Key events
Rowing: It’s neck and neck between the USA and New Zealand as the race approaches its conclusioon. The USA pull half a boat-length clear. Team GB look to have nailed down third place.
Rowing: Great Britain move into third place with 500 metres to go. The USA lead from New Zealand, who are still in with a great shout.
Rowing: At the halfway point, the USA lead New Zealand, with Italy in third place. Great Britain haven’t panicked, recovered from their bad start and and are challenging for the bronze.
Rowing: The six boats contesting the final of the men’s four go about the important business of their day and it’s a very slow start for Great Britain, with David Ambler, Freddie Davidson, Matt Aldridge and Oliver Wilkes pulling the oars. They’re almost a length down on the USA with 1,500m to go. New Zealand are in second and Italy are currently in third.
Hello everybody. The men’s four is next up, with the atmosphere on BBC television bordering on the funereal after the British women were beaten by the Dutch in the women’s equivalent. Luckily, the rowers themselves don’t seem as gloomy as the presenting team.
“I think we’ve all done a good job,” says Rebecca Shorten to TV’s Matthew Pinsent. “We’d all have been happy with gold but we’ll take the silver.” The Netherlands boat led from pillar to post, so the British team were beaten fair and square.
Barry Glendenning will take over now before the men’s four. I will be back in a bit.
Team GB edged by Dutch in women’s four rowing for gold
What an ending! A massive credit to Team GB but they just could not find that final push needed against the Netherlands. For Helen Glover, it will be two golds and now a silver.
It makes Team GB’s medal count at these Games up to 19. Here is our live medal tracker, which may take a few moments to update.
Women’s four rowing: At the 200m mark, GB move ahead of the Dutch boat. Both teams have a stroke rate of 41. It’s going to come down to the tiniest of milliseconds.
Women’s four rowing: Team GB level with Dutch at the halfway mark. They will hope to pull away now.
Women’s four rowing: Glover, the 38-year-old, is a two-time gold medalist. Team GB are sitting in second, 2m behind the Dutch.
Women’s four rowing: Will we get another Team GB medal in rowing? Helen Glover, a flag bearer at the opening ceremony, is in position alongside Esme Booth, Sam Redgrave and Rebecca Shorten. In their way is China, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Romania and the United States.
Women’s rowing double sculls: Before we get to the final rowing events, we get our medal ceremony. Hodgkins-Byrne and Wilde are absolutely beaming.
Along with the medals, the athletes get a special Parisian scroll that is made of either gold, silver or bronze.
Romania pip Dutch to gold in men’s rowing double sculls, Ireland take bronze
Marian Florian Enache and Andrei-Sebastian Cornea of Romania steal gold at the death, reaching a high of 47 strokes a minute! The Dutch look absolutely devastated. They were silver medalists three years ago and they were not able to better their result.
Ireland’s Philip Doyle and Daire Lynch take the third spot on the podium leaving the United States still in search of their first rowing medal.
Men’s rowing double sculls: The Dutch and Romania are going back and forth for the gold with 500m to go. The United States are just keeping Ireland off the podium.
Men’s rowing double sculls: The Dutch missed out on gold in Tokyo by 2/10ths of a second. Can they do one better this time around? Let’s see. They’re taking on Spain, Romania, Ireland, the United States and New Zealand.
Gold for NZ, bronze for GB in women’s rowing double sculls
It was neck and neck in the final stretch but what a result for Great Britain. This team would not have medaled a couple months ago given they were only recently assembled.
The defending champions Romania had the lead at the halfway mark but New Zealand powered through to take gold.
Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne and Becky Wilde share a long hug after winning their first Olympic medals together. Wilde had surgery on her forearms only ten months ago and Hodgkins-Byrne took time away from the sport after Tokyo to have her son.
Yang wins gold in women’s 20km race walk
The world record holder is an Olympic champion for the first time! It was an enthralling last 10km but Jiayu Yang’s quick start and steady pace throughout was what won her this race. She really dug deep with her fastest lap being her last despite looking like she was in a lot of pain.
Spain’s María Pérez takes silver and Jemima Montag comfortably takes third, becoming the first Australian to medal in this event since 2004.
Women’s 20km race walk: The gap has gone from 40sec to 20sec to 13sec at the top. Pérez is chasing Yang but she only has two laps to make it up completely.
