Team Great Britain shines during Day 2 of the Paris 2024 Olympics

Even with one athlete's withdrawal and another's coming just short of qualification, the medals continue to be well-earned.
Paris 2024 Olympic Games - Previews
Paris 2024 Olympic Games - Previews / Quinn Rooney/GettyImages
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Day 2 of the Paris 2024 Olympics has wrapped and it is as true as on Day 1, that victories or losses came down to incredibly tight margins and unexpected turns for the athletes. There were plenty of reasons to cheer on Team Great Britain and some interesting stories came of these athletes' efforts.

Evie Richards, who overcame a serious injury in April to compete in women's mountain bike competition, was 25 seconds too slow to medal in the event, but it was an inspiring sight for the cyclist who returned to her sport after two months of recovery. In both judo and boxing, there were surprise losses for 2020 bronze medalist Chelsie Giles and Rosie Eccles, respectively. In swimming, Max Litchfield swam a fierce race in the men's 400 meter individual medley, but was 0.19 seconds shy of an Olympic medal. Tennis player Cameron Norris had to withdraw from the games due to injury.

Just as important as competition results are the progress of teams. Dan Evans and Andy Murray progressed in men's doubles in tennis and the women's swim team of Ruby Evans, Georgia-Mae Fenton, Abi Martin Becky Downie and Alice Kinsella qualified produced the results needed to join the men's team in the team finals.

Kimberley the kayaking champion

Meanwhile, Kimberley Woods clinched the bronze medal for the canoe slalom in women's kayaking. Olympic champion Ricarda Funk might have moved her out of the third-place spot, but a penalty added 50 seconds to Funk's time and ensured that Woods would take home the bronze.

The circumstance of Funk's error is poignant for this kayaker who placed last in the Tokyo K1 final due to over fifty penalties. The 28-year-old competitor was in silver medal contention with two competitors still to race and was edged out of second place by Polish paddler Klaudia Zwolinska. Woods later detailed her aims for the finals:

"I went out there to be me and that’s all I could be and finish as high as I could and I’m really proud of that."

Kimberley Woods

So close for Peaty

Swimmer Adam Peaty was a gold medalist in the Tokyo games, but recently took a break from the sport for personal reasons. He had high hopes for repeating this feat in the men's 100 meter breaststroke.

In a stunning finish, he found himself sharing a silver medal with Nic Fink of the United States. Of this "curveball," Peaty had this to say to The Independent:

"You can train for eight years for something and not feel 100 percent and that 100 percent will cost you 0.02 secs."

Adam Peaty

Indeed, both Peaty and Fink fell behind Italy's Nicolo Martinenghi by 0.02 seconds. Had he been able to best Martinenghi, he would have joined Michael Phelps in winning three consecutive gold medals at the Olympics. Nevertheless, this wonderful sportsman said that, "I'm so happy [to win silver]...Would it have been a fairytale ending? Of course, but it's wasn't meant to be."

We wish him luck in the relay races to come and hope continued success for Team Great Britain in Day 3.

No three-peat for Peaty at the Olympics. dark. Next. No three-peat for Peaty at the Olympics