Paris Olympics: Aussies in action on Day 16 and Day 15 results

AUSTRALIA: 18 gold, 18 silver, 14 bronze (third overall)

What’s on tonight?

MAJOR AUSTRALIAN MEDAL HOPES

Falling to the powerhouse USA in the basketball semi-final, the Opals will look to bounce back against Belgium and secure a bronze medal.

Matthew Richardson and Matthew Glaetzer will look to add to their medal haul in the kierin, with both cyclists heat winners.

OTHER AUSTRALIANS IN ACTION

Super mums Sinead Diver, Genevieve Gregson and Jessica Stenson will chase the Kenyan brigade as well as Ethiopia’s world record holder Tigst Assefa and defending world champion Amane Beriso Shankule in the women’s marathon to close the athletics program.

Georgia Baker and Alexandra Manly are up in the women’s omnium. Medals to be won there, plus women’s sprint, men’s kierin medal races

WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING

The closing ceremony for Paris 2024. It will feature the usual athletes’ parade and the handover of the Olympic flag to the organisers of the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

Squaring off against France in the women’s basketball final, the United States team hasn’t lost an Olympic match since 1992, winning a record seven consecutive titles.

The Netherlands’ Sifan Hassan will start among the favourites in the marathon after winning bronze in both the 10000 metres and the 5000m earlier in the week.

There will be no love lost as Serbia face arch-rivals Croatia for gold in the men’s water polo final.

With an Australian queen, here’s hoping Denmark can take down Germany in the men’s handball gold medal match.

Showjumping features at the Olympics for the last time in the women’s final of the pentathlon before being scrapped in favour of a ninja warrior-style obstacle course race.

How the Aussies fared on Day 15

SILVER

Jessica Hull (athletics, women’s 1500m) powered to a magnificent silver at the Stade de France behind Kenyan great Faith Kipyegon, the first time an Australian woman has won an Olympic metric mile gong.

Australia’s water polo Stingers couldn’t manage to emulate the famous Aussie class of 2000 that struck gold in Sydney, but there was a silver lining to their 11-9 defeat by new champions Spain in the gold-medal match.

OTHER HEADLINE GOLD MEDALLISTS

The United States beat Brazil 1-0 in the women’s football final, marking a fabulous triumph for the States’ new coach Emma Hayes, the Englishwoman who helped Sam Kerr grab a hatful of medals when boss of Chelsea.

Jakob Ingebrigtsen bounced back from his shock fourth-place finish in the 1500m to win the 5000m.

New Zealand’s Lydia Ko won the women’s golf tournament at Le Golf National, adding the gold to her previous silver and bronze medals.

Lisa Carrington was hailed by Aussie paddler Alyce Wood as New Zealand’s answer to Jessica Fox after she roared to her eighth Olympic gold in sprint canoeing

The Chinese divers completed an astonishing eight-event clean sweep at the Olympic Aquatics Centre, when Cao Yuan won the final event, the men’s 10m platform.

Kenya’s Emmanuel Wanyonyi won the men’s 800m to become the youngest ever winner of the event at the age of 20 in a race of historic depth where four men broke 1min 42sec and seven broke 1:43.

High jumper Hamish Kerr won New Zealand’s ninth gold, boosting the country to its best-ever Olympic medal haul.

WHAT ELSE HAPPENED

Hannah Green, Australia’s world No.6 golfer, made a charge at Le Golf National, but just missed out on a medal by one shot, having to settle for a four-way tie for fourth place.

Fijian-born Aussie weightlifter Eileen Cikamatana was left in tears after a disappointing clean-and-jerk ensured she could only finish fourth in the 81kg class when she had been tipped for a medal.

Last year’s world diving champ Cassiel Rousseau just missed out on a medal in the 10m platform – not a bad effort in an event where he felt he had no chance of making the podium.

International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach announced he wouldn’t seek to stay in the post at the end of his second term next year, despite calls from members for him to keep going.

Swimming ace Kaylee McKeown has jetted back from Croatia amid a family holiday to be an Australian flag bearer at the closing ceremony, along with gold-winning sailor Matt Wearn.

Team USA stretched their dominance in men’s basketball to five successive Olympic titles, downing France in the final.

Boxer Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan won gold in the women’s featherweight division following Imane Khelif’s lead a day earlier with a glittering response to the intense scrutiny faced by both fighters amid the gender controversy which marred the Games boxing.

– WITH AAP