Paris 2024 Day Two report: Simone Biles returns to the Olympics. Team GB win two more medals
TOP STORY
Simone Biles triumphantly returned to Olympic gymnastics by scoring a total of 59.566 across all disciplines including the women’s vault and women’s floor.
The stands were also littered with American celebrities to see Biles and her team top the all-round standings.
Biles will have to wait for the other divisions to be completed before knowing which finals she will compete in. However, her score would have won the last three world championships.
There was some concern early on that Biles was suffering with a calf injury and had heavy strapping on her leg before her floor routine.
But her spectacular performance eased those concerns and signalled to the world that one of sport’s greatest athletes had returned. Biles left gymnastics for two years after Tokyo 2020 after suffering from mental health issues.
Biles will add to her seven Olympic medals in Paris, but the question is how many?
MORE FRENCH GOLD
French rider Pauline Ferrand-Prevot won the women’s mountain bike race on home soil. There were emotional scenes as she crossed the finish line on Elancourt Hill after finishing nearly three minutes ahead of her competitors to take gold. Great Britain’s Evie Richards finished 5th.
France’s Leon Marchand won the first of a possible four golds in the pool by destroying the rest of the field in the 400m individual medley. His time of 4:02.95 broke the Olympic record that was set by the great Michael Phelps.
TEAM GB – Another silver and bronze medal
Adam Peaty missed out on a gold medal by two hundredths of a second in the 100m breaststroke final. He was beaten by Italy’s Nicolò Martinenghi in a pulsating race that could have gone either way.
This silver was Peaty’s sixth Olympic medal since his debut in Rio 2016. He will return for the relay races later in the week.
Great Britain’s Kimberley Woods won bronze in the women’s Canoeing Slalom K-1. Woods made a mistake early in her run but completed the course in 98.94. Jessica Fox won Australia’s fourth gold medal of the games with a time of 96.08.
ROWING
In rowing, British Olympic royalty Helen Glover – along with Rebecca Shorten, Esme Booth and Sam Redgrave – are through to the women’s coxless four final after easily winning their heat. The final will be on Thursday.
Elsewhere, Team GB men’s coxless four are also through to Thursday’s final.
The Women’s lightweight double sculls and Men’s coxless pair comfortably qualified for their semi-finals. They are considered both considered favourites to win gold.
HOCKEY
Great Britain’s women’s hockey team lost to Spain in their opening match of the Paris games.
All three goals came in the first 10 minutes. Laura Barrios opened the scoring for the Spanish before Giselle Ansley equalised for Great Britain. Lola Riera’s winner in the 9th minute of the first quarter proved decisive. Great Britain will play Australia in their next match with ground to make up to qualify for the quarter finals.
The men’s team drew 2-2 with South Africa in their second match of the games.
RUGBY SEVENS
In rugby sevens, Great Britain beat Ireland 21-12 in their opening match of Pool B at the Stade de France.
It was a surprising victory considering that Ireland were considered to be one of the favourites for a medal before the games.
However, they were thrashed 36-5 by the 2016 Olympic champions Australia later in the day. They now need to beat South Africa on monday to qualify for the semi-finals.
BOXING
There are now only three boxers left for Team GB after Rosie Eccles suffered a controversial split decision loss to Aneta Rygielska in the Welterweight division.
Yesterday, Charley Davison was also knocked out of the competition by dubious scorecards. Decisions like these do the sport no favours after years of complaints regarding judging.
Amateur Boxing have been stung by allegations of corruption and bribery since Tokyo. It led the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to threaten the International Boxing Association (IBA) with expulsion from LA 2028 unless they reformed.
Considering that the Olympics has been the launchpad for some of the greatest fighters in history, it would be a shame if a generation of young boxers missed out due to incompetence by the governing body.
TENNIS
At Roland Garros, Andy Murray delayed his retirement in an incredible men’s double match to reach the second round.
Murray and Dan Evans won an incredible 11-9 final set tie breaker after saving 5 match points from 9-4 down.
The British duo lost the first set before their serve being broken in the second set. They recovered to win it 7-6.
For now, the two-time gold medalist’s swansong continues.
In the singles, Rafael Nadal won his first-round match in a three-set thriller to set up a second-round showdown with Novak Djokovic.
An Olympic gold medal is all that eludes Djokovic as he looks to cement his status as the greatest ever. However, Nadal is the undisputed king of clay having won 14 titles at Roland Garros.
Tuesday’s match will be their 60th meeting between the two legends. It could be one for the ages.
