Top five stories from day three of Paris Olympics 2024

Great Britain won their first gold of the Paris Olympics as part of a medal rush on day three of the 2024 Games.

Team GB have picked up four medals so far on Monday across equestrian, mountain biking and diving.

The maiden victory came as GB defended the team eventing title they won at the delayed Tokyo Games in 2021.

This was followed by Tom Pidcock overcoming a puncture and a partisan Parisian crowd to pull off a miraculous comeback and win gold in the men’s mountain biking.

There was also joy for Tom Daley as the British diver claimed his fifth Olympic medal.

Competing in his fifth and possibly last Games, Daley and Noah Williams won silver in the synchronised 10m platform.

Elsewhere on Monday, triathlon swimming training was again cancelled because of pollution in the River Seine.

Few gold medals at these Games will be won in such dramatic fashion as the men’s mountain biking by Pidcock.

The British rider, wearing the number one on his jersey, started the race as favourite for gold and was leading the way – until a puncture disrupted his plans.

It sent Pidcock down to ninth place and 40 seconds behind the leaders – but he would not be denied.

He battled his way back through the field and retook the lead, before a sensational to-and-fro battle with France’s Victor Koretzky.

In the final stages through the woods on Elancourt Hill, Pidcock surged back in front – narrowly avoiding a collision with Koretzky – and raced away to win a historic gold medal.

Team GB medalled in five of the six equestrian events at Tokyo 2020, including team eventing gold and an individual silver for Tom McEwen.

McEwen and Laura Collett were both part of the triumphant team in Tokyo and were joined in Paris by Ros Canter, with the trio well placed after the dressage and cross country phases.

Coming into the jumping phase on Monday GB were top of the team standings, although a jumping penalty against Canter in Sunday’s cross country cut their lead over hosts France to just 4.7 penalty points.

It also dropped Canter from sixth to 24th in the individual standings, meaning McEwen replaced Canter in sixth, while Collett was second.

There was no repeat of Sunday’s drama though as McEwen, Canter and Collett held their nerve to secure gold.

The top 25 in the individual standings qualified for the jumping final on Monday afternoon, where Collett collected her second medal of the day with a bronze.

Germany’s Michael Jung took gold, while McEwen suffered heartbreak as he finished fourth.

After taking a two-year break from diving following his gold medal at the Tokyo Games, Tom Daley decided to return to action when his eldest son Robbie, six, asked to see him compete at an Olympics.

Daley was chosen to be one of Team GB’s flagbearers, alongside rower Helen Glover, and the 10m synchro was his one chance to win a medal in Paris as he is not competing in the individual events.

He and Noah Williams were impressive across all six of their dives but world champions Lian Junjie and Yang Hao of China proved a class above to claim gold.

A silver medal means Daley has completed the Olympic set, having won three bronze and one gold medal since making his debut as a 14-year-old at Beijing 2008.

And as the British pair stood on the podium, Daley blew kisses towards his family.

Throughout the years, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have had titanic battles across multiple arenas. Their 60th – and possibly final – meeting was not a classic.

They were drawn together in the second round of the men’s singles tennis, and Djokovic – the top seed in the competition – eased through in straight sets.

The Serbian won the first five games, and although Nadal battled back as best he could, Djokovic had too much in a 6-1 6-4 victory.

It extends Djokovic’s lead in their rivalry to 31 victories over Nadal’s 29 – and more importantly, keeps him on track for an Olympic gold medal, the one career honour which has so far eluded him.

In Monday morning’s swimming heats, Freya Colbert and Katie Shanahan both qualified for the women’s 400m individual medley final, which will take place at 19:30 BST.

World record holder Summer McIntosh of Canada qualified third fastest for the final, behind the United States’ Emma Weyant and Katie Grimes. Ireland’s Ellen Walshe also progressed.

British pair Kathleen Dawson and Medi Harris narrowly missed out on the women’s 100m backstroke semi-finals as Ireland’s Danielle Hill secured the 16th and final spot, while Daniel Wiffen qualified fastest for the men’s 800m freestyle final.

Elsewhere on Monday morning, GB’s Kirsty Gilmour won her badminton opener, beating Azerbaijan’s Keisha Fatimah Azzahra 21-11.

Fellow Briton Liam Pitchford enjoyed a 4-0 win over Fiji’s Vicky Wu in the men’s table tennis, while Team GB’s men’s eight and women’s eight both won their respective rowing heats to qualify for the finals.

However, British judoka Lele Nairne was knocked out in the first round of the women’s 57kg event by Georgia’s Eteri Liparteliani, who won by ippon in under two minutes.