Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson has pulled out of the 200m. The two-time world champion had already withdrawn from the 100m. It is another blow to Jamaica’s running team, after Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce also withdrew from the 100m.

Athletics: newly crowned women’s 100m Olympic champion Julien Alfred has safely progressed through round one of the 200m in the first heat just hours after her triumph. She won it in 22.41 seconds.

“I’m really tired” she said afterwards, in maybe understatement of the Olympics so far. She told viewers on Eurosport that her plan had been to attack the first bend to “get it done.”

Hosts France are in a men’s football Olympics semi-final tomorrow against Egypt. Philippe Auclair is in Paris, and has this on how Thierry Henry has harnessed the Olympic flame to stake a claim for the France job …

Men’s hockey: it is 1-1 between Great Britain and India at half-time. The Indian goal came from Harmanpreet Singh via a penalty corner, just minutes after India were on the receiving end of a red card. Lee Morton equalised from close range in the 27th minute.

Dressage individual Grand Prix freestyle: you can’t really explain the Olympic schedule to a horse so I imagine there were some very surprised looking equine faces in the stables this morning going “What, again?”.

It is the individual competition today. Glamourdale, Hermes, TSF Dalera BB and Freestyle will be the four to watch after their impressive scores in the team event yesterday.

Oh, and their riders – Charlotte Fry (GBr), Dinja van Liere (Ned), Jessica von Bredow-Werndl (Ger) and Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour (Den). I’ll be surprised if the medals go anywhere else.

Men’s hockey: that red card seems to have irked India into a different gear – they have just taken a 1-0 lead against Great Britain.

Women’s 3000m steeplechase: Team GB’s Lizzie Bird has just made a stunning late move in the second heat, and with a dip at the line she moved from seventh place to fourth place in the final 30 metres, just squeezing through on inside of the track. She qualifies for the final.

No such luck for teammate Aimee Pratt in the first heat, who despite posting a season’s beast was well off the qualifying pace.

Men’s handball: a comfortable 40-27 win for Sweden over Japan means the Swedes go through. The last remaining quarter-final spot from Group A will be decided tonight when Spain face Croatia. A draw will be enough for Spain to progress in that, Croatia need the win.

Men’s hockey: it is still 0-0 between Great Britain and India in the quarter-final here but a controversy as a red card is shown to Amit Rohidas for a high stick in the face. It looked accidental and the India team are very unhappy with the decision.

Beach volleyball: both the men’s and women’s competitions have reached the round of 16 elimination stage, and those match-ups happen throughout today and tomorrow. Zoe Verge-Depre and Esmee Boebner of Switzerland are the first pair through to the quarter-finals after victory over Chen Xue and Xinyi Xia of China 2-0.

Paris Olympics organisers have cancelled Sunday’s swimming training session for the triathlon mixed relay event after recent heavy rain affected water quality levels in the Seine river, Reuters reports.

The decision was made late on Saturday after tests showed water quality did not meet the required threshold after rain on 31 July and 1 August.
The mixed relay race is scheduled for Monday.

“We are expecting an improvement on the conditions in the next hours, but not to a level to which the swim familiarization planned for tomorrow can take place,” organisers said in a statement.

“In view of these conditions, we have decided to cancel the swim familiarisation tonight to avoid late communication to athletes.”

Pollution in the Seine after heavy rains had caused the men’s race to be postponed for a day, after swimming practice sessions were cancelled two days in a row.

Athletics: the morning session has begun in Stade de France. I do love a bit of distance and endurance, and the first event on the track is the first heat of the women’s 3,000m steeplechase. Aimee Pratt goes for team GB. Peruth Chemutai of Uganda is setting the early pace. The first five qualify.

Men’s hockey: the tournament has reached the quarter-final stage. Defending champions Belgium face Spain at 12.30, the Netherlands face Australia at 17.30 and Germany play Argentina at 8pm. First up though is a tasty looking clash between eight-times champions and Tokyo bronze medallists India and Great Britain. That is 0-0 after five minutes.

I put the curse of the commentator on France’s Thomas Chirault there. As soon as I mentioned he was in front, Mete Gazoz of Turkey, the defending champion, showed why he is a champion, and came back from 3-1 down to win on a single arrow shootout. Sorry, France.

Men’s handball: in Group A Sweden, Spain and Croatia are all locked on four points and only two can progress. Spain play Croatia in the final group game at 9pm tonight Paris time. The opening match today is Sweden v Japan, who are already eliminated. Sweden are doing their best to give themselves the chance to progress. They lead 16-9 at half-time.

Men’s archery individual: a lot of excitement from the host fans at Invalides at the moment as in the opening match today France’s Thomas Chirault has opened up a 3-1 lead against defending champion Mete Gazoz of Turkey. This is a qualification match for the quarter-finals. I did joke in the comments yesterday that this sport looks like it would be an awful lot easier if they just stood nearer the targets.

Men’s golf: play has begun at Le Golf National on the final day of the men’s competition. Jon Rahm and Xander Schauffele are in the lead on 14 under, with Britain’s Tommy Fleetwood starting today a shot behind. The leaders tee off at 12.39 Paris time, so we are some ways away from the business end of that yet.

