More golden glory was enjoyed by the New Zealanders on Day 10, as Finn Butcher claimed canoe slalom KX gold. On top of a silver in the women’s cycling team sprint, it was a great day out for the kiwis.
Lisa Carrington will be making her Paris debut on Day 11, first in the canoe sprint K-4 500m before jumping to the K-2 500m, marking what will be another exciting day for the kiwis.
Tuesday, 9:00pm
Germany have been impressive so far in Paris, cruising through their group to finish on top with a 3-0 record. That first place finish has earned them a showdown against Greece, and the reigning World Cup winners will be feeling confident of their chances. Their first-up 97-77 victory over Japan was about as convincing as it gets, running out to an early lead and holding onto that buffer until the final buzzer. It wasn’t the same story in their next game, as Brazil fought back from an early deficit to tie the scores at 40-40 at halftime, however, the Germans dominated the third quarter to ultimately win the game and set up a thrilling Group B decider against France. It was another hot start from the Germans and an utterly dominant second quarter, which they won 24-9, all but guaranteed them the win. Franz Wagner has been elite, averaging 21.7 points, while Dennis Schroder has been arguably the best guard in Paris, having averaged 19.7 points and nine assists per game.
All of this adds up to a very difficult task ahead for Greece, but Giannis Antetokounmpo would disagree. The Greek Freak led his nation to an impressive victory against Australia, posting 20 points, seven boards and six assists to earn a 77-71 victory and, with that, second place in Group A. After opening defeats against Canada and Spain, chances of Greek qualifying were looking slim, going up against a fancied Boomers team, but the defensive ball pressure of Greece and the sheer size and athleticism of Antetokounmpo led Greece past the Aussies. However, they face a much more complete team on Tuesday night, and there is some more defensive versatility among this German team to try and contain Giannis. Germany won’t have it all their way, though, and this one is heading for the under. Two of Germany’s three games in Paris have fallen below 162 total points, as have two of three of Greece’s games.
Wednesday, 5:55am
The Netherlands stamped their mark on this event in Tuesday morning’s qualifiers, recording a tournament record time of 41.279 seconds. Finishing over half a second in front of their nearest contenders, Great Britain, it’s quite the message to send ahead of the deciding day on Wednesday morning, and the team of Roy van den Berg, Harrie Lavreysen and Jeffrey Hoogland look close to unstoppable in this event.
As mentioned, Great Britain were the second-fastest in qualifying, with a time of 41.862 seconds, which will have given them a bit of a confidence boost. With Great Britain having won the most gold medals in this event’s history (3) there will be some form of pressure on them to come home, but perhaps the team with the best chance of beating the Dutch will be the Australians.
They managed to upset the men from the Netherlands in the 2022 World Championships and finished runners up in last year’s rematch. Great Britain have been solid improvers since then, but the Australians should be second-favourites in this market, and as $8.00 outsiders, are worth a small play to take the gold.
Wednesday, 6:15am
Greece’s Miltiadis Tentoglou will look to become the first man since Carl Lewis to successfully defend a long jump gold medal early on Wednesday morning. And good luck stopping him.
Tentoglou has been on a tear over the past 12 months and that was best evidenced just two months ago when he lept a massive 8.65m to record the world’s longest jump since 2019. Having won the World Indoor Championships and the European Championships in 2024, he’s ready to add a gold medal to this year’s collection of accolades.
The closest contenders look to be Switzerland’s Simon Ehammer and Jamaica’s Wayne Pinnock. Both have recorded 8.41m efforts this year and Ehammer — also a decathlete — has set his sights solely on the long jump, indicating that he thinks he has more in him and that he is capable of contending with Tentoglou.
Pinnock was the runner up in last year’s World Championships, with his 8.50m leap falling just 2cm short of Tentoglou’s winning mark. That will give him confidence heading into this massive event, while his compatriot Carey McLeod will be there or thereabouts, having posted an 8.38m this year and an 8.40m last year.
The second-favourite in the betting market is Italy’s Mattia Furlani. The 19-year-old has been a rapid riser recently and picked up silver at the World Indoor Championships with a best jump of 8.22. His best mark of the season came just two months ago, leaping 8.38m, but Ehammer and Pinnock have that extra experience under their belts which makes them better value to medal.
Best: To Win A Medal — Simon Ehammer ($2.75)
Next: To Win A Medal — Wayne Pinnock ($2.75)
Wednesday, 6:50am
One of the most anticipated races on the track in Paris is the men’s 1500m final. That is largely thanks to the great rivalry that is Jakob Ingebrigtsen vs Josh Kerr.
