Paris Olympics 2024 – Day 2 as it happened: Jessica Fox wins kayak gold; Matildas defeat Zambia 6-5; Ariarne Titmus qualifies fastest for 200m freestyle final

I didn’t think the opening ceremony could be topped (unlike many of my colleagues in the press, particularly those with affiliations to Team Great Britain, I thought it was wonderful).

Then Australia won three gold medals on Day 1, including Arnie in the race of the century.

Now we find ourselves at the end of Day 2, where we’ve seen so many weird and wonderful things (hey, the Matildas game was both) that I needed to write this farewell post just to remember them all.

I really do hope you’ve enjoyed our live coverage. It’s been my pleasure, and that of my colleagues Rob Harris and Chloe Saltau, to bring you all the updates from Paris – as fast as our little hands could type them.

Some key storylines to recap for you:

• Jess Fox is an Olympic gold medallist once more. This one is particularly special; kayaking is her pet event, and she’d never won it at three consecutive Games. It was utterly superb.
• The Matildas’ campaign is alive after a thrilling, absurd, maddening and exhilarating 11-goal match that nearly led to several serious medical episodes for one or two bloggers at Paris HQ.
• Ariarne Titmus is the fastest qualifier for the women’s 200m freestyle final. But there’s nothing in it. The new race of the century – against Mollie O’Callaghan – awaits.

This was the gold medal Jess Fox really wanted.Credit: Getty Images

• Chloe Covell, the 14-year-old street skateboarder we all fell in love with, just couldn’t quite put it together in the final after a promising earlier run. She’ll be back in LA.
• A random bloke in budgies (Dad Bod Man) made a cameo at the pool and helped himself to a lap. Well played fella.
• There’s more trouble with water quality in the Seine. The triathletes’ training session was cancelled after heavy rain raised the pollution threat.
• Simone Biles made her return and it was stunning. The crowd agreed. Particularly Tom Cruise.

Simone Biles outshone the celebrities who turned up to watch her.Credit: AP

Scroll down to the previous post for a decent run-down of what to expect on Day 3.

But, for now, it’s time for une bière. Perhaps deux.

Au revoir.

I know we signed off already, so consider this a nightcap.

I didn’t think the opening ceremony could be topped (unlike many of my colleagues in the press, particularly those with affiliations to Team Great Britain, I thought it was wonderful).

Then Australia won three gold medals on Day 1, including Arnie in the race of the century.

Now we find ourselves at the end of Day 2, where we’ve seen so many weird and wonderful things (hey, the Matildas game was both) that I needed to write this farewell post just to remember them all.

I really do hope you’ve enjoyed our live coverage. It’s been my pleasure, and that of my colleagues Rob Harris and Chloe Saltau, to bring you all the updates from Paris – as fast as our little hands could type them.

Some key storylines to recap for you:

• Jess Fox is an Olympic gold medallist once more. This one is particularly special; kayaking is her pet event, and she’d never won it at three consecutive Games. It was utterly superb.
• The Matildas’ campaign is alive after a thrilling, absurd, maddening and exhilarating 11-goal match that nearly led to several serious medical episodes for one or two bloggers at Paris HQ.
• Ariarne Titmus is the fastest qualifier for the women’s 200m freestyle final. But there’s nothing in it. The new race of the century – against Mollie O’Callaghan – awaits.

This was the gold medal Jess Fox really wanted.Credit: Getty Images

• Chloe Covell, the 14-year-old street skateboarder we all fell in love with, just couldn’t quite put it together in the final after a promising earlier run. She’ll be back in LA.
• A random bloke in budgies (Dad Bod Man) made a cameo at the pool and helped himself to a lap. Well played fella.
• There’s more trouble with water quality in the Seine. The triathletes’ training session was cancelled after heavy rain raised the pollution threat.
• Simone Biles made her return and it was stunning. The crowd agreed. Particularly Tom Cruise.

Simone Biles outshone the celebrities who turned up to watch her.Credit: AP

Scroll down to the previous post for a decent run-down of what to expect on Day 3.

But, for now, it’s time for une bière. Perhaps deux.

Au revoir.

OK, OK, I know you’re thirsty for more Olympics goodness. Bear with me.

From this evening (AEST) we’re into Day 3 of competition. Wait. Day 3? Already? It’s been a blast.

