By Lori Ewing
PARIS (Reuters) – All eyes return to Bercy Arena at the Paris Games on Thursday where American Simone Biles bids to add to her monumental medal haul, while the much-anticipated athletics programme kicks off with the men’s and women’s race walks and golf begins.
There will be 18 gold medals up for grabs in France, including four each in rowing and swimming, plus two each in judo, sailing and athletics, while Olympic champions will also be crowned in shooting, artistic gymnastics, and fencing.
BILES’ REMARKABLE COMEBACK CONTINUES
Simone Biles is a heavy favourite to win her ninth Olympic medal in Thursday’s all-around final, two days after leading the United States women to a gymnastics team gold.
The race for silver is likely to come down to a Tokyo rematch between defending champion Sunisa Lee of the U.S. and Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade.
AMERICANS GO FOR ELUSIVE GOLD IN POOL
Four medals are up for grabs at La Defense Arena including the women’s 200 metres butterfly, the men’s 200 backstroke and the women’s 200 breaststroke.
But the marquee event of the day is the women’s 4×200 freestyle relay, with the heats in the morning session followed by the final in the evening.
The United States have found gold medals hard to come by in the pool and although they have won five in the event since it was introduced, 2023 world champions Australia are the favourites while China are the defending champions.
RACE WALKING RETURNS TO HOST CITY
Three years after the Tokyo Olympic race walks were held in Sapporo in an effort to beat the scorching heat, the races return to the Games’ host city with the 20km events being held on the stunning Pont d’Alene in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower.
Massimo Stando will look to retain his title, while his challengers are likely to be world champion Alvaro Martin, and Koki Ikeda, who boasts the third-fastest time in history.
Reigning Olympic women’s champion Antonella Palmisano is back to defend her title, while Kimberly Garcia will look to add her first Olympic medal to two 2022 world titles.
GLUT OF GOLDS AT ROWING
Four rowing gold medals are up for grabs at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium, including the double sculls and fours for men and women.
In canoeing, the men’s kayak single semi-finals and final will take place on the whitewater course.
RIFLES OUT ON THE SHOOTING RANGE
World record holder Liu Yukun of China will be gunning for his maiden Olympic gold after topping the qualification round of the men’s 50-metre rifle three positions on Wednesday.
Liu tallied six short of a perfect 600 to lead the eight-man field and show his strong form heading into the medal round.
There will be a new batch of Olympic medallists at the range as none of the Tokyo winners have returned to Paris.
KIEFER LOOKS TO COMPLETE FENCING GOLDEN DOUBLE
Olympic champion Lee Kiefer will aim to lead the United States women’s foil team to gold at the Grand Palais.
Kiefer captured gold in the women’s individual foil ahead of teammate Lauren Scruggs, who won silver — the first time in the team’s history they have taken the top two spots in that event.
The U.S. won the 2018 World Championships and are ranked world number three. They face China in the quarter-finals.
Standing in their way are the top-ranked Italy team, who have the most medals in the event (eight). They won bronze at Tokyo 2020 but have claimed eight of the last 12 World Championships, including in 2022 and 2023.
SCHEFFLER TEES OFF WITH MCILROY AT THE GOLF
A heavyweight U.S. team featuring world number one Scottie Scheffler and defending Olympic champion Xander Schauffele headlines the 60-strong field as the men’s Olympic golf tournament gets under way at Le Golf National.
Thursday’s order of play will see Scheffler teeing off with Ireland’s world number three Rory McIlroy and Sweden’s world number four Ludvig Aberg. France’s Victor Perez will hit the opening tee-shot at 9 a.m. local time.
BASKETBALL PITS U.S. WOMEN AGAINST BELGIUM
The women’s basketball tournament in Lille enters the second round, with Belgium facing the mighty U.S. and Japan taking on Germany.
Canada and Australia will also clash, while hosts France face Nigeria.
ACTION-PACKED DAY AT 3×3 BASKETBALL
No fewer than 16 matches, two per team, will be played during the third day of the pool stage of the 3×3 basketball tournament.
In the men’s competition, favourites Serbia take on the Netherlands in the morning, followed by France in the evening, while defending champions Latvia face China, before playing the United States in the last game of the day.
Germany meet Canada in the women’s competition in the morning, followed by Spain against the United States and Canada against France in the evening.
BOXING NEARS BUSINESS END
The boxing quarter-finals begin in earnest, with those who win their bouts guaranteed a medal for reaching the semi-finals.
Algeria’s Imane Khelif, who failed a gender eligibility test at last year’s World Championships, faces Italy’s Angela Carini in a welterweight round of 16 bout, while Asian Games champion Wu Yu of China takes on Indian flyweight Nikhat Zareen.
(Reporting by Lori Ewing in Paris; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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