Your guide to day 12 at the Paris Olympics – Matthew Hudson-Smith goes for gold
After a tough Tuesday, Team GB will be hoping for more medals on Wednesday.
It was a rather disappointing Tuesday for medals, but hopes are high for some winners on Wednesday for Team GB.
There are medal chances at the athletics, cycling and sailing today, with the action starting for the first time in the women’s golf and the taekwondo.
WOLVERHAMPTON WONDER
The 29-year-old reached the medal race at the Rio 2016 Games and has said his last-place finish in Brazil was the wake up call he needed to start taking his sport more seriously.
Injury forced him to miss the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, but he enters these Games in fine form as the world silver medallist and the man with the fastest time at his distance this year.
OLYMPIC SMOKE RINGS
Fleetwood took silver in the men’s competition at Le Golf National and Hull – ranked 11 in the world – and 2018 Women’s British Open champion Hall are capable of mounting strong challenges.
However, Hull – who caused a stir by smoking at the US Open in June – will have to keep her cigarettes in the locker room as lighting up on the course has been banned by Olympic organisers.
CYCLING
Great Britain will aim to take back the prestigious men’s team pursuit crown but will come up against an Australia team who took more than a second off the world record in Tuesday’s first round.
With Charlie Tanfield stepping in for Dan Bigham, who is feeling the impact of a training crash on Friday, Ethan Hayter put in a huge turn to help Team GB clock a time of three minutes 42.151, but they then watched from track centre as Australia stopped the clock at a blistering 3:40.730.
The first round and finals of the women’s competition are both on the agenda too. Team GB, racing here without the injured Katie Archibald, were third fastest in qualifying as Elinor Barker, Josie Knight, Anna Morris and Jessica Roberts set a time of 4:06.710, two seconds off a blistering run from New Zealand.
The action from the velodrome starts at 12.45pm (11.45am BST).
TAEKWONDO
The Olympic taekwondo competition gets under way at the Grand Palais at 9am (8am BST) in Paris on Wednesday as Great Britain look to continue their run of success in the sport.
No Britons are in action on the opening day, but two-time champion Jade Jones and former world champion Bradly Sinden are limbering up for their respective competitions on Thursday.
Jones, who fell at the first hurdle in Tokyo three years ago, has endured a tough build-up to the Games as she battled to avoid a ban following a missed drugs test. Sinden meanwhile will start as one of the favourites in the men’s -68kg division.
SAIL CLOSE TO THE WIND
Britain could be in contention for two medals on the water – if the wind blows in Marseille.
It has been a frustrating regatta so far for the sailors, with numerous races postponed or cancelled, including the men’s dinghy medal race on Tuesday.
Britain’s Michael Beckett sits in fourth in the men’s dinghy which resumes at 1.13pm (12.13pm BST) while John Gimson and Anna Burnet have moved up to third in the mixed multihull class ahead of the medal race at 2.43pm (1.43pm BST).
TOUGH TUESDAY
Two silvers (Josh Kerr in the 1,500 metres and the men’s sprint team at the velodrome) and two bronzes (Sky Brown on her skateboard and Lewis Richardson in the boxing) moved the medal tally for Paris 2024 up to 46.
