By Rohith Nair
PARIS (Reuters) – Only three days are left at the Olympics but a busy Friday is in store on Day 14 of the Paris Games with 35 golds up for grabs.
The big attraction is the soccer final with hosts France hunting for the title while medals will also be awarded in athletics, boxing, wrestling and track cycling among others.
WARHOLM LOOKS TO REPEAT
A likely three-way battle for gold in the 400 metres hurdles headlines the evening events at Stade de France.
Norway’s world-record holder Karsten Warholm aims to repeat as champion but will be pushed by American Rai Benjamin, who has the fastest time this season, and Brazil’s Alison Dos Santos.
HOSTS FRANCE SEEK SOCCER GOLD
The big men’s football final between hosts France and Spain takes place at Parc des Princes.
Thierry Henry’s French side will look to win their first Olympic title in 40 years while Spain will try to improve on their silver medal in Tokyo.
In the women’s tournament, world champions Spain will hope to bounce back from their shock defeat by Brazil in the semis and claim the bronze medal against Germany, who lost in extra time to the United States.
BREAKING DEBUT
The first and potentially only Olympic medals for women’s breaking – a sport that blends urban dance with acrobatic moves set to the grooves of hip-hop music – debuts with B-Girl rounds.
The sport is making its Olympic debut in Paris but will not be part of the Los Angeles 2028 Games.
WRESTLING
Hassan Yazdani bids to become the first Iranian wrestler to win two Olympic golds while world champion Zelimkhan Abakarov will aim to be Albania’s first Olympic champion in the 57kg.
In the women’s 57kg, Rio 2016 champion Helen Maroulis of the U.S. is chasing her third Olympic medal but Japan’s world champion Tsugumi Sakurai could block her path.
GYMNASTICS
The 10 rhythmic gymnasts who qualified for the individual all-around final will leap, twirl and tumble to compete for a gold medal.
Women from Germany, Italy and Bulgaria are expected to shine in the first Olympics since 1992 without Russia, historically a dominant force in the sport who have for years eclipsed many other nations.
SPOTLIGHT ON KHELIF GOLD QUEST
Four gold medals are on offer in boxing on Friday – the men’s welterweight and heavyweight divisions as well as the women’s welterweight and flyweight classes.
In the women’s welterweight final, Algeria’s Imane Khelif, one of two fighters in the spotlight after a gender dispute over their eligibility for the Paris Games, meets China’s Yang Liu.
CHINA FAVOURITES IN ARTISTIC SWIMMING
The duet artistic swimming event begins and among the competitors will be four sets of twins from China, Austria, the Netherlands and Ukraine. China will aim for their second gold after winning the team event.
TAEKWONDO
France’s Magda Wiet-Henin, world champion in the women’s welterweight division, will vie for gold along with twice Olympic bronze medallist Ruth Gbagbi from Ivory Coast.
In the men’s event, Carl Nickolas, the first American male taekwondo fighter to earn a world medal since 2009, is in action.
Italy’s twice world champion Simone Alessio will also chase gold, along with Jordan’s Tokyo silver medallist Saleh Elsharabaty.
CANOE SPRINT
Lisa Carrington’s quest for more Olympic gold continues as she takes part in the women’s kayak double 500m semi-finals at the Vaires-Sur-Marne Nautical Stadium, with the final later on Friday.
TEENAGER ANRAKU GOES FOR GOLD IN CLIMBING
Japan’s Sorato Anraku will be one to watch as the Olympics’ first sport climbing boulder and lead champion is decided.
Still only 17, the self-confessed junk food connoisseur has wowed the climbing world with each medal since his international debut last year.
Anraku will be chased by four-times world champion Adam Ondra of Czech Republic and Britain’s Toby Roberts among others.
NO CHINESE AT FRIDAY’S WEIGHTLIFTING
No Chinese competitors are in the weightlifting events on Friday. As dominant as they are, the Chinese Olympic Committee selected only six athletes for their roster in Paris.
One of the biggest names missing is 89kg world record holder Li Dayin. In his absence, Bulgaria’s Carlos Nasar and Armenian Andranik Karapetyan are among the main contenders.
In the women’s 71kg, Liao Guifang, who set the world record at last year’s World Championships in Riyadh, is also absent. That leaves American Olivia Reeves, Taiwan’s Chen Wen-Huei and Ecuador’s Angie Palacios in the battle for medals.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Paris; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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