The Guardian

Paris 2024 Olympics day two: Simone Biles dazzles in gymnastics; women’s mountain bike race – live

By with Sarah Rendell and Katy Murrells (later) Will Unwin and Jonathan Howcroft (earlier)Martin Belam (now),

9 hours ago

https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=253DSy_0uffEuc900 — Simone Biles is back! Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

1.58pm BST

Women’s mountain bike cross-country: a big crash for France ’s Loana Lecomte , who was in medal contention. She is down in one of the rock sections. The riders around her managed to avoid a pile up.

1.53pm BST

Daniel Boffey was at Les Invalides this morning for the Guardian:

Teenage archer Penny Healey admitted that she was struggling to hold in the tears after the British women’s archery team was knocked out of the Paris Games by Germany.

The 19-year-old, who had been inspired to take up the sport after watching the Disney-Pixar film Brave, said there had been some early nerves during the tie but insisted she would pick herself up for the individual event on Thursday.

It was the consistency of the world champion German team that did for the hopes of Healey and her teammates Megan Havers, 16, and Bryony Pitman, 27, who had raised their game after a poor start.

Healey, who reached the top of the world rankings last year with two gold medals at the European Games in Krakow, said it had taken a few shots for her to settle into the event.

She said: “I think the first two shots were kind of just being a bit shocked and like, nervous in the way that I was actually here shooting. Once I like realised, yeah, I’m here, then I started putting in tens again. [But] the Germans are a really good team.”

She added: “I’m trying not to cry right now.”

1.53pm BST

Women’s hockey: as an England football fan myself, 2-1 defeats to Spain are still a somewhat thorny topic. Great Britain ’s women have just suffered the same score against the same opponents in the hockey.

All the scoring happened in the first nine minutes, with Laura Barrios notching for Spain in the fourth minute, Giselle Asley responding immediately for Team GB, and then Lola Riera with what proved to be the winning goal in the ninth minute.

That result means that after one match in Pool B, Argentina, Australia and Spain have recorded wins, while Great Britain, South Africa and the USA all have one loss each. Great Britain face Australia at 17.00 local time tomorrow.

1.46pm BST

Women’s mountain bike cross-country: Pauline Ferrand Prevot remains in the lead. She has been racing for over half an hour now and has a one minute advantage. You can’t take the outcome for granted though, as it is a perilous discipline, as this picture of South Africa ’s Candice Lill shows. Lill has to get her bike back to the technical zone on foot to get it seen to after this mechanical.

1.43pm BST

Men’s basketball: the latest from the “you had one job …” files, the basketball match between South Sudan and Puerto Rico was delayed slightly when the wrong anthem was played for South Sudan. It obviously didn’t put them off, they won 90-79.

United States men play Serbia men at 17.15 local time today.

1.39pm BST

Women’s street skateboarding: the qualification prelims for this have been going on at La Concorde, another venue chosen to really show off spectacular views of Paris. And it is generating some spectacular photographs as well.

1.32pm BST

Women’s mountain bike cross-country: Estonia ’s Janika Loiv has just picked herself up after a fall, but the main story is that France ’s Pauline Ferrand Prevot has scorched off the front of the pack now. She is nearly thirty seconds ahead of Puck Pieterse and Loana Lecomte .

1.30pm BST

Women’s hockey: in Group B Australia beat South Africa 2-1. In the other match in that group today Spain are leading Great Britain 2-1. The fourth quarter has just started in that one.

1.25pm BST

As an aside the Olympic website lists every athlete as SURNAME Firstname and every time I want to cut-and-paste a name I have to reverse and recase it, and rest assured, I shall be 1) writing a stiff letter of complaint 2) consistently making mistakes with names. Apologies.

1.23pm BST

Women’s mountain bike cross-country: four riders have broken away at the front, and on the last split the group was being led by Loana Lecomte of France . Puck Pieterse of the Netherlands is second, Lecomte’s compatriot Pauline Ferrand Prevot is third, with early leader Austria ’s Laura Stigger in fourth.

1.19pm BST

Men’s tennis singles: Great Britain ’s Jack Draper has taken a 4-1 lead in the first set against Kei Nishikori of Japan .

1.17pm BST

Women’s mountain bike cross-country: the race has started on this compact circuit. There are 36 competitors, and at the first split Austria ’s Laura Stigger is in the lead, but there is only a tenth of second separating the first 11, which includes Team GB ’s Evie Richards who is ninth. The French pair, Pauline Ferrand Prevot and Loana Lecomte , are well placed.

Updated at 1.25pm BST

1.13pm BST

Equestrian cross-country eventing: in the team event Germany and Australia have already had a difficult day. Kevin McNab one of Australia’s silver medal-winning team from Tokyo three years ago, took the decision to withdraw his mount Don Quidam midway through his round because he felt there was a problem. Germany’s Christoph Wahler also failed to finish on Carjatan S . The course looks impressive.

