Top five stories from day 15 at the Paris Olympics

The penultimate day of the Paris Olympics is in full swing with 39 gold medals up for grabs – the highest total for a single day at the Games since 2000.

In the men’s marathon, Ethiopia’s Tamirat Tola set a new Olympic record, while Britain’s Emile Cairess finished just outside the medal places.

The day got off to a mixed start for Team GB: Erin McNeice missed out on a sport climbing medal, but taekwondo pair Caden Cunningham and Rebecca McGowan qualified for their respective quarter-finals.

Elsewhere, Serbia beat Germany to win bronze in men’s basketball, while New Zealand’s Lisa Carrington (already her country’s most decorated Olympian of all time) won another gold in canoeing.

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Medal table of the Paris Olympic Games

Tola sets an Olympic marathon record

Tamirat Tola kicked off Saturday’s medal race in the men’s marathon. Crossing the line in an Olympic record time of two hours, six minutes and 26 seconds. to secure Ethiopia’s first gold at the Games.

The 32-year-old finished 21 seconds ahead of Belgium’s Bashir Abdi, with Kenyan Benson Kipruto a further 13 seconds back in third.

It is Tola’s first Olympic gold, adding to the 10,000m bronze she won at Rio 2016 and her 2022 World Marathon Championship title.

Britain’s Emile Cairess was in medal contention at one point, holding second position after about 30km, but faded during the latter part of the race before fighting back to claim fourth place.

Cairess’ time of 2:07:29, 29 seconds behind bronze medallist Kipruto, was Team GB’s best Olympic marathon result in 20 years.

Kenyan great Eliud Kipchoge’s bid to win an unprecedented hat-trick of Olympic marathon titles ended in disappointment as he did not finish the race.

McNeice misses medal in sport climbing

Inspired by the British Toby Roberts wins gold in sport climbing In Thursday’s men’s bouldering and hard final, fellow countryman Erin McNeice had the chance to mirror her success in the women’s event.

However, it was not to be, as she finished in fifth place and could not get a medal.

Watched by Roberts, McNeice, nicknamed McBeast, put herself in medal contention after a strong showing in the bouldering portion of the event, before falling short on the main climb.

Slovenian Janja Garnbret took gold, ahead of American Brooke Raboutou and Austrian Jessica Pilz.

British taekwondo pair make steady progress

Team GB taekwondo athletes Caden Cunningham and Rebecca McGowan have made it through to the quarter-finals.

Cunningham defeated Niger’s Abdoul Issoufou in his men’s +80kg first-round bout, while McGowan thrashed Fiji’s Venice Traill without conceding a point in her women’s +67kg bout.

The pair are hoping to win Britain’s first taekwondo medals at the Paris Olympics after… Jade Jones suffered a first round defeat Earlier this week, Bradly Sinden withdrew from his bronze medal match due to injury.

The quarter-finals were scheduled to start at 13:30 BST.

Serbia wins basketball gold before All-Star final

NBA star Nikola Jokic shined as Serbia beat Germany 93-83 to win bronze in men’s basketball.

The three-time MVP was Serbia’s joint-top scorer with 19 points alongside Vasilije Mimic.

It is the country’s second Olympic medal in the event after silver at Rio 2016.

The gold medal match takes place at 20:30 BST when the USA take on France in a thrilling tie.

A star-studded U.S. team featuring LeBron James and Steph Curry is seeking its fifth consecutive men’s Olympic gold in the event against a French team led by NBA Rookie of the Year Victor Wenbanyama.

Carrington wins her third gold in Paris

New Zealand’s Lisa Carrington is unstoppable in the canoe sprint.

The 35-year-old New Zealander, who is the most decorated Olympian of all time, won her third gold in Paris by winning the women’s kayak single 500m final in a Games-best time of one minute and 47.36 seconds.

Carrington, who won her first medal at London 2012, took her tally to nine, including eight golds and one bronze.

Hungary’s Tamara Csipes took silver in the event, while Denmark’s Emma Jorgensen won bronze.