 "Paris Olympics 2024 opening ceremony: Rain could dampen parade of athletes ceremony highlights")
Olympic champions will also be crowned in badminton, equestrian, rowing, windsurfing and shooting
Track action kicks into full gear at the Olympics on Friday, while home crowd favourite Leon Marchand goes for his fourth title of the Paris Games and French judo great Teddy Riner eyes a fourth Olympic gold medal.
Olympic champions will also be crowned in badminton, equestrian, rowing, windsurfing and shooting.
Here’s what you need to know about the Olympics on Friday.
Athletics
Track gold will be awarded in the men’s 10,000 metres, where Uganda’s world record holder Joshua Cheptegei and Jacob Kiplimo aim to improve on their Tokyo silver and bronze medals respectively, as Ethiopia’s Selemon Barega defends his Olympic title.
Canada’s Damian Warner begins the defence of his Olympic decathlon title against a field missing teammate and reigning world champion Pierce Lepage, who announced less than two weeks ago that he was withdrawing with a back injury.
Marvellous Marchand
France’s Olympic star Leon Marchand goes for a fourth gold at his home Games in the men’s 200 individual medley.
At the Paris pool, rapturous crowds go mad each time the 22-year-old swims, chanting his name at every stroke.
Surfing emotions
Emotions ran high at the surfing venue in Tahiti on Thursday, with reigning Olympic champion Carissa Moore and local favourite Vahine Fierro knocked out, while Brazil’s Gabriel Medina set up a blockbuster semi-final with Australia’s Jack Robinson.
Comeback Queen
Simone Biles won her second gold medal of the Paris Summer Games on Thursday, delivering an electrifying performance to triumph over her Brazilian rival Rebeca Andrade and cap a stunning comeback.
Gender Row
The International Olympic Committee defended its decision to allow two female boxers to compete at the Paris Olympics despite a gender row, saying the pair were facing “aggression” because of an arbitrary decision.
Hope hopes in focus for Judo
Teddy Riner, who lit the Olympic cauldron last Friday alongside French athletics great Marie-Jose Perec, chases a third individual Olympic gold in the over-100kg category, beginning with the round of 16.
China hunt for another diving gold
China are on track to pick up a fourth Olympic diving gold in Paris with the men’s synchronised 3-metre springboard event.
Long Daoyi and Wang Zongyuan will defend the title with no visible challengers in sight as the pair have reigned supreme in this event for the last two years.
Support for pan
China’s state media, athletes and netizens rallied to support Olympic swimming champion Pan Zhanle after critics including an Australian swim commentator said his world record swim in the 100 metres freestyle was not “humanly possible”.
Distracted
One in four Americans say their work productivity has declined since the Games began, and half say they have rearranged daily routines to watch the action, NBCUniversal said.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
First Published: Aug 02 2024 | 2:02 PM IS