1.05pm BST

Hello from London again. It is Martin Belam back with you. I’ve fired up some tennis, the equestrian event and some women’s hockey on my frankly ridiculous-sized monitor here. I’m also all set for the women’s mountain bike cross-country which starts shortly, and is – I think – where we will see the next medals awarded. What a wonderful way to spend a weekend.

1.00pm BST

Some fantastic news for all you lovely people: Martin Belam is back in the game and will take you through the afternoon’s events across Paris (and beyond).

12.58pm BST

Australian boxer Tina Rahimi has hit out at France’s hijab ban, which prevents French athletes participating in certain sports at the Olympics from wearing religious head scarfs.

Kieran Pender has the story.

12.54pm BST

Women’s volleyball: During the break, Sweet Caroline is being pumped out to entertain the crowd. Are there any Neil Diamond-free sporting events anymore?

12.53pm BST

Women’s volleyball: Poland take the second set against Japan to make it 1-1. It is the first to three sets and it is very even at the moment.

12.44pm BST

Women’s tennis: Sorribes Tormo v Krejcikova is heading into a deciding set after the Czech won the second 6-0. She certainly has the momentum.

12.39pm BST

I may have done a fair amount of moaning about the difficulty of getting around Paris, after its transformation into an Olympic Village, but you have to say once you are actually IN the venues they are little less than sublime.

I was at the beach volleyball this morning to see the Dutch beach volleyball player who was convicted of raping a 12-year-old British girl in 2016 booed as he was introduced to the crowds, which felt like a moment - Olympic crowds generally like to focus on, and enjoy the sport if they are lucky enough to get a ticket. Steven van de Velde and his playing partner Matthew Immers went on to lose to Italy.

But I stuck around to see the women’s France v Germany match - and you have to say the atmosphere they have created in here with the Vibe man pumping up the crowd to a soundtrack of Eurobeats is something else.

Beach volleyball made its debut as an Olympic sport at the 1996 Atlanta Games and has a habit of being held in the most spectacular of venues, including at the Horse Guard’s Parade in London in 2012 and Copacabana beach at Rio 2016. But this court - with its backdrop of the Eiffel Tower - is surely the best of the lot.

Despite a huge amount of support from the home crowd Aline Chamereau and Clemence Viera lost in two sets to Germany’s Svenja Muller and Cinja Tillmann, but the Mexican waves alone made the trips worthwhile for the home fans.

12.37pm BST

Cameron Norrie withdraws from men's singles tennis

Team GB’s Cameron Norrie will not participate at the Olympics due to injury.

Updated at 12.44pm BST

12.34pm BST

Women’s basketball: The national anthems of Spain and China have just rung out. It should be an intriguing encounter.

12.31pm BST

The important thing in Paris today is that the sun is finally out after a couple of days where it looked like the sky was falling in.

12.31pm BST

Keep track of the medal table. There will be plenty of movement on there in the coming weeks.

12.21pm BST

Women’s artistic gymnastics: The USA leotards are said to cost $3,000 each thanks to the crystals that adorn the outfit. Fancy.

Updated at 12.28pm BST

12.19pm BST

Men’s beach volleyball: A Dutch convicted child rapist competing for the Netherlands at the Paris 2024 Olympics was met with boos – and some applause – as he walked out for his first beach volleyball match on Sunday. Alexandra Topping was there.

Updated at 12.39pm BST

12.18pm BST

Women’s artistic gymnastics:

Current team standings:

USA 172.296
Italy 166.681
China 166.682
Great Britain 160.830
Romania 159.497

Updated at 12.47pm BST

12.15pm BST

Women’s artistic gymnastics: USA finish with a team total of 172.296 to put them in the lead. Italy move into second, having scored 166.861, edging China into third after the finished with 166.628.

12.12pm BST

Women’s artistic gymnastics: Sunisa Lee comes off the uneven bars with a secore of 14.866. Her overall score is 56.132, putting her second overall.

12.08pm BST

Simone Biles stars in US women's team gymnastics

Women’s artistic gymnastics: Biles concludes with an all-around total of 59.566.

Updated at 12.51pm BST

12.06pm BST

Women’s artistic gymnastics: Biles is down off the uneven bars, landing with a smile and showing no obvious sign of discomfort. She blows kisses to the crowd and dances with teammates. She is loving life and will be top of the leaderboard.

12.01pm BST

Men’s equestrian: German eventer Christoph Wahler fell during his cross-country ride on Sunday, dashing Germany’s hopes for a team medal and leaving Britain and France to battle it out for the gold.

Wahler fell off his grey gelding Carjatan midway through his ride, footage showed, after he had started without major difficulties. He fell just after a downhill obstacle some athletes competing before him had described as particularly difficult.

The athlete and horse will undergo checks, but there were no reports of injuries, a German team spokesperson said. In the Olympic competition, a fall results in the effective elimination of the rider with 200 penalty points, which also ended German hopes of a team medal.

Updated at 12.02pm BST

12.00pm BST

Women’s artistic gymnastics: Beau Dure says: “Not sure how much they’re showing there [in the UK], but Biles’ limp keeps looking worse after every landing. And yet, she’s nailing everything.

