Day 11 at the Paris Olympics: Sky high hopes for Team GB

Great Britain added five medals to their tally on Monday.

Sky Brown, 16, could become Great Britain’s youngest ever Olympic champion (Adam Davy/PA) (PA Wire)

Monday in Paris started with early-morning drama in the mixed relay triathlon and ended in the Stade de France with 800 metres gold for Keely Hodgkinson.

Sandwiched between was the kayak cross, which made a thrilling debut at an Olympics in front of packed stands.

It is another packed day of sport on Tuesday, from the traditional events like boxing and cycling to more unusual offerings such as sport climbing and skateboarding.

SKY’S THE LIMIT

A dislocated shoulder is not going to deny 16-year-old Sky Brown the chance to become Great Britain’s youngest Olympic champion.

Brown will go for gold in the women’s skateboard park final in Paris despite sustaining the injury in training late last month.

The precocious Brown won a bronze medal on her Games debut in Tokyo in 2021 and victory at last year’s world championships in Sharjah make her one of the favourites in the French capital – injury permitting. The prelims start at 12.30pm (11.30am BST).

JUMPING FOR JOY

Britain’s team jumping heroes Ben Maher, Scott Brash and Harry Charles will all have a shot at individual gold on the final day of equestrian action at the Chateau de Versailles at 10am (9am BST).

The trio, plus horses Dallas Vegas Batilly, Jefferson and Romeo 88, caused a minor surprise in winning Friday’s team prize, but that success ranks them among the leading contenders in a 30-strong field.

Maher is the defending individual champion and with three golds to his name, having also been part of the winning team in 2012, another victory would see him become the most successful British equestrian at the Olympics.

The British squad has enjoyed a fantastic Games so far, with the eventing team also winning gold and the dressage team taking bronze, with Laura Collett and Charlotte Fry taking individual bronzes.

CAN LEWIS STRIKE IT RICH?

Lewis Richardson is Team GB’s last boxer standing at Paris 2024 and guaranteed a medal.

What colour depends on his next fight against Mexican second seed Marco Verde at 9.46pm (8.46pm BST).

And the eyes of the world will once again be on Algeria’s Imane Khelif, the boxer at the centre of a gender row who takes on Janjaem Suwannapheng in the women’s welterweight semi-final at 10.34pm (9.34pm BST).

TRIO ON THE TRACK

Jack Carlin, Ed Lowe and Hamish Turnbull will go in search of glory in the men’s team sprint on the second day of track cycling out at Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines.

Team GB came through Monday’s qualifying session second fastest with a time of 41.862 seconds after a big final leg from Carlin – the sole survivor of the team that took silver in Tokyo after the retirements of Sir Jason Kenny and Ryan Owens.

As expected, the Dutch squad of Harrie Lavreysen, Jeffrey Hoogland and Roy van den Berg went fastest with a time of 41.279 seconds, a new Olympic record and only just outside their own world record set in 2020. The first round is at 6.59pm (5.59pm BST).

JOSH V JAKOB

Josh Kerr and Jakob Ingebrigtsen meet in a 1500m showdown at 8.50pm (7.50pm BST) that promises to be, as World Athletics president Lord Coe put it, a “race for the ages”.

The Scottish world champion and the Norwegian he beat to that podium in 2023 have exchanged barbs, jabs and a foreshadowing glance at the end of their semi-final, but now it is finally time for the bitter rivals to stop talking and start running.

If Ingebrigtsen wins he will become only the second man in history – after Lord Coe himself – to claim two Olympic 1500m gold medals.

FROM KAYAK TO KEELY

Monday’s medals included two magnificent efforts in the manic kayak cross, a world record-breaking gold in the velodrome, a photo-finish bronze in the mixed relay triathlon and Hodgkinson’s gold in the 800 metres.

That took Team GB’s total for the day to five and overall tally to 42.