Top five stories so far on day four of the Paris Olympics

A  heatwave has hit Paris  on day four of the 2024 Olympics while there has been more disruption with the triathlon events.

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A heatwave has hit Paris on day four of the 2024 Olympics – and there has also been more disruption with the triathlon events.

With the water quality in the River Seine still deemed too poor to swim in, the men’s race has been put back to Wednesday and remains in doubt.

Elsewhere, after last week’s withdrawal of Charlotte Dujardin, Great Britain’s equestrian team began their attempt for dressage glory.

Matt Richards – one of six GB medallists on Monday – survived a scare in the swimming, while rowing pair Mathilda Hodgkins Byrne and Rebecca Wilde also progressed.

Nathan Hales is going for shooting gold this afternoon but GB’s interest in the tennis singles ended as Jack Draper faded in the sweltering heat. There was more heartache in the judo – and for defending BMX champion Charlotte Worthington.

Men’s triathlon & surfing postponed

Triathlon pontoons on the River Seine for the 2024 Paris Olympics

PA Media

The men’s triathlon was due to start at 07:00 BST on Tuesday, with the swimming leg taking place in the River Seine.

But after swimming training for triathletes was cancelled on Sunday and Monday, tests revealed the water quality still did not reach the required standard.

Heavy rainfall in Paris on Friday and Saturday has caused the water quality to diminish and the men’s race has been put back to Wednesday at 09:45 BST.

The women’s event is due to start at 07:00, but organisers say both races only have a 60% chance of going ahead.

Friday remains a back-up date for both races and, as a last resort, organisers say the event could be contested as a duathlon – just the cycling and running legs.

The surfing is being held in Tahiti, French Polynesia, and Tueday’s sessions have also been postponed, due to adverse weather conditions.

The events were scheduled to begin at 18:00 BST. Technical delegates are set to decide on the next sessions at 18:45.

Dressage begins after Dujardin withdrawal

Team GB won medals in five of the six equestrian events at Tokyo 2020 but their preparations for Paris were jolted last week after a video emergedthat appeared to show Charlotte Dujardin “excessively” whipping a horse.

Britain’s joint-most decorated female Olympian pulled out of the 2024 Games and was replaced by Becky Moody.

Moody joins Charlotte Fry and Carl Hester, who were Dujardin’s team-mates as they won team bronze in Tokyo.

The dressage competition began on Tuesday morning, with world number 10 Hester ranked third after the first 10 qualifying runs.

Moody is in action at 16:11 BST, while Fry – the world number three – will be first to go as qualification continues on Wednesday (10:00 BST).

Richards survives swimming scare

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Matt Richards narrowly missed out on swimming gold in the men’s 200m freestyle on Monday evening.

The 21-year-old was back in action this morning in the 100m freestyle heats and only just made it through to the semi-finals.

Richards came fifth in his heat and his time of 48.40 seconds was fractionally inside the slowest qualifying time of 48.41.

Team-mate Jacob Whittle also came fifth in his heat but just missed out on the top 16 qualifiers.

Richards was rested for the 4x200m freestyle heats and a GB team consisting of James Guy, Jack McMillan, Kieran Bird and Tom Dean were the fastest in qualifying.

The final takes place at 21:15 BST, and GB can bring in Richards and/or Duncan Scott, who was fourth in the individual final.

Anna Hopkin came fourth in her women’s 100m freestyle heat and will race in the semi-finals at 20:33.

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GB through to rowing & shooting finals

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British rowers Mathilda Hodgkins Byrne and Rebecca Wilde finished just behind defending champions Romania in their semi-final to qualify for the women’s double sculls final on Thursday.

British shooter Nathan Hales was in the top six of the men’s trap qualifying so is through to the final, from 14:30 BST.

GB’s men’s hockey team remain unbeaten after three group games after pulling off a late fightback against the Netherlands.

The world’s number one ranked team led 2-0 with eight minutes to play before Lee Morton scored twice for GB to earn a 2-2 draw.

Early exits for GB trio

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Chelsie Giles was in tears after a second-round loss on Sunday and team-mate Lucy Renshall was also emotional after being knocked out of the second round in the women’s 63 kg category.

Renshall edged past Australia’s Katharina Haecker in the first round but then suffered a golden-score loss to ex-GB team-mate Lubjana Piovesana, who switched to Austria in January 2023.

In the tennis, British men’s number one Jack Draper lost 7-6 (7-3) 3-6 2-6 to American seventh seed Taylor Fritz in the second round.

Meanwhile, American second seed Coco Gauff fell to a shock defeat against Croatia’s Donna Vekic in the second round of the women’s singles.

Greek basketball star Giannis Antetokounmpo led the scoring with 27 points but Spain triumphed 84–77 so the NBA’s two-time Most Valuable Player is still waiting for his first Olympic win.

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