Archery

Laura Paeglis has fallen just short of a stunning first elimination round upset in the women’s Individual Archery at the Esplanade des Invalides, losing in the final set to Caroline Lopez of France.

Using the loud and parochial French crowd to her advantage, Laura shot out to a two set lead in the 1/32 elimination round, looking extremely composed under a gray but hot Parisian sky.

However, the 22-year-old wasn’t able to hold off the resurgent Lopez, falling 6-4 to the world number 43 in a thrilling encounter.

Artistic Gymnastics 

Australia’s Ruby Pass has finished 13th in the Women’s All-Around Final for Artistic Gymnastics, the best result for an Australian since Beijing 2008.

The 17-year-old, who made her Olympic debut in Paris, finished her competition with a score of 53.798.

“It’s incredible, it feels a bit surreal at the moment,” Ruby said. “Hopefully when I go back home, it will all have settled in.”

Athletics 

Jemima Montag produced an inspired 20km Race Walk performance and smashed her Australian Record to win bronze underneath the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

This medal on the opening day of athletics at Paris 2024, is Australia’s first women’s race walk medal since Jane Saville’s bronze in the same event at Athens 2004. 

It took the world record holder from China, Yang Jiayu, and the two-time world champion from Spain, Maria Perez, to keep the Australian from further up the podium.  

Australia’s other competitors Rebecca Henderson and Olivia Sandery

had a tough race in the hot and humid conditions. Rebecca finished 31st in 1:34:22,while Olivia was walking well before succumbing to the heat in the final kilometre and was unable to finish.

Earlier in the day, Australia’s three-strong men’s team raced. In a tactical race early, Declan Tingay produced a fantastic 11th place finish, in a season best of 1:19.56, and only 30 seconds from the podium. Australian athletics co-captain Rhydian Cowley was one spot back in 12th (1:20.04) with an impressive race, and Kyle Swan placed 35th (1:23.32).

3x3 Basketball

An impressive women’s Gangurrus side has defeated the USA 17-15 and China 21-15, giving them three wins from their opening four matches of the tournament.

The US team is the defending Olympic champion and China won the bronze at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Australia stands at second place in their pool behind Spain after two days of competition with three pool games to come. If they are to stay in second or elevate to first in the pool, it will give them automatic entry to the semi-finals.

Basketball 

A fired up Opals team has produced a 70-65 win over Canada to keep their aspirations of a top two finish in their group alive.

They did it with defence, toughness and urgency, all things coach Sandy Brondello emphasised to her team after a 75-62 loss to Nigeria in their tournament-opening match.

Sami Whitcomb took control of the team and played a starring role, tallying 19 points, 10 assists and two steals.

Beach Volleyball

Tokyo Olympic silver medallists Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy were a picture of calm when they returned to the court of the Eiffel Tower Stadium to face their final pool stage opponent, putting on a clinical display to Canadians Heather Bansley and Sophie Bukovec 2-0 (21-10, 21-16).

Meanwhile, a gritty display by Australia’s men’s beach volleyball pairs at the Eiffel Tower Stadium has resulted in tough losses against the world’s best. 

Thomas Hodges and Zachery Schubert gave their all, lining up against world number 3 Team Germany's Nils Ehlers and Clemens Wickler. The combination won the first set, delivering an exciting and physical performance, but ultimately fell to Germany 2-1 (21-16, 18-21, 17-19).

Australia's other men's pair, Izac Carracher and Mark Nicolaidis, fought hard against the in-form pair from Qatar, Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan. Ultimately, it wasn’t meant to be for the Aussies, falling in straight sets 2-0 (21-14, 21-18), and won’t progress to the next stage of competition.

Boxing

Australian boxer Monique Suraci was “heartbroken” after losing her opening fight of the Paris Olympics.

Monique was beaten by Colombian Ingrit Lorena Valencia in their round of 16 bout of the women’s 50kg division at the North Paris Arena.

Australia’s first Aboriginal woman to compete for the Australian Olympic boxing team, Marisa Williamson Pohlman, fell to her Hungarian opponent Anna Luca Hamori in the women’s 66kg round of 16..

Canoe Slalom 

In his Olympic debut, Tim Anderson secured a solid seventh place in the Men’s Kayak Single Final at Paris 2024. Despite a penalty, the 30-year-old paddler impressed with his performance and is already eyeing the World Championships in Australia next year.

