On Saturday, the first full day of competition, China earned their first gold medal of the Paris Olympics, as the rain that spoiled the opening ceremony took its toll.
The teenage combination of Sheng Lihao and Huang Yuting defeated South Korean competitors Keum Ji-hyeon and Park Ha-jun 16–12 in a closely contested mixed-team 10-meter air rifle final, with Kazakhstan taking home the bronze.
As the rain continued to cause headaches, one sporting casualty had already been claimed by the rain early on Saturday. The downpour had flooded Friday night’s daring event on the Seine River.
Because of overnight rain, the men’s street skateboarding competition—which was scheduled to take place at the Place de la Concorde in the historic center of Paris—was rescheduled until Monday, according to the organizers.
The first round of tennis at Roland Garros was similarly impacted by the rain, with play on the ten covered outdoor courts not starting until 13:30 local time (1130 GMT), according to the organizers.
At Friday’s amphibious opening ceremony, which saw over 7,000 athletes marched up the Seine in an armada of boats before a show-stopping finale that culminated with a spectacular light show, torrential rain had pummeled participants and onlookers.
The center-right Le Figaro daily in France gave the ceremony generally positive reviews, calling it “full of surprises but often disjointed.”
Nonetheless, the athletes from South Korea were mistakenly introduced as North Koreans during the ceremony, forcing the International Olympic Committee to issue an apology.
The IOC posted on its official Korean-language X account, “We deeply apologise for the mistake that occurred when introducing the South Korean team during the broadcast of the opening ceremony.”
Swimming duel
Elsewhere on the sporting front, swimming, badminton, rowing, cycling, hockey and basketball get under way along with the surfing competition, nearly 16,000 kilometres (9,950 miles) kilometres away on the French Pacific island of Tahiti.
Swimming will take centre-stage at the La Defense Arena for the women’s 400m freestyle — one of the most-anticipated events of the entire Olympics involving three swimmers who have held the world record.
Australia’s defending champion Ariarne Titmus will dive in as favourite after clocking the second-fastest time ever last month behind only her own 3min 55.38sec world best.
She stunned US rival Katie Ledecky in an electric Tokyo final three years ago, with the American great gunning for revenge.
Canadian teenage sensation Summer McIntosh, also a former world record holder, completes the hotly favoured trio.
Other gold medals on offer on the first night of action in the pool come in the men’s 400m freestyle and the men’s and women’s 4x100m freestyle relays.
Reigning French Open champions Iga Swiatek and Carlos Alcaraz are among the top draws on the first day of action on the clay courts of Roland Garros — weather permitting.
Women’s world number one Swiatek is first on court against Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu, with Alcaraz to follow against Lebanese world number 275 Hady Habib.
But the biggest focus will be on the men’s doubles, with Alcaraz teaming up with 14-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal in a Spanish dream pairing.
Chinese shooters Huang Yuting and Sheng Lihao will start as favourites for the first gold of the Games after a dominant victory at last year’s world championships in Baku.
Medals will also be on offer Saturday in the diving pool, with the women’s synchronised 3m springboard final, where another Chinese pairing, Chang Yani and Chen Yiwen, are favourites to strike gold.
The first cycling medals of the games will be decided with the men’s and women’s individual times trials taking place on a challenging 32.4 kilometre course.
French rugby fans will flock to the Stade de France to see if Antoine Dupont can lead the host nation to gold in rugby sevens.
France however must overcome South Africa in Saturday’s semi-finals to reach the gold medal match against the winner of the other last-four clash between holders Fiji and Australia.
