Key events
And here’s a rundown of the day from an Australian perspective. One that will see the Opals, Kookaburras and Hockeyroos in action early, before swimmers Ariarne Titmus and Mollie O’Callaghan go head-to-head in the women’s 200m freestyle later on.
Here’s today’s full schedule with Badminton again leading things off at 8:30 local time (just under two hours from now).
The boxing image in here is an immediate entry to the Olympic photography hall of fame.
Flava Flav, Water Polo, and the First Lady of the United States sounds like a combination of words that would only come about using Brian Eno’s Oblique Strategies, but this has been a celeb-heavy opening to the Games.
I love all the support Women’s Water Polo is getting,,, ya boy is so appreciative that the First Lady came to the First Game . THANK YOU @flotus Dr. Jill Biden for all the support of you and your family 🙏🏾🫶🏾#olympics pic.twitter.com/QHe53NTpsa
— FLAVOR FLAV (@FlavorFlav) July 27, 2024
Yesterday also witnessed one of the youngest podiums in Olympic history with Coco Yoshizawa (14), Liz Akama (15), and Rayssa Leal (16) the medallists in the women’s street skateboarding.
Brazilian Leal is actually among the record holders after she made the podium in Tokyo, alongside Momiji Nishiya and Funa Nakayama. Their collective age was just 43 years 208 days.
South Korea have the joint-third most gold medals and joint-fourth most medals overall. This includes yesterday’s gold to the women’s archery team, extending their unbeaten run to an extraordinary 10 consecutive Olympics. South Korea are the only nation to have won that particular medal since it was introduced at Seoul 1988.
By the end of day two Japan had moved alongside early pacesetters Australia on top of the medal table. France’s three memorable golds keep the hosts in the mix, while the USA are getting used to occupying the lower two steps on the podium.
Preamble – Day Three Schedule
Jonathan Howcroft
Hello everybody and welcome to live coverage of the third official day of competition of the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics.
If the opening day belonged to Australia, day two was all about the hosts with French superstars Léon Marchand and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot securing popular gold medals.
There was also plenty of joy for Japan in judo, fencing, and skateboarding, the continuation of Korea’s dominance in women’s archery, and the return to the Olympic stage for the incomparable Simone Biles.
So what can we look forward to today?
Medal Events
🥇 Shooting – men’s & women’s 10m air rifle (from 9:30)
🥇 Diving – men’s 10m platform synchro (from 11:00)
🥇 Equestrian – eventing team jumping / eventing individual jumping (from 11:00)
🥇 Mountain Bike – men’s cross country (from 14:10)
🥇 Judo – women’s 57kg / men’s 73kg (from 16:00)
🥇 Skateboarding – men’s street (17:00)
🥇 Archery – men’s team (17:11)
🥇 Canoe Slalom – men’s C-1 (17:20)
🥇 Gymnastics – men’s team (17:30)
🥇 Swimming – men’s 200m freestyle & 100m backstroke / women’s 400m IM & 200m freestyle (20:30)
🥇 Fencing – women’s individual sabre / men’s individual foil (21:45)
*(All times listed are Paris local)
Simon Burnton’s day-by-day guide
Diving: men’s synchronised 10m platform final
Tom Daley is back for his fifth Games, and with Matty Lee – with whom he won this event in Tokyo – ruled out with a back injury he has been paired this time with Noah Williams. Williams finished 27th out of 29 entrants in the individual 10m platform in 2021 – “I did awful, so bad,” he says – and the new pair’s preparations have been hampered by the fact that Daley now lives in Los Angeles, but in their first international competition, February’s world championships, they won silver.
Equestrianism: eventing jumping team and individual final
The grounds of the Chateau de Versailles will provide a spectacular backdrop to the equestrian events, with today’s finale of the eventing competition using the temporary arena by the Grand Canal. Tom McEwen won a silver in the individual event in Tokyo, while the British squad took the team gold. McEwen will be back hoping to go one better, having swapped his horse Toledo de Kerser for JL Dublin. “Dubs is the whole package,” says McEwen.
Cycling: men’s cross-country
In 2021 Tom Pidcock won this event on the same day as Daley won diving gold, and the schedule has thrown them together again. The race will be held on the entirely human-made Elancourt Hill, the highest point in the Paris region, which started life as a dumping ground for the area’s sandstone quarries and after their closure graduated to being used for landfill. What certainly isn’t rubbish is the view over the city from the top. Nick Floros, the South African who designed the cross-country courses in Rio and Tokyo, has mapped the route again.
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 still consider post-Twitter relevant, drop me a note @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.