One woman who was missing from the stellar lineup in last night’s 100m race was the legendary Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce from Jamaica.

Reuters reports that on Instagram overnight she has posted that she struggled “to find the words” to describe “the depth of disappointment” that she is feeling.

She continued:

I know that my supporters share and shoulder this disappointment with me. The support of my fans, my country and the larger community has rooted me in immense gratitude that has sustained me throughout my career. With every step and win, you all have been there for me. My faith has always affirmed my trust in the journey.

The International Olympic Committee said in a statement that Jamaica’s chef de mission Ian Kelly confirmed Fraser-Pryce’s withdrawal was due to an injury sustained during her warm-up, after reports surfaced online that it had been because she was denied entry to the venue.

Fraser-Pryce has won eight Olympic medals in total, and is still scheduled to run with the Jamaicans’ 4x100m relay team.

She will always be a legend to me, anyway, just for rocking up that time and destroying the field in her son’s sports day race for the mums.

Ewan Murray has been in Paris, and offers this diary of his week …

Hello! Thank you Megan. It is Martin Belam here in London. It has just gone 9am in Paris which is, as ever, the cue for lots of the action to start. If you have just joined us, here is what we have lined up in the medal department today …

Medal events

🥇 Golf – men’s stroke play (from 9am)
🥇 Equestrian – dressage individual grand prix freestyle (10am)
🥇 Tennis – women’s doubles / men’s singles (12pm)
🥇 Cycling – women’s road race (2pm)
🥇 Table Tennis – men’s singles (2.30pm)
🥇 Archery – men’s recurve individual (2.33pm)
🥇 Badminton – men’s doubles & singles / women’s singles (3pm)
🥇 Gymnastics – men’s rings, vault, parallel bars & horizontal bar / women’s uneven bars, beam & floor exercise (from 3pm)
🥇 Shooting – women’s skeet / men’s 25m rapid fire pistol / mixed skeet (3.30pm)
🥇 Swimming – women’s 50m freestyle & 4×100m medley relay / men’s 15oom & 4×100m medley relay (from 6.30pm)
🥇 Fencing – men’s team foil (7.10pm)
🥇 Athletics – women’s high jump / men’s hammer throw & 100m (from 7.55pm)

[All times local to Paris]

Alas my liveblogging time has come to an end, but I will leave you in the very capable hands of my colleague Martin Belam. He’ll guide you through the next few hours, covering the initial excitement of day nine. Enjoy and I’ll catch you next time!

We’re getting close to 9am Paris time, which means there are plenty more events about to begin – those earlybird badminton players were just the tip of the iceberg. Here’s what is happening as soon as we get to 9am:

Beach Volleyball: Round of 16 match between China and Switzerland.

Golf: Men’s individual stroke play round 4.

Handball: Men’s preliminary round match between Sweden and Japan.

Shooting: Men’s 25m rapid fire pistol qualification.

Volleyball: Women’s preliminary round match between Italy and Türkiye.

I will never tire of talking about Simone Biles. I hope to one day be a very old woman sitting in a rocking chair, rabbiting on to my great-grandchildren about how I was alive to witness her dominance. She has been the highlight of the Games for me and I loved Tumaini Carayol’s story about her seventh gold medal.

So often in gymnastics, the higher difficulty attempted, the more execution deductions they receive as they strain to perform these extremely difficult skills. The remarkable part of Biles’s first vault, and so many of her skills, is how the execution is also elevated despite the mindblowing difficulty. She was rewarded with a 9.4 execution score.

Reader Pete Garvey has got in touch about the day eight images and his heart was firmly at the Stade de France track.

I fully agree with on not getting past Simone Biles. She was astonishing in the women’s vault final and is undoubtedly the GOAT, but the other standout picture and performance for me came Julien Alfred winning the gold in the women’s 100m final for Saint Lucia. It was an astonishing performance by her and I feel very proud of her and what she has accomplished.

I was gutted for Daryll Neita. I hope she can qualify and get a medal in the women’s 200m race and let’s see if Dina Asher Smith can too. Here is hoping.

Badminton is the first sport to get underway today – it’s currently 8:30am Paris time and the women’s singles badminton semi final between Republic of Korea’s An Se Young and Indonesia’s Gregoria Mariska Tunjung is up first.

This Olympics hasn’t been short on controversy, but having not one, but two controversies about surfboard designs wasn’t on my bingo card. Australian surfer Jack Robinson has had to paint over a design on his board that garnered complaints over it being offensive in parts of East Asia, while Brazilian Joao Chianca was reportedly told to remove an depiction of the Christ The Redeemer statue. Kieran Pender has all the surfboard controversy here.

OK, it’s time to get back to Snoop Dogg. He’s been popping up around the place all through the Olympics, most notably supporting Simone Biles at the gymnastics, which has been the go-to event for celebrities. But yesterday he decided to make an appearance at the equestrian, which was unusual not just because of the relative lack of star power, but also because Snoop Dogg has a fear of horses. But in one of the more unexpected inspirational stories of Paris 2024, he overcame his fear and went to the dressage with Martha Stewart. You have to read the whole story, it doesn’t get less bizarre.