“The good news is that she only has one more landing - the dismount from the uneven bars. Then we’ll have to see how she heals before all the finals.”

Push through the pain barrier …

11.56am BST

Men’s swimming: Per Reuters …

World record holder Leon Marchand sent home fans into a frenzy as he topped qualifying for the Olympic 400 metres individual medley (IM) final in the morning heats on Sunday.

Chants of “Leon! Leon!” rang out from the terraces at a heaving La Defense Arena as the pin-up boy of French swimming walked to the starting blocks. Although it was only a heat, his swim nearly lifted the roof of the converted rugby stadium. The crowd sang “Allez, allez!” in unison as Marchand came up for air on every stroke of the breaststroke leg, then roared incessantly to bring him home in the freestyle.

His time of four minutes and 8.30 seconds was nearly six seconds off his world record but more than a second clear of Britain’s second quickest Max Litchfield. The crowd support was a “crazy thing”, said 22-year-old Marchand, a major contender for gold in four individual events in Paris. “It was beyond what I expected,” he said through a translator. “If I can liberate my body and my spirit for the afternoon, it will be great if I can free myself from the pressure.”

Updated at 12.09pm BST

11.55am BST

Women’s artistic gymnastics: We are onto the final apparatus in this second subdivision.

11.52am BST

Women’s artistic gymnastics: Helen Kevric of Germany is out on the floor, offering up some tumble passes and a triple twist, inspired by the tango.

Score: 13.066.

11.51am BST

Women’s artistic gymnastics: Biles goes with something of 5.6 difficulty and nails it. She is off to the vault final, that’s for sure. There is laser focus in the eyes of Biles.

Her average vault score: 15.300. Not bad, then.

Updated at 11.54am BST

11.46am BST

Women’s artistic gymnastics: Biles produces the Yurchenko double pike and is utterly glorious. She really is on top form.

11.45am BST

Women’s artistic gymnastics: Carey gets 14.433 on the vault, surpassing Chiles. Biles is next up …

11.44am BST

Women’s artistic gymnastics: The gymnastics is the place to be in Paris. Tom Cruise, Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo and Jessica Chastain are all inside the Bercy Arena, drawn to the competition by the likes of Simone Biles. Cruise has done enough stunts in his time, so must appreciate the work of the gymnast.

Team GB were quite interested in the YouTuber Emma Chamberlain – I have no idea – and one British gymnast seemed confused by who Cruise was. Others in attendance were John Legend, his wife Chrissy Tegen and Anna Wintour.

Updated at 11.47am BST

11.41am BST

Women’s artistic gymnastics: 14.216 is the average score for Chiles, the best thus far.

Carey recovers from her issues on the floor with a cracking start on the vault.

11.39am BST

Women’s artistic gymnastics: Jordan Chiles of USA lines up for the vault. It is an aggressive sprint up to the apparatus and then a double twist. “A beautiful mix of power and grace,” is the comment on TV.

Her second one is even better, providing grace and a soft landing.

11.36am BST

Women’s artistic gymnastics: China’s Luo Huan is on the balance beam. The 24-year-old veteran is unfazed by the situation despite her surprise call up to the team for an Olympic debut. She takes her time before performing a majestic double pike dismount. She runs off to her coaches with a beaming smile, an indication of her performance.

The score is … 13.733, the fourth best on the beam thus far.

11.30am BST

Researchers took an interest in results from the Tokyo Olympics and found virtually no difference between men and women in air rifle competitions, while men did slightly better in air pistol, trap and skeet competitions.
Beau Dure on whether men and women should compete in one category in shooting.

11.29am BST

Women’s judo: Team GB’s Chelsie Giles has spoken after her round-of-16 loss to Brazil’s Larissa Pimenta: “It started off a bit slow, I picked up two shidos. When it went into golden score, I thought I was doing a bit better. Then I just got unlucky and got caught off the wrong side. There’s not much I could have done, I just got caught. It was just a very tactical game … I’ve fought her several times before.”

Updated at 11.33am BST

11.27am BST

Women’s judo: Japan’s Uta Abe , the reigning Olympic champion in the -52kg judo competition, suffered an upset defeat in the round of 16. Abe, who had not lost a fight in an individual competition since 2019, was beaten by Uzbekistan’s Diyora Keldiyorova , twice silver medallist at the world championships.

After Keldiyorova had won by Ippon, Abe sank to her knees holding her head in her hands as she tried to come to terms with what had happened. After saluting her opponent she struggled to walk and fell to her knees again before sobbing in the arms of her coach.

The 24-year-old Abe won the gold medal in Tokyo in 2021 shortly after her brother Hifumi Abe achieved the same feat. The four-times world champion, who had only participated in one competition this year, started her day with an easy win over Canadian Kelly Deguchi.

Updated at 11.28am BST

11.25am BST

Women’s artistic gymnastics: China have moved up to second place overall, while Italy are third.

