By Simon Jennings
PARIS (Reuters) – The curtain comes down on “Marchand mania” with the final swimming events at La Defense Arena on Sunday, just as the action at the Stade de France athletics track reaches fever pitch with the men’s 100 metres final.
Novak Djokovic takes on Carlos Alcaraz at Roland Garros in a blockbuster men’s singles tennis final, while Xander Schauffele will be hunting for back-to-back gold medals at the Le Golf National course.
Four gold medals are on offer in the pool, three Olympic titles will be decided in artistic gymnastics, while champions will also be crowned in shooting, archery, badminton, fencing and golf.
LYLES TAKES TO FIELD IN ATHLETICS
Stade de France is the place to be for the fans as it stages the men’s 100 metres semi-final and medal race where American Noah Lyles is chasing a rare Olympic sprint double.
Lyles has Jamaican Kishane Thompson hoping to spoil the party, along with Kenyan Ferdinand Omanyala, the second-fastest man this year.
Ukrainian Yaroslava Mahuchikh fights to add Olympic high jump gold to her World Championship title in the women’s event, after breaking the world record – a mark that had stood since 1987 – earlier this month with 2.10 metres.
SWIMMING COMPETITION ENDS
The swimming competition in Paris ends with four medal events after nine days of thrills, when the fastest woman in the pool will be crowned in the 50m freestyle final. World record holder Sarah Sjoestroem of Sweden is the favourite.
After winning gold in the 800m freestyle, Ireland’s Daniel Wiffen will look to complete the distance double having topped the 1,500m freestyle heats.
The night ends with men’s and women’s 4x100m medley relay finals, with the defending champion United States team under pressure from a Leon Marchand-inspired France.
MOUTH-WATERING CLASH IN TENNIS
The final day of the tennis competition at Roland Garros offers a mouth-watering men’s singles final as Serbia’s Djokovic tries to add a first Olympic gold medal to his 24 Grand Slam titles.
He will be up against Spain’s Alcaraz who will start favourite after beating Djokovic to win Wimbledon.
ARTISTIC GYMNASTS ON BARS AND VAULT
The gold medal in the women’s uneven bars will be awarded on a night when Simone Biles will be watching, not competing. French-born Algerian Kaylia Nemour will be vying for gold.
The men’s rings final and vault also take place.
MEN’S DOUBLES GOLD ON THE LINE IN BADMINTON
China take on Taiwan in what promises to be an electric encounter for gold in the men’s doubles final, while reigning men’s singles champion Viktor Axelsen faces relative newcomer Lakshya Sen from India.
WOMEN’S SKEET SHOOTING GOLD FINAL
Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Wei Meng of China will have to raise her level to make the final of the women’s skeet event, while Britain’s Amber Rutter looks safe behind Germany’s table-topper Nele Wissmer after three rounds of qualification.
Rutter has a point to prove, having missed out on the Tokyo Games after testing positive for COVID two days before the opening ceremony.
BASKETBALL WOMEN SEAL KNOCKOUT SPOTS
The final women’s group games will be played at Pierre Mauroy stadium in Lille, with eight of the 12 teams going through to the quarter-finals.
Canada take on Nigeria and Australia face already-qualified France, while the United States meet Germany, with both teams having also made it through to the knockout stages
MEN ON THE MARK AT ARCHERY
The men’s individual medals are awarded in archery at Invalides. Turkey’s Mete Gazoz will seek to defend his gold from Tokyo against competitors from South Korea, who have won every archery gold medal in Paris so far.
FOX ON THE HUNT AT CANOEING
Australia’s Jessica Fox resumes her quest for a clean sweep of the canoeing gold medals as she takes part in the kayak cross competition at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.
VERDICT OUT FOR 3X3 BASKETBALL MEN’S POOL
The men’s pool stage delivers its final verdict after defending champions Latvia locked up a semi-final spot.
The other top team from the pool go straight to the semi-finals, the next four teams play off for the other two spots in the last four and the last two are eliminated.
GOLD ON OFFER AT GOLF
The men’s golf competition concludes at Le Golf National near Paris, with the final round on Sunday.
American Schauffele is on track to repeat his Tokyo triumph, taking the joint lead with Spain’s Jon Rahm going into the final round, with Britain’s Tommy Fleetwood one shot back in third.
RARE CONTEST ON OFFER AT TABLE TENNIS
China’s Fan Zhendong faces Swede Truls Moregard in the first table tennis men’s singles final since 2004 that is not between two Chinese players.
Home favourite Felix Lebrun will fight it out for bronze with Brazil’s Hugo Calderano.
FAIR WINDS AT THE SAILING
Kiteboarding makes its debut on a day filled with racing in the six remaining events in Olympic sailing.
With more wind than during the first phase of the Games, the races are faster and more physically demanding, but without the frustrations of long delays for sailors.
(Reporting by Simon Jennings in Paris; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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