze. One at London 2012, five at Rio 2016, four at Tokyo 2020, and three so far at Paris 2024.
Ledecky is a lock for a medal in the 800m freestyle, a race in which she holds the 29 fastest times in history, and five of the top six times this year.
One night after the 27-year-old American became the first female swimmer to win gold medals at four different Olympics after retaining her title in the women’s 1500m freestyle, Ledecky added a 13th Olympic medal, one more than countrywomen Jenny Thompson, Dara Torres and Natalie Coughlin and Australia’s Emma McKeon.
Not for the first time these Olympics (and probably not for the last) we begin our daily retrospective by focussing on Simone Biles. As Andy Bull writes: “With Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps gone, Biles is the last of the great Olympic stars of the 21st century who is still competing in the Games. She is the biggest draw here, the one athlete who can persuade people who do not much like or care for sport to switch on and watch the best to ever do it.”
And Biles has emitted that star power at full wattage in Paris, helping the USA to team gold, then yesterday securing individual all-around gold to secure her status as the greatest gymnast in history. In case you were in any doubt, her bejewelled goat-shaped pendant spoke volumes.
The curated selection of the best images from yesterday’s action includes another beauty from the boxing competition.
Badminton is our first action of the day with play under way at 08:30 local time. At 09:00 action begins in the beach volleyball, 3x3 basketball, golf, volleyball, handball, and shooting.
It’s taken almost a week but the two titans of world sport have finally made their way to the top of the medal table. China lead the competition for golds, thanks to strong performances in shooting and diving, while the USA are way out in front for overall medals, but only a quarter of those have been gold.
The pool is a microcosm of Team USA’s Games so far with a healthy haul of 20 medals but just four golds. Australia, with five visits to the top step of the podium already stand an excellent chance of winning the meet.
France have only finished in the top five at an Olympics once since the war, and that was London 1948, but the hosts are on track for a result to remember following a fast start.
29 national anthems in total have now been heard across the events, with 50 NOCs receiving medals. Among those is Guatemala, a regular at the Olympics since 1968, but with only one silver medal to show for it – until this week. First, trap shooter Jean Pierre Brol became his country’s maiden bronze medallist, then fellow trap shooter Adriana Ruano won Guatemala’s first Olympic gold.
Ruano originally trained as a gymnast, representing Guatemala at the 2010 Pan American Championships, but she suffered a serious back injury, forcing her to train her competitive focus on another sport.
Preamble - Day Seven Schedule
Hello everybody and welcome to live coverage of the seventh official day of competition of the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics.
Day six was dominated by another show stopping performance from Simone Biles who confirmed her greatness with gold in the women’s gymnastics individual all-around. Speaking of US GOATs, Katie Ledecky joined the club in the pool, where there was also more gold for Australia, and a second victory of the Games for the sport’s next big thing, Summer McIntosh.
But amongst the glory there was no shortage of controversy and upsets. In the men’s doubles at Roland Garros there was a career-ending defeat for Andy Murray, and possible career-ender for Rafael Nadal, as well as an almighty upset in the women’s singles with hot favourite Iga Swiatek humbled in the semi-finals. Women’s boxing has become front page news over the participation of a boxer who previously failed gender eligibility tests. The Covid cluster continues to grow (not that anyone seems particularly concerned). And scrutiny over the performance of Chinese swimmers refuses to go away.
So what can we look forward to today?
Medal Events
🥇 Shooting – women’s 50m rifle three positions (from 9:30)
🥇 Rowing – men’s & women’s pairs / men’s & women’s LWT double sculls (from 10:42)
🥇 Diving – men’s 3m springboard synchro (from 11:00)
🥇 Sailing – women’s & men’s skiff / women’s & men’s windsurfing (from 12:13)
🥇 Trampoline – women’s (from 13:50)
🥇 Equestrian – team jumping (from 14:00)
🥇 Badminton – mixed doubles (from 15:00)
🥇 Archery – mixed team (from 16:43)
🥇 Judo – women’s 78kg & men’s 100kg (from 16:00)
🥇 Tennis – mixed doubles gold (from 19:00)
🥇 Fencing – men’s epee team (from 19:30)
🥇 Trampoline – men’s (from 19:50)
🥇 Swimming – men’s 50m freestyle, 200m IM / women’s 200m backstroke (from 20:30)
🥇 Athletics – men’s 10,000m (from 21:20)
🥇 BMX Racing – men’s & women’s (from 21:35)
*(All times listed are Paris local)
Simon Burnton’s day-by-day guide:
Trampoline
Most Olympic disciplines look an awful lot like hard work, involving as they do large amounts of running about and other effortful endeavours. Without for a moment questioning the dedication that goes into mastering it, trampoline is unusually joyful: just watching it is enough to put a spring into anyone’s step. Sadly it’s all over in one day so gorge while you can, as Team GB’s Bryony Page attempts to complete the set after silver in Rio and bronze in Tokyo.
Windsurfing
There has been a major change since the last Olympics, with the RS:X out and the eyecatching iQFoil in. The board is now attached to hydrofoils, which lift it out of the water when it’s going at speed. The Dutch tend to excel in this discipline but keep an eye out for France’s Nicolas Goyard, keeping it in the family after his brother Thomas won silver in Tokyo, and Britain’s Emma Wilson, who is aiming to improve on the bronze she won three years ago.
Judo
France’s legendary judoka Teddy Riner, a three-time Olympic and 11-times (that’s 11 times) world champion, goes for yet another medal. Judo is extraordinarily popular in France – about 10% of eight-year-olds play regularly – and whatever his result Riner will be acclaimed as a hero. The 35-year-old has already said he plans to continue to Los Angeles: “Why would I stop when I love what I do?”
Other unmissable moments include our first look at the athletics track inside the Stade de France. The only track and field medal on offer today is in the men’s 10,000m but other highlights include the first half of the decathlon, and qualification in the women’s high jump and Yulimar Rojas-less triple jump.
In the pool, Kaylee McKeown is racing for her fifth career gold in the 200m backstroke. The BMX Racing finals will provide an awesome spectacle and deserve attention for some magnificent stories, including those of Mariana Pajon, Alise Willoughby, and Saya Sakakibara. The men’s football quarter-finals include a France v Argentina grudge match. And at Roland Garros Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz are in semi-final action.
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 Martin Belam in the UK.
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