11.23am BST

Women’s artistic gymnastics: Biles is the reigning world champion. She starts well with a mesmeric triple somersault and then shows the balance and poise that has made her world famous. Her landings get better as the routine goes on. She really is a cut above, proving it with some perfect tumbling that no other gymnast could dream of doing. A real gamechanging individual. Fair to say, there is no indication she has an injury, based on her performance.

She is awarded 14.600.

Updated at 11.24am BST

11.19am BST

Women’s artistic gymnastics: Carey’s error lands her with a score of for the floor routine 10.633. Biles is up next …

11.17am BST

Women’s artistic gymnastics: Carey is on the floor, performing to Seven Nation Army. It is a decent routine but she concludes it by falling over backwards when trying to land after a somersault. She will not be happy.

11.15am BST

Women’s artistic gymnastics: Our man in the US, Beau Dure, says Simone Biles is doing some work with the physios. Hopefully all is well with the gymnast.

11.13am BST

Women’s artistic gymnastics: Qiu Qiyuan swings with incredible velocity on the uneven bars. She holds her pose as she swings on her very apparatus, earning 15.066.

Schäfer-Betz is awarded 13.366 for her work on the balance beam.

11.08am BST

Women’s artistic gymnastics: Pauline Schäfer-Betz is on the balance beam and is in magnificent form. She shows incredible agility and form, culminating with a perfect dismount. There are few better than the German in these situations.

11.05am BST

Women’s artistic gymnastics : the main action at the moment is on the apparatus. Jade Carey is priming herself for her routine on the floor. Biles is sat on watching from the side, taking a few deep breaths before she is back in action.

11.02am BST

Hello all! Let’s enjoy the real Olympic challenge: trying to keep up with all the action.

11.00am BST

That is it from me, Martin Belam, for now. I will be back later on. Will Unwin is up next …

10.59am BST

Women’s artistic gymnastics: … and Simone Biles is back. She gets a rapturous welcome from the crowd for her balance beam routine. She scores 14.733.

10.57am BST

Women’s artistic gymnastics: Sunisa Lee of the USA team is on the beam at the moment, and the atmosphere in the Bercy Arena sounds electric.

Meanwhile Kaylia Nemour , representing Algeria , has scored a huge 15.6 on the uneven bars.

As a reminder, during this qualification session, teams are competing to qualify for the final. Eight go through to that. Gymnasts are also competing to reach the finals for the individual disciplines. In this session the US, China and Italy are the three teams appearing, and then as well as Nemour, there are two gymnasts from Germany – Sarah Voss and Helen Kevric – and one gymnast from Israel, who is Lihie Raz .

10.47am BST

Here is our first look at Simone Biles preparing to compete today …

10.45am BST

Men’s water polo: Spain have defeated Australia 9-5 in the opening match of this tournament. Serbia play Japan and hosts France face Hungary in the other Group B match-ups later today.

Group A teams will also play their opening water polo games today, as follows:

15.00 Italy v USA
16.35 Croatia v Montenegro
21.05 Romania v Greece

(All local time)

10.39am BST

Women’s artistic gymnastics: subdivsion 2 of qualification is about to start, and that means all eyes on Simone Biles …

Updated at 10.42am BST

10.32am BST

Men’s badminton doubles: Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang , the number one seeds from China , have ended any hope that Great Britain ’s Ben Lane and Sean Vendy can qualify from their group, after the Chinese pair won their match 21-18 13-21 21-14.

10.29am BST

Defending men’s golf champion Xander Schauffele has posted a short video message from the Olympics, saying that he has arrived at Le Golf National in Guyancourt and is ready to go. The men’s golf competition runs from Thursday 1 August to Sunday 4 August. The women’s competition runs for four days from Wednesday 7 August.

10.24am BST

Sean Ingle is in Paris for the Guardian:

The first triathlon training session in the Seine was cancelled on Sunday morning due to poor water quality, leaving athletes facing an anxious wait to see if the levels improve before the men’s race is due to start on Tuesday.

Monday’s final ‘familiarisation’ session in the Seine is also said to be touch and go, following the heavy rains that have hammered down on Paris since the opening ceremony .

Organisers have confirmed they will make a decision about that practice session at 4am local time on Monday. But if it is also cancelled it will mean that the triathletes will have no chance to practise in the Seine before they race.

10.21am BST

Reuters reports that there were “a few discreet boos” as convicted child rapist Steven van de Velde made his debut for the Netherlands in the beach volleyball this morning. Van de Velde was convicted of raping a British 12-year-old girl in 2016.

Ciara Bergman , the CEO of Rape Crisis England & Wales, has said his inclusion in the team was “irresponsible”. She said “If you can rape a child and still compete in the Olympics, despite all athletes signing a declaration promising to be a role model, that is just shocking.”

Updated at 10.35am BST

10.14am BST

Women’s team archery: Germany have beaten Great Britain to complete the quarter-final line up. The Germans will now face Mexico. Other match-ups will see number one seeds South Korea face the team from Taiwan. Number two seeds China face Indonesia, and India take on the Netherlands. Those quarter-finals start today at 14.15 local time.

