Around The Games: Day Eight of Paris 2024

Paris 2024 03 Aug 24

Team GB's athletes were in action over land and sea on Day Eight of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

From teenage archers to a new Olympic event, there was plenty to keep up with on the second Saturday of the Games.

Havers bows out

Megan Havers shone on Olympic debut at Les Invalides, reaching the round of 16 before being eliminated by eventual champion Lim Sihyeon of South Korea.

The 16-year-old only sat her GCSEs in May but was Team GB’s best performer in the women’s individual competition.

Lim’s victory marked her third title of Paris 2024, but Havers wasn’t going to make it easy for the world record holder.

“I was very nervous, but I just said to myself 'make it hard for her, put up a fight'”, Havers said. “I'm really proud of myself, being 16 and reaching the top 16 at the Olympics.

“It's definitely an achievement but it's a bit sore right now to lose.

“Being in the village with all the best athletes in the world, it definitely made me want it more.

“There are more Olympics to come, I will train for that. I have big dreams.

“I had a selfie with Tom Daley and Andy Murray sent all the GB archers a good luck message, which was pretty cool.”

Netherlands await in women’s hockey

Team GB’s women’s hockey team lost 3-0 to Argentina, to set up a quarter-final tie with the Netherlands.

Progression to the knockout stages was already secured prior to the contest thanks to a 5-2 win over the USA but a third defeat of the Games sealed a fourth-place finish in Pool B.

There was nothing to separate the sides at half-time but two quickfire goals from Valentina Raposo Ruiz de los Llanos and Agustina Albertario put Argentina in control.

Zoe Diaz de Armas added a third five minutes from time to confirm a knockout meeting with the Netherlands for the third straight Games, at the third different stage following final victory at Rio 2016 and semi-final defeat at Tokyo 2020.

“We’ll put up a good fight, that’s for sure,” said Flora Peel. “The Dutch never like playing us at the best of times, especially not here.

“We’ll definitely be there, we’ll be there fighting, we’ll do everything we can to make sure we can keep playing in this amazing stadium.”

Pidcock leads British pack on the road

Two-time Olympic champion Tom Pidcock finished 13th in the men’s cycling road race to lead the British quartet of riders around the streets of Paris.

Pidcock, who successfully defended mountain bike gold earlier in the week, finished one minute and 50 seconds off winner Remco Evenepoel.

Stephen Williams finished 31st, Fred Wright 43rd, and Josh Tarling 47th.

“We were a bit afraid it was going to be chaos but it kind of played out like normal," reflected Pidcock.

"It was either going to be chaos with no-one able to control as we have such small teams and no radios, or it was going to be like that where the favourites work together and control the race until we came close to the finish.”

All Brits progress in kayak cross

Joe Clarke, Adam Burgess, Mallory Franklin, and Kimberley Woods all progressed to the elimination stage of the men's and women's kayak cross.

Clarke finished first in his round one race, matching Woods and Franklin earlier in the afternoon.

Burgess finished fourth in his race but fought back to come through the repechage.

“It doesn’t really matter what lane you have," said Woods. "I know I’m strong regardless of where I go. Nice to go under the bridge without the girls being on me."

Sills sails just wide of a medal

Sam Sills just missed out on the final of the men’s iQFOiL competition, bowing out at the semi-final stage.

The Cornish sailor successfully navigated the quarter-final with a second-place finish before finishing fourth in the semi-final to narrowly miss out on a medal.

He said: “I’m elated I think. I’m a bit disappointed but I’m happy to have made it this far and I’m proud to be here.

“I was just in the moment, enjoying it, giving it everything I had. I just want to thank everyone who has helped me get here and supported me. The race was so intense, it felt like I was inches away from a medal. In a split second at the top the race was gone. I don’t know if I’m gutted or not yet, it was all just a big blur.”

Hannah Snellgrove sits third after the second day of racing in the ILCA 6 competition after winning two of Saturday’s three races.

“It's obviously really cool, sort of feels like I can tick 'win a race in the Olympics' off a bucket list somewhere,” she said.

“We've got two more days of fleet racing to go so just keep chipping away.”

Michael Beckett moved up to second in the ILCA 7 competition thanks to two fourth-place finishes.

He said: “I had to scrap today, there were times when it was looking really good, but then you could lose time quickly which I did in both races. I persisted and got two fourths.”

John Gimson and Anna Burnet sit sixth in the Nacra 17 competition while Chris Grube and Vita Heathcote are fifth in the 420 class.

Sportsbeat 2024

Tags