Paris 2024: Football Ferns fall to France, Hamish Carter praises heroic Kiwi triathletes

Fresh off the Black Ferns Sevens' success, New Zealand will have another strong chance to add to their medal count, when the triathlon event finally gets underway on Wednesday night (NZ time).

The event was originally scheduled to take place on Tuesday only to be thwarted by the pollution levels in the River Seine, where the swimming leg takes place.

But organisers have now given the green light for the races to proceed, with Hayden Wilde among the favourites to top the podium in the men's individual.

The rowers will try to continue their encouraging early form, with the men's pair and the women's lightweight double sculls racing their respective semi-finals.

There's plenty more action on the water, where Jo Aleh and Molly Meech try to back-up a strong Day 4 in the 49er FX.

The NZ schedule rounds out with the Football Ferns, who will face highly favoured hosts France in their final outing in Paris.

Day 5: July 31-August 1 (NZT)

Triathlon
6pm: Women’s individual race (Ainsley Thorpe, Nicole van der Kaay)
8.45pm: Men’s individual race (Hayden Wilde, Dylan McCullough)

Swimming
9pm: 200m backstroke men’s heats (Kane Follows)
7.34am: 200m backstroke men’s semi-finals (Kane Follows - if qualified)

Rowing
8.34pm: Men's pair semi-finals (Dan Williamson and Phillip Wilson)
9.34pm: Lightweight Double Scull women’s semi-finals (Jackie Kiddle and Shannon Cox)

Sailing
10.15pm: 49er FX races 10-12 (Jo Aleh and Molly Meech)
12.03am: Foil men races 13-16 (Josh Armit)
12.50am: 49er races 10-12 (Isaac McHardie and William McKenzie)
2.48am: Foil women races 13-16 (Veerle ten Have)

Equestrian
12.52am: Dressage Grand Prix - Group G (Melissa Galloway)

Football
7am: Football Ferns v France, group game

Photo: Ezra Shaw, Getty Images

RESULTS

Triathlon
In the women's triathlon, New Zealand's Nicole van der Kaay (2:01.33) and Ainsley Thorpe (2:03.48) finished in 31st and 44th place respectively. France's Cassandre Beaugrand won gold with a time of 1:54.55.

The men's triathlon followed promptly after the completion of the women's event with Britain's Alex Yee and NZ's Hayden Wilde widely tipped to feature on the podium.

A tough opening swim leg in the River Seine saw Wilde come out in 29th place at the transition, fellow Kiwi Dylan McCullough was 15th. Great strategy by McCullough allowed Wilde to catch up on the bike leg to improve to 18th at the transition into the closing run leg.

Wilde quickly took the lead to create a 15-second gap between him and rival Yee by the second of four running laps. Yee however snatched victory in the final moments to cross the finish line first with a time of 1:43.33, Wilde six seconds back and quick to congratulate his closest competitor in a heartfelt display of sportsmanship.

Swimming
Kane Follows finished second in his heat of the 200m backstroke heat but did not advance further.

Rowing
In the semi-finals of the men's pair, hopes of the next Murray & Bond emerging were dashed with a 4th place finish for Phillip Wilson & Dan Williamson (6:32.77), narrowly beaten to the line by the Irish pair of Ross Corrigan & Nathan Timoney (6:32.22), to end their medal hopes

In the women's lightweight double sculls semi-finals, Jackie Kiddle & Shannon Cox were 2nd (7:02.86) behind Great Britain's Emily Craig & Imogen Grant (6:59.79) to advance through to the final.

Sailing
At the completion of all 12 race in the 49er class, Isaac McHardie & Will McKenzie are ranked 3rd and advance to the medal race, Jo Aleh & Molly Meech are 7th after 12 races and will race for a medal next.

Meanwhile in the men's windsurfing, Josh Armit is 5th after ten races with five more to go. In the women's windsurfing, Veerle ten Haave is 8th after 11 of 16 races.

Equestrian
Melissa Galloway put on an encouraging performance, good enough to set a New Zealand Olympic record in the dressage grand prix with her score of 68.913%, but it wasn't enough to ride further for a medal.

Football
Football Ferns 1 (Kate Taylor 43') v France 2 (Marie-Antoinette Katoto 22', 49'). Half-time: 1-1.

Post-match, Football Ferns captain Katie Bowen was frank in her assessment of the team's performance in France, finishing winless and last in Group A.

"We've got to lift ourselves to the next level if we're going to compete in these tournaments and hopefully get through to the next round," Bowen said.

"I'm proud that we lifted ourselves up in this game tonight because it's the host nation but it's just not good enough across the three games."

With the group stage completed, France, Canada and Colombia all qualify for the knockout rounds from Group A, USA and Geramy advance from Group B but Australia fail to qualify, while Group C sees Spain, Japan and Brazil go through.

Main photo: Raghavan Venugopal, Photosport

PODCASTS

Hamish Carter is a Kiwi triathlon icon, winning gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics in the men's event. He spoke with Scotty & Izzy on Thursday morning to offer his praise towards Wilde and McCullough for their efforts in what was a grueling race in the River Seine and the streets of Paris.

McCullough also spoke with Scotty & Izzy on a morning where the men's triathlon dominated discussions on SENZ.