10.09am BST

Kieran Pender is in Paris for the Guardian

Australian Olympic road cyclist Lucas Plapp is in a stable condition in a Parisian hospital after a nasty crash in slippery conditions during the men’s individual time trial on Saturday.

Plapp was flying along the rain-soaked central Paris course, clocking the fourth fastest time at the first intermediate time check, before a crash saw the 23-year-old collide heavily with a barrier fence.

Plapp was taken to a French hospital, where he underwent abdominal surgery on Saturday evening. According to a statement from the Australian Olympic Committee, the Team Jayco–AlUla rider was supported at the hospital by his parents and a team doctor.

Plapp is a two-time Australian time trial champion, and has won the last three editions of the national road race championships. He also won a bronze medal in Tokyo on the track, as part of the team pursuit squad that recovered from a high-profile mechanical incident to a brave secure third place finish.

10.08am BST

Women’s hockey: in Group A of the competition Belgium held a narrow 1-0 lead over China at the end of the third quarter. In the same group Germany v Japan started later. Charlotte Stapenhorst has given the Germans the lead with a twelth minute goal. It is half-time in that one. The Netherlands beat hosts France 6-2 in the group yesterday. There are six teams in the group – the top four progress to the knockout stage.

10.03am BST

Men’s badminton doubles: I sort of suggested they didn’t have much chance earlier, but fair play to Team GB ’s Ben Lane and Sean Vendy who have taken their pool match against Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang of China to a third game, winning the second 21-13.

9.57am BST

Women’s team archery: Team GB are currently trailling Germany 2 sets to nil in an attempt to reach the quarter-finals. Germany are current world champions and would back themselves to progress.

9.52am BST

Women’s artistic gymnastics: the Bercy Arena has been staging subdivision 1 of the women’s contest qualification this morning in France, with the teams from Great Britain , Romania and Mexico involved, and also individual gymnasts from Ukraine, Switzerland, Bulgaria and South Africa. As ever, it is producing some spectacular images.

It is very early doors to mark progress, but Team GB have scored better than Romania, and Georgia-Mae Fenton of Great Britain is leading the individual qualification scores.

The US team and China will compete in subdivision 2, which is scheduled to start at 11.40am, local time.

9.40am BST

Men’s badminton doubles: it was always going to be a tough ask for Team GB ’s Ben Lane and Sean Vendy against China’s world number one pairing of Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang , and the British pair have lost the first game 21-18. This is their second pool match, having lost the opener, so Lane and Vendy are under pressure to get a result today.

9.40am BST

Some lovely images from the surfing competition in Tahiti…

9.33am BST

Women’s handball: some incredible last-ditch last minute (and pretty physical) defending from Hungary including an immense save from Blanka Böde-Bíró , then after a tactical time out, they flashed down the other end and nicked it 25-24 against Brazil . Absolute scenes. Brazil lead for nearly all of it. The winning goal is timed at 59 minutes and 55 seconds. There are tears. There is joy. This is the Olympics.

9.27am BST

Women’s handball: if you were after a tense finish to a match, Brazil and Hungary are 24-24 with two minutes to go 👀

9.19am BST

Women’s beach volleyball: Spain ’s Liliana Fernandez Steiner and Paula Soria Gutierrez have come up winners against Valentina Gottardi and Marta Menegatti of Italy in their Pool A match, 2-1. The other pairings in that group are from Brazil and Egypt, and they face each other at 16.00 local time today.

The women’s beach volleyball format, by the way, is that there are six pools each featuring four pairings, who play each other in a round-robin format. The top two in each pool progress to the round of 16. The six pairings in third place in their pools are ranked, and the top two of those also go through to the round of 16. Then there are lucky loser play-offs to determine which final two pairs also progress. I’m fairly certain that is slightly more convoluted than it needs to be.

9.11am BST

Another gold for China as Yu Xie wins 10m air pistol final, Italy take silver and bronze

Men’s 10m air pistol: Yu Xie has won China ’s third gold of the Games with victory in the men’s 10m air pistol.

In a tense finish his score of 240.9 was just enough to keep the gold medal from the hands of Italy ’s Federico Nilo Maldini , who agonisingly finished on 240 points. The bronze also went to Italy , with Paolo Monna finishing some distance behind on 218.6.

9.02am BST

The social media admins for Paris 2024 are showing off their croissants and coffee. I can confirm that this live blog this morning has been powered from London by coffee and scrambled eggs, and shortly more coffee.

9.00am BST

Reuters has confirmed that, as suspected, the Olympics’ triathlon swimming training session scheduled for today has been cancelled after recent heavy rain in Paris affected pollution levels in the Seine. The men’s triathlon is due to be held on Tuesday.

