Team GB saw their first opening-day Olympic medal in 20 years as they won silver and bronze on the first day of Paris 2024.
Anna Henderson’s stunning road cycling silver and the diving bronze for Yasmin Harper and Scarlett Mew Jensen lit up Day One, but there was plenty to celebrate elsewhere too.
Adam Peaty, Max Whitlock and Jake Jarman were all in action, as GB’s hockey players, eventers and rowers all got underway.
Diving
Team GB’s first medal in Paris came in the pool after Yasmin Harper and Scarlett Mew Jensen earned bronze in the women’s 3m springboard synchro.
Alongside being the first time Team GB had won a medal on the opening day since fellow divers Leon Taylor and Peter Waterfield at Athens 2004, this was also the first women’s diving medal for Great Britain in 64 years.
Mew Jensen and Harper had been sixth after the third round, but climbed into third after two excellent dives gave them a final tally of 302.28.
“I don’t think I can quite believe it right now,” Mew Jensen said. “I’m super proud of Yas, super proud of myself, super proud of the team. We’ve worked insanely hard, and we couldn’t have come away with a better outcome.”
Harper, who celebrates her 24th birthday on Sunday, will look to add to her bronze medal in the individual 3m springboard event.
Road Cycling
Team GB’s second medallist in Paris was road cyclist Anna Henderson, who finished with silver in the women’s individual time trial. The 25-year-old battled a slippery course to stop the clock in 41:09.83.
She finished 90 seconds behind Australia’s Grace Brown and just under a second ahead of Chloe Dygert of the United States, who managed to still take bronze despite falling off her bike.
“I didn’t realise how slippery it was out there until I was on the course,” Henderson said. “I thought I could lose a whole Olympic Games on one corner here, so really take control and gain all of the time in the straights.
“I really took control and my coach did a really good job of keeping me calm and pushing until the end.”
Henderson’s compatriot, Josh Tarling finished in fourth in the men’s time trial, just two seconds off a medal, following an early puncture.
“It happens, doesn’t it?” Tarling said. “There’s not a lot I can do.”
Swimming
Adam Peaty continued his defence of his 100m breaststroke title, winning his 100m semi-final in 58.86 to qualify for the final.
Peaty, who secured gold in the event at both Rio and Tokyo, was the fastest semi-finalist as he targets his fourth Olympic gold.
The 29-year-old from Uttoxeter said: “I know I have been in this situation many times before and again it is about enjoying it. I don’t want to go out there tomorrow and be anxious.”
Compatriot James Wilby was fifth in the same semi-final with a time of 59.49, and did not qualify for the final.
There were no medals for Team GB in the pool on Day One, as the two 4x100m freestyle relay teams both finished outside the top three.
The men’s team of Matt Richards, Jacob Whittle, Tom Dean and Duncan Scott finished fifth in a time of 3:11.61, less than a second off the medals.
The women’s team of Anna Hopkin, Eva Okaro, Lucy Hope and Freya Anderson finished seventh with a time of 3:35:25, as Australia set a new Olympic record.
Keanna MacInnes reached the 100m butterfly semi-finals with a personal best time, but did not qualify for the final.
Artistic Gymnastics
Max Whitlock, Joe Fraser, Jake Jarman, Luke Whitehouse and Harry Hepworth finished top of their sub-division in their men’s artistic gymnastics qualification session as Team GB qualified for the men’s team final.
There was also a slew of individual successes among the team, as Whitlock, aiming for his third Olympic gold medal in the pommel horse, qualified for next Saturday’s final with a score of 15.166.
Jarman qualified for three finals, with 14.966 on the floor, 14.699 on the vault and an all-around score of 84.897.
He’ll be joined by Hepworth in the vault final, after he scored 14.766; Whitehouse, who scored 14.533, in the floor final, and Joe Fraser, who scored 84.666, in the all-around final.
Hepworth also qualified for the rings final with a score of 14.700.
Equestrian: Team Eventing
It was a record-breaking day for Team GB’s eventers, as Laura Collett and her horse London 52 made the lowest individual Olympic score in the eventing dressage with 17.50, as Team GB scored 66.70 overall, also an Olympic record.
Collett said: “That horse is one in a million. I’m just so lucky to sit on a horse like that.”
Collett’s teammate Ros Canter is sixth in the individual standings, with a score of 23.40.
Day two of the eventing competition is the cross-country, which starts at 9:30 CET tomorrow.
Canoe Slalom
Adam Burgess took the first step towards putting his heartbreak in Tokyo behind him, as he finished second in the heats for the men’s C1.
The 32-year-old from Stoke, who was 0.16 seconds off a medal in Tokyo, clocked a run of 90.87 in the heats, putting him into Monday’s semi-final.
Burgess said: “Honestly, that first run, that was easily the best experience of my life. I have never paddled in front of a crowd like this, I have absolutely loved every second of it.”
Meanwhile, in the women’s K1, Kimberley Woods also qualified for the semi-finals with a run of 95.95, placing her 12th.
Woods, who finished 10th at Tokyo, will be back on the water tomorrow at 15:30.
Around the Games
Elsewhere, the Team GB men’s hockey team got off to a winning start, with a 4-0 victory over Spain.
Team GB’s rowers also began strongly, as the women’s and men’s quadruple sculls both qualified for their respective finals and the women’s double sculls qualified for the semi-finals.
Badminton players Ben Lane and Sean Vendy lost their opening men’s doubles match to Malaysia, whilst boxer Charley Davison was knocked out in her round of 32 bantamweight clash.
Seonaid McIntosh and Michael Bargeron finished 26th in the mixed 10m air rifle team qualification round.
Rain at Roland Garros saw the British tennis quartet of Cameron Norrie, Jack Draper, Dan Evans and Katie Boulter all unable to get their Games underway.
With thanks to Team GB
