By John Salvado in Paris

Australian athletes have now won at least one gold medal on the first eight days of the Paris Games. It’s never happened before.

AUSTRALIAN MEDALLISTS

GOLD

• John Peers and Matthew Ebden – (tennis – men’s doubles) – There will be few more popular – or unexpected – Australian gold medallists in Paris than the tennis journeymen, who downed Americans Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram in the title match.

SILVER

Grae Morris (sailing – men’s windsurfing) – The 20-year-old Sydneysider won Australia’s first Olympic windsurfing medal in 32 years – and the first for the 2024 sailing squad in Marseille at the 2024 Games.

Ariarne Titmus (swimming – 800m freestyle) – The Australian had to bow to  Katie Ledecky on this occasion, having got the better of the legendary American in the 400m freestyle earlier in the Games.

BRONZE

Kaylee McKeown (swimming – 200m individual medley) – The peerless backstroker added a bronze to her burgeoning Olympic haul.

Kaylee McKeown, Josh Yong, Matt Temple and Mollie O’Callaghan – (swimming – mixed 4x100m medley relay) – Yet another medal for McKeown and O’Callaghan.

OTHER HEADLINE GOLD MEDALLISTS

• Julien Alfred won a first-ever Olympic gold for the tiny Caribbean nation of St Lucia in the women’s 100m, with US superstar Sha’Carri Richardson claiming silver.

• Simone Biles pocketed her seventh Olympic gymnastics gold medal in the vault, thrilling the crowd with her signature Yurchenko double pike and Cheng vaults.

• Belgian cycling ace Remco Evenepoel overcame an untimely puncture 4km from the finish line to win the men’s road race.

WHAT ELSE HAPPENED

• World championships bronze medallist Kurtis Marschall made light of a sore left ankle to soar into Monday’s final.

• Jason Day improved to a tie for 10th with one round to play in the men’s golf tournament, but the gold medal race looks like being a heavyweight battle between Xander Schauffele and Jon Rahm.

• The world’s most decorated female sprinter, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce from Jamaica, withdrew from the 100m semi-finals in mysterious circumstances.

WHO SAID WHAT? 

“It probably is. Winning slams, winning Wimbledon, we’ve been into the Davis Cup finals the last couple of years …. but I mean, the Olympics? Gold? Really?” – Matt Ebden on whether Olympic gold was the greatest moment of his career.

“I was just off the pace today so I think I’ve got a mountain to climb to just get back into that top class.” – Sprint star Rohan Browning after being run out in the 100m heats.

MEDAL TABLE (after day eight) 

G   S   B   Tot

1. China                    16  12   9    37

2. United States      14  24  23  61

3. France                  12  14  15  41

4. Australia          12    8    7  27

1. Britain                   10   10 13  33

MEDALS DECIDED ON DAY 8: 27