By Melissa Woods in Paris

Australia has added a silver and two more bronze to the record Olympic haul with cyclist Matt Richardson winning his third medal of the Games.

AUSTRALIAN MEDALLISTS

SILVER

• Matt Richardson (men’s keirin) has claimed his third medal of the Games, taking silver in the final behind Harrie Lavreysen after he also finished runner-up to the Dutch great in the the sprint.

BRONZE

• Centre Ezi Magbegor (basketball) has delivered an inspired showing to help the Opals storm past Belgium and climb back onto the Olympic podium, the Australians winning 85-78.

• Matt Glaetzer (men’s keirin) finally cracked an individual medal for the first time at his farewell Games, while he also won bronze in the team sprint with Richardson earlier in the campaign.

OTHER HEADLINE GOLD MEDALLISTS 

• Dutch runner Sifan Hassan won the women’s marathon with a sprint finish and set an Olympic record with a time of 2hr 22min 55sec. Hassan also won bronze medals in the 5,000m and 10,000m competitions.

• Track cyclist Ellesse Andrews added one last flourish to New Zealand’s golden Games. Already a champion in the keirin and silver medallist in the team sprint, Andrews won the individual sprint to take her country’s gold medal tally to 10.

*Georgian strongman Lasha Talakhadze has won his third consecutive Olympic title in the heaviest weightlifting division.

• The United States women’s basketball team, who have not lost an Olympic match since 1992, continued that domination with a 67-66 victory over France for a record eight consecutive titles.

WHAT ELSE HAPPENED 

• Australians Jess Stenson and Genevieve Gregson each took a rare turn to lead an Olympic women’s marathon before finishing 13th and 24th, respectively.

• Georgia Baker finished fifth in the women’s omnium with American Jennifer Valente winning track cycling gold.

• Veteran Sinead Diver only lasted only one kilometre of the women’s marathon before succumbing to severe cramps, but Australian team officials insist she was passed fit to compete.

• Serbia edged past Croatia 13-11 to win their third straight Olympic title in the men’s water polo.

• Hungary’s Michelle Gulyas stole gold with a superb laser run in the last Olympic pentathlon that includes showjumping.

• Italy overpowered the United States 25-18 25-20 25-17 to claim gold in the women’s volleyball. It was Italy’s first ever women’s volleyball medal.

The Italians never looked in danger and cruised to a triumph to claim their first-ever women’s volleyball medal at the Olympics.

• The Danes prevailed in the men’s handball, toppling Germany 39-26 to take gold.

• The closing ceremony for Paris 2024, featuring the usual athletes’ parade and the handover of the Olympic flag to the organisers of the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

WHO SAID WHAT?

“It did feel a little bit scary out the front, I have to say, and I had to forget that I was in the Olympics,” Jessica Stenson, who took the lead in the women’s marathon before the big names made their move.

“It’s soaked in, every single minute, and I will remember it for the rest of my life,” retiring basketball great Lauren Jackson, winning a fifth medal from five Olympic Games.

“There was a moment down the back straight where I thought, oh this is actually looking pretty good, and then he just rode a really good line to keep me wide coming into turn three and ducked down at the last minute. That scrubbed a little bit of my speed and silver was all that was for me,” Matthew Richardson, on trying to take down Dutch king Harrie Lavreysen.

FINAL MEDAL TABLE 

G    S     B   Tot

1. United States   40   44   42   126

2. China                 40   27   24   91

3. Japan                 20   12   13  45

4. Australia            18   19   16   53

5. France                16   26   22   64

Aussies say au revoir to great Olympics