Olympic Highlights Day 16: Iconic giant says farewell while Sifan Hassan targets hat-trick
Athletics
Marathon, women
08:00 CET, Paris
It used to be a tradition that the men's marathon would close the Olympics. It was not until 1984 in Los Angeles that the women's 42,125-meter race made its first appearance at the Feast Under Five Rings because it was not deemed safe for women.
This year, something new is coming. It is the women who have the honour of closing the athletics portion of the Olympics. The organisers want to symbolically show the equality between the sexes, which is also documented by the balance in the number of participants in the entire sports festival.
The world record was set by Peres Jepchirchir in London this April, setting a time of 2:16:16. The Kenyan runner's biggest rivals will be a trio of female athletes from Ethiopia. Tigst Assefa, Megertu Alemu and Amane Shankula, who have also managed to break the 2 hours and 17 minutes mark this year, are all in the running.
But it is Sifan Hassan who seems to have earned the most attention. The Egyptian-born Dutch endurance athlete has already managed to win bronze medals in both the 5,000 and 10,000 metres at the Paris Oval. For the third time, she will try to be successful on the streets of the French capital. While she already ran the shortest distance on Monday, she completed the 10km race just less than two days before the start of the marathon.
Handball
Denmark - Germany, women's final
13:30 CET, Lille, Pierre Mauroy Stadium
He had already announced before the Olympics that it would be a big send-off. Iconic Danish giant Mikkel Hansen has been world champion three times and won Olympic gold for his country back in Rio 2016. The Paris Olympics is the last tournament of his career and he is certainly happy to have made it to the final with his team. The Danes won the regular group in a convincing manner, but in the play-offs they twice beat their opponents by just one goal (Sweden 32:31 and Slovenia 31:30).
The Germans, however, are playing their best tournament in years in Paris. The last time they were in an Olympic final was in 2004. On their way to the gold, the German team also had an incredible ending in the quarter-finals, trailing by two goals in the final minute of their duel with host France. But then came a reduction and a sensational equaliser in the last second of normal time. The overtime was then won by the euphoric Germans.
Denmark are the favourites, having won their last five matches, but the team performance of the Germans and the venue - the Lille football stadium - can make the fight for gold a real drama.
Basketball
15:30 CET, Paris, Bercy Arena
The women's basketball tournament has a clear favourite. The American women are aiming for their 10th gold in history in Paris. Coach Lisa Thomaidis' side are soaring through this year's tournament with flying colours, as evidenced by their convincing 85:69 win over Australia in the semifinals.
Far more difficulties were on show for France, who lost to Australia in the preliminary group and edged past Belgium in the semi-finals in overtime.
"I far prefer drama like this to winning by 30 points every day," commented Gabby Williams, one of the mainstays of the French team, on their progress to the final. The American-born Nevada basketball player, who has previously played in the WNBA for both Chicago and Seattle, will lead France against her native country.
She also urged the French crowd to support the home team against the "invincibles". The American women have reigned uninterrupted at the Feast Under Five Rings since 1996 and have also won the last four World Championships.