And with that, the 2024 Paris Olympics comes to an end.

We’ll leave you with this quote from Chef de Mission Anna Meares:

“We have always talked about the Cathy Freeman effect. Now we have the Jess Fox effect, the Emma McKeon effect, the Ariarne Titmus effect, the Cam McEvoy effect, the Saya Sakakibara effect, the Keegan Palmer effect, the Arisa Trew effect, the Stingers effect, the Opals effect, the Harry Garside effect. The sky really is the limit.”

467 Australian athletes, 18 gold medals, 18 silver medals, 14 bronze medals, 13 sports, 239 athletes on debut - these are the numbers that came together to produce Australia’s best-ever Olympic performance. 

Now, onto the Paralympics, which kicks off on August 28. Stay tuned.

Paris ‘24: Medal tally

Paris ‘24: Tonight’s top moments

Sunday 11th August (All times are in AEST)

🏐 5:00pm: Men’s Handball, Spain v Slovenia (Bronze Medal Match) 
As there is no Australian handball team, this sport often falls off the radar for local audiences. Watching the top teams in the world face off for a medal is well worth it.  

🤽‍♂️ 6:35pm: Men’s Water Polo, U.S. v Hungary (Bronze Medal Match)
Two of the best teams in men’s water polo face off for a medal, with the Australia-beating U.S. side the favourite to clinch bronze. 

🚴 7:30pm: Men’s Cycling, Keirin Event (Quarter Finals)
Australians Matthew Glaetzer and Matthew Richardson (already a dual medal winner in Paris) did enough to progress to the next round of this event. If they progress, the Semi-Final will be at 8:29pm, with the Medal Race at 9:23pm. Could a last-day medal be on the cards for Team Australia? 

🏀 7:30pm: Women’s Basketball, Australia v Belgium (Bronze Medal Match)
It’s the final game of the Opals’ Paris campaign, and the side will be looking to end their tournament - and veteran Lauren Jackson’s last-ever Olympics game - with a spot on the podium. 

🏐 9:00pm: Women’s Volleyball, U.S. v Italy (Gold Medal Match)
Italy have only dropped a single set across the entire tournament and is the standout team in Paris. Team USA has had a trickier run through the stages but has a proud legacy and will be looking to win their second gold medal in the sport. 

🏐 9:30pm: Men’s Handball, Germany v Denmark (Gold Medal Match)
Both of these sides made the gold medal match by single-goal margins, and this battle between two European powerhouses will be fascinating to watch. 

🤽‍♂️ 10:00pm, Men’s Water Polo, Serbia v Croatia (Gold Medal Match)
The gold medal match many experts predicted - Serbia will be looking for their third gold medal in a row, and Croatia are fresh from a World Championship title this year. A clash of water polo titans.  

🏀 11:30pm, Women’s Basketball, U.S. v France (Gold Medal Match)
As with the men’s competition, Team USA is the dominant force here. If they’re defeated in this game, it’ll be their first loss in an Olympic competition since 1992. The French will be looking to glean  ] energy from a loud home crowd to cause a major upset. 

Monday 12th August

5:00am, Closing Ceremony 
The curtains close on an outstanding Paris Olympics. Keep reading for our full preview. 

Paris ‘24: The headlines

In case you missed it…

🏃‍♀️ Jessica Hull has won Australia’s first Olympic medal ever in the women’s 1500m final, claiming the silver medal with a time of 3:52:56, less than one second behind Kenyan Faith Kipyegon, who won her third gold medal in a row in the event. It was also Australia’s first track medal since 2012 across any race and the 50th medal for Australia in Paris. With 100m to go, Hull was in third position but delivered a magnificent final sprint to climb one spot. It has been a brilliant season for Hull, who set a World Record in the 2000m in the Monaco Diamond League event last month (the 2000m is not an Olympic event). 