But Australia’s Jemima Montag in third has made up quite a bit of distance and is around 11sec behind Pérez. So, the Spaniard has to chase down the leader and now constantly look over shoulder.
We are coming up on the last lap.
Covid cluster worsens in Australian camp as Stubblety-Cook reveals infection
Kieran Pender
The Covid cluster in the Australian swim team may be worse than first feared, after the Tokyo champion Zac Stubblety-Cook revealed he swam through an infection to win silver in the 200m breaststroke on Wednesday night.
In a statement, the Australian Olympic Committee confirmed that Stubblety-Cook had completed a five-day course of antivirals for the illness.
Women’s 20km race walk: Wow! María Pérez has halved the gap between her and Yang. The Chinese looks over shoulder and is trying to respond.
Women’s 20km race walk: The defending champion, Antonella Palmisano, drops out and is being consoled by her coach. We are approaching the 14km mark and the stakes are getting higher and more red cards are being dished out as the stakes are getting higher.
If this is a new sport to you, you may be confused as to how these red cards work. Race walking’s strictest rule is that athletes must keep one foot in contact with the ground at all times, without any running.
If a judge deems an athlete is running, they serve a two-minute time penalty after three rule violations, known as red cards.
So while Yang is currently not physically the first athlete on the track, she is still in the lead because of her opponent’s time violations.
A timely email from Peter comes in:
Why at this level they couldn’t have a chip in each shoe to ensure that one foot is always in contact with the ground, which is supposed to distinguish race-walking from running?
There has always been controversy surrounding the use of foot sensors despite the fact there has been some investment in the tech. But some believe it could change the way athletes race walk. There will always pushback to change, but I do believe we will see it sooner rather than later.
Swimming: Adam Peaty has raised hopes he could compete in his relay events later this week as he returned to the pool following two days of “bed rest”.
Hours after winning silver in the men’s 100m breaststroke, Peaty tested positive for Covid-19, having struggled with a sore throat ahead of Sunday’s final before his symptoms worsened.
Unlike the last Olympics in Tokyo, there are no specific coronavirus restrictions on athletes but Team GB said in a statement “all usual precautions (were) being taken to keep the wider delegation healthy”.
Peaty’s diagnosis led to doubts about whether he would be fit enough to take to the pool in the men’s and mixed 4x100m medley relays, with the 29-year-old crucial to to their hopes on the breaststroke leg.
But he posted a picture of himself on his Instagram story on Wednesday evening in a swimming pool along with the caption: “Back in the water with the French public today (2 days of bed rest).”
The mixed medley heats is first up with heats on Friday and the final on Saturday – the men’s preliminaries are on Saturday with the showpiece on the last day of the swimming meet on Sunday. PA Media
Women’s 20km race walk: Yang Jiayu is still in the lead 11km in and it is hard to see anyone catching her, unless some red cards come in to play. She is ahead of Mexico’s Alegna González by 36sec.
Swimming does not make a start until later today but there has been a lot of conversation surrounding world records in Paris … or should I say lack thereof. The theories have been flying. Is it the athletes? Is it the shallow pool? Here is Shane Keating’s take:
When swimmers dive into the pool and power through the water, they naturally create waves that radiate outwards. Some of these waves will propagate along the surface of the pool and be damped by gutters at the edge. Others will travel downward, bounce off the bottom of the pool, and return to the surface to create turbulence.
Turbulence can slow a swimmer down in two ways. First, it creates a choppy pool surface that can disrupt a swimmer’s rhythm and reduce their speed.
Second, turbulence increases the effect of water drag by dissipating the swimmer’s momentum – the water motion literally “sucks” the speed from the swimmer.
The slow pool theory says the shallower pool means more waves bounce back to the surface, creating more turbulence and slowing swimmers down. But does it hold water?
Keating’s thesis research was on geophysical wave processes in the Sun (astrophysics and plasma physics) and his post-doctoral research was on satellite oceanography and mathematical modeling of ocean eddies. Basically, he knows more about this than you and I ever will. More below.
China’s Liu Yukun wins gold in men’s 50m rifle three positions
What a year for Liu! Back in May he broke the world record twice in Baku and now he is an Olympic gold medalist. He finishes with a score of 463.6 after hitting a 9.9 shot in the last round.
Ukraine’s Serhiy Kulish takes silver and India’s Swapnil Kusale is the bronze winner.
And we end the shooting action for now with a French EDM track that I do not recognise.
