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

Men’s rugby sevens result: Fiji 19-12 France. Fiji are an absolute machine at this form of the game, and their strength and superiority really shone through in that second half. Their unbeaten Olympic record is extended, and they win the group. France advance in second.

How about some choice images of the day?

Men’s rugby sevens: Fiji and France are drawing 5-5 at half-time. This is a proper full-throttle match, with a more “conventional” mix of physicality and flair, and France finally force a way through with a well-worked try from Aaraon Grandidier Nkanang. Fiji responds though, a delicious reverse-pass playing in Jerry Tuwai to touch down. Stick your telly on for this.

Women’s handball result: Spain 18-29 Brazil. An emphatic start to Brazil’s Group B campaign, their first win over Spain in a while, and richly deserved, built on resilient defence, brilliant goalkeeping and sharp, clinical shooting.

Next up at the Stade de France is the Antoine Dupont show, aka Fiji v France in sevens. A mouthwatering clash, this, involving the reigning Olympic champs and the hosts.

And of course, it’s not just the Dupont show – given France’s collective, team-oriented sporting culture. Philippe Auclair has written about its political roots here:

Men’s rugby sevens result: USA 33-17 Uruguay. An emphatic second-half showing wraps up a satisfying Pool C campaign for the USA – a win, a draw and a loss should see them through. The jet-heeled Perry Baker was their undoubted star here, scoring four tries.

I say that, but USA have just scored a converted try and lead 14-12. Staying with USA sport, and politics, the basketball star Stephen Curry has thrown his weight behind Kamala Harris’s presidential election campaign.

USA basketball star Stephen Curry threw his support behind Kamala Harris’s bid for the White House on Thursday and said he believed a successful US Olympic campaign could help unite a divided nation in the run-up to America’s bitterly contested presidential election.

The four-time NBA champion and Olympic debutant, back in the national team for the first time in a decade, spoke warmly about Harris, a former California senator who was born in Oakland and is a longtime supporter of Curry’s Golden State Warriors.

Women’s handball: it’s all rather unravelling for Spain, as emphatic quickfire strikes from Patricia Matieli and Bruna de Paula put Brazil 21-12 ahead, prompting a Spanish time out as we approach the halfway stage of the second half.

In the rugby sevens, Uruguay’s men are leading USA 12-7, which would be a decent scalp after two defeats yesterday.

Here’s some more on the security situation at the Games, in the aftermath of a frenetic day yesterday, from Elsie Grover-Jones.

The Paris Olympics have been described as the ‘Conflict Games’ due to the backdrop of war in Ukraine and Gaza dominating headlines globally. This has inevitably put security protocols in the spotlight, but, nine years after terrorist attacks devastated Paris, there have already been security concerns.

Last night saw the first sporting action at the Olympics, with the game between Argentina and Morocco ending in chaos. After Argentina equalised 16 minutes into injury time, Morocco fans invaded the pitch, throwing cans and flares galore. The match was consequently suspended for nearly two hours, only for the goal to be ruled out for offside when play was eventually resumed (without the presence of the fans).

This is not the first time that French security at sporting events has been questioned. Two years ago, at the Champions League final in Paris, dangerous congestion built up outside the ground before the match, spectators were targeted by thieves and local thugs, and riot police responded by tear gassing fans.

The Paris police chief Laurent Nuñez, who was appointed shortly after the incident in 2022, has assured critics that there will not be a repeat of the Champions League chaos, saying “We’re serene, because we have a robust framework, and it’s ready.”

The French authorities have already had to apply this “framework”. In May a Chechen teenager was arrested in Saint-Etienne on suspicion of planning an attack on the Geoffroy-Guichard Stadium during the Olympic football tournament. More recently, French police arrested a Russian man on suspicion of plotting with a foreign power to “destabilise the Olympic Games.”

Officials have said that these Games will see the biggest security operation in French history, and all eyes will be on Friday’s opening ceremony. It will be the first opening ceremony to be held outside the confines of a stadium, on the Seine. As a result, strict security measures are set to be in place, with 45,000 law enforcement agents and 22,000 private security contractors on duty.

Men’s rugby sevens result: Argentina 14-22 Australia. Australia’s captain, Nick Malouf, ends Argentina’s comeback hopes when he finishes a neat right-to-left-to-right move and touches down. Australia top the group ahead of Argentina, bronze medallists in Tokyo.

Back to the men’s rugby sevens, it’s half-time in the Pool B decider and Australia lead Argentina 10-7 at the Stade de France. It’s a fast fluid game, sevens, but a little too free-scoring at times. A friend rather disparagingly calls it “basketball for short people”. He still watches it, mind.

Staff at the Paris luxury hotel occupied by IOC bigwigs say they haven’t had a pay rise for seven years. Consequently, they’ve gone on strike. Who’d have thought a sporting body would overlook workers’ right issues? Nick Ames has more details.

The IOC was embarrassed on Thursday morning when workers from the luxury hotel occupied by its delegation at Paris 2024 went on strike, claiming they have not received a pay rise for seven years.

A group of chefs, waiters and technical staff at the five-star Hotel du Collectionneur began a two-hour protest at 7am, causing some disruption to the breakfast service. It is understood to have bred consternation at the top of the International Olympic Committee, who will host regular dinners and events at the venue.

Handball: Brazil’s keeper, Gabriela Moreschi, is having a stormer, behind a defence that you might describe as being deployed in a low block, to frustrate Spain. Brazil lead 15-10 at half-time.

Men’s rugby sevens: Samoa 26-0 Kenya. Samoa’s capmta, Apelu Maliko bursts through in the corner then cuts in to dot beneath the posts to embellish his side’s win. Steve Onosai adds another to stretch the points margin, which could prove crucial in the best-third-placed-team reckoning. Kenya depart winless.

Going to dip into the women’s handball now, with Brazil leading Spain 12-8 in the opening period.

Emma Raducanu’s decision not to compete in Olympic tennis in Paris has been something of a talking point – as most things she does tend to be – and Heather Watson has said she “can’t relate” to Emma Raducanu’s decision to skip the Games as Watson prepares to set a record by becoming the first female British tennis player to compete in four Olympics.

Raducanu could have featured in Paris as a wildcard pick. The 21-year-old refused the offer, stating she was “prioritising my body and my health” in the run-up to the US Open.

Ewan Murray has more:

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.

IOC faces calls for investigation into inclusion of child rapist at Olympics

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 sets world record in archery ranking round

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

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.

Andy Murray withdraws from men’s singles, will only play doubles

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.

Preamble