Paris 2024 Olympics: handball, archery, football and rugby sevens action – live | Paris Olympic Games 2024

Thanks Yara. Greetings everyone. And the afternoon’s action is under way. At the Stade de France, Samoa’s men are facing Kenya in the rugby sevens and leading 5-0, and should really be ahead by more, while in women’s handball Brazil lead Spain 4-2 early on in their Group B fixture.

That is all from me for now. Thanks for joining me! I leave you in the hands of Tom Davies to take you through the early afternoon.

The IOC is facing calls for an investigation into how a convicted child rapist has been allowed to compete at Paris 2024, on the eve of the opening of the Games.

Amid growing public outrage at the presence of the Netherlands beach volleyball player Steven van de Velde, who was convicted of raping a British 12-year-old girl in 2016, groups have warned that sporting bodies are sending a dangerous message to rapists and causing “collateral damage” to victims of sexual abuse.

Ciara Bergman, the CEO of Rape Crisis England and Wales said the “irresponsible” inclusion of Van der Velde at the Olympics created an “enormous sense of impunity”, adding: “If you can rape a child and still compete in the Olympics, despite all athletes signing a declaration promising to be a role model, that is just shocking,” she said.

More on the story from Alexandra Topping below including details of Van de Velde’s case.

The days are over when Olympics organisers and anti-doping officials would typically predict the cleanest games ever.

“It’s not our role to do it,” the World Anti-Doping Agency president Witold Bańka said Thursday. “It’s not that now we want to assure that every single athlete is clean. We do not,” Bańka said at the agency’s pre-games news conference. “It’s obvious that you will never eliminate doping from the sporting landscape. You will always find someone who wants to cheat.”

The lesson of Beijing 2008 and London 2012 is that it can take years to judge how clean or dirty it was. Dozens of medals were stripped and athletes disqualified years after those competitions, in large part because more advanced testing could be used on samples. The samples taken in Paris will be stored and can be re-tested until 2034 in a programme run by the International Testing Agency (ITA), the operational wing of the global anti-doping system based in the Olympic home city of Lausanne, Switzerland.

“Our role is to oversee the system,” Bańka said of the Montreal-based Wada, “to make sure the system is robust, to make sure that we are using all the existing tools to test athletes properly. And not to tell you that the Games are going to be totally clean and you will not have even one single positive test.”

Wada took one track and field athlete out of the Paris Olympics on Thursday, after winning an appeal hearing at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne. CAS judges imposed a two-year ban on the Romanian long jumper Florentina Iusco who had tested positive last year for a banned diuretic, furosemide. Wada used its right to challenge doping verdicts worldwide after a Romanian tribunal decided she was not at fault and issued only a reprimand. Bańka said the programme overseen by the ITA took 87,000 samples from potential Olympic athletes in March to June. “Our focus has been that the Olympics and Paralympic Games are protected,” Bańka said, “and the athletes are afforded a level playing field that they deserve.” Associated Press

Lim Si-hyeon’s Paris Games got off to a rousing start after setting a world record in the women’s ranking round today.

The 21-year-old scored 694 out of a possible 720 points at Les Invalides. The previous record of 692, which was set in 2019, was held by her counterpart Kang Chae-young.

Lim, an Asian Games gold medallist, will be the top seed in Tuesday’s individual competition.

Joe Clark may have missed out on Tokyo 2020 but the double world champion canoeist believes he can prosper in Paris.

In this big interview with Donald McRae, he speaks on how he almost quit the sport during Covid and why he is able to loudly say he can win two medals this summer.

It’s quite big to come out and say those kinds of things because people will be quick to jump on it if it doesn’t happen. It’s such a big ask and I’ve probably still not comprehended how hard it is. But winning both at the worlds really switched my mindset and made me think: ‘It’s possible in Paris.’

When we started the Olympic cycle a couple of years ago after my new coach, Campbell Walsh, came in, we set the Paris project and that was to win two medals, one being gold. But after the worlds I said: ‘We’ve just proved it’s possible to win two golds.’

