Paris Olympics 2024: What you need to know right now

PARIS: IT was another night of late surges as Quincy Hall reeled in Britain's Matthew Hudson-Smith in the final strides of the men's 400 metres on the track while in the velodrome Australia won a nail-biter in the men's cycling team pursuit.

Here's what you need to know about the Olympics so far:

HALL SNATCHES GOLD IN THE 400M

Quincy Hall produced an incredible late surge to overhaul Briton Matthew Hudson-Smith and take a first Olympic 400 metres gold for the United States since 2008 in another scintillating and dramatic race on Wednesday.

Long-striding Hudson-Smith seemed on course to win his country’s first gold over the distance since "Chariots of Fire" Eric Liddell in the Paris Games 100 years ago, but Hall swept past to win in a personal best 43.40 seconds and give the U.S. their first triumph since LaShawn Merritt in Beijing.

TAIWAN'S LIN EASES INTO WOMEN'S BOXING FINAL

Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting, one of two boxers at the centre of a gender dispute at the Paris Olympics, moved a step closer to the Olympic title when she beat Turkey's Esra Yildiz by unanimous decision in the women's featherweight semi-finals on Wednesday.

Over in New York, diplomatic punches between Russia and Algeria were being thrown over the issue during a meeting of the body focused on women, peace and security.

HOT PURSUIT

Australia won a thrilling men's team pursuit final against Britain at the National Velodrome to claim their first Olympic gold medal in the iconic track event since 2004.

The teams were neck-and-neck throughout the 16-lap duel with Australians Oliver Bleddyn, Sam Welsford, Conor Leahy and Kelland O'Brien always fractionally ahead.

In the women's event, the United States took gold for the first time ever as they beat New Zealand.

For American Kristen Faulkner it was her second gold medal of the Games after she won the women's road race.

FRANCE ASK FBI FOR HELP IN SABOTAGE CASE

Police in France investigating the sabotage of high-speed rail lines hours before the Paris Olympics' Opening Ceremony have asked the U.S. FBI for help, two sources with direct knowledge of the inquiry said.

Investigators called in the FBI after media organisations, including Reuters, received an email the police believe may have been sent by the perpetrators. It set out a rambling list of grievances but did not explicitly claim responsibility.

AUSTRALIAN HOCKEY PLAYER DETAINED FOR COCAINE

Australia Olympic hockey player Tom Craig was released from police custody and apologised to his family and teammates on Wednesday after being arrested in Paris for buying cocaine.

Craig, 28, a silver medallist at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago, has played more than 100 games for the national side. The men's team, known as the Kookaburras, were knocked out of the Olympics on Sunday in the quarter-finals by the Netherlands.

NIGERIA'S DREAM RUN ENDS

The United States brought Nigeria's Paris Olympics fairytale to an end with a testy 88-74 quarter-final win on Wednesday while France's sweet dreams of women's basketball gold live on.

The first African team, men or women, to reach the knockout stage of an Olympic basketball tournament, the plucky Nigerian underdogs have been one of the Paris Games feel good stories for their spirited, joyful play and boundless self belief that has embodied the Olympic spirit.

HISTORIC THAI DOUBLE

Panipak Wongpattanakit became the first person from Thailand to win two gold medals when she defended her Tokyo title in the taekwondo women's flyweight division against China's Guo Qing.

Panipak, who now plans to retire, won 6-3 2-3 6-2, clinching the victory with two kicks to the head, which yielded three points each.

CLIMBING WIN

Poland's world-record holder Aleksandra Miroslaw won the women's speed climbing to claim her country's first gold medal at the Paris Games in the sport's Olympic debut as a stand-alone event.

RACE WALK RELAY

Spain's twice world champions Alvaro Martin and Maria Perez took the gold medal in the mixed marathon race walk relay by nearly a minute as the event made its Olympic debut.

PRODUCT PLACEMENT

From selfies with Samsung phones on the podium to Louis Vuitton cases at the opening ceremony, the Paris Games have widened the scope for sponsors' product placement, and this trend will continue in future Games, the International Olympic Committee said.

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