Another great story out of Stade de France on Day 8 was Thea LaFond winning Dominica’s first ever Olympic medal, taking gold in the triple jump with a 15.02m jump. Dominica sent only four athletes to the Paris Games, so it is a remarkable achievement for the small island nation.

Like many people, I watched Sprint – the Netflix documentary covering the highs and lows of the fastest runners in the world. I loved it – the fascinating stories behind life on the track had me captivated. So that only made last night’s huge upset in the women’s 100m even more incredible. While the world was watching Sha’carri Richardson and Shericka Jackson, Julien Alfred was quietly going about her business and getting ready to rip up the script. From running barefoot in her school uniform at home in St Lucia to blitzing the field in Paris, hers is a story that we will surely hear more about in the future.

Some absolutely sensational shots in here that really capture all the emotion of day eight. Personally I can’t go past this fantastic shot of Simone Biles, but I’d love to know what your favourites are? You can let me know via email – the link is at the top of the page.

The track cycling will get underway on day 10 and hot off the presses, here is Kieran Pender’s fantastic interview with Australian coach Tim Decker. From small town South Australia to the world stage, this is a truly fascinating story.

It’s been pretty heartbreaking to witness the way people respond to athletes who don’t meet their expectations. It’s something we see a lot of in professional sport, but for some of these Olympians who are thrust into the spotlight from having virtually no public attention, it must be even harder to take. Olli Hoare has had a particularly hard time of it after not making it through the repechage for the 1500m. What can be done to combat social media abuse and getting people to realise athletes are only human?

It’s been interesting seeing the way Nielsen have made their predictions and adjusted as the Olympics have gone on. Do you think they’re on the money with this virtual medal table?

Kieran Pender has been hard at work in Paris and has this great story about how Australia’s women are leading the way in bringing home the gold this Olympics.

The women’s high jump is gearing up to be a hotly contested event after Ukranian Yaroslava Mahuchikh jumped a record 2.10m at the Diamond League three weeks ago. But Australians Nicola Olyslagers and Eleanor Patterson are determined they can match her. The final is on today and it’s sure to be thrilling. Jack Snape has this great interview with Olyslagers to get you up to speed before it all kicks off.

While we’re on the topic of medals, let’s check out the medal tally. China retain top spot, while the US has clawed their way back into the second. The host nation France are sitting comfortably in third, with Australia sliding down to fourth as the swimming begins to wrap up. Great Britain, Republic of Korea, Japan, Italy, Netherlands and Canada round out the top 10 with plenty more medals still to be won.

If you’re all about the medals, there are plenty up for grabs today! Here’s what you can expect:

Medal Events

🥇 Golf – men’s stroke play
🥇 Equestrian – dressage individual grand prix freestyle
🥇 Tennis – women’s doubles / men’s singles
🥇 Cycling – women’s road race
🥇 Boxing – women’s 54kg / men’s 51kg, 63.5kg, 80kg, 92kg
🥇 Table Tennis – men’s singles
🥇 Archery – men’s recurve individual
🥇 Badminton – men’s doubles & singles / women’s singles
🥇 Gymnastics – men’s rings, vault, parallel bars & horizontal bar / women’s uneven bars, beam & floor exercise
🥇 Shooting – women’s skeet / men’s 25m rapid fire pistol / mixed skeet
🥇 Swimming – women’s 50m freestyle & 4x100m medley relay / men’s 15oom & 4x100m medley relay
🥇 Fencing – men’s team foil
🥇 Athletics – women’s high jump / men’s hammer throw & 100m
🥇 Surfing – men’s & women’s shortboard

There is so much in store for us all today, it’s that most wonderful point of the Olympics where we have some swimming and athletics crossover, which is always chaotically amazing. You can check out the live schedule to get all the latest updates and times in your timezone.

For those in Australia, we also have quite a lot of Australians in action – you can read all about it and get the event times in this great guide.

Hello everybody and welcome to live coverage of the ninth official day of competition of the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics.

I hope you’ve all been enjoying it so far – here in Australia there have been a lot of late nights and early mornings, but Australian sports fans are well accustomed to dealing with sport induced sleep deprivation.

Day eight was full of action, with probably the biggest news of the day being the huge upset of St Lucia’s Julien Alfred taking out the 100m women’s gold ahead of Sha’carri Richardson. Elsewhere on the track, Dutch runner Femke Bol came from nowhere to drag her team to victory in the 4x400m mixed relay. There was more Simone Biles magic, as the star gymnast picked up her seventh gold medal, and over in the pool Katie Ledecky got the better of Ariarne Titmus to win her fourth 800m gold in a row. Snoop Dogg stole the show at the equestrian (words I never could have imagined typing in my wildest dreams) and Remco Evenepoel picked up the gold for Belgium in the men’s cycling road race.

So that’s the whirlwind tour, but we’ll do a deeper dive over the next few hours and very soon I’ll be getting into the day nine schedule and what to expect and look forward to throughout today! I’ll be your host for the next three hours or so, so settle in, relax and let’s get into some Olympics!