Important events
This final day of the 33rd Olympiad Games is much shorter than the others to allow enough time to complete all activities before the Closing Ceremony (9 p.m. local time), but it’s all about the big picture, with medals of some kind up for grabs at every event.
It starts at 08:00 with the Women’s MarathonOne hour later, Spain will play against Slovenia for the bronze medal in the Men’s handballwhile Spain and Greece are fighting for fifth place in the Water polo for menAt 10:35 a.m. the USA and Hungary will compete for bronze in men’s water polo.
Most of the day’s activity takes place online from 11:00 a.m. with the last activity before the closing ceremony with the match France against the USA in the Women’s basketball Gold medal game. Starts at 3:30 p.m.
My favorite snapshot from yesterday: the perfectly framed table tennis action shot.
For more information on medal tables and how to assess who did well and why, check out this in-depth explainer video. I admit I’m not mathematically savvy enough to fully understand it all, but it seems logical that Australia played way above its means at these Games.
China has once again crept up on the USA in a neck-and-neck race at the top of the medal table, but the USA’s final day looks promising and could well put them in pole position for the fourth straight Games.
Australia and Japan are fighting hard for third place, while France is heading for its best result since 1948.
63 NOCs heard their respective anthems over the last two weeks and athletes from 91 NOCs received medals.
Preamble – Schedule for Day 16
Hello everyone and welcome to live coverage of the 16th and final official day of competition at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
Day 15 was a busy day, with medals being awarded in droves. And when the dust settled, it was a day to remember for New Zealand: high jumper Hamish Kerr secured a dramatic gold medal, golfer Lydia Ko completed a full set by a two-shot margin and canoe sprinter Lisa Carrington won her third final of the Games, extending her national record of gold medals to an astonishing eight.
Otherwise, the marathon was fast, the sport climbing was exciting and the boxing was controversial. Faith Kipyegon and the US basketball players remained invincible; unlike Karsten Warholm.
So, what’s on our agenda today?
🥇 Marathon – Women (from 08:00)
🥇 Modern Pentathlon – Women (from 11:00)
🥇 Wrestling – Freestyle Men 65kg & 97kg / Freestyle Women 76kg (from 11:00 am)
🥇 Weightlifting – Women 81kg (from 11:30)
🥇 Volleyball – Women (from 1:00 p.m.)
🥇 Cycling – Sprint & Omnium Women / Keirin Men (from 12:45)
🥇 Handball – Men (from 1:30 p.m.)
🥇 Water polo – men (from 2:00 p.m.)
🥇 Basketball – Women (from 3:30 p.m.)
🔥 Closing ceremony (from 9:00 p.m.)
*(All times given are local times in Paris)
Simon Burnton’s Daily Guide
Women’s Marathon
Traditionally, the men’s marathon should conclude the Olympic athletics programme, but not this year. At the end of a course that partly follows the women’s march to Versailles, one of the most significant events of the French Revolution, the final medal will be awarded at the Stade de France. Ethiopian Tigst Assefa, who broke the world record last year, hopes to improve on her previous Olympic experience: in 2016, she finished fifth in the 800m.
Water polo for men
Although Serbia has won gold at the last two Olympics, a third consecutive victory would be a huge achievement given the sheer competitive intensity of this event – the last four world championships have produced four different winners and seven different medalists, with Croatia emerging victorious at the most recent world championships in Doha in February. “I have no favourites,” said their coach Ivica Tucak. “There is a circle of nine teams, any of which can beat any of them, where any game can be won or lost. Any medal is a great result.”
Closing ceremony
There will be no parade of departing athletes, just – in the words of ceremony director Thomas Jolly – “a great show with only the music resonating” and, of course, a handover to Los Angeles, host in 2028. The official website predicts that “this closing ceremony will be marked by boldness, brotherhood and emotion like an indelible memory” and that it will be “an incredible moment of celebration and sharing” where “the emotions will be immense”. So, pretty good.
I’m sure I’ve missed something in this brief summary that would be of interest to you, so please let me know what’s on your agenda by emailing [email protected].
I will spend the first few hours of the blog here in Australia and then hand over to the UK.