Updated at 9.07am BST

8.57am BST

My colleague Alexandra Topping is in Paris, and she has spoken to diver Noah Williams about the prospect of teaming up with the legend that is Tom Daley :

Noah Williams was only 12 when he went to watch Tom Daley – then the fresh-faced 18-year-old poster boy of London 2012 – claim an extraordinary bronze medal in the 10m platform dive . He admits now that he had little idea that 12 years later he would be gearing up to partner Daley in the synchronised 10m platform at Paris 2024, but says he always thought he would be an Olympian.

“I was a bit delusional when I was younger, I thought I was going to make the Olympics easily,” says the 24-year-old with a wry grin. “I think that helped me because if I had realised how far off the Olympics and how much work I had to put in to get to where I am now, I think I probably would have quit. I thought I was so close to making it, even though I was nowhere near.”

8.55am BST

Women’s single sculls: after the three repecharge races, athletes from the Philippines, Vietnam, Iran, Turkey, Paraguay and Peru are through to the quarter-finals. The men’s single sculls repecharges are on at the moment.

8.52am BST

Women’s 10m air rifle qualification: the top eight athletes from the qualification round go through to the final later today where they will have a shot at a gold medal – ho ho ho see what I did there. India’s Elavenil Valarivan is leading at the moment, compatriot Ramita Jindal ’s place in the final is not looking so certain.

8.35am BST

Women’s handball: Brazil are taking in a 15-12 half-time lead against Hungary .

8.30am BST

Women’s beach volleyball: Valentina Gottardi and Marta Menegatti of Italy have just lost the first set to Spain ’s Liliana Fernandez Steiner and Paula Soria Gutierrez in the Olympics’ most under-dressed sport.

What an incredible venue the organisers have set up for this competition though, in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower. You can’t say they aren’t showing off Paris during these Games, can you?

8.22am BST

In terms of medals today, just a reminder that this is what we are expecting, with the usual caveat that all times are local, all events are subject to change and so forth …

🥇Shooting – men’s & women’s 10m air pistol (from 9:30)
🥇Mountain Bike – women’s cross-country (from 14:10)
🥇Judo – men 66kg / women 52kg (from 16:00)
🥇Archery – women’s team (from 16:48)
🥇Skateboarding – women’s street (from 17:00)
🥇Canoe Slalom – women’s kayak single (from 17:45)
🥇Swimming (from 20:30) – men’s 400m IM / women’s 100m butterfly / men’s 100m breaststroke.
🥇Fencing (from 20:50) – women’s individual foil / men’s individual epee.

8.13am BST

Women’s single sculls: there are three repechage races in this event taking place today. The commentator on Eurosport has said this is exactly where competitors don’t want to be, with an extra race to fit in and the knowledge that there are already 18 people who have rowed faster than you and qualified. Contrasted with yesterday it looks like an absolutely lovely day at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical stadium.

8.08am BST

Women’s handball: the opening fixture today is Brazil v Hungary . Brazil won their first game on Thursday against Spain, Hungary lost theirs against the hosts and reigning champions, so are perhaps under more pressure to get a result today. There are six teams in Group B, with the top four progressing. It is tied 3-3 after eight minutes.

Updated at 8.16am BST

8.04am BST

Hello, the action just does not stop during the Olympics, does it? It is Martin Belam here with you, watching about 1,057 different videostreams in London. There is already badminton, handball and rowing under way. More medals are up for grabs later on, so settle in, and I will do my best to keep you up to date with everything happening across the day.

8.03am BST

Just like Celine, it’s time I took my leave. With day two up and running it’s over to Martin Belam to keep the Olympic flame burning. Au revoir!

7.56am BST

7.45am BST

The badminton is under way, soon to be followed by beach volleyball, handball, rowing, shooting, and volleyball at 9:00 local time, with archery, gymnastics, and fencing at 9:30.

That means we’re not far from seeing controversial Dutch olympian Steven van de Velde in action beneath the Eiffel Tower.

7.35am BST

Live sport is under way on day two of the Paris Olympics, and once again badminton is out of the blocks early with matches in the group stages of the men’s singles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles.

Badminton!

7.30am BST

Usain Bolt levels of perfect timing here from the history boys. The drain sludge formerly known as Twitter has been particularly miserable since the opening ceremony, and this image has been one of the reasons why.

7.22am BST

The USA, expected to top the medal table for the seventh time in eight Olympics, began with little fanfare. Favourites struggled, including Chloé Dygert, who succumbed to the treacherous conditions in the time trial, while Katie Ledecky was overpowered in the pool.

Thankfully golden boy Caeleb Dressel continued his extraordinary Olympic streak with his eighth gold medal (no silver or bronze) in the 100m freestyle relay. The ubiquitous Snoop Dogg was on hand for good luck.

7.14am BST

Even for the greatest rugby player alive, redemption comes with its own quantum of danger. Missing the Six Nations, abandoning the team he calls home and the colleagues he adores and the game he has mastered, for a step into a windswept unknown. The glory – a gold medal in a home Olympics – is the greatest an athlete can know. But the risk is that you get your heart broken all over again.

