Olympics 2024: Day 8 recap – New Zealand at the Paris Olympics

All the action you may have missed from day eight of the Paris Olympics 2024.

• Kiwis in action: Full Paris Olympics schedule

• Olympics 2024 results

New Zealand medals today: 1 (Silver - Emma Twigg)

New Zealand medals total: 6

Emma Twigg adds single sculls silver to late-in-life medal surge

Eight years after retiring from rowing, Emma Twigg has raced to a second Olympic medal.

The 37-year-old claimed silver in the single sculls final at Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium, adding to the stunning gold she secured in Tokyo following years of heartbreak.

Ascendant Dutch sculler Karolien Florijn, 11 years Twigg’s junior, was too strong in this morning’s final, speeding to a lead of almost 1.5s inside the opening 500m.

The gap between the front two boats remained near that margin at the halfway point, before Twigg began her charge. But despite closing to within a second with 500m to race, Florijn was able to edge further ahead and take her country’s first gold in the event with a time of 7m 17.28s.

Twigg finished safely in silver, 1.84s back, having come into the final with the fastest semifinal time by more than two seconds.

‘I’m looking forward to a cuddle’: Twigg follows silver with family reunion

Fellow single sculler Tom Mackintosh was fifth in his final as the rowing team finished the regatta with four medals.

Injured Tom Walsh struggles in shot put, Jacko Gill sixth

Tom Walsh will not bring home a third Olympic medal after injuring himself and fouling all three efforts in the men’s shot put final at Stade de France this morning. Walsh, who claimed bronze at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2021, pulled up lame after his second put, grabbing his upper left leg and limping. He stood over the toe board to withdraw the put that went only about 18m.

“I’ve probably torn my adductor or hip flexor or something like that. I’ve been finding some wee niggles in there for the last month and knew that it was a possibility. But hey, I gave it a go, I wanted to commit to the throws. I committed to the two throws that I was somewhat healthy on, and then I thought, **** it, give it a go on the last one, because I don’t wanna be sitting back there tonight wondering if I could have.

Jacko Gill finished sixth, as American Ryan Crouser became the first man to win a third straight Olympic shot put title.

Also at the athletics, sprinter Zoe Hobbs finished sixth in her 100m semifinal, which placed her 14th overall. She clocked 11.13s, 0.06s off making the eight-woman final. In the men’s 1500m repechage, Sam Tanner started near the front, needing to make the top three to advance to the semifinals, but faded to second-to-last.

Windsurfers just short of medal shots

A strong regatta has ended without medals for the two foil windsurfers. Josh Armit reached the semifinals, finishing third meaning he missed out on the race for the medals. In the women’s event Veerle ten Have finished seventh, reaching ther quarter-finals.

Other sailing results, the Nacra duo of Micah Wilkinson and Erica Dawson sit fourth after three races, with the Italian pair topping the standings with two wins and a second. Tom Saunders is fifth in the dingy through six of 10 races while Greta Pilkington is 30th with four races left.

Jones and Butcher impress in kayak cross

Both Luuka Jones and Finn Butcher looked strong in the first round of the kayak cross event, making its Olympic debut. They both advanced to the next round, which will see the medals decided tomorrow morning.

Gruelling day for road cyclists

Corbin Strong was 27th and Laurence Pithie 39th in the longest men’s road race in Olympic history. Remco Evenepoel of Belgium won the race ahead of a French two-three in Valentin Madouas and Christophe Laporte.

Kiwi golfers improve but look too far back

Ryan Fox shot a three-under 68 to move up to 23rd with one round to play, 11 shots back from co-leaders Jon Rahm and Xander Schauffele at 14-under. Tommy Fleetwood sits in bronze spot two shots back. Daniel Hiller moved to 53rd with a one-under 70, his best round of the week.

Shooter Tipple off target

Chloe Tipple missed 10 shots in qualification and sits 28th of 29 and will need to be near perfect on day two to have a chance of making the final with the top six advancing.

Simone Biles wins seventh gold

Biles picked up gold number seven with victory in the vault.

Once again, Rebeca Andrade of Brazil was second, as she was in the all-around final. Jade Carey of the United States claimed bronze.

Hear it as it happens with live commentary of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on GOLD SPORT & iHeartRadio, plus comprehensive coverage on Newstalk ZB.