🤽‍♀️ Australia’s Women’s Water Polo team, The Stingers, will leave Paris with silver medals after losing the gold medal match 11-9 to Spain, the world’s number-one team. Spain went into halftime with a 3-2 lead but established a stronghold on the match early in the second half with three goals in two minutes. Alice Williams scored five of Australia’s goals, and it is the first medal of any colour Australia has won in water polo since the team won bronze in the women’s competition in 2012. Meanwhile, the men’s team finished in 8th position after losing 10-6 to Italy in their final match. 

💧 Australian diver Cassiel Rousseau has finished in fourth place in the Men’s Diving 10m Platform Final, narrowly missing a medal but improving on his eighth-place finish in Tokyo in the event. Rousseau was well-placed and firmly in medal contention until his fourth dive, where a crucial error dropped him from second to sixth. However, two strong dives to end his campaign moved him back up the ladder. 

🏌️ Hannah Green has recorded the best finish ever for an Australian golfer, finishing the course in fourth spot. It was a great recovery from Green, who was as far back as twelve strokes off the lead after the first day of play. Had Green been just one shot closer, she would have forced a playoff for the bronze medal. Fellow Australian Minjee Lee finished tied in 22nd spot, while the event was won by Kiwi golf star Lydia Ko to add to her bronze in Tokyo and silver in Rio. Both Green and Lee said they would be pursuing a spot in Australia’s 2028 LA campaign. 

🏃‍♂️ Marathon runner Patrick Tiernan has recorded the fastest time ever by an Australian in the men’s event, with his time of 2:10:34 landing him 24th position. Fellow Australians Andy Buchanan and Liam Adams came 45th and 49th. The race was taken out by Ethiopian runner Tamirat Tola, who set a new Olympic Record with a time of 2:06:26. 

🏀 The U.S. Men’s Basketball team earned their ‘Dream Team’ tag with a gold medal in Paris after defeating France 98-87 in the gold medal match. Steph Curry starred for Team USA, scoring 24 points, including a number of critical fourth-quarter long-range shots. It’s the fifth consecutive gold for the men’s side and means Kevin Durant becomes the first four-time men’s gold medallist in Olympic basketball history. Lebron James was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the tournament. 

Paris ‘24: What we’re talking about

Your Guide to the Closing Ceremony

After the unprecedented scale and characteristics of the Opening Ceremony along the Seine River, all eyes will be on French organisers to deliver an equally spectacular Closing Ceremony to mark the official conclusion of the Paris Olympics. This show will be inside a stadium - the 80,000-capacity Stade de France. Here’s what else we know about the event. 

The traditions

There are a few age-old Olympic traditions to take note of during the ceremony - the extinguishing of the Olympic flame signifies the official end of the tournament, while the singing of the Greek national anthem is a nod to the tournament’s history. Many athletes attend the ceremony (albeit usually less than the Opening Ceremony), often marching through the stadium with their medals. Unlike the country-by-country roll call of the Opening Ceremony, all athletes that remain in Paris - reportedly around 300 across 29 sports - enter together for the Closing Ceremony. There will also be some athletes being presented with their medals from events that happened earlier that day. 

The theme

Every Opening and Closing Olympic Ceremony has a theme - for this one, organisers said the theme is ‘Records’, which will manifest through “a unique and exceptional show on a 2800m squared stage” with “over a hundred performers, acrobats, dancers and circus artists”. 

Looking to LA

A big focus of the Closing Ceremony is looking ahead to the next tournament, with the culture and creativity of the next host country weaving its way through the ceremony. The 2028 Games will be held in Los Angeles, so you can expect plenty of American fanfare and the singing of the U.S. national anthem. U.S. Late Night host Jimmy Fallon will be the MC alongside American sports broadcaster Mike Tirico. 

The performances

While the opening ceremony saw Celine Dion, Lady Gaga, and Aya Nakamura, there will be no shortage of star power in the finale. As with the opening, it’s all speculation until we see the entertainers take the stage, but the leading contenders for a spot in the program (according to entertainment outlet Variety) are Billie Eilish, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Snoop Dogg, who has been a regular attendee at events over the past fortnight in Paris. Whilst he won’t be singing (we think), there is also strong mail that Tom Cruise will play a role in the proceedings. 