While Australia lead the early medal table there’s no question the biggest gold of the Games so far has gone to the hosts. France, and Antoine Dupont in particular, invested an awful lot in the rugby star’s brief transition from the 15-man to the seven-man game. Yesterday, at a delirious Stade de France, that gamble paid off.

Updated at 7.22am BST

7.04am BST

Even at this early stage it is clear the main takeaway from these Games is going to be the city of Paris. The opening ceremony on the river, the landmarks overlooking arenas, and the embedding of all things Parisian into the fabric of the Olympics has imbued the 33rd olympiad with a striking identity.

But how does that all play out at ground level in the city of love? Not as romantically as it sounds, as Alexandra Topping reports.

Visitors to Paris 2024 need to learn hard lessons fast. You think you know this city? You don’t. You think Google maps will show you where you need to go? It won’t. You think official-looking folk in Paris 2024 outfits will be able to give you accurate directions? Dans tes rêves, mon ami .

6.57am BST

Over in the tennis the early narrative is concentrated on a couple of battered old legends: Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray. Both are on the cusp of retirement with Murray confirming the Olympics will be his swansong.

And it is possible that will arrive as soon as today with the two-time gold medallist competing alongside Dan Evans in the men’s doubles. They are last up on Court Suzanne Lenglen against Kei Nishikori and Taro Daniel of Japan.

Nadal has set his hopes higher than bowing on out with a fond farewell, and with the tennis tournament being staged at his second home, Roland Garros, and his doubles partner being the brilliant Carlos Alcaraz, the odds are stacked in his favour. Yesterday the Spanish pair won their opening round match and are now just three wins away from a medal.

In the singles, Nadal is on court later today against Márton Fucsovics (HUN). Should he prevail, his reward will be a 60th and final clash against longstanding rival Novak Djokovic in round two.

Updated at 6.59am BST

6.39am BST

6.38am BST

Permit me a slight aside if you will. The Salukvadze story has been a staple of recent Games as she has chalked off a host of records. Another story that is always a delight to revisit every olympiad is that of Ágnes Keleti. If you don’t know of her, she is one of the most remarkable characters in sporting history.

Keleti is newsworthy today because she is the oldest surviving Olympic gold medallist. She’s 103 and still going strong.

Her story brings together the holocaust, the Hungarian revolution of 1956, and some serious Olympic medal-winning.

6.26am BST

Some other headlines from the opening day include the incredible story of Nino Salukvadze. In Chateauroux the Georgian shooter became the first 10-time female olympian. Way back in Seoul 1988 Salukvadze won gold and silver for the USSR and has since competed alongside her son and carried the Georgian flag on three occasions.

Salukvadze already had the record for most Olympic appearances by a female athlete and is now tied with Canadian showjumper Ian Millar for the most for any athlete. Salukvadze is the only Olympian to compete at 10 Summer Games in a row, unlike Millar, whose appearances weren’t consecutive because Canada boycotted the 1980 Olympics in Moscow.

6.15am BST

6.12am BST

It’s also a huge night for Australia’s women’s football team. The Matildas are enormously popular at home, but they opened their Olympic campaign with a tame defeat to Germany in front of a sparse crowd. Victory over Zambia, the lowest ranked side in Group B, is essential.

Meanwhile, Australia’s qualification hopes have been helped by the extraordinary situation that has engulfed defending champions Canada, who have been docked six points and seen their coach banned for a year.

6.06am BST

Expectations are sky high down under for another golden day. Jess Fox, the K1 world champion, is in action on the whitewater. Chloe Covell is a contender in the women’s street skateboarding. And then back in the pool Emma McKeon , Australia’s most decorated olympian, will be out to add to her incredible haul in 100m butterfly.

5.55am BST

Later on, in the pool, Ariarne Titmus (AUS) triumphed in one of the races of the Games, leading home Summer McIntosh (CAN) and Katie Ledecky (USA) in the 400m freestyle. All three have held the world record at various times since Tokyo, setting up one of the most eagerly anticipated finals in Paris. Kieran Pender was poolside at La Défense Arena.

It had been billed as one of the marquee races of the swim program in Paris – the race of the decade, even the century. It was supposed to be a nail-biting contest. Instead it was a coronation. Titmus executed her race plan flawlessly, leading at every turn. McIntosh pushed her hard, but the Australian had half a body length by 250m and ultimately won by almost a second.

5.49am BST

It’s early in Europe, late in the US, but mid-afternoon in Australia, perfect for basking in green and gold glory.

A day that ended with the southern cross on top of the medal table was kickstarted by Grace Brown who prevailed in a treacherous time trial on the slippery streets of the historic city. Jack Snape was there.

The gold was an extraordinary achievement after Brown only took up cycling at 23 following an injury-plagued cross country career. “When I was running, I had this feeling, like if I really nailed everything, maybe I could get on an Olympic team or something,” she said.
“But I kept getting injured, so I never was able to get up to that next level. I started cycling just out of frustration with my injuries and – I don’t know – it just went really well.”

