France win first Paris Olympics 2024 gold in men’s rugby sevens
France won its first gold medal of its home Games in the men’s rugby sevens, while Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel continued his meteoric rise with a gold in the men’s individual time trial.
France, the host nation of the Paris Olympics 2024, was among the countries that won a gold medal on the opening day of the Games.
Here’s a summary of some of the medal winners from Saturday:
Dupont the hero in France’s emphatic gold medal rugby win
France claimed their first gold medal of the Paris Olympics, and first of any kind in men’s rugby sevens, when Antoine Dupont led them to a stunning 28-7 win over double-defending champions Fiji on an unforgettable night in the Stade de France.
Fiji had won all 17 of their previous matches in the Olympics and went ahead through Joseva Talacolo.
But the home fans exploded when Rayan Rebbadj, who scored twice in the semifinal win over South Africa earlier, dived between the posts to level the scores at halftime.
Superstar scrumhalf Dupont then came off the bench to set up Aaron Grandidier Nkanang, who barrelled over himself to make it 21-7.
The 67,000 crowd could barely control themselves as France then controlled the ball in the final minutes and almost took the roof off when Dupont crashed over in the final play of the match to make the final score 28-7.
The Fijians settled for the silver, while in the earlier bronze medal match, South Africa beat Australia 26-19 with the last play of a pulsating third-place playoff.
American Perry Baker also made headlines, becoming the all-time leading men’s scorer in Olympic rugby sevens when he claimed his 10th try in the United States’s 17-14 loss to Ireland in their 5-8 placing playoff.
Evenepoel and Brown grab golds in cycling road events
On the wet and slippery roads of Paris, Belgium’s 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 and 12.16 seconds over 32.4km (20.1 miles) in driving rain to beat Italy’s Filippo Ganna by 14.92 seconds.
Evenepoel’s fellow countryman Wout van Aert completed the podium with a third-place finish.
In the women’s road cycling, Brown earned Australia’s first gold medal at this year’s Olympics as she destroyed the field, her power and bike handling abilities unmatched by her rivals throughout the contest.
The Australian won on the course at Pont Alexandre III by a whopping 1 minute and 31.59 seconds, while the UK’s Anna Henderson took the silver. Several riders slid and fell on wet and 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 under 48kg (105.8 pounds) category.
Three-time champion Tsunoda defeated reigning world champion Baasankhuu Bavuudorj of Mongolia, who took the silver medal. Shirine Boukli, who won France’s first medal of their home Games, shared the bronze with Sweden’s Tara Babulfath.
Kazakhstan’s Yeldos Smetov was the champion in the men’s under 60kg (132.2 pounds) event.
Smetov won Kazakhstan their first gold medal in Paris, with France’s Luka Mkheidze collecting a silver medal. The bronze medals went to Japan’s Nagayama Ryuju and Spain’s Francisco Garrigos.
