Two silvers and a bronze for Aussies, USA disqualified, breaking's debut: What you missed while you were sleeping
PARIS: Two silver medals and a bronze headline another day of Australian success as we also got our first look at breaking as an Olympic sport.
An Aussie diver made history, there was another photo finish to decide the canoe sprint placings and a track cyclist nabbed his second medal in a matter of days.
MEDAL TALLY: Australia third with two days to go
Meanwhile, at the Stade de France, the blockbuster men's 4x100m final ended in disaster for the USA.
Your day 13 recap is here, so catch up below on what you missed overnight in Paris.
Silver for Aussie velodrome rocket
Australian Matthew Richardson has been flying in the velodrome this week in Paris, winning bronze in the team sprint and setting a world record in the individual sprint seeding rides.
Up against him in the sprint final was Dutch star Harrie Lavreysen, the reigning Olympic champion who broke the world record again just minutes after Richardson earlier this week.
It was the Dutch rider who was too good, winning the first two races in the final to secure another gold and relegate the Australian to silver.
Australia's team of Georgia Baker and Alexandra Manly finished ninth in the women's madison.
Another photo finish, another medal
Jean van der Westhuyzen and Tom Green claimed another podium for Australia, winning bronze in the men's kayak 500m double in a three-way photo finish for second.
The pair had qualified for the final as the quickest boat, setting an Olympic best in their semi-final, but couldn't quite repeat those heroics with the medals on the line.
It came after another photo finish in the men's fours on Thursday that cost Australia gold.
Diver's delight with springboard silver
Maddison Keeney made history in the 3m springboard final, earning Australia's first-ever medal in the diving event with silver.
Keeney, who with Anabelle Smith heartbreakingly missed out on a medal in the 3m synchro with an error on their final dive, took second as China continued its diving dominance with gold and bronze.
Opals outclassed by USA superstars
It was always going to be an uphill battle for the Opals in their semi-final against the all-conquering USA team, which had won all seven gold medals since Atlanta in 1996.
And so it proved, with the Australians going down 85-64.
Opals great Lauren Jackson, 43, was used sparingly and much of Australia's starting five sat for the later stages of the match ahead of the bronze medal playoff, where they'll play France or Belgium.
B-Girls make Olympic history
One of the more curious additions to the Paris 2024 program, breaking made its Olympic debut in Paris.
Snoop Dogg walked out to Drop It Like It's Hot as he opened the session and watched along as B-Girl India from the Netherlands beat refugee team member B-Girl Talash in the first-ever Olympic breaking battle.
Talash later unfurled a cape that read "Free Afghan Women".
Australia's Rachael Gunn, who has a PhD in the sport and performs as Raygun, did not win a round across her three battles.
But her routine, which featured a kangaroo hop among other nods to Australiana, won her fans.
No bronze for beach volleyball guns
In their third Olympic games, beach volleyball duo Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy fell just short of a bronze medal.
The Tokyo 2020 silver medallists went down to Swiss pair Tanja Tanja Hueberli and Nina Brunner 2-0 (21-17, 21-15).
USA storms to relay win before DQ drama
There were mixed fortunes for the star-studded USA teams in the marquee 4x100m relays at the Stade de France.
The stacked men's team of Christian Coleman, Kenneth Bednarek (7th in the 100m final), Kyree King and Fred Kerley (third in the 100m final) looked on paper the hot favourites - even without the COVID-hit Noah Lyles.
But a horrible first changeover from Coleman to Bednarek first cost them too much time and eventually saw them disqualified.
Earlier, a pumped US superstar Sha'Carri Richardson won her first gold medal as she rocketed the women's 4x100m team to relay victory with the final leg.
Football gold decided in a classic
Spain followed up its Euros win with gold in the men's football to break French hearts.
France came back from 3-1 down to send the match to extra time against Spain before Sergio Camello struck twice to seal a 5-3 win and launch wild celebrations.
Morocco walloped Egypt 6-0 in the bronze medal match on Thursday.
In the women's draw, Germany won the bronze medal playoff with Spain, with a last-minute penalty save sealing the 1-0 win.
The USA and Brazil play for gold on Sunday morning AEST.
Watch every moment, every medal of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 live and free on Channel 9 and 9Now. Plus, every event streaming ad free, live and on demand with 4K on Stan Sport.
