PARIS OLYMPICS 2024: What you need to know right now
Adds climbing, table tennis, steeplechase, updates sailing, kayak
PARIS, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Noah Lyles is looking to become the first American in four decades to win the Olympic sprint double at the Games on Thursday.
More than 30 medals are on offer throughout the day, including in athletics, sailing, boxing, taekwondo, wrestling and track cycling.
Here is what you need to know about the Olympics on Thursday:
CLIMBING FAST
Indonesia's Veddriq Leonardo won a gold medal in the men's speed climbing in a historic Olympic title for his country, while American Sam Watson walked away with a bronze despite setting a world record in his last race.
TABLE TENNIS SUSPENSE
China's men's table tennis team triumphed over host nation France with a 3-0 semi-final victory, but the scoreline belied the closely contested matches that captivated a packed stadium of French and Chinese fans.
KAYAK CHAMPION
New Zealand's Lisa Carrington led her women's kayak four crew to the gold medal, increasing her personal Olympic tally to six golds and one bronze with another stunning performance.
Germany's four-man kayak team edged Australia by four-hundredths of a second to take gold in their 500 metres finals race, with Spain claiming the bronze.
STEEPLECHASE FALL
Ethiopia's Lamecha Girma is recovering the day after a fall that shocked fans at the men's 3,000 metres steeplechase final, the International Olympic Committee said.
The 23-year-old world record holder was sprinting at full speed when he tripped over the third-from-last barrier on the final lap and crashed onto the track, where he lay motionless for several minutes in a worrying scene on Wednesday.
SAILING GOLD
Reigning Olympic champions Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti of Italy won gold in the mixed multihull event, sailing an assured final medal race to confirm their overall win.
Earlier, Austria's Lara Vadlau and Lukas Maehr did enough in their medal race to clinch gold in the mixed dinghy after fighting their way up from the back of the fleet.
SPRINT RELAY
The United States took the first, convincing step towards ending their men's 4-x100 metres relay drought when they qualified fastest from Thursday's heats with a lot more firepower to come, but Jamaica crashed out after two horrible changeovers.
The U.S. women's team also look well placed to reclaim the title from Jamaica after qualifying fastest, despite a changeover scare.
SPRINT DOUBLE FOR LYLES?
Lyles takes to the track again aiming to complete the prestigious sprint double by adding the 200 metres title to his 100m victory.
If he succeeds, Lyles will be the first American to achieve the sprint double since Carl Lewis in 1984.
MARATHON SWIMMING
Netherlands' iron woman Sharon van Rouwendaal claimed her second Olympic women's 10km marathon swimming gold when she snatched victory from her Australian friend and training partner Moesha Johnson in the long slog through the river Seine.
CHINESE DOPING CALL
China's anti-doping agency urged the International Testing Agency to intensify testing of U.S. track and field athletes, after American sprinter Erriyon Knighton tested positive for the banned substance trenbolone.
Knighton tested positive this year but was not suspended for the Paris Games after an arbitrator found the result was likely caused by contaminated meat.
MAKING WEIGHT
Vinesh Phogat said she had retired from wrestling following the Indian's disqualification before the women's 50kg freestyle final at the Olympics on Wednesday.
Phogat was set to lock horns with American Sarah Hildebrandt for the gold medal but the 29-year-old fell 100 grams short despite starving herself for a week and spending hours in the sauna to cut down to her competition weight.
Reuters Olympics coverage home https://www.reuters.com/sports/olympics/
Explainer: Olympics schedule, map, medals table, sports guides https://www.reuters.com/graphics/OLYMPICS-2024/EXPLAINER/byprqrwmqve/
Compiled by Ingrid Melander and Rachel Armstrong; Editing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa, Clare Fallon and Alison Williams
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