Athletics finally takes the stage at the Paris Olympics and the first round of the women’s 100m (10.50am BST) will be one of the events to watch. American star Sha’Carri Richardson carries great expectations but so do Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson and the great Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, still running fast at 37. British duo Dina Asher–Smith and Daryll Neita will hope to progress smoothly to the semi-finals.

Keely Hodgkinson will make her first appearance of the Games in the first round of the women’s 800m (6.45pm), while the first half of the men’s decathlon will take place throughout the day with Canada’s reigning champion Damian Warner back to defend his title.

For Team GB, Jack Laugher and Anthony Harding will dive for glory in the men’s 3m synchro final (10am), before Emily Craig and Imogen Grant try to claim the lightweight doublesculls gold (11.22am) that eluded them by a hundredth of a second in Tokyo. Bryony Page also has high hopes of trampoline gold (12.50pm) after capturing silver and bronze in Rio and Tokyo.

Le Golf National sits in a well-to-do suburb southwest of Paris, a place where every house has a driveway, a garage and a postbox on the lawn. It feels a world away from the Olympic buzz and as the sun rises there is little to suggest the Games are happening at all. You can find “Paris 2024” branded on metal gating and the first tee sits beside giant Olympic rings but otherwise, this is just another pristine golf course.

And then they come. Spectators are driven in by the busload, one after another after another, shuttled in from a nearby train station and deposited at the door. They are not just obnoxious golf fans, either: they are families with children wearing face paint and couples carrying flags; not just locals but Americans, Canadians, Koreans, Australians and plenty of Scandinavians here to watch.

Off they scuttle to seek out their favourite players like tourists on safari. Their feet brush through the long grass at Scottie Scheffler’s favourite watering hole, the chipping green. They huddle around Frenchman Victor Perez as he hits the opening tee shot. In total, around 30,000 spectators came through the doors.

After winning the all-around final, her second gold of the Games, and her sixth Olympic gold on Thursday (1 August), the 27-year-old proudly put on a new necklace, a sparkly goat on a silver chain.

The goat around her neck was a reference to her G.O.A.T. — or Greatest of All Time — status as the most heavily decorated gymnast in history, and the US gymnast with the most Olympic medals.

Australia, queens of the pool. Their 4x200m freestyle relay team was bookended by this Olympics’ 200m champion Mollie O’Callaghan and 400m champion Ariarne Titmus.

Between them, the 400m short course world champion Lani Pallister and the six-time relay world champion Brianna Throssell kept up the momentum, and given all that, perhaps the most remarkable part of this race was that it actually was a race, with USA and China finishing only a couple of body lengths back.

This was solid gold confirmation of the Australian women’s dominance in the pool, as if it were needed. All five of their swimming gold medals at these Games have been won by women, either as individuals or as a team.

Bethany Shriever laid down a marker just three months after suffering a broken collarbone to underline her status as the favourite to defend her Olympic BMX racing title.

The 25-year-old from Leytonstone was something of a shock winner of this event in Tokyo three years ago, defeating Mariana Pajon, the double Olympic champion in the process.

That gave her the confidence that she could challenge and beat the best in the world, adding a pair of World Championships golds and a European title in the three years since. She relinquished that world title in Rock Hill in May, breaking a collarbone as she crashed in the semi-finals.

Tom Daley has opened up on the struggles he has faced as a parent at the Paris Olympics.

In his fifth Games, the Team GB star, 30, and his teammate Noah Williams secured a silver medal in the men’s synchronised 10m dive.

Speaking after his success, Daley said that his two children inspired him to get back into the pool and compete in Paris, but admitted that it has been “incredibly tough”.

“It is really hard to be able to have two working parents and be able to have lots of time for your kids, and my husband has been so incredibly supportive,” he said, thanking Dustin Lance Black.

Following a dainty introduction on Thursday with the men’s and women’s 20k race walk, athletics returns to the Olympic stage in full force to dominate Friday’s action.

Decathlon, hammer throw, high jump and the women’s 100m preliminary rounds kick off the morning session before steady build-up throughout the day until the men’s 10,000m final just after 8pm UK time.

Here’s the athletics schedule for today:

09:05 Men’s decathlon 100m

09:10 Men’s hammer throw qualification – Group A

09:15 Women’s high jump qualification

09:35 Women’s 100m preliminary round

09:55 Men’s decathlon long jump

10:05 Men’s 1,500m round one

10:35 Men’s hammer throw qualification – Group B

10:50 Women’s 100m round one

11:15 Men’s decathlon shot put

17:00 Men’s decathlon high jump

17:10 Women’s 5,000m round one

17:15 Women’s triple jump qualification

17:55 Women’s discus throw qualification – Group A

18:10 4x400m relay mixed round one

18:45 Women’s 800m round one

19:10 Men’s shot put qualification

19:20 Women’s discus throw qualification – Group B

19:50 Men’s decathlon 400m

20:20 Men’s 10,000m final 🥇

“It’s been really hard,” said Murray of the effort just to be on court. “Physically, pain-wise, I feel bad. Physically I can obviously go on the court and perform at a level that’s competitive. We were close to getting in the medal rounds here.

“That’s OK, but the pain and discomfort in my body is not good and that’s also why I’m happy to be finishing. Because, if I kept going and kept trying, eventually you end up having an injury potentially ending your career. So I know that now is the right time.”

When the end came, Andy Murray was at peace, ready to call time on his “incredible” career.

After a fitting swansong that saw the Scot and Dan Evans save seven match points in two rounds to battle through to the quarter-finals of the Olympic men’s doubles, their defiance eventually ran out against American third seeds Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul.

In typical Murray fashion, he quickly changed his bio on the social media site X to ‘I played tennis’, writing: “Never even liked tennis anyway.”

“I feel good,” said Murray shortly afterwards as lightning lit up Roland Garros. “I’m obviously disappointed with the result tonight and the performance really.

“I’m happy. It’s been a good run here, brilliant final tournament. Obviously it’s not the perfect ending, it would’ve been amazing to have won a medal and we gave it a good go. But I feel good.

“I knew that moment was coming for the last few months. And, if it didn’t happen today, that was going to be in a couple of days’ time and I was ready for it. Obviously it was emotional because it’s the last time I will play a competitive match.

“I’m glad I got to go out here at the Olympics and finish on my terms because at times in the last few years that wasn’t a certainty. And even a few months ago, I was told when I first went to have my scan on my back that I wouldn’t be playing at the Olympics and I wouldn’t be playing at Wimbledon.

“So I feel also lucky that I got that opportunity to play here and have some great matches, create amazing memories.”

The 2024 Olympic Games has begun in Paris as 205 teams battle for 329 gold medals across 40 sports.

Athletics is always the biggest draw of the Olympics and will again be the most watched sport, with stars of the track and field often becoming the faces of the Games.

The action at the Stade de France gets underway this morning.