PercyPig
The Pierpoint Princess
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Day 13: Thursday, 8 August (27 gold medals)
Gold medal events:Athletics (women's long jump, men's javelin throw, men's 200m, women's 400m hurdles, men's 110m hurdles), boxing (women's 54kg, men's 51kg),canoe sprint (men's C2 500m, men's K4 500m, women's K4 500m), diving (men's 3m springboard), hockey (men's), sailing (mixed dinghy, mixed multihull, men's and women's kite medal series), sport climbing (men's speed), swimming (women's 10km marathon), taekwondo (men's 68kg, women's 57kg), track cycling (men's omnium medal, women's keirin), weightlifting (women's 59kg, men's 73kg), wrestling (men's Greco-Roman 67kg, men's Greco-Roman 87kg, women's freestyle 53kg).
Highlights
Two-time Olympic taekwondo champion Jade Jones is hunting for a third gold medal, with her round-of-16 tie at 11:00 and - if she makes it that far - the final scheduled for 20:37. Jones won in London and Rio but suffered a shock early exit in Tokyo. Her build-up to Paris has not been perfect, not least a doping case where she avoided a ban over a refused test because of “very exceptional circumstances”. Up to now, no taekwondo athlete has won three Olympic golds.
Meanwhile, watch out for world champion Bradly Sinden looking to upgrade his Tokyo silver in the men’s taekwondo -68kg category. Sinden had to settle for second after a dramatic reversal in the dying moments of his final three years ago. He says that disappointment “will always be there" unless he wins in Paris.
Recently-crowned 100m champion Noah Lyles is one of the headline names at the track on Thursday. He will be desperate to upgrade his 200m bronze from Tokyo and make it a golden double in Paris - but only qualified second in his semi-final. The 200m final is at 19:30.
GB’s Jack Laugher is back in the men’s diving 3m springboard. The final starts at 14:00. Laugher has silver and bronze in this event from the past two Olympics. Can he close the gap on China’s relentless winners in this event, or will it be a scrap to reach the podium? He will be joined by fellow Briton Jordan Houlden.
In the velodrome, GB’s Ethan Hayter has the experience needed to contend for a medal in the men’s omnium, which runs over four events starting at 16:00. Hayter won world titles in 2021 and 2022, while France’s Benjamin Thomas also has multiple world titles to his name and will be a contender. The women’s keirin, where cyclists follow an electric bike in the opening laps before a sprint finish, will feature double European silver medallist Emma Finucane for GB (from 16:25) as well as Katy Marchant.
The men’s hockey final between Germany and the Netherlands takes place at 18:00 at Yves-du-Manoir Stadium in Colombes, on the northern outskirts of Paris. The venue is more than a century old, having been used as the main stadium at the last Paris Olympics in 1924. The bronze medal match between India and Spain takes place at 13:00.
Before any of that, however, all eyes will be back on the River Seine for the women’s 10km open-water swim, which is under way after passing water quality tests overnight.
Brit watch
The heptathlon rolls into action from 09:05 with the 100m hurdles, the first of seven events that decides the overall champion. GB’s Katarina Johnson-Thompson became world champion again in 2023 after years of injuries and disappointment, and will be joined by team-mate Jade O'Dowda.
In Marseille, kiteboarding’s Olympic debut is scheduled, wind permitting, to reach a climax. As it sounds, kiteboarding involves athletes using a giant kite to ride their board across the ocean. European champion Ellie Aldridge and Connor Bainbridge are the GB female and male entrants respectively. Athletes can hit speeds of up to 50mph. And Britain’s Jon Gimson and Anna Burnet will race in the re-arranged Nacra 17 category but will have a battle on their hands for a medal.
World watch
Last time, Jamaica’s Hansle Parchment beat him to gold. Can anyone stand in the way of a men’s 110m hurdles title for Grant Holloway this time? The American looks in dominant form. The final is at 20:45.
The men’s speed climbing final (11:54) will feature Italy’s Matteo Zurloni, who burst to the peak of his sport with a world title last year. Having said that, a big factor in Zurloni’s win was a false start for China’s Long Jinbao in the final. If Long avoids the same mistake this time, it is likely to be an incredibly close event with a host of other names in the frame.
The first day of canoe sprint finals features the men’s K4 500m (12:50). Four people in a boat, half a kilometre of flatwater paddling as fast as you can, go. A vastly experienced German crew won this event three years ago and remains largely intact this time around, swapping in relative youngster Jacob Schopf, 25. The other three, between them, have six Olympic and 17 world titles.
Weightlifting’s men’s 73kg category could see a close battle between China’s Shi Zhiyong and Indonesia’s Rizki Juniansyah, who produced a stunning upset in April to beat team-mate Rahmat Erwin at a World Cup in Thailand and thereby take his place in the Indonesian team. Erwin is a two-time world champion who was expected to be one of the favourites in Paris. The event starts at 18:30.
Expert knowledge
Hockey player Gonzalo Peillat could join an exclusive club on Thursday when he represents Germany against the Netherlands in the men’s gold-medal match.
If victorious, the 31-year-old will become an Olympic champion for the second time, having previously made it on to the top step of the podium in 2016 - when Argentina beat Belgium in the final.
Buenos Aires-born Peillat made more than 100 appearances for Argentina, including in that gold medal-winning team, before acquiring German citizenship and switching countries in 2022.
Peillat would not be the first athlete to win gold for two different nations - it has been done a number of times, including by rugby union player Daniel Carroll, who won gold for Australia in 1908 and the United States in 1920.
