Olympics 2024 LIVE: Adam Peaty beaten in heartbreaking finish as Andy Murray extends career with comeback

It is not the fairytale ending for Adam Peaty. A joint-silver medal in Paris, behind Italy’s Nicolo Martinenghi in what developed into a slow race that came down to pure timing at the wall.

Peaty must have thought he had won it, holding off world champion Qin Haiyang, only for a tight finish to snatch a victory that would have seen him join Michael Phelps as the only men to win three consecutive gold medals at the Olympics in individual events.

Disappointment, of course, but do not underestimate how the British great has seized victory from the most improbable position following the Tokyo Olympics.

A kitsch tableau parodied the iconic painting, recreating the biblical scene of Jesus Christ and his apostles sharing a last meal before crucifixion.

Helen Glover feels that being chosen as flagbearer has boosted her hopes of becoming the first British mum-of-three to win an Olympic medal.

The 38-year-old got her campaign off to a perfect start, combining with Rebecca Shorten, Sam Redgrave and Esme Booth for a smooth victory in the heats of the women’s four.

Eurosport commentator Bob Ballard has been removed from the broadcaster’s Olympics coverage after making a sexist remark.

Australia’s women’s 4x100m freestyle relay team, including Mollie O’Callaghan, Shayna Jack, Emma McKeon and Meg Harris, had just secured gold before Ballard made a controversial remark.

A clip of his Paris 2024 commentary, alongside Lizzie Simmonds, soon went viral on social media sparking outrage.

And the two most-experienced Olympians on this US team opened the Paris 2024 Games — not to mention a bid for a fifth consecutive gold medal for the Americans — with a near-perfect show.

Durant made his first eight shots on the way to 23 points in less than 17 minutes, James added 21 points, nine rebounds and seven assists and the US rolled to a 110-84 win over Serbia in the Olympic opener for both teams on Saturday.

They were a combined 18 for 22 from the field — 8 of 9 for Durant, 9 of 13 for James — as the US had no trouble with the reigning World Cup silver medalists from last summer in the Philippines. Jrue Holiday scored 15, Devin Booker had 12 and Anthony Edwards and Stephen Curry each added 11 for the US.

“I don’t think I’ve saved five match points in a row – in singles it’s almost impossible to do that, so I don’t think I’ve ever done that before,” Murray said after an extraordinary victory over Taro Daniel and Kei Nishikori.

“It’s probably up there in terms of comebacks – probably the way we were playing to that stage would have not suggested we were able to come back.

“Certainly from my side, I didn’t think I was playing well – Evo played well at times but for both of us, we can play much better than that.

“It all clicked at the end and we played some pretty good stuff in those points.

“In my career I’ve turned around a lot of matches I’ve looked unlikely to win or people thought I shouldn’t have won – at times I’ve had that mental toughness, strength that was at times early on in my career was questioned.”

There is no perfect way to call time, no method of looking into the future to see the end of the script that has been written for you. Except, in a way, there is: “The final match of Andy Murray’s career came in a painful defeat in the Olympics men’s doubles, alongside Dan Evans on a half-full court at Roland Garros,” wrote a certain reporter, sitting in the stands at Suzanne-Lenglen. “Despite a late rally to force a deciding tiebreak, Murray and Evans were an inexperienced doubles pair and it showed in a 6-2 7-6 10-4 first-round defeat to Japan’s Kei Nishikori and Taro Daniel,” the draft continued, waiting to be sent.

One last swimming event to tidy up, the women’s 200m freestyler semi-finals caught up in the wake of the breaststroke final. We’re expecting this to be a duel in the pool between two outstanding Australians: Ariarne Titmus is looking to defend her title, just as she did in the 400m last night, but faces stiff opposition in the form of compatriot Mollie O’Callaghan.

The pair’s race at the Australian trials earlier this year was spectacular, and they’ve warmed up rather nicely for another ding-dong battle, qualifying fastest and second fastest into the final some distance clear of the rest. Titmus just pipped her rival and will have lane four in the final. 17-year-old American starlet Claire Weinstein and Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey lead the rest of the medal contenders.

Adam Peaty will of course have two more medal opportunities at these Olympics, Great Britain with every chance of challenging in the men’s and mixed medley relays. He finds his young son in the crowd before being wrapped in a tight hug by his mum.

The Princess Royal, a former Olympian of course, is on hand to present the medals to the breaststrokers, hanging a medal around Adam Peaty’s neck as the pair share a smile. Nic Fink steps up on to the second step beside the Brit – that’ll be a popular silver in Team USA camp, the 31-year-old a captain of the American squad and incredibly well-liked.

But it’s Nicolo Martenenghi’s night. The Italian adds Olympic gold to the world title he won in 2022.