Review of Day 9 and looking ahead to Day 10

Well, what a night at the Stade de France that was – and what a packed day of action!

Here’s a selection of the top stories from today:

Thank you for joining us on the official Paris 2024 live blog for Day 9. We’re into the last week of the Olympic Games now!

And here’s what you can expect on Day 10:

Competition begins on Day 10 in sports such as artistic swimming, track cycling, sport climbing, and wrestling, while the badminton, basketball 3X3, canoe slalom, artistic gymnastics, shooting, and triathlon programmes are due to end.

A total of 20 medal events are on tap on 5 August, including the men’s pole vault final (7pm) in athletics, where Mondo Duplantis will not just attempt to defend his Olympic title, but also go for a new world record.

The first of the urban sports to award medals at La Concorde will be basketball 3X3 (finals from 9pm), while there will be first-ever medals handed out in the new kayak cross events (4:55pm). Speaking of new events, the men’s Boulder & Lead combined (10am) and women’s speed (1pm) sport climbing will each begin, having been split out from the combined event in Tokyo which saw all three disciplines of climbing in one.

Meanwhile, the men’s football tournament reaches its semi-final stage, with Marseille and Lyon playing host to the four teams trying to guarantee themselves a medal.

Here are the day’s top picks:

Athletics (track and field) – World record watch for Mondo

Is it a foregone conclusion that Duplantis will win the men’s pole vault? After all, in 2024 only two men have cleared a height of 6m or higher: the Swede, and USA’s Chris Nilsen.

But they’re not in the same league. No one is. For Duplantis’ world lead is 6.24m, the world record, which he set at the Xiamen Diamond League. Nilsen’s best this year is 6.00m flat, with the Philippines’ E.J. Obiena third on the yearly list at 5.97m.

Last year, just four men hit the 6m mark or better, with Duplantis at 6.23m – the previous world record, obviously – and the next-closest man KC Lightfoot, who did not qualify for Paris at the U.S. Trials, on 6.07m.

Therefore it appears that the real contest will be between Duplantis and the bar; between Duplantis and the forces of gravity. Can the Louisiana-born Swede go to 6.25 in Paris?

Surfing – New champions to be crowned

After multiple delays to the surfing competition brought on by unhelpful surf conditions, we’re finally set for a good day at Teahupo’o for the semi-finals and final.

And there will be six new medallists in both men’s and women’s events, with none of the podium finishers from Tokyo 2020 reaching the semi-final stages.

Medal events

Artistic gymnastics
11:45–12:25: M parallel bars final; 12:38–13:18: W balance beam final; 13:33–14:08: M horizontal bar final; 14:23–15:03: W floor exercise final

Athletics (track and field)
19:00: M pole vault final; 20:30: W discus throw final; 21:15: W 5000m final; 21:47: W 800m final

Badminton
10:55–11:55: W singles gold medal match; 14:30–16:40: M singles medal matches

Basketball 3X3
21:00–22:35: W medal games; 21:30–23:05: M medal games

Canoe slalom
16:55–17:00: W kayak cross final; 17:00–17:05: M kayak cross final

Cycling (track)
19:53–20:03: W team sprint finals

Shooting
09:30–10:30: M 25m rapid fire pistol final; 15:00–16:15: Mixed team skeet medal matches

Surfing
21:24–22:30 Paris time (09:24–10:30 Tahiti time): M medal matches; 22:36–23:42 Paris time (10:36–11:42 Tahiti time): W medal matches

Triathlon
08:00–09:40: Mixed relay
Subject to water quality

_Full daily schedule here._

Review of Day 9 and looking ahead to Day 10