Ingebrigtsen is the defending champion and comes into this meeting in scorching hot form, having recorded the fourth-fastest time ever less than a month ago in Monaco. The 3:26.73 puts the Norwegian just 0.73 seconds back from Hicham El Guerrouj’s world record of 3:26.00 and gives him the favourite tag for Wednesday morning’s race.
Kerr, on the other hand, is the defending world champion, edging out Ingebrigtsen in last year’s final. Although, since that race, the Norwegian has gone undefeated and that win over Ingebrigtsen was the only head-to-head victory that Kerr has ever recorded against his foe.
Back of that pair will be the likes of Kenya’s Timothy Cheruiyot, the USA’s Yared Nuguse and his compatriots Cole Hocker and Hobbs Kessler, but in reality, this is a two-horse race. With Ingebrigtsen’s head-to-head dominance over Kerr, the race is his to lose and it’s surprising to see him near even money to take out gold. That’s good value for the uber-talented Norwegian.
Wednesday, 7:40am
A superstar showdown is upon us on Wednesday morning. Shericka Jackson — the second-fastest women ever over 200m — has sadly had to withdraw from the event due to injury, but the clash between the USA’s Gabby Thomas and the newly-crowned 100m gold medallist Julien Alfred will be blockbuster viewing.
Thomas is one year removed from her personal best time of 21.60 and is the fastest in the world over this distance so far in 2024, clocking a 21.78 at the USA trials before claiming victory at the Diamond League meeting in London just two weeks ago. That puts the American firmly in pole position, but Alfred will have something to say about that.
After winning Saint Lucia’s first-ever medal by taking out gold in the women’s 100m, Alfred will be feeling like anything is possible. Although Alfred was chased down by Thomas in last month’s Diamond League showdown, there was just 4/100ths of a second in it and riding the wave of form that the Saint Lucian is on, there are plenty of reasons to believe that this is Thomas’ time.
McKenzie Long is the owner of the second-fastest time in the world in 2024, coming out on top of the NCAA Championships with a time of 21.78, before running third in the USA trials, behind Thomas and Brittany Brown.
Best: To Win Silver Or Gold — Julien Alfred ($1.25)
Next: To Win A Medal — McKenzie Long ($2.75)
Men’s Canoe Sprint
Max Brown, Kurtis Imrie, Hamish Legarth & Grant Clancy
K-4 500m Heat
Tuesday, 7:30pm
Max Brown, Kurtis Imrie, Hamish Legarth & Grant Clancy
K-4 500m Quarterfinal*
Tuesday, 11:10pm
Max Brown & Grant Clancy
C-2 500m Heat
Tuesday, 8:30pm
Max Brown & Grant Clancy
C-2 500m Quarterfinal*
Tuesday, 8:30pm
Kurtis Imrie & Hamish Legarth
K-2 500m Heat
Tuesday, 9:30pm
Kurtis Imrie & Hamish Legarth
K-2 500m Quarterfinal*
Wednesday, 12:30am
Women’s Canoe Sprint
Alicia Hoskin, Lisa Carrington, Tara Vaughan & Olivia Brett
K-4 500m Heat
Tuesday, 8:00pm
Lucy Matehaere & Aimee Fisher | Lisa Carrington & Alicia Hoskin
K-2 500m Heat
Tuesday, 10:10pm
Lucy Matehaere & Aimee Fisher | Lisa Carrington & Alicia Hoskin
K-2 500m Quarterfinal*
Wednesday, 12:10am
Women’s Athletics
Maia Ramsden
1500m Heat
Tuesday, 8:05pm
Women’s Wrestling
Tayla Ford
Freestyle (68kg) Repechage*
Tuesday, 9:00pm
Tayla Ford
Freestyle (68kg) Bronze Medal Match*
Wednesday, 6:50am
Men’s Sailing
Lukas Walton-Kleim
Kite Surf Races 6-10
Tuesday, 10:03pm
Thomas Saunders
One-person Dinghy Medal Race
Wednesday, 1:43am
Mixed Sailing
Erica Dawson & Micah Wilkinson
Nacra Races 10-12
Tuesday, 10:05pm
Women’s Sailing
Justina Kitchen
Kite Surf Races 6-10
Tuesday, 10:23pm
Men’s Sport Climbing
Julian David
Qualification Seeding
Tuesday, 11:00pm
Julian David
Qualification Elimination
Tuesday, 11:40pm
Women’s Cycling
Ally Wollaston, Bryony Botha, Emily Shearman & Nicole Shields
Team Pursuit Qualifying
Wednesday, 3:30am
Men’s Cycling
Tom Sexton, Keegan Hornblow, Aaron Gate & Campbell Stewart
4000m Team Pursuit First Round
Wednesday, 5:14am