Canoeing

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Germany retained their Olympic men's kayak four 500m title in the dramatic fashion after a photo finish showed they had pipped Australia across the finish line.

The Australians were 0.04 seconds behind in second, while Spain picked up the bronze medal.

In the women's event, New Zealand clinched gold ahead of Germany, with Hungary finishing third.

Meanwhile, China's Liu Hao and Ji Bowen came out on top in the men's canoe double 500m sprint, beating Italy and Spain's pairings.

Harry Poole
BBC Sport journalist in Paris

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Great Britain's former Olympic champion Joe Clarke missed out on a medal in the men's kayak single (K1) final at Paris 2024.

The 31-year-old world champion, who won gold on his Olympic debut at Rio 2016, placed fifth in 89.82 seconds to finish 1.6secs behind Italy's gold medallist Giovanni de Gennaro.

French 19-year-old Titouan Castryck won silver and Spain's Pau Echaniz took bronze.

Clarke, omitted from the team for the Tokyo Games three years ago, will now target gold in kayak cross - an event in which he is the three-time reigning world champion.

As the fastest qualifier, Clarke was the last to make his bid for gold in the final but, while he received no penalties, could not force his way on to the podium.

Clarke’s Olympic journey to Paris had been one of extremes, from the glorious heights of Rio 2016 to a painful Tokyo omission, and he placed his hands on his head after seeing confirmation that he had fallen short at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.

Britain's first individual K1 gold medal winner at the age of 23 on his Olympic debut in Rio eight years ago, Clarke has since admitted that glorious moment may have arrived too early in his career.

Clarke was left considering his future in the sport after missing out on Tokyo but has been rewarded for his perseverance since, winning double world gold last year in the men's K1 and kayak cross events.

The Briton will now target Olympic kayak cross gold, having triumphed in that discipline at each of the past three World Championships.

However, the chaotic and unpredictable nature of that event, making its Olympic debut in Paris and which pits four athletes against each other on the course at the same time, means there are no guarantees Clarke's world domination will translate to success when that competition begins on Friday.

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Great Britain's Mallory Franklin has qualified in sixth for the women's canoe singles semi-final on Wednesday.

The reigning world champion finished her first run in 104.72 seconds, but received a 50-second penalty on her second to leave her with a time of 152.41 seconds.

Gabriela Satkova, of the Czech Republic, who is making her Olympic debut, qualified in first and current Olympic champion Jessica Fox is in second.

In the men's kayak singles, GB's Joe Clarke produced a near-perfect second run to cross the line in 85.62 seconds and book a place in Thursday's semi-final.

The 2016 Olympic champion finished fourth overall.

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Great Britain's Kimberley Woods has qualified for the women's kayak singles semi-final at the Olympics.

The 28-year-old recorded a time of 97.31 seconds in the first heat, and 95.95 in the second to finish 12th overall.

Australia's Jessica Fox, regarded as the greatest female slalom paddler of all time, topped qualifying after recording the fastest time of the session at 92.18 seconds.

Poland's Klaudia Zwolinska finished in second with Camille Prigent of France in third.

Woods finished last in the K1 final at Tokyo 2020, after receiving 56 penalties, and was captured on camera in a burst of tears.

Since then she has entered the top 10 in the discipline for the first time in her career.

The semi-final takes place on Sunday 28 July at 14:30 BST.

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Great Britain's Adam Burgess qualified for the men's canoe singles semi-final.

The 32-year-old had the second fastest time of 90.87 seconds in heat one, and had a clean second run to cross the line in 95.08 seconds.

Burgess finished fourth at the Tokyo 2020 Games and missed out on a medal by 0.16 seconds.

France's Nicolas Gestin finished in first, with Croatia's Matika Marinic in third.

The semi-final takes place on Monday 29 July at 14:30 BST.