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    PARIS OLYMPICS 2024: What you need to know right now

    By Reuters,

    10 hours ago
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    PARIS (Reuters) -China completed an unprecedented sweep of all the diving medals after Cao Yuan won the men's 10 metre platform event.

    Ethiopia's Tamirat Tola won the men's marathon, crossing the finish line in front of Les Invalides in an Olympic record time.

    His win marked the start of a bumper day of athletics, with eight finals in track and field taking place later on Saturday, including the men's 4x400 metres relay and the women's 1,500 metres.

    And Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting, one of two boxers at the centre of a gender eligibility dispute, fights later in the final of the women's 57kg category.

    Here is what you need to know about the Olympics on Saturday.

    CHINA'S GOLDEN SWEEP

    Cao Yuan won the men's 10-metre platform event to complete a golden sweep for China, the first time a country has won all the diving events at one Games.

    Rikuto Tamai of Japan took silver to land Japan's first ever Olympic diving medal, and Britain's Noah Williams finished in third place to claim the bronze.

    ETHIOPIA'S TOLA BREAKS OLYMPIC MARATHON RECORD

    Tamirat Tola ran the men's marathon in two hours six minutes and 26 seconds, an Olympic record time to win Ethiopia's first gold of the Games.

    Against the spectacular backdrop of Les Invalides, he crossed the line ahead of Belgium's Bashir Abdi and Kenya's Benson Kipruto.

    Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge, who had been bidding for an unprecedented third consecutive crown, failed to finish.

    MEDAL TABLE MACHINATIONS

    Golds in the diving, the men's 102kg weightlifting and table tennis put China back on top of the medals table based on number of golds.

    The United States have several chances, though, to reclaim top spot, with teams in the men's basketball and women's soccer gold medal matches later in the day as well as the opportunity to continue their strong showing in the athletics.

    France have gone up to fifth in the standings after winning gold in the men's volleyball final against Poland. However, Norway crushed France's dream of a further gold in the women's handball.

    President Emmanuel Macron had set a target of a top five finish before the Games began.

    KHELIF TRIUMPHS

    Imane Khelif beat China's Yang Liu to claim the gold medal via unanimous decision in her welterweight bout in front of a packed house of adoring Algerian fans at Roland Garros.

    Khelif, a silver medallist at the 2022 world championships, has been in the spotlight at the Paris Games amid a gender eligibility dispute that has dominated the headlines.

    BREAK OUT STARS

    B-Boys are battling for the first men's breaking gold medal following a headline-filled women's competition on Friday when Japan's Ami Yuasa won a battle with Lithuania's Dominika Banevic to take the title.

    Afghan B-Girl Maniza Talash, a member of the refugee Olympic team, was disqualified for wearing a cape with the words "Free Afghan Women" on during her routine.

    Australian university lecturer Rachael Gunn went viral for the floor-flailing antics in her set.

    GENDER TICKET PRICE GAP

    Much has been made of equality of sexes at the Paris Olympics, the first Games with a 50-50 male-female split among athletes, but there is a gender gap in official ticket prices albeit to ensure capacity crowds for women's events.

    A ticket for the athletics session including the men's 100 metres final cost up to 980 euros ($1,071) but for the women's 100 showpiece it was 690 and that session also had four other medal events whereas the men's only had two.

    THE PRODUCT PLACEMENT GAMES

    Winning athletes in Paris have received their medals on Louis Vuitton trays before being handed a Samsung flip phone to take a "victory selfie", heralding a new era of product placement at the Olympics which Los Angeles looks set to build upon.

    'NO CAR' L.A. GAMES, MAYBE

    Los Angeles, a city famous for its love affair with the automobile and notorious for its soul-crushing traffic, wants spectators to use public transport when it hosts the Olympic Games in 2028, its mayor said.

    But if the competition venue has a parking lot, well, then the car is permitted.

    (Compiled by Rachel Armstrong; Editing by Peter Rutherford, Alison Williams and Ed Osmond)

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