Men’s 50m rifle three positions: Shot 42 eliminates Jon-Hermann Hegg of Norway. Standing is usually his best scores but a 9.9, he is eliminated after leading for so long.
Shot 43 means that world No 1, Jiri Privratsky, is eliminated at fourth.
Men’s 50m rifle three positions: We are close to finding out another gold in a shooting competition. So how does this work? Fifteen match shots are taken in each position: kneeling, prone and standing, in that order.
We are now at the standing phase with the final five, with someone being eliminated after every shot.
An interesting aside about some of the shooting events is that they play music in the background. This morning, the DJ at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre has opted for some Dua Lipa and Ellie Goulding. Along with the sporting updates, I will try to bring you the latest music picks.
An email from Guy who is in “a sultry south Manchester”:
After the incredible highs of Monday and Wednesday, today feels like a bit of a middle overs of week one, or perhaps a lull before the next wave breaks. I’m not quite on my metaphors game today. But as you’ve said, there’s great chances on the water, and a throwback for me, having been lucky enough to witness Helen Glover and Heather Stanning win their gold at Eton Dorney in 2012. I’m hoping she can make it 3 golds!
Is anyone on their metaphor game in the AM? Certainly not me. That being said, I am also keen to witness some great rowing action today.
Women’s 20km race walk: Weather looks good and we are underway. China’s Yang Jiayu has made a quick start and is an early leader. Yang holds the world record for this event, registering a time of 1:23:49 back in 2021. This season, her fastest time was about three minutes slower. The racers now are just taking the first bend at the Eiffel Tower. What a beautiful view.
Women’s 20km race walk: The race was scheduled to start at 8.30am BST but it has been delayed due to weather conditions. However, we shouldn’t be left waiting too long. Can Antonella Palmisano defend her gold from Tokyo?
Rowing: A big day at the Nautical Stadium in Vaires-sur-Marne today with a huge chance today for Team GB to pick up some more medals.
Helen Glover, who won gold in London 2012 and Rio 2016, is targeting a third Olympic medal in the women’s fours alongside Rebecca Shorten, Esme Booth and Sam Redgrave a bit later.
There is also British representation in the women’s double sculls final with Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne and Rebecca Wilde, while David Ambler, Freddie Davidson, Matt Aldridge and Oliver Wilkes contest the men’s fours final just after noon.
Men’s 20km race walk: Pintado celebrates his gold with a Cristiano Ronaldo SIIIIUUU celebration and is able to call his family back home in Ecuador right as he crosses the finish line.
Caio Bonfim from Brazil takes silver and Álvaro Martín takes bronze.
All three athletes on the podium take home their very first Olympic medal.
Team GB’s Callum Wilkinson finished in 16th.
Ecuador’s Pintado wins men’s 20km race walk
What a finish here! Ecuador’s Brian Pintado takes gold after moving away here in the final bend of the race. The Italian, Massimo Stano, who was the gold medalist in Tokyo has to settle for fourth.
Women’s 3×3 basketball: Alex Wilson hits a two and gets Australia the win against China.
Wilson, once again, proving the difference maker on the 3×3 court with 11 points. Australia were overall much more clinical with a 0.78 efficiency compared to China’s 0.54.
A reminder as to how the format of the 3×3 basketball works: The eight teams will play a round robin and the first and second placed teams will qualify for the semi-finals. Teams three to six will face off in play-in games for the remaining two spots.
Thanks Angus and hello all! It is the first day of August and what a day of Olympic action we have ahead of us.
Don’t believe me? Just take a look at our live schedule. Unsure where to look and how to follow along? Well, that is what we are here for.
Have any thoughts, questions, comments, concerns or Olympic household traditions you want to share? Send me a mail. You can find the information at the top of the page.
As a four-man pack make a lighting move for the finish in the 20km race walk, it’s time for me to race stroll into the Paris night! Hereafter I hand the baton to Yara El-Shaboury. Thanks for your company and have a wonderful day six. Au revoir!
On the hour mark in the 20km men’s race walk, it’s the marvellous moustache of Massimo Stano leading the way. The Olympic champion and the world champion are breathing down his neck though as Brian Pintado and Brazilian Caio Bonfim stay close. We are at the 15km mark now and the lead pack is, for the first time, breaking away from the stragglers. Exciting 15 minutes ahead here…
The 3×3 basketball isn’t far off. This is basketball’s attempt at a Twenty20 reinven tion. Here in Paris we are nearing the end of the pool stage. Teams play each other once each over a total of six games. The squads are then seeded one through six, with the top two receiving byes to the semi-finals. The unseeded teams play in a single-game elimination round before the semi-finals and final. So far, the USA are emerging as favourites.
