Canada won gold in the men’s 4x100m relay final at a soaked Stade de France, with the heavily-favoured US disqualified following a disastrous baton handoff.
A mix-up between Christian Coleman and Kenneth Bednarek at the top of the back straight resulted in the latter runner receiving the baton outside of the required distance.
Meanwhile, the Canadians, who began the race out wide in lane nine, just got on with business, with only the South Africans for company.
Both countries provided a thrilling finish, with a superb anchor leg from 29-year-old Andre De Grasse just the tonic for Canada, which built on its silver-winning performance at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
De Grasse also etched his name in Canadian sporting history, winning his seventh Olympic medal – which alongside swimmer Penny Oleksiak, makes him one of Canada’s most successful ever Olympians.
Less than half an hour prior, a scintillating effort from Gina Lückenkemper in driving rain ensured Germany took bronze in the women’s 4x100m relay final, which was the country’s first medal in the event since 1988.
Lückenkemper’s pace during the third leg set up anchor Rebekka Haase perfectly, who was then able to apply pressure on US sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson and Great Britain’s Daryll Neita.
Although she wasn’t the fastest of the American quartet, Richardson had enough poise and pace to hold off her European rivals in the dying seconds.
Overall Medal tally (Saturday, 6am WST)
The US (33 gold, 39 silver and 39 bronze) leads the medal tally, with China (33 gold, 27 silver and 23 bronze) in second. Australia (18 gold, 16 silver and 14 bronze) is in third.
Athletics – Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet held off a gallant Nadia Battocletti of Italy in a thoroughly entertaining women’s 10,000m final, while Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands ran third.
Chebet, 24, was not fazed by the lack of pace during lengthy stages of the race – however when her fellow Kenyans and Ethiopian counterparts decided to dial the speed up a couple of notches, she merely got to the front and stayed there.
Australia’s Lauren Ryan finished the race in 13th. She briefly led during the middle stages, however was unable to maintain her rhythm once the African runners pushed the tempo.
Elsewhere, Spain’s Jordan Alejandro Diaz Fortun claimed the men’s triple jump final, jumping 17.86m ahead of Portugal’s Pedro Pichardo (17.84m), while German Yemisi Ogunleye (20m) got the better of New Zealand’s Maddison-Lee Wesche (19.86m, a personal best) in the women’s shot-put final.
The Dominican Republic is also likely to celebrate today, following Marileidy Paulino’s barnstorming win in the women’s 400m final.
Basketball – The US women’s basketball juggernaut shows no signs of slowing down.
Having not tasted Olympic defeat since 1992, the US entered Friday night’s game against Australia at the Bercy Arena as red-hot favourites.
The Americans lived up to this billing, defeating the Opals 85-64, and will aim for an eighth consecutive gold medal on Sunday at 9.30pm WST against France, which defeated Belgium 81-75 in the other semfinal.
After a bright start, the Opals were blunted offensively by an uncompromising US, which held them to 24 points across the second and third quarters.
Beach volleyball – Australia’s hopes of a bronze medal in women’s beach volleyball were dashed by the Swiss pairing of Tanja Hueberli and Nina Brunner, who were victorious 2-0 (21-17, 21-15) against Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy.
Boxing – Algeria’s Imane Khelif defeated Liu Yang in the women’s 66kg final, while Lazizbek Mullojonov took care of Azerbaijan counterpart Loren Berto Alfonso Dominguez in the men’s 92kg final.
Canoeing – Australians Tom Green and Jean van der Westhuyzen won bronze in the men’s K2 500m final.
Cycling – Perth rider Matthew Richardson was all smiles as he finished with silver in the men’s sprint behind Harrie Lavreysen of the Netherlands.
Diving – Maddison Keeney secured silver for Australia in the women’s 3m springboard final, with a score of 343.10.
It was a special moment for Keeney, who missed out on competing at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games due to injury.
China’s Yiwen Chen (376.00) and Yani Chang (318.75) were both alongside her on the podium.
Australian duo Cassiel Rousseau and Jaxon Bowshire have also qualified for the men’s 10m platform semifinal, which will be held on Saturday afternoon at 4pm WST.
Football – Spain’s incredible summer of silverware continued, following a gripping 5-3 extra time victory over host nation France in the men’s final at the Parc des Princes.
With his side leading 3-2, Spanish coach Santi Denia took off skipper Abel Ruiz in the 83rd minute and brought on Rayo Vallecano talent Sergio Camello.
Denia might not have known it at the time, but this substitution would play a tremendous role in the overall outcome.
The French received a lifeline in the third minute of injury time, when Jean-Phillipe Matata coolly converted from the penalty spot – however two pieces of magic from Camello in extra time ensured the Spanish men’s team won its first gold medal since 1992.
The success follows on from the senior team’s 2-1 win over England in the Euro 2024 final last month.
In the women’s bronze medal match at the Groupama Stadium, Germany defeated Spain 1-0, with Giulia Gwinn converting a spot kick in the 65th minute after being brought down in the box by Spanish ‘keeper Cata Coll.
Hockey – For the second time in as many days at the Yves du Manoir Stadium, the Netherlands secured hockey gold following a tense penalty shoot-out.
The Dutch women outlasted a spirited China 3-1 (1-1 at full-time), following Ning Ma’s penalty shuffle being saved by Netherlands goalkeeper Anne Veenendaal.
Despite the defeat, it was a remarkable effort from the Chinese, coached by Australia’s Alyson Annan, which qualified for the knockout stage despite losing three pool matches.
In the bronze medal match, Argentina also prevailed in a penalty shoot-out, beating Belgium 3-1 (2-2 at full time).
Table tennis – China’s dominance continued, convincingly defeating Sweden 3-0 in the gold medal team match.
