Those brilliant sporting accomplishments begin in the pool where, last night, Léon Marchand’s fourth gold medal cemented his status as a French Olympic legend. His performances have illuminated the opening week of competition and energised home fans to such an extend that La Défense Arena will be remembered as one of the greatest swimming arenas in the sport’s history.
It was Marchand’s 11th race in six days, his fourth gold, and his fourth record. Great Britain’s Duncan Scott was closest to him, but truth be told that wasn’t very close at all. Scott won the silver in 1min 55.31sec. It was his eighth Olympic medal. Only Jason Kenny has won more for Great Britain.
Scott was pretty phlegmatic, too. It was his second-fastest time. But Marchand was just that much faster. “I’d like to think I went head to head with Leon for a little bit of the race,” he said, “but the guy is the best 200m breaststroker in the world, the best 200 fly swimmer in the world, the best 200 medley swimmer in the world, and the best 400 medley swimmer in the world. It’s a real honour to be able to race him in this environment as well. The crowd were nuts. It was sensational to be a part of.”
We’ll come onto the brilliant sporting accomplishments of day seven shortly, but the leading news item of the day was the row regarding participation in women’s boxing.
And here’s a podcast featuring Ross Tucker, the sports scientist I turn to when issues like this arise to help synthesise the complex science involved.
Podcast SPECIAL. If you’ve just watched the women’s boxing disgrace at #Paris2024, and are wondering “how did we get here?”, this podcast is for you. We explore and explain the IOC’s disregard for safety and fairness for women in sport. Appalling misogyny https://t.co/FG9fX9p7ik
Judo will provide the first action of the day with the mixed team event kicking off at 08:00. Next up is badminton with the women’s singles quarter-finals taking place from 08:30.
At 09:00 there’s an avalanche of activity with beach volleyball, golf, handball, shooting and volleyball.
Athletics events begin at 10:00. The morning program includes the first round of the men’s 100m, and probably a single jump from Armand Duplantis in pole vault qualification.
Before the Olympics the USA were expected to claim the most medals but face a stiff test from China for the most golds. Behind those titans, Great Britain, France, and Australia rounded out the top five.
🔧 - A simple adjustment to our original #Paris2024#VirtualMedalTable for how the top countries have performed in the first 7 days produces the attached forecast for the end of the #Olympics.
China still top the medal table thanks to their dominance in shooting and diving, but France and Australia have again climbed above the USA after impressing on day seven. It is turning into a Games to remember for the Dolphins who lead the US swim team 7-4 in gold medals.
53 NOCs have now won medals at these Olympics, with 34 nations hearing their national anthem. That includes Uganda after Joshua Cheptegei became his country’s first multiple gold medallist when he added 10,000m gold yesterday to his 5,000m success in Tokyo.
Simon Burnton’s day-by-day guide: Gymnastics: men’s pommel final In his last ever event Max Whitlock is attempting to become the first gymnast ever to win four Olympic medals on the same apparatus. Since he won gold in Tokyo Whitlock has retired, unretired (“I felt like a complete waste of space”), and had a generally positive return, with occasional hiccups and a few minor injuries. “There are still areas I can improve but I’m definitely on the right track,” he said in March of his preparations. Also being decided today: the men’s floor and women’s vault.
Athletics: women’s 100m final The second night of athletics at the Stade de France and things are hotting up, with five titles to be decided including the women’s 100m, in which the USA’s Sha’Carri Richardson will aim to stop Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. For Fraser-Price this will be a final meet, 16 years after she won gold in Beijing. “I want to finish on my own terms,” she says.
Swimming: women’s 800m freestyle At a meet in Orlando in February Canada’s 17-year-old tyro Summer McIntosh beat Katie Ledecky in the 800m freestyle, the American’s first defeat over the distance in any kind of final for 13 years. But McIntosh, who trains at the University of Florida alongside Ledecky, has decided to concentrate on other events in Paris leaving Ledecky strong favourite to cement her all-time-great status with a fourth successive Olympic gold over the distance.
Other unmissable moments include… well, practically everything. We’re into the closing sessions for sports that have dominated the opening week, and into the thick of things in the Stade de France, so everywhere you look there’s going to be a reason to stay tuned. If pressed, I would suggest you shouldn’t turn down one final glimpse of the surf of Teahupo’o. The men’s road race (cycling) promises to be brutal. And the crowning of the decathlon gold medallist is akin to crowning the king of the Games.
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.
