PARIS — The action continues at the Olympics on Wednesday in Paris where athletics, wrestling, skateboarding and boxing continue while taekwondo and weightlifting get under way. There will be 21 medals up for grabs with the bulk of them being given out in athletics. EL BAKKALI V GIRMA IN STEEPLECHASE Morocco’s Olympic champion Soufiane El Bakkali will fight to maintain his supremacy in the 3,000 metres steeplechase final.
He followed up his Tokyo title with a pair of world golds but faces a stiff challenge from Ethiopian world record holder Lamecha Girma at the Stade de France. Matthew Hudson-Smith wants to become the first Briton in a century to win Olympic gold in the 400 and will battle with the United States’ Quincy Hall in the final. GOAT IN THE BOAT New Zealand paddler Lisa Carrington, known back home as the “GOAT in the boat” (Greatest Of All Time) and her country’s most successful Olympian, gets her quest for an individual kayak sprint gold under way at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.
ALEKSANYAN SEEKS FOURTH MEDAL Armenia’s Artur Aleksanyan already owns Olympic medals of every color and the face of the men’s Greco-Roman 97kg weight class will be eyeing a second gold when he hits the mat. In Greco-Roman 77kg, top seed Nao Kusaka of Japan seems to be peaking at the right time and will be the favorite. In the women’s 50kg freestyle, Yui Susaki can only hope to win a bronze after India’s Vinesh Phogat ended her title defense in a major upset.
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