Saturday, November 23, 2024

Paris Olympics 2024: Team GB wins first two medals – as Briton sets Olympic record

Must read

Team GB are off to a flying start, recording their best first day since 1980 with two medals.

Anna Henderson has placed highest so far, winning silver in the women’s time trial cycling.

That came after Yasmin Harper and Scarlett Mew Jensen took bronze in the women’s synchronised 3m springboard.

Laura CollettĀ made the best start possible, breakingĀ anĀ Olympic record in the eventing dressage.

Adam Peaty qualified comfortably for the men’s 100m breaststroke final tomorrow.

The three-time Olympic gold medallist will be defending his title again, having already made history in Tokyo, 2020, as the first British swimmer to successfully do so.

But it was a disappointing night in the pool for the rest of Team GB, with both the men’s and women’s 4x100m freestyle relay teams finishing outside podium positions.

Matt Richards, Jacob Whittle, Tom Dean and Duncan Scott came fifth for the men, 2.33s behind the winners United States, while Anna Hopkin, Eva Okaro, Lucy Hope and Freya Anderson came in seventh, 6.33 behind gold medallists Australia.

James Wilby was unable to join Peaty in the final after finishing 0.11s outside the top-eight qualifying times while Keanna Macinnes was last in her women’s 100m butterfly semi-final.

Elsewhere, there was disappointment for cyclist Josh Tarling who finished fourth in the men’s individual time trial after a punctured tyre forced him to change bikes in the first 10km.

British veteran Charley Davison had a poor first round in her bantamweight fight and, despite recovering in subsequent rounds, could not avoid defeat by a 3-2 split decision.

“What more could I do?” asked Ms Davidson, who intends to retire after the Paris Games.

Beyond the stadiumĀ 

FIFA deducted six points from Canada in the Olympics women’s football after two assistant coaches were caught using drones to spy on New Zealand’s practices before their opening game.

The International Olympic Committee expressed deep regret and apologised “wholeheartedly” after South Korean athletes were introduced as being from North Korea during the opening ceremony.Ā 

The French interior ministry said it cannot rule out the prospect that a foreign power was involved in yesterday’s pre-dawn sabotage of the country’s rail network.

The president of the Paris Olympics insisted organisers were “highly confident” swimming could take place in the river Seine despite concerns over water safety.

Italian Olympian and Tokyo 2020 joint-high jump champion Gianmarco Tamberi lost his wedding ring during yesterday’s opening ceremony in the River Seine.

Latest article