Key events
Canada stun France in women’s rugby sevens
France’s women were hoping to follow the men by delivering gold at the Stade de France – but their dream is over after losing to Canada in the quarter-finals.
The hosts took a 14-7 lead early in the second half through Yolaine Yengo, but Canada hit back through Piper Logan and Chloe Daniels – and France could not find a way back, losing 19-14.
Egyptian fencer Nada Hafez has revealed she competed at the Paris Olympics on Monday while seven months pregnant.
Hafez caused an upset in the opening round to reach the last 16 of the women’s sabre before losing to 10th seed Jeon Ha-young.
But her remarkable revelation came later on Instagram in a post titled “Seven months pregnant Olympian!’, when she announced she had been competing while carrying her “little Olympian”.
“The rollercoaster of pregnancy is tough on its own, but having to fight to keep the balance of life and sports was nothing short of strenuous, however worth it,” she added.
“I’m writing this post to say that pride fills my being for securing my place in the round of 16! I’m lucky to have shared the trust of my husband and that of my family to be able to come this far. PA Media
And here is Kieran Pender on what was an epic battle in the Olympic pool:
Here’s Mollie O’Callaghan on her gold medal, and victory over compatriot Ariarne Titmus: “It’s such an honour to be with everyone, and compete against Arnie. She is an absolute gun. She
races like an absolute beast. And it’s an honour to train alongside her and have such a great team around us.”
“I’m always striving for more and I always put a lot of pressure on myself. My expectations are very high. That was an amazing race. I’m always wanting that little bit more. To be honest, I did it for the country, I didn’t do it for myself. I’m racing for all these people. I just had to put it behind me. Less pressure now, I get to swim freely.”
France have moved up to second in the medal table; only Japan (six) have won more golds, while only the USA have more medals overall (20 to France’s 16); only three golds for the Americans so far, though.
France’s Apithy-Brunet wins sabre gold
High tension in the Grand Palais as two French women battled for gold. In the end it was the third seed, Manon Apithy-Brunet, who took gold, beating top seed Sara Balzer 15-12.
O’Callaghan beats Titmus with Olympic record
Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey makes the early pace with Ariarne Titmus and Mollie O’Callaghan on her tail … and down the final straight, Mollie O’Callaghan has too much pace for Titmus. She wins gold, and sets an Olympic record! Outrageous.
The final gold medal in the pool today is the women’s 200m freestyle – likely to be a battle between Aussies Ariarne Titmus and Mollie O’Callaghan …
USA beat Team GB in women’s rugby sevens: It ends 17-7 to the Americans, who advance to face New Zealand in the semi-finals and end British hopes of a medal. It’s revenge for Tokyo, when GB knocked the US out in the quarter-finals.
“Am I the only one who thought that the persistent questioning of Noel Williams about the death of his coach after Tokyo was bordering on intrusive?” writes Simon McMahon. “And we’ve just had an interview with a clearly devastated Duncan Scott.
“I’m all for emotion in sport, but it’s hard enough for competitors who have spent years preparing for a Games to then be asked about extremely sensitive and personal issues in the immediate aftermath. I blame social media.”
Women’s rugby sevens: Team GB got the first score on the board through Ellie Boatman and led 7-5 at half time, but the US have hit back with tries from Kristi Kirshe and Sammy Sullivan to lead 17-7 …
Mona McSharry took bronze by 0.01 seconds from Italy’s Benedetta Pilato and the USA’s Lilly King. As for Angharad Evans, she finished sixth, but was only 0.4s behind silver.
McSharry says: “This isn’t something that little me, dreaming of just going to the Olympics, really thought was possible. Quite a number of people are here supporting me which is amazing. It’s great to have them here, I missed that in Tokyo.”
South Africa’s Smith wins 100m breaststroke gold
China’s Tang Qianting is off fastest, and she turns fastest in front of McSharry and Evans. Tatjana Smith is coming back as Tang starts to tire … and she takes the gold, Tang silver and Sligo’s Mona McSharry wins bronze!
Next up: the women’s 100m breaststroke final, and a chance for Ireland gold with Megan McSharry in lane five. South Africa’s Tatjana Smith and USA’s Lilly King are some high-calibre opponents, though. Angharad Evans goes in lane seven for Team GB.