For those who came in late, Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson has been shown the door by Football Australia after the Tillies’ premature exit in the Olympic pool stages.
As some nervous golfers wait to tee up the first round of men’s individual event, Brazil’s Brian Bonfim has snatched the lead in the 20km men’s race walk from Italy’s Massimo Stano with the Spaniards McGrath and Martin in third and fourth and Ethipia’s Misgana Wakuma in fifth. Australian Declan Tingay is also making his move and now sits sixth.
The lead pack has been overtaken in the Men’s 20km walk and Ecuador’s BD Pintado has stolen the lead. At 40 minutes, we are past the halfway mark. The Spanish duo of Martin and McGrath are still loitering with intent. Conditions are tough in Paris, with 88% humidity and greasy conditions on the course.
Race walking has a proud tradition at the Olympics, debuting at the 1908 Games where it was contested over 3500m and 10-mile distances. A 10km event was introduced in 1912 and there was also a one-off 3000m walk at the 1920 Olympiad in Antwerp. This 20 km event has been the standard race walk for men since the Melbourne Games in 1956 and replaces the longer men’s event over 50 km which ran 1932-2020.
Here in the 2024 version, it’s Sweden’s Perseus Karlstrom with the lead, a couple of paces in front of a pack headed by Spain’s duo of Paul McGrath and Alvaro Martin. The world record they’re chasing today belongs to Yusuke Suzuki at 1:16:36 while the Olympic record stands at 1:18:46, as set by Ding Chen in London in 2012.
For those who find race walking a contradiction in terms, here’s a fun primer…
Electrical storms in Paris have been threatening all morning but the men’s 20km race walk has begun and the competitors are striding the slimy cobblestones as we speak. Australia has Rhydian Cowley, Kyle Swan and Declan Tingay to cheer for in this one.
Italy’s Francesco Fortunato has an early lead with Ukraine’s Ihor Hlavan hot on his heels…
I found myself reflecting on the 1924 Paris Olympics recently while swimming laps at the famous Sydney Harbour pool named for Andrew “Boy” Charlton who took gold in the 1500m at that Games.
It was in that pool, situated near Sydney’s Domain and today overlooking Russell Crowe’s loft apartment at Garden Bay, that teen prodigy Charlton beat world record holder Arne Borg, a boilover that sent ripples of shock through the world and which Borg celebrated by rowing Charlton up the pool in a dinghy hailing “the new king”.
In Paris, Borg and Charlton swapped world records in the heats before ‘Boy’ took a minute off Borg’s world mark in the final to win a famous gold medal. Charlton also won silver in the 4x200m freestyle, losing to US swimmer Johnny Weissmuller who later achieved even greater fame as cinema’s most famous Tarzan.
At the 1928 Amsterdam Games, Weissmuller relegated Borg and Charlton to silver and bronze in the 400m. Borg would win the 1500m ahead of another future US film star in Buster Crabbe who went on to play Flash Gordon.
Of course, Chariots of Fire – and its glorious theme by Vangelis – was celebrated at the London Olympiad in 2012 in a beautifully British way…
The first Paris Olympics was a century ago and was memorably immortalised on celluloid by the 1982 Oscar winner Chariots of Fire. That film centred on two very different British athletes Eric Lidell and Harold Abrahams who each won gold.
Tim Costello remembers:
The plot had a remarkable twist. Eric stayed true to his perceived duty and pulled out of the heats. But then at the last moment his Olympic team entered him in the 400m, not his event nor one for which he had trained. He claimed gold in a world record time of 47.6 seconds. He had fulfilled the duty he felt to a higher calling, willing to sacrifice his specialist event with all his training, but remarkably managed to win anyway. His fierce sprinting British competitor Abrahams ran and did win the 100m for Britain. The team were triumphant.
It’s a true story and a feelgood story that offers a vision of there being a higher duty than one’s own personal success and national glory.
