PARIS: Teddy Riner became the first judoka to win four Olympic gold medals on an action-packed day in Paris on Friday as flamboyant American sprinter Sha’Carri Richa­rdson cruised through her 100m heat and Spanish star Carlos Alcaraz stormed into the men’s tennis final.

Riner sent a partisan crowd at the Champs de Mars Arena into near madness when he left it late to beat world number one Kim Minjong of South Korea and claim the title in the +100kg category.

The 35-year-old, judo’s most decorated athlete at the Olympics with six medals, now holds the French Summer Olympics record of four titles after claiming individual golds at the London and Rio Games and a team title in Tokyo.

Riner, a record 11-time world champion, lit the Olympic cauldron alongside Marie-Jose Perec in Paris and was a flag-bearer for his country at the 2016 Rio Games.

And the hometown icon, widely considered the greatest judoka of all time, did not disappoint, finishing off his opponent with an ippon to secure the gold and spark frenzied celebrations.

“It is crazy, I am so happy. It shows that work pays off. I often said it but now it is just pure happiness, pure happiness,” Riner, who hails from the overseas department of Guadeloupe, said. “When it’s written, it’s written, that’s all I have to say. It is crazy.”

Earlier Brazilian Beatriz Souza won the gold medal in the women’s over 78kg category, beating Raz Hershko of Israel who took silver.

At the Stade de France, the 24-year-old Richardson launched her campaign to become the first American woman since Gail Devers in 1996 to win Olympic 100m gold.

She burst out of the blocks smoothly and was quickly into her stride before pulling away early on, easing down to cross the line in 10.94sec.

In the hotly awaited men’s 1,500m, reigning Olympic gold medallist Jakob Ingebrigtsen and world champion Josh Kerr stayed on track to resume their rivalry, sailing into Sunday’s semi-finals.

On the iconic red clay of Roland Garros, Spain’s Alcaraz swept aside Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-1, 6-1 in just 75 minutes, with rival Novak Djokovic potentially standing in his path to gold.

Long-awaited triumph

At the Bercy Arena, Britain’s Bryony Page claimed gold in the women’s trampoline after a nerve-wracking final on her third Olympic medal-winning appearance.

The 33-year-old Page, who was fifth in qualifying, had long been on a quest for gold, having won the silver at the 2016 Rio Games and bronze at the Tokyo Olympics.

Viyaleta Bardzilouskaya from Belarus won silver, the first medal gained by an athlete from Russia or Belarus, who are competing as neutrals, with Canada’s Sophiane Methot grabbing bronze.

Shooter Chiara Leone ensured gold in the women’s 50-metre rifle three positions remained in Switzerland’s possession after triumphing with an Olympic record tally of 464.4 while South Korea’s mixed archery pair of Lim Si-hyeon and Kim Woo-jin swept the floor 6-0 with their German opponents to take the gold medal and retain their title.

At the Palace of Versailles, British showjumpers Ben Maher, Harry Charles, and Scott Brash won the team gold, making stellar rides with almost no errors on a challenging track. The victory added to Britain’s team eventing gold earlier in the week.

In sailing, Spain’s Diego Botin and Florian Trettel stormed to men’s skiff gold after the Netherlands duo of Odile van Aanholt and Annette Duetz had clinched overall victory in the women’s skiff.

Brothers make history

Croatian brothers Martin and Valent Sinkovic won Olympic gold for the third straight Games to enter the pantheon of rowing greats.

They edged out British pair Oliver Wynne-Griffith and Tom George in the men’s pair, with just 0.45 seconds separating the two boats on the Vaires-sur-Marne course after the Britons had led from the start.

At the 2012 London Olympics, the brothers won the silver medal in the quadruple sculls before finding their golden touch — first in the double sculls in Rio in 2016 and five years later in the men’s pair in Tokyo.

Ireland’s Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy secured a dominant victory as the curtain came down on the lightweight sculls era.

O’Donovan, who won lightweight double sculls silver with sibling Gary in 2016, successfully defended his Tokyo Olympic title together with McCarthy at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.

Introduced in 1996 to try to broaden the pool of racers and nations taking part, the lightweight sculls are being replaced by coastal rowing for the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.

In the very last lightweight sculls race of the Olympic era, there was redemption for the British crew of Emily Craig and Imogen Grant, who won gold in a time of 6:47.06 to make up for missing out on the podium in Tokyo by one-hundredth of a second.

First badminton gold

China won the first badminton gold of the Games when mixed doubles top seeds Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong thrashed their South Korean opponents in just 41 minutes at the Porte de La Chapelle Arena.

The Chinese duo lost in the final of the Tokyo Games three years ago but set the record straight with a 21-8, 21-11 victory over Kim Won-ho and Jeong Na-eun.

“Three years ago we lost in the final and since then we’ve been preparing for today,” said Zheng, who won a silver medal with Huang in Tokyo. “Compared to Tokyo where we were hardworking, this time we played smarter.”

China has topped the badminton medals table at the last six Olympics.

Divers Wang Zongyuan and Long Daoyi retained China’s men’s synchronised 3-metre springboard title, claiming the country’s fourth gold in the sport and keeping alive their goal of taking all eight on offer.

Summer storm

In swimming on Thursday, Cana­dian teenager Summer McIntosh stormed to the women’s 200m butterfly title for her third medal of the Paris Olympics, and second gold, boosting her status as one of the breakout stars of the Games.

The 17-year-old hit the wall in an Olympic record 2min 03.03sec ahead of America’s Regan Smith and Chinese defending champion Zhang Yufei.

Hungary’s Hubert Kos triumphed in the men’s 200m backstroke while Kate Douglass of the United States clinched women’s 200m breaststroke gold.

Australia won the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay for their fifth gold in swimming in Paris.

On the red clay of Roland Garros, British tennis legend Andy Murray bowed out of the sport when he and Dan Evans lost in the men’s doubles quarter-finals.

The 37-year-old Murray, a two-time singles gold medallist and three-time major winner, had already announced that the Olympics would be his last hurrah.

Published in Dawn, August 3rd, 2024