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Posted: 2024-08-10 02:13:51

More medals came tumbling in for Australia overnight, with two silvers and one bronze being added to the already impressive total.

But there was plenty more to keep an eye on around the Games, from the weird and the wonderful to the dramatic and the downright bad.

Here are some of the bits you might have missed from overnight.

1. World records fly in the women's sprint

The fastest women in the world on two wheels had a capacity crowd at Paris' National Velodrome in raptures.

The qualifying runs of the women's sprint were historic for all the right reasons. 

The top four qualifiers posted the fastest four times ever ridden over 200 metres. 

Germany's Lea-Sophie Friedrich held the world record at 10.154 seconds coming into Friday's session. 

Lea Sophie Friedrich on her bike in a velodrome, completing a sprint

Germany's Lea Sophie Friedrich watched her world record be broken, before then setting a new mark minutes later.(dpa via Getty Images: Jan Woitas)

That mark was bettered by New Zealand's Ellesse Andrews who flew into the record books with a 10.108.

Andrews enjoyed that world record for five minutes before Friedrich reclaimed the crown with a blistering 10.029.

What was a world record for Andrews was good enough to qualify third, with Emma Finucane of Great Britain posting a 10.067.

Sophie Capewell, another from Team GB, is in fourth with 10.132, rounding out a remarkable session of track cycling.

2. Aussie Green makes her move in the golf

After a dismal first day at the Olympic tournament, Hannah Green felt she "had thrown everything out of the window" by trying so hard to push for Australia's first golf medal.

Two days on, she's now "super excited" the medal hunt is back on with a vengeance after she used Friday's third-round moving day to surge back into the picture, thanks to holing out from 143 metres for a glorious eagle at the penultimate hole.

"I didn't really think I was in it at all," admitted the 27-year-old Perth ace as she started the day 11 shots off the pace being set by Swiss Morgane Metraux.

Hannah Green

Hannah Green started to make her move on Friday with an Olympic medal now within reach.(Getty Images: Andrew Redington)

"But obviously I've shot a low one today with a (six-under) 66 and I'm now sitting tied 11th at the moment, so I've put myself in contention to win a medal now."

And what a way to burst into contention. On the 17th, a regulation par-four seemed likely from the fairway until Green took out a 7-iron.

"I was in between clubs but decided to go with a longer club and cut it into the wind," she explained. 

"It just landed maybe five, six metres short and then obviously rolled in. I haven't holed out from quite a distance in a long time, [it] felt nice to not have to get the putter out and tap-in."

That eagle on the 17th, with a birdie to finish, thrust her to three under for the tournament, now just four off the medal positions.

3. Raygun goes viral for her 'different' performance

The introduction of breaking — or breakdancing to us journalists who see the word "breaking" and get an eye twitch — to the Paris Olympics was one that had plenty of people scratching their heads.

And the scratching only intensified after the performance of Australia's Rachael Gunn, or Raygun, as she's known on the streets.

The 36-year-old freely admitted after her campaign to win gold, that she had to put in a "different" effort to wow the judges because she couldn't physically keep up with her younger opponents.

From kangaroo hops to a floor routine that resembled Homer Simpson running around in circles, "different" it certainly was, and the performance went viral.

One tweet in particular from @BradfordPearson summed up the general vibe of the global audience.

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Raygun certainly made people sit up and notice her at the Paris Olympics.(Getty Images: Ezra Shaw)

"I'd like to personally thank Raygun for making millions of people worldwide think, 'Huh, maybe I can make the Olympics too,'" he wrote.

A university lecturer with a PhD in cultural studies, Raygun made no secret of the fact she wanted to push the limits of how her performance would play out.

"I am also trying to use this platform to say something artistically – about movement, about creativity, about the possibilities of the body," she said in an interview pre-Olympics with Macquarie University.

"This is particularly important as this may be the only time breaking is in the Olympics, as it's not included in the LA28 program. 

"With the breaking judging not requiring the performance of set moves, the Olympics stage offers a global platform to challenge not only what we think bodies can do, but how bodies can move."

It was certainly something, we'll give Raygun that.

4. Things get heated in the beach volleyball

There were wild scenes in the women's beach volleyball final on Saturday morning as Brazil defeated Canada under the Eiffel Tower.

Things got heated in the third set after Canada lost a point, with Brazil's Ana Patrícia Silva Ramos and Canada's Brandie Wilkerson exchanging some pretty fiery words at the net.

Volleyball anger

Ana Patricia Silva Ramos of Brazil and Brandie Wilkerson of Canada argue at the net during a women's beach volleyball final.(Getty Images: Matthew Stockman)

Wilkerson received a yellow card over the exchange after the chair umpire came down from his chair to separate the two athletes.

Meanwhile, the Olympic DJ started playing John Lennon's famous peace anthem Imagine to settle things down, with a crowd singalong eventually leading to some smiles from the two players.

5. Egyptian wrestler arrested on sexual assault charges

Egypt's Olympic committee said Tokyo bronze medal-winning wrestler Mohamed Ibrahim El-Sayed will be investigated by the sport's governing body for an alleged groping incident in Paris.

French prosecutors said on Friday, local time, it had arrested a 26-year-old Olympic wrestler from Egypt on sexual assault charges. The athlete, who was not named by prosecutors, was detained early Friday after allegedly groping a woman from behind outside a Paris cafe, according to a statement from the Paris prosecutor's office.

The Egyptian Olympic committee later said that el-Sayed would be investigated.

