Two more New Zealand athletes have recorded top-10 results on day two at the Paris Olympics.
Veteran paddler Luuka Jones in the women's canoe slalom and young mountain biker Sammie Maxwell in the women's cross-country both finished eighth in their events on Sunday (Monday NZ Time).
LATEST HEADLINES:
Jones, a five-time Olympian and silver medallist in the same event at Rio 2016, moved up from 14th to ninth during the semifinals earlier in the day.
The 35-year-old recorded her fastest run of the event in the final but incurred two time penalties when she hit the second gate. Jones’ final tally of 102.33 seconds left her in eighth position.
“Not putting it all together today was disappointing. Hitting that gate was a big ‘what if’. But it shouldn’t have happened," said Jones.
“When I look back, Rio was a highlight, Tokyo was disappointing and today was disappointing too.”
Jones will now regroup to compete in the kayak cross event, starting on Friday.
Wellington-based Maxwell proved her late selection via appeal was worthwhile, with eighth place in women's mountain biking.
The 23-year-old improved from 18th to 10th to ninth to eighth over the first four laps of the gruelling course and maintained that position until the finish. Her reward for 90 minutes of hard slog was a place among the elite of her sport.
“In my last World Cup race, I came 20th so anything in the top 20 was a goal," she said. "This is my best placing ever in an elite race. I’m stoked.”
Maxwell, who won the world under-23 title last year, said she felt good physically throughout.
The race was won by home country hero Pauline Ferrand Prevot in a time of 1 hour 26 minutes 2 seconds.
The New Zealand eventing team has dropped from fourth to sixth on 118.2 penalty points after a challenging day of cross country at the Palace of Versailles.
Ahead of Monday's (Tuesday NZT) final showjumping rounds, Tim Price and Falco are the best of the New Zealanders on 28.5 in ninth place after Price added just two time penalties to his dressage score.
The combination managed to make up 10 seconds late in the course and Falco finished full of running.
“I can’t wait for tomorrow," Price said. "He loves it and it's what he’s designed to do. It’s a nice prospect to be riding him at the Olympic showjumping.”
Clarke Johnstone and Menlo Park are in 12th overall on 30.5 after they too jumped clear, though they added 4.8 time penalties, while Jonelle Price and Hiarado had an unlucky run, adding 28.4 to their dressage for an end-of-day tally of 59.2.
In the first day of sailing at Marseille, New Zealand’s two skiff (49er) teams had contrasting fortunes, while the foiling classes did not make it to the start line.
In the men's 49er class, Isaac McHardie and William McKenzie finished the day in first place after three races. They won the first race, before placing third and eighth. With worst performance discarded, they are on four points, and lead from Ireland and Uruguay.
McKenzie said he and McHardie were happy with how the day went.
“It was extremely tricky out there, the wind from the left, then the right, then dying down. We were happy to get out of it like we did.”
He said there were a few nerves at the start of the day but they disappeared once the racing began. The New Zealanders were ruing a poor start in their third race, which left them playing catch-up.
At the opposite end of the scale, the experienced combination of Jo Aleh and Molly Meech, Olympic gold and silver medallists, had a nightmare day and finished their three races 15th, 17th and 20th.
Racing was postponed for foilers Josh Armit and Veerle ten Have.
Lulu Sun's involvement in the Paris Olympics women's singles tennis was short-lived.
Getting a late-minute call-up on Saturday as an alternate after a late injury withdrawal, Sun lost her first-round match at Roland Garros to Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk 6-4 6-3 on Sunday (Monday NZT).
Sun was a sensation at Wimbledon earlier this month, reaching the quarterfinals by upsetting several big-name players, including British favourite Emma Raducanu, but could not overcome a top-20 player who is a clay court expert.
“It wasn’t the normal preparation for a big match,” Sun said. “But it was an amazing experience to play a top player at Roland Garros during the Olympics.”
Left-handed Sun began well and led 4-2 in the first set, but Kostyuk buckled down and reeled off the next eight games. Though Sun made a late run it was not enough and she went down in 1h 23 min.
Sun remains in the women's doubles in Paris with Erin Routliffe, the world’s No 1-ranked doubles player. Their difficult first-round match against third-seeded Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini was delayed by rain.
Kiwi gymnast Georgia-Rose Brown has finished 34th and missed qualification for the final in the women's all-around event.
The 29-year-old racked up scores of 13.233 in the vault, 13.666 in uneven bars, 12.333 on the balance beam and 12.233 on the floor, for a total 51.465, more than eight points behind top-qualifier, American Simone Biles.
Her best result was 26th in the uneven bars, where she was less than a point away from a top-eight finish to reach the apparatus final.
In the Pacific Ocean, NZ surfers Billy Stairmand and Saffi Vette have been eliminated from the men's and women's shortboard off Teahupo'o, Tahiti.
In small waves, Vette could only manage a score of 1.27 in her head-to-head second round battle with Portugal's Yolanda Hopkins, who scored 4.67 to progress to the third round.
Stairmand, with a score of 14.00, lost his must-win repechage heat to Brazilian Felipe Toledo, who totalled 17.00. The Kiwi took his time catching his first wave, but scored a 8.17 to get back in the contest and then took the lead, but Toledo dropped a 9.67 late.