I thought for a moment that Ryan Murphy was going to take that from lane two, but Ceccon finally found top gear in the final 25m – and in the end, Xu pips the American to silver. Ollie Morgan finished eighth, but his time is surely yet to come.
Italy’s Ceccon wins 100m backstroke gold
Xu makes a fast start and turns first, in front of Murray and Ceccon. The American takes the lead, but Thomas Ceccon is coming back, with Xu on his tail … and the Italian takes gold!
Men’s 100m backstroke final: British 21-year-old Ollie Morgan is in Lane 1, and hoping to take inspiration from Matt Richards. He’s next to Rio 2016 champion Ryan Murphy; French hopeful Yohann Ndoye-Brouard is in lane three, while Italy’s Thomas Ceccon and China’s Xu Jiayu were the fastest qualifiers.
New Zealand have shown no mercy in their rugby sevens quarter-final, thumping China 55-5. Next up, it’s Great Britain v USA, for the right to play the Black Ferns in the semis.
Next up in the pool, it’s the men’s 100m backstroke final …
Only five sports have featured at every Summer Games since 1896 – athletics, swimming, gymnastics, cycling … and fencing.
It’s a big night of swordsmithery in the Grand Palais, and France have guaranteed gold in the women’s sabre event after Sara Balzer and Manon Apithy-Brunet won their semi-finals earlier.
That’s coming up in about 40 minutes, while Olga Kharlan has just won bronze for Ukraine in the playoff match against South Korea’s Choi Sebin. That is (I think) Ukraine’s first medal of these Games.
As Summer McIntosh collects her gold medal, let’s have a quick catch up on what else is happening. Carlos Alcaraz has finished the job against Griekspoor, winning 6-1, 7-6 (3). He plays Roman Safiullin next.
The women’s rugby sevens quarter-finals are about to kick off, with New Zealand taking on China, before GB v USA, France v Canada and Australia v Ireland.
Matt Richards: “I can’t be too disappointed, my first ever individual [final] at an Olympic games, to walk away with a silver medal. To miss gold by 0.02 seconds is excruciatingly frustrating …”
“If anything it’s added more fire to my belly. I’ve got more chances this week … I’m also gutted for Duncan, but it fuels us for the 4x200m [relay]. I thought I’d got it, even if it wasn’t my best finish – but the time says differently.”
So, it’s 200m freestyle gold for Romania’s David Popovici, an agonising silver medal for Matt Richards, and bronze for the USA’s Luke Hobson – who beat Duncan Scott by 0.08 seconds. Margins!
Matt Richards wins silver, Popovici takes gold
Märtens tires before the final turn but the US’s Hobson takes up the charge and Popovici looks tired … but he finds a second wind, as does Richards in the outside lane. Popovici just gets there first, denying Matt Richards by 0.02 secs!
Richards makes a fast start to keep pace with Popovici, while Märtens leads the way after 100m – Duncan Scott not out of it yet though …
Next up, the men’s 200m freestyle final, where Britain’s Duncan Scott is going for gold. He’s in lane five, next to the favourite, Romania’s David Popovici. Matt Richards is another British hopeful, out in lane one, while 400m gold winner Lukas Märtens is in lane six.
McIntosh wins 400m medley gold for Canada
There’s absolutely no catching Summer McIntosh, who cruises to her first Olympic gold! An outstanding swim, almost six seconds clear of Grimes, with Emma Weyant pipping Freya Colbert to the bronze.
At the halfway mark it’s a two-woman race, McIntosh just about being kept in range by Grimes with Colbert in the fight for bronze …
Here come the competitors for the women’s 400m medley final, with Britain’s Freya Colbert and Katie Shanahan in lanes 6 and 8, and Ireland’s Ellen Walshe in lane 1.
The battle for gold is likely to be between Canada’s teenage superstar, Summer McIntosh, and the USA’s Katie Grimes.
Fun fact: Billie Jean King and Snoop Dogg went to the same high school.
Coming up very soon: medals to be won in the pool, starting with the women’s 400m individual medley…
Canada have won their first gold of these Olympic Games … in judo. Christa Deguchi won the women’s under 57kg gold, beating South Korea’s Huh Mi-mi in a final between two athletes who were born in Japan. It’s Canada’s first ever gold medal in judo.
