France won their first home Games gold medal in men’s rugby sevens, while Belgian Remco Evenepoel continued his meteoric rise with a gold in the men’s individual time trial.
France, host country of the Paris 2024 Olympics, was among the countries that won the gold medal on the opening day of the Games.
Here’s a summary of some of Saturday’s medal winners:
Dupont, the hero in France’s emphatic rugby gold medal win
France won their first gold medal at the Paris Olympics, and the first of any kind in men’s rugby sevens, when Antoine Dupont led them to a stunning 28-7 victory over two-time champions Fiji on an unforgettable night at the Stade de France.
Fiji had won all 17 of their previous matches at the Olympics and took the lead through Joseva Talacolo.
But the home fans erupted when Rayan Rebbadj, who scored twice in the semi-final win over South Africa, dived between the posts to level the score at half-time.
Superstar scrumhalf Dupont then came off the bench to set up Aaron Grandidier Nkanang, who crashed in to make it 21-7.
The crowd of 67,000 barely held it together as France controlled the ball in the final minutes and almost exploded when Dupont fell on the final play of the match to make the final score 28-7.
The Fijians settled for silver, while in the previous bronze medal match, South Africa beat Australia 26-19 in the last play of a thrilling third-place playoff.
American Perry Baker also made headlines, becoming the all-time leading men’s scorer in Olympic rugby sevens when he scored his 10th try in the United States’ 17-14 defeat to Ireland in the 5-8 seeding playoff. .
Evenepoel and Brown win gold medals in road cycling events
On the wet and slippery roads of Paris, Belgian Remco Evenepoel won the gold medal in the men’s individual time trial, while Australia’s Grace Brown triumphed in the women’s competition.
Evenepoel added an Olympic gold to his world title, with the 24-year-old clocking 36 minutes 12.16 seconds over 32.4km (20.1 miles) in torrential rain to beat Italian Filippo Ganna by 14.92 seconds.
Evenepoel’s compatriot Wout van Aert completed the podium with third place.
In women’s road cycling, Brown won Australia’s first gold medal of this year’s Olympics by destroying the field, with her power and bike handling skills unmatched by her rivals throughout the competition.
The Australian won on the Pont Alexandre III course by an impressive 1 minute and 31.59 seconds, while the British Anna Henderson took silver. Several riders slipped and fell on wet, cobbled corners, with world champion Chloe Dygert settling for bronze.
Two medals for France in judo
Japan’s Natsumi Tsunoda won gold in the women’s 48kg (105.8 pounds) category.
Three-time champion Tsunoda defeated current world champion Baasankhuu Bavuudorj of Mongolia, who won the silver medal. Shirine Boukli, who won France’s first medal at the Games on home soil, shared bronze with Sweden’s Tara Babulfath.
Yeldos Smetov of Kazakhstan was the champion in the men’s 60kg (132.2 pounds) event.
Smetov won Kazakhstan its first gold medal in Paris, with Frenchman Luka Mkheidze winning the silver medal. The bronze medals went to Japan’s Nagayama Ryuju and Spaniard Francisco Garrigos.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