Team GB is still reeling from Charlotte Dujardin’s Olympic exit and ban. But the wider issue that Sophe Kevany analyses here is if there is line between horse abuse and training?

At the far end of the debate are concerns about practices such as hyperflexion, where the horse’s neck is pulled into a contorted, unnatural angle. Also known as Rollkur, this technique has been controversial for years, and is banned by the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI), but is still used by some trainers.

Horses can also show signs of blue tongue, which results from too little oxygenated blood flowing to the tissue, while over-tightened nosebands can create stress.

The Australian swimming coach Rohan Taylor says public support for a South Korean athlete from one of his coaches ahead of two of his team members is “un Australian”. However he will decide whether the coach’s expulsion from Paris is necessary only after speaking to the swimmers involved.

Michael Palfrey is part of the Dolphins but has also coached South Korean men’s 400m freestyle world champion Kim Woo-min.

In an interview with Korean television on Tuesday, Palfrey said he hoped Kim would win gold on Saturday. “I really hope he can win, but ultimately I really hope he swims well,” Palfrey said, later declaring: “Go Korea.”

Taylor – Australia’s head coach responsible for all coaches in the team – said the comments were disappointing, and Palfrey has already accepted his mistake. He also said the issue of Australian coaches working with foreign swimmers has been under consideration since the Doha World Championships in February, and would be addressed after the Paris Games.

“We are leading a leading nation and we do have a lot of really strong IP in coaching and resources and we are investing in that and we want to protect it.”

A few emails have come in on, mostly on who every one is excited to see in Paris.

Des Brown is a Team GB fan through and through:

Would love to see Tom Daley get one more medal on Monday. He’s been such a fixture of Team GB for so long now.

This is the Olympics where we’ll see the last of a number of established names like Tom, Helen Glover, Andy Murray, Max Whitlock and Adam Peaty. And at the same time the emergence of a new generation of British Olympic stars like Keeley Hodgkinson, Emma Finucane, Matt Richards, Sky Brown and Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix. These names will likely be competing at Los Angeles 2028 and Brisbane in 2032.

Keeley Hodgkinson is still only 22. She’ll be 30 by the time of the Brisbane Olympics – Kelly Holmes was 34 when she won the 800m and 1500m Golds in 2004.

Agree that it is very exciting to see Daley back. I like that he seems to be competing stress-free as well and is just looking forward to his kids watching him take part. And Sky Brown – a superstar in the making in my opinion. I think the general public will really take a liking to her if skateboarding becomes more popular as an event.

Jack Draper (no, not that one) writes:

I am a fifth-generation football fan. Raised my two boys to be football fans from the day they were born. Somehow, they have become completely fascinated with basketball. Specifically the WNBA. They stay up to god knows what time and watch the games in America. I have learned that A’ja Wilson is the best player in the world and that my sons might be the most American Scots of all time.

Wilson is indeed the best player in the world right now, and is quickly making her case to be the WNBA goat. USA is just so so so so stacked at the moment. Breanna “Stewie” Stewart is a two-time WNBA champion and Diana Taurasi is a five-time gold medallist. She may become the most decorated team athlete in Olympic history if the US medal.

Pop emergency! Lady Gaga and Céline Dion will reportedly be performing a duet of Édith Piaf’s La vie en Rose at the opening ceremony tomorrow.

It will mark Dion’s first stage performance since she announced her Stiff Person syndrome diagnosis in 2022 after cancelling her world tour. She last performed live in 2020.

The France president, who apparently can’t be trusted to keep a secret, heavily hinted at the performance. He told the French television channel France 2 “Apparently [Dion] has arrived in Paris, it’s great! I would be immensely happy if she could be at this opening ceremony, like all our compatriots.”

“I will not reveal anything, what Thomas Jolly [opening ceremony director] and all his teams have prepared. There is also a surprise.”