It won’t just be U.S. performers - French bands Phoenix and Air have both been confirmed as part of the program. 

Russia and Belarus included

Unlike the Opening Ceremony, the IOC has given permission for Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in the Closing Ceremony under the ‘Individual Neutral Athletes’ team banner and without their flags or emblems. In a statement, the IOC said it made the decision because "it is not teams that enter the Closing Ceremony, but all athletes together.” Only 32 athletes from the two countries competed in Paris, with only a handful still in the city. 

New Australian Flag-Bearers

Whilst all countries enter at the same time, there are still flag-bearers picked by national Olympic Committees in recognition of outstanding performances during the Games. The AOC picked swimmer Kaylee McKeown, who won five medals in Paris (two individual gold medals, one relay gold medal, one relay silver medal, one individual bronze medal and one relay bronze medal) and sailor Matt Wearn, who followed up his gold in Tokyo with another gold in Paris.

Chef de Mission Anna Meares (the leader of the Australian contingent in Paris) highlighted the character of both athletes as a key reason for their selection, saying McKeown’s “character, personality and charm really resonate with what makes this Australian team so special”, and Wearn as a “humble” record-setter.

The details

When: Tomorrow morning at 2am AWST, 3:30am ACST and 4am AEST. 
How to watch: Channel Nine or Stan Sport

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Anything but Paris ‘24

🏉 NRL + NRLW
In the three matches yesterday, the Sea Eagles beat the Raiders 46-24, the Broncos overcame the Cowboys 42-18 and the Dragons went down to the Bulldogs 28-10. Dragons player Kyle Flanagan will face the judiciary this week after allegedly biting Bulldogs captain Stephen Crichton, who made an official complaint after the game had concluded. In comments made to the Sydney Morning Herald, Dragons coach (and Kyle’s father), Shane Flanagan stated: “Kyle said he didn’t do it. I believe him, 100%”. 

Meanwhile, there were two NRLW games yesterday—the Sydney Roosters beat the Wests Tigers 20-4, extending the Tigers’ losing streak to ten matches, and the Sharks beat the Raiders 24-12, continuing their unbeaten season. 

🏉 AFL
The race for a spot in the AFL finals remains wide open, after five games yesterday. The Giants beat the Lions in a top-four clash by 18 points, while the West Coast Eagles and Geelong Cats both recorded away-from-home wins against North Melbourne and Fremantle. The Gold Coast Suns upset Essendon with a one-point win after the final siren, while Port Adelaide held off the Melbourne Demons to win by two points away from home. After the conclusion of today’s matches, there will likely be at least 13 teams vying for eight finals positions. 

🏉 Rugby Union
The Wallabies were convincingly beaten by South Africa 33-7 in Brisbane, marking new coach Joe Schmidt’s first loss since taking up the position. South Africa took the lead early in front of a capacity crowd of over 50,000. The two teams will meet again next weekend in Perth. 

A message from our sponsor

Paris is the most gender equitable Games yet – but what exactly does that mean?

It’s been a big year in women’s sport - from the success of the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2023, to the Paris Games which will mark the first time that female athletes represent half of the total competing athletes.

Dr. Kasey Symons, a Communications Lecturer (Sport Media) at Deakin University, says that while it’s important to recognise the athletes that have broken down barriers to get to where they are, women still have a “really difficult time” getting into certain spaces, including coaching, leadership, media and more.

“We don't think about the broader systems that are in place that have restricted participation,” she says, noting that equitable media coverage is still a major issue, with only 15% of total coverage dedicated to female athletes.

Dr. Symons also says fans can drive change by watching female athletes, following them on social media, and supporting women and nonbinary journalists covering the Games.

Think beyond the field. Study sport at Deakin.

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