Good evening!

Well, we’re really in the swing of things now. The Paris Games are only a day old, and the Australian team has already delivered some incredible performances.

In today’s newsletter, we’ll cover all the moments coming up in the next 24 hours that should be on your radar and what you may have missed last night.  

It’s great to see Australia in its deserving spot on the medal tally - right on top.

Paris ‘24: Tonight’s top moments

Sunday 28 July (all times in AEST)

🤸 5:30pm, Women’s Gymnastics: Qualifications
Australians Emily Whitehead, Emma Nedov, Kate McDonald, Ruby Pass and Breanna Scott will all be in action, as the Gymnastics program gets underway. 

🤽 6:30pm, Men’s Water Polo: Australia v Spain (Group Game)
The Sharks will kick off their Olympic campaign against Spain, traditionally one of Europe’s best Water Polo sides in the world.

🏊‍♀️ 7:00pm, Swimming Heats
After a near-flawless first night in the pool from Australia, Day 2 will kick off with the morning session featuring Australians Max Giuliani & Tommy Neil (200m Freestyle), Brendan Smith & William Petric (400m Medley), Jenna Strauch (100m Breaststroke), Isaac Cooper & Bradley Woodward (100m Backstroke), and Ariarne Titmus & Mollie O’Callaghan (200m Freestyle). 

🛹 8:00pm, Women’s Skateboarding: Street Preliminary Round
Australia’s young squad of skateboarding powerhouses hits the street - Chloe Covell, Liv Lovelace, and Haylie Powell start their Paris campaigns. Keep an eye on the weather - the Paris rain meant the men’s program was cancelled yesterday.  

🏑 9:00pm, Women’s Hockey: Australia v South Africa
The Hockeyroos - currently ranked the fourth-best women’s hockey team in the world - won Gold in Sydney 24 years ago.

🛶 11:30pm, Women’s Canoe Slalom: K1 Final (Medal Event🥇)
Keep an eye out for Australia’s flag bearer, Jess Fox, who won silver in this event at the London Games.

🏉 11:30pm, Women’s Rugby Sevens: Australia v South Africa (Group Game)
This team won gold in Rio in 2016. Two members of that side are in the Paris squad - Charlotte Caslick and Sharni Smale.

Monday 29 July

🛹 1:00am, Women’s Skateboarding: Street Final (Medal Event🥇)
Depending on how they perform in the earlier session, this could be a medal moment for Australia.

🏀 1:15am, Men’s Basketball: USA v Serbia
The superstars of the NBA will be taking the court for the first time - they will be one of the most-watched teams across any sport in Paris. LeBron James, Steph Curry, Anthony Davis, Kevin Durant, Joel Embiid, Jayson Tatum… that’s scary. 

⚽ 3:00am, Women’s Football: Australia v Zambia (Group Game)
After a less-than-ideal start to their Paris campaign against Germany, this game is essentially a must-win for the Matildas. Will the team rise to the occasion? 

🏉 3:00am, Women’s Rugby Sevens: Australia v Great Britain (Group Game)
Two games, one night - Great Britain will be hard to beat, but the prize of a first-place group finish could be enough for the women’s side to deliver another strong performance.

Then, it’s time for swimming…

🏊‍♀️ 4:30am, Men’s 400m Individual Medley (Final 🥇)
We’re hoping William Petric and Brendon Smith will both feature in this event. 

🏊‍♀️ 4:40am, Women’s 100m Butterfly (Final 🥇)
Emma McKeon isn’t meant to be a medal hope in this race. But she’s made a career out of defying expectations. Watch this space. 

🏊‍♀️ 5:50am, Women’s 200m Freestyle Semi-Final
Mollie O’Callaghan and Ariarne Titmus will be back in the pool, with the pair in separate semi-finals.

Paris ‘24: The headlines

🚲 Australian cyclist Grace Brown won Australia’s first Gold in Paris in the Individual Time Trial, negotiating a very slippery course to dominate the race. Brown finished fourth in Tokyo (with a broken shoulder), and has become Australia’s first-ever Olympic champion in the event. Speaking on Nine’s broadcast, Brown’s mother said from the sidelines: “She watched the Sydney Olympics and said ‘I want to be an Olympian’”. Brown is now not only an Olympian, but a Gold Medallist - and still has the road race to come.