Cycling BMX 

Australia’s three riders have all progressed to the BMX Racing semi-finals after an impressive opening night of competition at Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines. Saya Sakakibara, Lauren Reynolds and Izaac Kennedy will be back in action from 4am AEST on 3 August when they will attempt to secure a spot in the final.

They all shone in the quarter-finals where they had to navigate three heats, with the top 12 riders securing automatic entry to the next round. Saya won all three of her heats to move through as the top qualifier in the women’s competition alongside Lauren who was ninth. Izaac with the sixth best qualifier in the men’s field.

Equestrian 

The opening day of the jumping competition in Versailles wasn’t the start the team was hoping for after failing to secure a spot in the team final. The Australians finished 15th with a score of 229.86. 

Hilary Scott riding “Milky Way” and Thaisa Erwin riding “Hialita B” both made their Olympic debuts today, with equestrian stalwart Edwina Tops-Alexander starting in a record 5th Olympic Games, riding Fellow Castlefield.

All three Australian combinations will have the opportunity to jump again in the individual competition on Monday.

Golf

Jason Day and Min Woo Lee kicked off their Paris Olympic campaign at Le Golf National. Jason began strongly with an opening birdie but finished with a double bogey on the 18th hole, ending with a 2-under 69, six shots behind the leader from Japan, Hideki Matsuyama. Min Woo ended the round with a 5-over 76, despite a final hole birdie. Lightning suspended play with Jason tied for 23rd and Min Woo tied for 59th, with both set to continue their rounds the following day.

Hockey

The Kookaburras have secured an early quarter-final berth, with a statement 5-0 victory in the over New Zealand.

A Blake Govers hat-trick and a repeat clean sheet performance by Aussie goalkeeper Andrew Charter ensured New Zealand’s campaign would come to an abrupt end, all while re-injecting Australia’s confidence following a tough loss to Belgium.

Australia take on India in the final pool match of the tournament, where another solid win would ensure them a favourable quarter-final match-up next week.

Meanwhile the Hockeyroos pulled off a spectacular comeback to draw 3-3 against Argentina in their Pool B match at Yves-du-Manoir Stadium.

It was a 60th minute equaliser from Mariah Williams that made all the difference, with the Hockeyroos to face world No.6 Spain in their final pool match, having already secured their quarter-final berth.

Rowing 

The Rowsellas will have four boats racing for medals at the Olympic regatta after Tara Rigney (Single Sculls) and the men’s and women’s Eights all progressed to A Finals at the the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.

Tara put down another solid row to finish second in her semi in a time of 7:23.58, behind Dutch world champion Karolien Florijn (7.21.26). 

There was more good news in the big boats with the women’s Eight finishing third in their repechage and the men’s Eight fourth, both crews booking a lane in the finals.

The Men’s Four finished sixth in their final, won by the United States with New Zealand second and Great Britain taking bronze, while the Women’s Double Scull of Amanda Bateman and Harriet Hudson finished the regatta on a strong note, winning the B Final. The Women’s Four finished third in the B Final to be ninth overall.

Sailing

Australia’s Grae Morris is guaranteed an Olympic medal ahead of the Grand Final Medal Race in Men’s Windsurfing after delivering an outstanding performance across 14 races to see him claim top spot on the leaderboard.

Grae faces a three-way shootout to determine the colour of his medal, with the first of the three sailors to cross the line seizing the gold. At 20, Grae is the youngest athlete in his event, and will become the first Australian to win a medal in Windsurfing since the 1992 Olympics. 

Defending gold medallist Matt Wearn began his campaign to retain his title in Marseille, posting a 12th and a second place today, ending the day in second overall with four more qualifying days to go, while Zoe Thomson made her Olympic debut in Women’s Dinghy, securing a solid 12th place to kick off her ten-race series.

Swimming

The Australian women's 4x200m freestyle relay team reclaimed the Olympic title with an Olympic record. This victory marked their first gold in the event since 2008, following several silver and bronze medals at previous Olympics. Mollie O’Callaghan initiated a strong lead, followed by solid performances from Lani Pallister and Brianna Throssell, before Titmus sealed the win. 

In semi-final action Cam McEvoy excelled in the 50m freestyle and Kaylee McKeown positioned herself well for the 200m backstroke final.

Water Polo

The Australian Men’s Team have secured another win in their pool, defeating host nation France 9-8 in a nail-biter. 

Led by a strong performance from goalkeeper Nic Porter, the Sharks silenced the parochial home crowd in the victory over world number-four ranked French. 

The win follows the Aussies’ upset of two-time defending champions Serbia in their second pool match of the Games.