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Mohamed Ibrahim El-Sayed was arrested on sexual assault charges.(Getty Images: Maddie Meyer)

The athlete faces disciplinary measures, including a ban from domestic and international competitions, for "irresponsible behaviour" just hours after he had finished his Olympic competition and was scheduled to travel home, the statement also said.

El-Sayed is a Greco-Roman wrestler who competes at 67kg. He wrestled in one match in Paris, a 9-0 loss to Azerbaijan's Hasrat Jafarov. He is a five-time African champion and a two-time under-23 world champion.

6. Botswana enjoy an early mark to celebrate nation's first gold medal

Botswana's president was so happy to see his nation achieve a maiden Olympic gold medal, he gave his country the afternoon off.

President Mokgweetsi Masisi declared Friday afternoon a public holiday to celebrate Letsile Tebogo winning the 200m sprint in Paris.

The 21-year-old ran in spikes bearing his mother's date of birth, saying he carried her with him, in a tribute after she passed away in May.

Letsile Tebogo of Botswana reacts after winning gold in an Olympic sprint, looking up at the board to see his time

Letsile Tebogo became the first African to win the men's 200m sprint at an Olympic Games.(Reuters: Sarah Meyssonnier)

"His Excellency President Masisi wishes to state that, on behalf of all of the citizenry, he applauds Letsile and gives thanks unceasingly to his late mother," Masisi wrote in a statement posted on X.

Masisi said Tebogo's achievement was "deserving of the nation to pause and celebrate him in a most unique, appropriate and responsible manner that will be etched in the annals of the history of the Republic".

Masisi had posted on Thursday that his voice was "completely gone" from shouting encouragement at the television as he watched Tebogo storm to the win in 19.46 seconds.

7. Tebogo gets dragged into a relay

Good thing everyone had some time off thanks to the president — they got to watch Tebogo run again.

The newly minted Olympic champion decided to head to the track on Friday to loosen up and go through a small routine to help his body recover.

Think again mate.

Botswana's lead-off runner for the men's 4x400 metres relay Leungo Scotch got injured in the warm-up before his nation's heat.

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So Botswana needed a runner, and you won't believe who was trying to relax and enjoy his moment of glory.

"I thought I wasn't running today, so I just brought my shorts to the track so I could just ease up my body after last night, and do the warm-up, and give them motivation," Tebogo said.

"I went to the bathroom and when I came back I found that Leungo had his head down and was hurt. So I had to think what was the best thing to do. They told me, 'One of the guys has a knock, so can you please step up?'

"So I rushed back to my room, got my stuff and I made it."

Botswana took bronze in this event in Tokyo and can achieve another medal, with Tebogo helping them into Sunday morning's final.

"I believe I'll run the final tomorrow looking at the circumstances."

8. US men muff the handover in the relay

Sha'Carri Richardson made her first Olympic gold-medal moment memorable — giving the sprinters behind her the side-eye, then stomping her foot to the track on her final step across the finish line.

Afterwards, she moved aside to watch the US men do what they do best in the 4x100 relay — find a way to lose.

Richardson, who won silver in the 100m last weekend, powered from third to first in the anchor leg to lift the US to victory, then had a front-row seat to watch the men extend their streak to 20 years without a medal at the Games.

"I was very comfortable with these ladies," Richardson said of a foursome that includes her training partners, 100m bronze medallist Melissa Jefferson and Twanisha Terry, and 200m champion Gabby Thomas.

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The handover for the American men in the 4x100m relay was a disaster.(Getty Images: Patrick Smith)

The men were racing without Noah Lyles, who called it quits for the Olympics after winning the bronze medal in the 200m while fighting COVID.

This race unravelled on the first exchange, when Christian Coleman crashed into Kenny Bednarek, then actually ran by him as they were awkwardly passing the baton.

By the time Fred Kerley took the stick for the anchor lap, the US was in seventh place. They ended up being disqualified for the illegal pass. Not even Lyles could've overcome that.

"It just didn't happen," Coleman said. "Maybe we could have put in some more work. I just think in the moment it didn't happen."

9. Spain beats France in a classic

It's been a golden summer for Spanish soccer.

Less than a month after winning the European Championship, Spain followed up with a thrilling 5-3 extra-time victory in the Olympic men's final against France.

Sergio Camello's two goals eventually settled an epic match in Spain's favour after France fought back from 3-1 down to force extra time at Parc des Princes.

"We are the happiest children in the world," said Camello, who had come on as an 83rd-minute substitute and likely made himself a national icon.

Spain's coach Santi Denia said his players deserved to cry "tears of joy" after "such a long-suffering match".

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Sergio Camello celebrates sealing the gold medal for Spain in their men's soccer clash with France.(Getty Images: Justin Setterfield)

Long-suffering for the players, maybe. But for anyone watching, it will live in the memory as a classic.

France took an early lead through Enzo Millot but Spain replied with three goals in 10 minutes as Barcelona star Fermin Lopez Lopez struck twice and Alex Baena made it 3-1 in the 28th minute.

Roared on by a passionate home crowd, France mounted a late fightback in the second half after Maghnes Akliouche scored in the 79th. France pushed the game to extra time when Jean-Phillipe Mateta equalised from the penalty spot in the 93rd minute.

But the momentum swung once again when Camello lifted over France goalkeeper Guillaume Restes in the 100th and he got his second when racing away from his own half in the first minute of time added on.

The forward tore off his shirt and was quickly swamped by teammates and substitutes, who piled onto the field from the touchline in frenzied celebrations.

Sports content to make you think... or allow you not to. A newsletter delivered each Saturday.

ABC/Reuters/AP/AAP

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