The Netherlands have won their handball opener against Angola, seeing off the African champions 34-31 in Group B. Such a tight affair in the end, but it was the fast breaks that lead the Dutch over the line. They scored seven goals from eight while Angola only managed three.

Group B continues with Spain v Brazil before the hosts and defending champions France take on Hungary.

Group A will see Germany v South Korea and Norway v Sweden later today.

Matildas make late squad change ahead of opener

Kieran Pender

The Australian women’s football team have made a late squad change ahead of their Olympic opener against Germany tonight, with midfield dynamo Tameka Yallop to be replaced by Sharn Freier.

Teams are allowed 18 squad members and four reserves at the Paris Olympics, although the reserves can be interchanged with the squad – which means that Yallop can return to the Matildas for subsequent matches, if fit.

In a statement, the Australian Olympic Committee explained that Yallop had sustained minor contact injuries in training in early July and while she was back in full training, she had not yet been medically cleared to return to match play.

Freier, who turned 23 yesterday, will make her Olympic debut if she features in the clash with Germany, which kicks off at 7pm local time in Marseille.

These Games have been all about innovation including a brand new purple track at the Stade de France. It is still unknown how fast the track will be yet (they are trying to keep it in pristine edition for the events) but the hope is that world records will be broken.

Alessandro Piceli, a research and development manager at Mondo, believes that the latest version – which the Guardian understands was debuted at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest last year – is even better than the one used in Japan.

We are focusing on the dynamic connection between the track and a new generation of shoes. For the track, we only see the aesthetics, but there is great work that goes into the underlayer.

A new granule of polymeric material, made especially for it, was inserted in the Tokyo track. We have made it even better now. We have chemists, engineers and physicists who take care of the performance of the material.

Here is Sean Ingle with more.

The tennis draw has been released and we might be in for a few treats.

We might be getting the box office match of Rafael Nadal v Novak Djokvic in round two of the men’s singles. A first round matchup between Angelique Kerber and Naomi Osaka also awaits.

The world No 1 Iga Swiatek gets a pretty tough draw. She could face Jelena Ostapenko (a player she has failed to beat in all four of their matches) or Danielle Collins in the quarter-final and a possible match against world No 4 Elena Rybakina in the semi-final.

Good thing the Pole is playing on clay (her favourite surface) at her favourite stadium (Roland Garros). She has won approximately 724377479287398128* matches there.

* Slight exaggeration. Swiatek has a 95% win rate at Roland Garros at 35-2.

Early drama in this second-half. The Dutch score early to make it 20-18 but then Nenganga gets brought down and earns a penalty. She is 4/4 from the line but her fifth is saved by Yara ten Holte, who is only being brought on to save penalties. Nenganga looks at her bench in disbelief.

At the other end, Juliana Machado pushes an opponent hard from behind. She gets a two-miunte suspension. A moment later, her teammate gets a one-minute suspension. A double power-play! Dutch take advantage and it is 23-20.

It’s half-time in the second handball game of the day and it has been a close one so far. The Dutch are edging Angola 19-18 in what is turning out to be a pretty high-scoring game. Angola found a rhythm late in the half to make it a one-goal game.

Vilma Nenganga, Estavana Polman and Angela Malestein all have scored four.

Speaking of Team USA, how will they fare in Paris? Our American writers think that they will be able to beat China when it comes to gold medals, their women’s teams will dominate and that Noah Lyles and Kate Douglass will become national household names.

The USA men’s basketball team just had their first press conference in Paris with Steph Curry and Kevin Durant.

Curry, who is widely regarded as the best three-point shooter of all time was asked about adjusting to the different three-point line. The international three-point line is shorter (6.75m – 6.60 on baseline) than the NBA one (7.24m – 6.70m on baseline). The four-time NBA champion has not played competitive international basketball since 2014 and this will be his first Olympic Games.

For sure, there is an adjustment. I always know where I am in relation to the line on the NBA court. I have a certain familiarity with it. It’s a little bit different. I might have shot a couple of long ones [in the warmup games]. But i think we’re past that now. At the end of the day I try not to think about it.