Elsewhere, Azerbaijan won their first gold in Paris as Hidayet Heydarov defeated surprise French finalist Joan-Benjamin Gaba in the men’s 73kg category.
Here’s a quick take on the USA taking a team medal for the first time since 2008.
All the more impressive from Hashimoto to deliver under pressure, having slipped on the pommel horse earlier and failed to qualify for the horizontal bar individual final, missing the chance to defend his Tokyo gold medal.
Japan pip China to men’s team gymnastics gold
China’s final high bar routine is much better, but the gap to Japan is too big, and they miss out on gold by half a point! Ridiculous. The USA take bronze by two points from Team GB, who couldn’t have done much more on the floor but have to settle for fourth place.
Daiki Hashimoto is next up for Japan, and absolutely nails his high bar routine, including a nerveless dismount. He punches the air, his teammates roar their approval – that may have just secured the gold.
As for Team GB, Jake Jarman has scored an excellent 14.966 on the floor, but they may just be edged off the podium by the USA…
Is the pressure getting to China? Su Weide is next on the horizontal bar – but he slips off twice, to gasps from the crowd. He finishes the routine, but his score is just 11.6 and it may be Japan’s gold to lose now.
Over on the floor, Luke Whitehouse has delivered a 14.5 score on the floor as Team GB stay in the hunt for a medal. But the USA aren’t letting up, with Stephen Nedoroscik shining on the pommel horse.
Carlos Alcaraz is back in singles tennis action at Roland Garros – and he’s making light work of the Netherlands’ Tallon Griekspoor in their second-round match, winning the first set 6-1.
Team GB are strong on the floor, and will be hoping to overtake the USA and clinch bronze. Harry Hepworth has got them off to a good start, scoring 14.700 – but on the pommel horse, Paul Juda was very solid for the Americans.
China’s Routeng Xiao is next up on the high bar, with a buffer despite Japan making a strong start. But he stumbles on the dismount, his knees touching the mat – will that cost them? He scores 13.033, and the door is ajar for Japan to take the gold.
In the final round, China and Japan are on the horizontal bar and the USA on the pommel horse, with Team GB and Ukraine on the floor.
Here’s Jonathan Liew on Tom Pidcock’s remarkable gold medal win earlier today:
This is a sport where the odds can swivel in an instant, where nothing is ever won and so no cause is ever truly lost. Pidcock, a rider who has made a career out of doing the undoable, knows that better than most. Here he was dealt the most unpromising of hands, and against a hostile home crowd and a flat tyre, he cleaned out the house.
Heading into the final rotation of six in the men’s team final – this is where the medals will be won. China lead Japan and the USA, with Great Britain fifth…
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China 219.296
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Japan 216.029
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United States 215.327
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Ukraine 213.529
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Great Britain 211.361
Some Team GB news from the track: Charlie Carvell has withdrawn from the men’s 4x400m relay squad due to a hamstring injury.
Shropshire’s Carvell, who had missed warm-up events with injuries, is replaced by fellow 20-year-old Sam Reardon.
Japan are keeping in the medal race on the parallel bars, while the USA continue to outperform their qualifying scores. Asher Hong’s floor routine lifts them back into bronze medal position, to rapturous applause.
Rafael Nadal’s hopes of a singles gold came to an end against Novak Djokovic today, and the 14-times French Open champion says he will be “at peace” if this is his last singles match here.
Nadal, who is still in doubles contention with Carlos Alcaraz, lost 6-1, 6-4 to his old rival. Afterwards, he hit back at questions over when he might announce his retirement.
“You want me to retire every day guys, you ask me for that,” he said. “I am trying to do my best. I cannot live every single day with the feeling that it’s going to be or not going to be my last match.
“I have been suffering a lot of injuries the last two years. So, if I feel that I am not competitive enough to keep going, or physically I’m not ready, I will stop and I will let you know.”
“If that’s the last [singles] match here, I’ll be in peace,” the 38-year-old added. “I did my best and I can’t complain anymore.”
Treat your eyes to a look at the best pictures from day three in Paris:
Team GB move onto the high bar, with Max Whitlock first up and scoring an even 13.000. Elsewhere, China’s Zhang Bohang has helped push his team closer to gold with a near-flawless routine on the parallel bars.