Here are some highlights:

• Women’s basketball: The Opals kick off their campaign at 7pm against Nigeria.
• Men’s hockey: An hour before that, the Kookaburras play Ireland.
• Women’s rugby sevens: Maddison Levi scored seven tries on day one of the comp. Australia won comfortably against South Africa and Great Britain. Next? Ireland.
• Women’s 200m freestyle final: Ariarne Titmus v Mollie O’Callaghan. This is the big one. Set your alarm – they race at 5.48am (AEST) on Tuesday.
• Equestrian: Christopher Burton is a genuine medal chance in the individual eventing. After two of three rounds, he’s in third place. Shane Rose is also in the mix.

Christopher Burton and Shadow Man compete at the Palace of Versailles on the second day of the eventing competition.Credit: Getty Images

We’ll also keep an eye on the diving, the men’s canoe final, a pair of beach volleyball matches (any excuse to get down to the Eiffel Tower), as well as rowing and tennis. And in the swimming – watch out for Canadian superstar Summer McIntosh in the women’s 400m individual medley.

Get your rest. We’ll see you back here soon.

I sure hope you’re having as much fun this morning as I am.

What another incredible day of action at the Games in Paris.

To that end, I’d like to direct you to the following stories to get you across the biggest storylines from Day 2:

The 10-minute game that helped Jess Fox calm her nerves before the gold she craved

This was the gold medal Jess Fox really wanted.Credit: Getty Images

The Matildas faced certain disaster. Everything changed in 31 minutes

A hop, skip and a win: Matildas’ Michelle Heyman celebrates beating Zambia.Credit: AP

The 200m freestyle is impossible to predict. Now it’s Arnie’s to lose — but only just

Credit: Getty Images

Bonus content: Once you’re done, do yourself a favour and get up to speed on the bloke who strolled onto the pool deck in a pair of budgies – Dad Bod Man, as we’re calling him – and hopped in for a lap.

It’s going to be a hell of a final tomorrow morning.

Emma McKeon has given a tearful interview after her individual Olympic swansong in Paris.

McKeon was asked by Nine’s Ellie Cole how she felt about coming to the end of a career that has yielded six gold medals, a haul with which she surpasses Ian Thorpe as Australia’s most successful Olympian. She had finished seventh in the 100m butterfly, which finally made her impending retirement feel real.

“I’ve tried not to think about it much until now,” McKeon told Cole as she broke down in tears. “It’s always going to be emotional [to finish] something that’s brought me so much joy.”

McKeon isn’t someone who talks about herself much, so it’s pretty moving to watch such a raw interview with the woman who has been so central to the Dolphins’ success in the pool.

Jess Fox sat back and tried to think of a five-letter word. Having snuck through to the women’s kayak singles final, not without the drama of a two-second penalty, she needed to zone out and focus on snaring that goal.

No recurring letters. Loose clothing… Smock.

“Because I was last off for the semi and one of the first off in the finals, I just had to chill out,” says Fox, beaming after winning her second Olympic gold and fifth medal in a fourth Games.

“I just kind of did the Wordle of the day for 10 minutes.”

Read the full piece here.

Six one-hundredths of a second.

Ariarne Titmus won the second semi-final of the women’s 200m freestyle in 1:54.64, little more than a fingernail ahead of her Australia teammate and arch rival Mollie O’Callaghan (1:54.70).

Arnie’s all smiles.Credit: AP

This, as you know, has become one of swimming’s great races – and greatest battles between two Aussies with the same coach.

Arnie, the reigning Olympic champion, had her world record lowered by O’Callaghan – then snatched it back at trials in June (a race in where both swimmers broke the previous mark).

Advantage, Ariarne Titmus.

Arnie has qualified fastest for tomorrow morning’s blockbuster women’s 200m freestyle final – narrowly beating out fellow Australian Mollie O’Callaghan in this morning’s semi at Paris La Defense Arena.

And set your alarm: the biggest race of the Games is due to commence at 5.48am (AEST) on Tuesday (we’d set it a bit earlier than that, you’ll need time to make some coffee and catch up on the blog).

That’s it for the big races this morning. There’s plenty more to come tomorrow. And at the risk of being a broken record here, you really do need to immerse yourself in this epic visual story about how the 200m breaks down.

Wow. Italian swimmer Nicolo Martinenghi has caused a boilover in the men’s 100m breaststroke, denying Britain’s Adam Peaty an historic Olympic three-peat. Not only that but Peaty had to share silver with young American Nic Fink; not even the sophisticated timing system could separate them and it was declared a dead heat for second.

China’s Qin Haiyang, the world champion, was nowhere to be seen as they hit the wall, fading to seventh.

Don’t move.. the Titmus-O’Callaghan rivalry resumes next.