Curry was also asked about how he will be soaking up the atmosphere, to which he said:

I want to see some gymnastics, beach volleyball and swimming. You get juiced up watching other athletes compete. I don’t want to watch it from my TV in my room.

Both the US men’s and the women’s team are reigning Olympic champions. Despite a slight wobble from the men’s team in their warmup match against South Sudan, they are still the team to beat.

Hands up if you’re confused as to what actually happened in the football yesterday … Oh, everyone. Great, because same. Let’s try to work through the mess.

Early on, before kick-off between Morocco and Argentina, the Argentine players and the national anthem was booed and jeered by fans in the stadium at St-Etienne. Probably in response to the Enzo Fernández’s racism row – the Chelsea midfielder filmed the Argentine squad singing racist and homophobic chants against France during their Copa América victory celebrations.

Morocco were winning 2-1 but in the final minutes (during the 15 minutes of stoppage time!), Argentina equalised.

Morocco fans stormed the pitch and the match was stopped. Players were taken off the pitch and were gone for more than an hour. VAR then intervened (because of course it did) and determined that their was an offside in the buildup to the equaliser. So Argentina’s goal was ruled out over 60 minutes after it was scored. Unprecedented stuff.

They eventually finished the game, which ended 2-1 to Morocco. The Argentina coach Javier Mascherano called the whole thing “a circus,” and it certainly adds questions to the security at these Games.

The French police notoriously mishandled the events leading up to the 2022 Champions League final.

The archery’s women’s individual ranking round is also under way this morning.

Archery at the Olympics begins with ranking rounds before the matchplay rounds scheduled later on in the Games.

Right now, Lim Si-hyeon leads the pack. She is part of a young South Korea team who are keen to defend their team title from Tokyo and pick up their tenth individual gold medal in the event.

There is stiff competition though. The world No 1 Casey Kaufhold is hoping to be the first women’s individual gold medallist from the US since Luann Ryon. who took home gold in Montreal back in 1976.

Mexico’s Alejandra Valencia is the world championships runner-up and is competing at her fourth Games.

The archery events are taking place at the Hôtel des Invalides. It is a complex tracing France’s military heritage that was established during Louis XIV’s reign in 1687.

The famous golden dome dominates the skyline amid the serene formal gardens surrounding the converted military hospital turned museum. What’s inside? Just Napoleon’s final resting place.

There have been murmurings and rumours and almost confirmations but this is now official. Andy Murray will not be playing singles in Paris. His singles playing career is now over.

“I’ve take the decision to withdraw from the singles to concentrate on the doubles with Dan [Evans]. Our practice has been great and we’re playing well together,” Murray said today. “Really looking forward to getting started and representing GB one more time.”

The final buzzer has just gone at the women’s handball match between Slovenia and Denmark. The Danes take the victory 27-19.

Goalkeeper Sandra Toft made 13 saves and every single Danish player got some minutes in this opening match.

The Dane’s are three-time Olympic champions (1996, 2000, 2004) but failed to qualify for their last two Games. Jesper Jensen’s side is a new generation hoping to roll back the years.

The handball sees two groups of six play out. Top four teams will advance to the knockout rounds.

Before we get to today’s action, let’s take a quick look at Team GB’s medal hopes. We are looking at a possible battle for the ages in the men’s 1500m, world champions in the women’s lightweight double sculls and a chance for some skateboarding glory.

Here’s Ben Bloom with more.

Good morning all and welcome to our daily 2024 Olympics blog! The sporting action got under way yesterday and it was certainly memorable. We will bring you all of the reaction from what went down and live coverage of what starts today. More rugby sevens, more football and the beginning of the archery and handball events. Plus, we will check in with all the other athletes who are doing their final preparations and bring you all the latest news from Paris.

If you have any thoughts, questions, concerns, complaints, musings or must-have Olympic snacks you want to share then feel free to send me an email. You can find the information at the top of this blog.

Allez!