5.41am BST

While we’re on the subject of surfing, a quick public service announcement on the pronunciation of Teahupo’o. In Tahitian every syllable ends in a vowel, and when there are vowel clusters each is pronounced as a separate syllable. So, Teahupo’o is Tay-a-hoop-oh-oh.

For some reason “cho-poo” or similar has become commonplace. If you hear someone saying that you must cast them into the ocean and let Poseidon do the rest.

5.34am BST

Storm clouds were welcomed 15,000km away in Tahiti with stormy weather heralding excellent conditions for the first day of the surfing competition at the famous Teahupo’o break. Kieran Pender savoured the swells, sets, and spray.

On Saturday, half a world away from Paris, the second edition of Olympic surfing started with a bang – quite literally. As powerful Southern Ocean swells reach the French Polynesian island of Tahiti, having crossed thousands of kilometres of open ocean, the water heaves upwards and explodes on contact with the reef. The terrifying result is the fearsome Teahupo’o (which roughly translates as “wall of skulls”). And it offers the perfect gladiatorial arena for the world’s best surfers to vie for Olympic gold.

5.30am BST

While the sun is shining now, the poor weather of recent days is going to have some lasting effects, most notably on the quality of the water in the river Seine. Paris’ famous waterway is scheduled to host the marathon swim and the swimming leg of the triathlon, but that will only happen if the water is deemed safe for athletes.

Swimming in the Seine is the most controversial and ambitious aspect of the Games. Lots of money has been spent cleaning up the river and building stormwater facilities to minimise runoff during periods of rain, but even so, it’s a mightily difficult problem to solve when faced with such a small window of opportunity. Sean Ingle has more.

Olympic triathletes in Paris are set to miss their first practice session in the River Seine on Sunday because of the deteriorating water quality.
Two days of practice are scheduled before the men’s event on Tuesday, with the women’s race taking place a day later. However, organisers admit the heavy rain over the past 24 hours means the water will likely fail its next test at 4am on Sunday morning.

5.22am BST

The first action of the day is not for a couple of hours, and it all kicks off with another busy schedule of badminton from 8:30 local time. Then we’ve got some beach volleyball, handball, rowing, shooting, and volleyball (9:00), archery, gymnastics, and fencing (9:30).

And after a couple of grey days the weather is set fair to bathe the city of light in golden sunshine.

5.10am BST

The medal table after one day of the Games makes pleasant reading for Australia. They lead the way with three golds and match the USA’s overall haul of five medals. With more swimming finals to come this evening there’s every possibility they retain that position for another day.

4.59am BST

Preamble - Day Two Schedule

Hello everybody and welcome to live coverage of the second official day of competition of the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics.

The Games exploded into life yesterday with China shooting and diving their way to the first two gold medals of the fortnight, and France’s rugby sevens outfit securing what will prove – even at this early stage – one of the most popular triumphs of the Olympics. But day two begins with Australia topping the medal table after an extraordinary run of success, especially in the pool.

So what can we look forward to today?

Medal Events

Shooting – men’s & women’s 10m air pistol (from 9:30)
Mountain Bike – women’s cross country (from 14:10)
Judo – men 66kg / women 52kg (from 16:00)
Archery – women’s team (from 16:48)
Skateboarding – women’s street (from 17:00)
Canoe Slalom – women’s kayak single (from 17:45)
Swimming (from 20:30) – men’s 400m IM / women’s 100m butterfly / men’s 100m breaststroke.
Fencing (from 20:50) – women’s individual foil / men’s individual epee.

*(All times listed are Paris local)

Simon Burnton’s day-by-day guide

Swimming
Between 2014 and 2020 Team GB’s Adam Peaty won every available global gold in the 100m breaststroke – including at two Olympics, two Commonwealth Games and three world championships – and broke the world record five times. But after Tokyo he stepped away from the pool, citing mental health issues. He returned last October, with his eyes on this day. His key rival will be Qin Haiyang, China’s breaststroke king, who in the 2023 world championships completed a treble of 50m, 100m and 200m.
Men’s basketball
The United States have won 16 of the 20 men’s basketball golds, including the last four, and with LeBron James in an all-star side are inevitable favourites for another. James’s notable teammates include Stephen Curry, a four-time NBA champion, two-time NBA MVP, and by a massive margin the NBA’s all-time three-point leader, who remarkably is playing his first Olympics at 36. Today they get their tournament under way against a Serbia side that has in its ranks this year’s NBA MVP in Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets.
Women’s street skateboarding
Japan won four of the six women’s skateboarding medals in Tokyo, including both golds, and in the street discipline have five of the world’s current top seven (in park they have four of the top six). But Brazil’s world No 3, Rayssa Leal, has high hopes. Nicknamed Fadinha (little fairy – after her first viral video, of her attempting and eventually nailing a heelflip in a fairy costume aged seven), Leal won silver in Tokyo aged 13, has got better since, and will be out to sprinkle some magic at La Concorde.

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.