🏀 Australia’s men’s basketball team, The Boomers, beat Spain 92-80 in a successful first outing in Paris. The partnership of Josh Giddey and Jock Landale, seen by many as the key to Australia’s form in the tournament, flourished - Landale scored 20 of Australia’s points, and Giddey contributed 17. Young star Dyson Daniels was also a stand-out, as was the team’s leader Patty Mills (who scored 19 points). The team plays Canada on Tuesday night (9:30pm AEST).

💧Australian duo Maddison Keeney and Annabelle Smith suffered heartbreak in the diving, after an error in their final dive took them out of medal contention. Smith’s foot clipped the springboard as she was completing the pair’s final scoring attempt in the 3m synchronised springboard final. Speaking about how she felt post-dive, Smith said she was focused on “not letting [the dive] define her”.

🎾 Spain’s men’s tennis doubles pairing of Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz—two of the best tennis players in the world—won their first doubles match in Paris. In what was the first doubles match they had ever played together, the pair beat Argentina’s Maximo Gonzales and Andres Molteni in straight sets.

Paris ‘24: What we’re talking about

Australia’s epic night in the pool

Australia’s medal hopes ride on the performance of its men’s and women’s swimming teams, and Day 1 of the Paris Olympics was (almost) the perfect start in the water. Here’s what happened. 

Titmus wins ‘Race of the Century’

Ariarne Titmus has ensured she will be cemented as one of Australia’s swimming greats after winning Gold in the 400m Freestyle. Because of the incredibly competitive field of swimmers, many were calling it the ‘Race of the Century’. Titmus led the race from start to finish, beating American rival Katie Ledecky and Canadian superstar Summer McIntosh. Titmus won in 3:57:49, with McIntosh taking Silver and Ledecky Bronze. Titmus is now the first Australian woman to win two consecutive Gold Medals since Dawn Fraser in 1964. 

Four in a row for the 4×100 Golden Girls

Australia’s 4x100m Women’s Freestyle team won a thrilling final to claim their fourth straight Gold in the event. The team of Mollie O’Callaghan, Emma McKeon, Shayna Jack and Meg Harris set a new Olympic Record in the process. McKeon, now a six-time Gold medallist, becomes Australia’s most decorated swimmer in history, overtaking Ian Thorpe’s five Golds.

Winnington (nearly) wins

Australia’s men’s swimmers delivered two silver medals on the first night in the pool, with Elijah Winnington taking second place in the men’s 400m final. The 24-year-old delivered an outstanding final lap to sneak into second from fourth at the final turn. Fellow Australian Sam Short came fourth, missing out on a podium spot by an agonising 0.14 seconds. 

Chalmers stars in men’s medal feat

Meanwhile, Australia’s 4x100m Men’s Freestyle team added to the medal haul with another silver medal. Kyle Chalmers delivered another trademark final leg to bring the team home, almost catching Team USA who won Gold. Chalmers swam his leg in 46.59 - the fastest 100m of any swimmer in the race, and a world-record time had it been an individual event - and means he is a real threat for the individual 100m Freestyle race. 

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Anything but Paris ‘24

🏉 In the NRL, Brisbane lost at home to the Canterbury Bulldogs, while the Cowboys beat the Sharks by 8 points in Townsville. The Sydney Roosters beat Manly Sea-Eagles by four points, with captain James Tedesco delivering a stand-out performance.

🏉 In the first round of the NRLW, Cronulla beat the Cowboys 14-0, while the Parramatta Eels won 22-10 over Brisbane. Two players were sent to the sin-bin after a brawl, and will likely face match suspensions.

🏉 In yesterday’s AFL matches, Geelong beat North Melbourne by 40 points in Hobart, while Brisbane beat the Gold Coast Suns 93-65. In the twilight match, St Kilda delivered a big upset by beating Essendon by 53 points. In the two evening games, GWS won a thriller against Melbourne by only two points, while Fremantle beat the West Coast Eagles in the Western Derby by 35 points.

🏉 The Brisbane Lions have been fined $40,000 for failing to adequately assess co-captain Harris Andrews after he suffered a head knock midway through their win against Sydney last weekend. Harris was ultimately assessed and cleared of concussion, but doctors missed the incident as they were attending to other players. In a statement, the AFL said Brisbane “fully cooperated” in the investigation, and will work with the AFL to improve its processes.

🏐The Vixens secured a spot in the Super Netball Grand Final, where they will face the Adelaide Thunderbirds, last year’s champions. In a thrilling game yesterday, the Vixens beat the West Coast Fever by only one goal in Melbourne. The Super Netball Grand Final will be held in Adelaide on 3 August.

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