Golf swings into Olympic action today and, having endured the civil war that has wracked the game of late, seven “rebels” from the active LIV Golf players will be representing four different countries in the 60-player field in the men’s competition
Jon Rahm is making his Olympics debut after qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics but withdrawing due to Covid, while Abraham Ancer, Adrian Meronk, Joaquin Niemann, Carlos Ortiz and Mito Pereira are competing in their second consecutive Olympics. Pereira came close to finishing on the podium at the Tokyo Games, making the seven-man playoff for the bronze medal before being eliminated on the third playoff hole.
Play gets going in the men’s individual stroke playin about 90 minutes.
The Paris weather has been as turbulent as the emotions on display in the athletes. After days of rain, the weather turned hot and heavy yesterday. Day six has dawned overcast but the predictions are that the overcast skies will burn off as the day gets under way.
Great sport and great photography truly go hand in hand
When you’re an official flagbearer for your country at an Olympic Games, the pressure ratchets up a few notches. Australian kayak queen Jess Fox accepted the double-edged sword, chosen as flag bearer, leading the team down the Seine, as the face of her team.
Expectations on Fox were already high – both her parents are former Olympians and her sister is also competing at these Games – but somehow she found a way…
The axe has swung swiftly after Australia’s shock elimination in the women’s football, with Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson axed with immediate effect.
I’ve just received this statement from Football Australia:
“The Matildas’ journey at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games has come to an end. Despite their best efforts, the team has not progressed to the quarter-finals.
“This outcome is undoubtedly disappointing for the team, the fans, and the entire Australian football community. The team’s objective was to improve on the previous fourth place finish at Tokyo 2020, and while this Olympic campaign did not unfold as hoped, Football Australia remain immensely proud of the dedication and hard work displayed by the Matildas throughout the qualification period and the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament.
“Following the conclusion of the Matildas’ Olympic campaign, head coach Tony Gustavsson’s four-year contract with Football Australia has also come to an end by mutual agreement. Gustavsson addressed the players and staff following the final group stage match against the United States to farewell them and wish them every success with their futures.”
Gustavsson said: “It has been a great honour and privilege to have been able to be the head coach of the Matildas over the past four years. This journey with the team has had many incredible moments and memories that I will forever treasure.
“Thank you to the incredible players for letting me play a small part in their stories, my staff for being beside me every step of the way, Football Australia for backing our vision for this team, the Australian football family for embracing me and the Australian public for the tremendous support.
“Australian football will be forever in my heart, and I will be watching on and cheering on your success in the future,” Gustavsson concluded.
Plenty of fat, salty tears have been shed in Paris but few had the bittersweet tang experienced by Great Britain’s Lola Anderson who yesterday stormed to gold in the women’s quadruple sculls crew on the wings of her late father Don. Bedridden with illness one day in 2019, Don asked her to fetch his safety deposit box full of his greatest life treasures. Inside was Lola’s diary as a 14-year-old and a prescient entry reading:
“My name is Lola Anderson and I think it would be my biggest dream in life to go to the Olympics and represent Team GB in rowing and, if possible, win a gold medal.”
Whether you’re an avid sports fan or casual viewer, the Paris Olympics has delivered plenty 0f stunning scenes and gorgeous scenery. As Barney Ronay noted in his triathlon piece, yesterday’s triathlon was:
“An aesthetic triumph, an impossibly beautiful and luminous event, the kind of moment where Paris gets to flex its shoulders and it becomes necessary to marvel at the splendour of what humans have managed to do here.”
For Team GB, Alex Yee’s gold in the men’s triathlon was sweet. With one lap remaining, the Briton sat 14 seconds in arrears behind his great rival, New Zealand’s Hayden Wilde. Then Yee heard four words that helped change the course of Olympic history…
Australians are still crying tears of joy for Jess Fox’s double-gold in the whitewater while weeping in shock at the Matildas’ dramatic exit from the women’s football field.
Although Team Oz is sitting pretty at fourth on the medal tally, the torrent of antipodean gold on days 1-5 might soon slow to a trickle as events leave the pool and head to the track. Day six still holds plenty of promise…
As day six dawns let’s revisit the current medal table (as soundtracked by famous French freestyler Plastic Bertrand on Top of the Pops
Inspired by the words of the Bishop of Pennsylvania, Ethelbert Talbot, and echoed into infamy by Pierre de Coubertin, at a reception given by the British government on 24 July 1908, the Olympic creed has evermore stood as: “The important thing in life is not the triumph, but the fight; the essential thing is not to have won, but to have fought well.”
