The Guardian

Paris 2024 Olympics day six: golf, rowing, tennis, gymnastics and more – live

By Angus Fontaine (earlier) and Yara El-Shaboury (now),

4 hours ago

https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1yOuY3_0uju2uRT00 — The men’s 20km race walk beside the Eiffel Tower on Thursday morning in Paris. Photograph: Lionel Bonaventure/AFP/Getty Images

8.34am BST

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.

8.28am BST

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.

Updated at 8.36am BST

8.23am BST

Women’s 3x3 basketball: Alex Wilson hits a two and gets Australia the win against China.

Wilson, once again, proving the difference maker on the 3x3 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 3x3 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.

8.15am BST

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.

8.10am BST

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!

8.04am BST

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…

Updated at 8.05am BST

7.59am BST

The 3x3 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.

7.54am BST

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.

7.50am BST

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.

7.41am BST

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.

Updated at 7.42am BST

7.31am BST

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…

Updated at 7.37am BST

7.19am BST

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…

Updated at 7.21am BST

7.14am BST

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.

Updated at 8.37am BST

6.53am BST

Of course, Chariots of Fire – and its glorious theme by Vangelis – was celebrated at the London Olympiad in 2012 in a beautifully British way…

6.50am BST

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.

6.41am BST

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.

6.34am BST

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.

6.31am BST

Great sport and great photography truly go hand in hand

6.23am BST

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, c hosen 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…

Updated at 6.29am BST

6.11am BST

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.

Updated at 6.15am BST

6.00am BST

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.”

Updated at 6.01am BST

5.53am BST

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.”

5.46am BST

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…

Updated at 5.47am BST

5.43am BST

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…

5.30am BST

As day six dawns let’s revisit the current medal table (as soundtracked by famous French freestyler Plastic Bertrand on Top of the Pops

Updated at 5.31am BST

5.21am BST

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”…

5.12am BST

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

5.00am BST

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.