Olympics-What's happening on Day Five of Paris Games on Wednesday

By Simon Jennings

PARIS (Reuters) - The burning question at the Paris Games is whether fans will get to see any action in the triathlon, after the men's race was postponed by a day due to pollution levels in the Seine.

The men and women's triathlons are now slated to take place back-to-back in Paris on Wednesday, when 20 gold medals were scheduled to be decided in 11 events.

There is no prospect of the first surfing golds being awarded in Tahiti, however, after stormy weather wiped out the later session on Monday and prevented any action on Tuesday.

Olympic champions will, however, be crowned in artistic gymnastics, canoe slalom, BMX freestyle, diving, fencing, judo and a host of other sports.

WILL THE TRIATHLON GO AHEAD?

The triathlon events are due to kick off with the women's race in a shake-up after the men's was postponed due to bacteria levels in the Seine river remaining too high on Tuesday.

If organisers give the all-clear early on Wednesday morning, the women will race at 8:00 a.m. followed immediately by the men at 10:45 a.m., but forecasts of thunderstorms overnight mean the outlook is still somewhat murky.

Jostling for podium positions will be Cassandre Beaugrand, carrying the torch for France, Britain's Beth Potter and Georgia Taylor-Brown, and defending champion Flora Duffy of Bermuda.

FIVE GOLDS UP FOR GRABS IN SWIMMING

Five medals will be on offer in the swimming at La Defense Arena, including the men's 100 metres freestyle, 200 butterfly, 200 breaststroke and the women's 100 freestyle.

But all eyes will be on the women's 1,500 freestyle final where Katie Ledecky, considered the greatest female distance swimmer of all time, will look to tie the record for most Olympic medals won by an American woman with a 12th.

MEN IN GYMNASTICS ACTION AT BERCY ARENA

The world's top male gymnasts will battle for medals in the all-around.

Chinese ace Zhang Boheng bested Japan's Oka Shinnosuke in qualifying to send a message, while reigning Olympic champion Daiki Hashimoto of Japan will look to improve on his disappointing third-place finish.

FIRST MEDALS ON OFFER AT ROWING

After four days of racing, the first medals of the Olympic rowing regatta are up for grabs in the men's and women's quadruple sculls.

In canoeing, the women's single slalom gold will also be decided at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.

WOMEN'S GROUP GAMES WRAP UP IN FOOTBALL

Hosts France, Brazil, Canada, Germany and Japan are among 10 soccer teams looking to join the United States and Spain in the quarter-finals.

France take on New Zealand, Canada face Colombia, Brazil play Spain while Germany need to beat Zambia to qualify.

SINGLES STARS SET TO SHINE AT BADMINTON

Singles rounds are in focus in badminton with Tokyo bronze and Rio women's gold medallist PV Sindhu of India in action followed by reigning men's champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark.

Indonesia's Jonatan Christie, Rio gold winner Carolina Marin and Tokyo silver medallist Tai Tzu-ying are also in action.

SOUTH SUDAN FACE MIGHTY U.S.

South Sudan will hope they can pull off one of the biggest upsets in basketball history and beat the mighty United States.

The U.S. had no trouble despatching Serbia in their opener, but only beat the African side by one point in a warm-up game in London earlier this month.

Nikola Jokic's Serbia take on Puerto Rico while China and Serbia clash in the women's tournament.

TWO MORE MEDALS AT THE JUDO

Two more Olympic champions will be crowned in the judo at the Champs-de-Mars Arena.

In the women's under-70kg class, Austria's Michaela Polleres, Saki Niizoe of Japan and Croatia's Barbara Matic will try to end Frenchwoman Marie-Eve Gahie's dream of winning gold in front of her home crowd.

In the men's under-90kg, Georgia's Lasha Bekauri is the favourite, but Serbia's Nemanja Majdov and Uzbek Davlat Bobonov offer stiff competition.

3X3 MOVES INTO ROUND TWO

The second matches in the pool round of the 3x3 basketball tournament should start to separate podium contenders from the rest of the pack.

On the women's side, medal hopefuls Canada take on top-seeded China, while in the men's competition Tokyo champions Latvia are up against challengers Netherlands and favourites Serbia play China.

THIRD GOLD IN THE DIVING

Reigning world champions Quan Hongchan and Chen Yuxi pair up to defend China's title in the women's synchronised 10-metre platform event.

The duo are heavily tipped to win having dominated every world championship since they partnered up in 2022.

SLOVAKIA EYE SHOOTING GOLD

Slovak Zuzana Stefecekova is in the reckoning to retain the women's trap gold after finishing fifth on the first day of qualification.

Wu Cuicui currently leads the qualification standings, while Tokyo bronze medallist Alessandra Perilli is also in the fray.

SAILING NEARS BUSINESS END

The last three races in the men's and women's skiff events decide which 10 crews make Thursday's double-points medals races.

With a batch of races now under their belts, the women's and men's windsurfers will battle it out in further points rounds as they seek berths in the quarter-finals.

DJOKOVIC AND ALCARAZ IN TENNIS ACTION

Tennis continues at Roland Garros with Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz in men's singles third-round action.

The women's singles has reached the quarter-final stage while the doubles events also progress towards the medal rounds.

(Reporting by Simon Jennings in Paris; Editing by Ken Ferris)