First day of Summer Olympics begins, NBA star Wembanyama leads France over Brazil; USA takes bronze in women’s cycling

The Olympic hosts have just won their first gold medal at Paris 2024, defeating defending champions Fiji 28-7 in a thrilling rugby sevens final.

France fell behind in the first half at the Stade de France but quickly equalised. They then took the lead early in the 2nd thanks to a dazzling run from star player Antione DuPont.

DuPont, coming off the bench at half-time, quickly became the centre of everything France did and scored a try.

Not long ago, Summer McIntosh did nothing but admire Katie Ledecky — literally staring at a swim cap belonging to the American icon, tacked to her bedroom wall.

Now, the Canadian prodigy could be on the verge of swimming and taking home her longtime idol’s crown as the sport’s most famous female competitor.

The 17-year-old rocked the world swimming scene in February with a spectacular 800-meter freestyle victory over Ledecky at the South Zone Southern Sectional Championships in Orlando, Florida.

Her phenomenal time of 8 minutes, 11.39 seconds beat Ledecky by nearly 6 seconds, the American’s first setback in a competitive race at that distance since 2010.

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If there is any bad blood in the waters of Paris, it will likely be during the races between the perennially powerful Americans and Australia’s Dolphins.

The US team, which has long dominated the country, is watching the Australians close in quickly and reveling in the American discomfort.

The rivalry took a new level when Australian legend Cate Campbell blasted the Americans as “sore losers” at last year’s World Championships. Campbell explained how happy she is to not hear the “Star Spangled Banner” and that the next time she hears the song will be too soon.

Teams USA and Australia will face off in the pool in events including the men’s and women’s 4×100 freestyle relays today; the 100 backstroke, which could put American Regan Smith and Australian Kaylee McKeown on top of the podium (July 30); the 800 freestyle on the same day, featuring Bobby Finke and Sam Short; and the 50 freestyle (Aug. 2), which should be an explosive battle between American Caeleb Dressel and Australian Cameron McEvoy.

All this Paris drama will unfold, oddly, without Campbell poolside. The four-time gold medalist nearly qualified for Paris, likely bringing to an end her glorious Olympic career that dates back to London 2012.

The American and Hungarian dreams were dashed earlier today when men’s sabre favorites Eli Dershwitz and Aron Szilagyi were eliminated in the round of 16.

Advancing to the semi-finals are Tunisia’s Fares Ferjani, Egypt’s Ziad Elsissy, South Korea’s Oh Sang-uk and Italy’s Luigi Samele.

Three-time Olympic champion Szilagyi was seeking a historic fourth victory, which would put him alongside the likes of Michael Phelps and just a select few athletes who have won gold in the same event at four different Olympics.

Meanwhile, reigning world champion Dershwitz was hoping to make history for the U.S. and take home the country’s first gold in men’s sabre.

Now that the two favorites are eliminated, the game is anyone’s game.

Egyptian Elsissy, who trains with Dershwitz in Connecticut, made history by becoming the first Egyptian fencer to reach the world’s number one sabre fencer ranking.

If victorious, Elsissy would become the first Egyptian to win gold in this event. South Korea’s Oh, meanwhile, has every possible gold medal in men’s sabre — individual and team — except the individual Olympic gold. Could this be the year he completes his collection?

The other two semi-finalists, Ferjani and Samele, are in their third Olympic participation.

After a spectacular play by his teammates, Ezequiel Fernández scored a long-range goal from the edge of the box in the 84th minute.

Argentina’s 3-1 win over Iraq followed Wednesday’s shock 2-1 defeat to Morocco, when fans invaded the pitch in protest at a late Argentine goal.

SAINT-DENIS, France — The rugby sevens final between France and Fiji is about to begin and the noise levels at the Stade de France have become deafening.

It feels more like an open-air nightclub than an Olympic stadium. DJs are pumping the stands with electronic blares, and the crowd is responding in kind ahead of what could be the hosts’ first gold medal.

The main protagonist, they hope, will be French rugby star Antione DuPont, widely regarded as the best rugby player in the world. Fiji, on the other hand, are the defending champions and will be looking to defend their 2021 gold medal.

In the dressage portion of the equestrian competition, Liz Halliday-Sharp recorded a score of 28.0, leading Team USA to sixth place after the first day of competition.

Dressage is where the horse and rider perform a choreographed series of movements set to music, with judges assessing fluidity and difficulty. The other two equestrian disciplines – cross country and show jumping – will be showcased in the team eventing competition over the next two days.

In May, Taylor Swift opened the European leg of her Eras Tour at La Defense Arena in the Paris suburb of Nanterre. Tonight, it hosts the first swimming finals of these Games.

Normally a rugby stadium, the arena, where the likes of Katie Ledecky and Caeleb Dressel are hoping to win gold, has been converted into a temporary aquatics centre for the Games.

The company behind this transformation, Myrtha Pools, shared an epic timelapse of how they did it all in just 60 days.

A day after arson attacks disrupted parts of France’s rail network, Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete told reporters today that trains in the country would return to normal after the weekend.

“There will still be outages tomorrow,” Vergriete said, according to Reuters. “As of Monday, there is no need to worry.”

The US men’s national team is crushing it against New Zealand.

The United States took a 3-0 lead in the 30th minute with a goal by Gianluca Busio, who collected his own rebound from outside the box and then connected with his right foot to score on his second attempt.

It’s the first time the U.S. has scored three goals in a game at the Olympics since the 2000 games in Sydney.