And nothing embodies it like Eric Moussambani AKA “Eric the Eel”…
Eighteen gold medals are up for grabs at the 2024 Games today.
Of all the simmering rivalries at this Paris Olympiad, one that comes to an angry boil tonight is the duel in the pool for the 4x200m women’s freestyle relay title. Team USA, spearheaded by women’s GOAT Katie Ledecky, will face off against their arch-rivals Australia, as led by Mollie O’Callaghan and Ariarne Titmus.
Australia won gold in the prestige women’s 4x200m in Beijing 2008 before the USA exacted revenge at London 2012 and Rio 2016. Both awesome foursomes finished behind the People’s Republic of China and the Americans at Tokyo 2020. With Australia having won the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay gold with an Olympic record, the USA will be desperate to square the ledger.
Or will the Aussie beef burger-fueled China shock the world again?
Here are some of the events and when to watch (all in Paris times):
Track and Field
The Men’s 20km Race Walk, 7:30am
Women’s 20km Race Walk, 9:20am
Shooting
Men’s Smallbore Rifle, Three Positions, 9:30am
Rowing
Women’s Double Sculls, 11:18am
Men’s Double Sculls, 11:30am
Women’s Four, 11:50am
Sailing
Men’s Skiff, 2:43pm
Women’s Skiff, 3:43pm
Judo
Men’s Half Heavyweight (100 kg/220 lbs.), medal rounds begin, 5:18pm
Women’s Half Heavyweight (78 kg/172 lbs.), medal rounds begin, 5:49pm
Canoe Slalom
Men’s (K-1) Kayak Single, 5:30pm
Gymnastics
Women’s Individual All-Around, 6:15pm
Fencing
Women’s Team Foil, 7:10pm
Swimming
Women’s 200m Butterfly, 8:30pm
Men’s 200m Backstroke, 8:38pm
Women’s 200m Breaststroke, 9:11pm
Women’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay, 10:03pm
Preamble
Hello everybody and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the sixth official day of competition at this Paris 2024 Summer Olympics.
Day five was filled to the gills with thrills, spills, tears and cheers. Host nation France are celebrating Léon Marchand’s extraordinary double-gold performance last night in the 200m butterfly and 200m breaststroke – two triumphs hours apart that gave the 22-year-old from Toulouse his third individual gold at these Games. That dull roar hanging in this morning’s air is the echo of 15,000 French roaring as Marchand hauled in hot-favourite, Hungary’s world record holder Kristóf Milák, with inches to spare.
Team Great Britain are also exultant after a glorious day five highlighted by the gold medal-winning feats of Lola Anderson, Hannah Scott, Lauren Henry and Georgie Brayshaw in the women’s quadruple sculls crew and Alex Yee in the men’s triathlon, who pulled off a home-straight heist worthy of France favourite gentleman burglar Arsène Lupin himself. It vaults Team GB into fifth on the medal table behind China, Japan, France and Australia. Despite Katie Ledecky winning her eighth Olympic gold medal in the 1500m freestyle and tying the record for the most gold medals by a US woman, Team USA are a surprising seventh, but keeping their powder dry.
For Australia, dizzy highs – Jess Fox clinching her second gold of the Games with victory in the canoe slalom course at Vaires-sur-Marne – came with desultory lows, as the Matildas’ Olympic tilt ended in tears after losing 2-1 to the USA in their final pool game. Despite being without star striker Sam Kerr, the “Tillies” arrived in Paris as genuine medal contenders after capturing hearts with a fourth-place finish at the 2023 World Cup. Instead, they’re heading home early after the controversy-riven Canadians then delivered a coup de grace to the girls in gold by upsetting Colombia to progress.
It set Canada-Australia relations back another notch after the Maple Leafers beat the Boomers in the basketball and upset Australia’s world champion rugby sevens side in the semi-final to send them home without a medal. A Bryan Adams-ban on Sydney radio is currently being enforced by way of revenge.
Day five’s most anticipated – and controversial – moment came when Paris “reversed the tide of history” and declared the River Seine waters fit to host the men’s triathlon. Regardless of whether competitors copped a dose of E.coli with their broccoli, the event was a spectacle that never seemed quite possible until it was actually under way. Heavy rain, hysterical headlines and Netflix programming certainly didn’t help.
Day six promises even more blood, sweat, tears and glory…