All the overnight news from Paris as our Aussie athletes go for gold

Thanks to the challenging time difference, Australians are waking up each day to the latest Paris Olympics news. The Kids News team will continue to be up early to report on the major updates by the time classes start each weekday.

AUSTRALIA’S MEDAL TALLY
GOLD: 18

SILVER: 14

BRONZE: 13

MEDAL TALLY:
1. USA: 30 gold, 38 silver, 35 bronze

2. China: 29 gold, 25 silver, 13 bronze

3. Australia: 18 gold, 14 silver, 13 bronze

4. France: 14 gold, 19 silver, 21 bronze

5. Great Britain: 13 gold, 17 silver, 21 bronze

DAY 13
CANOE SPRINT
Four hundredths of a second was all that separated Australia’s K4 crew from Olympic victory, their fate determined in agonising minutes after the race as officials studied a photo finish with Germany that determined the gold medallists.

None of the quartet had been able to judge the result from the boat.

So they sat, just metres away from their German rivals, waiting to learn their fate.

“It was crazy. We didn’t know whether to celebrate and I just told everyone, ‘just wait, just wait’,” said Jackson Collins, who followed in the footsteps of dad Dan Collins, who won silver in the K2 in Sydney, as well as bronze in Atlanta with Andrew Trim.

“We were waiting and looking at the (results) board, looking at the board, and nothing was coming up.

“And then it came up and to say that you’re an Olympic medallist, it’s an incredible feeling.”

Riley Fitzsimmons is at his third Olympics. In both Rio and Tokyo, he and crewmates were left shattered on the dock after the K4 final, wondering about what might have been.

This time he knew they had won a medal.

“For me it was pure elation,” Fitzsimmons said. “This is my third Olympic Games and I’ve crossed that finish line in Olympic finals before and been really disappointed.

“So when I crossed and saw the three boats there, I knew we were guaranteed a medal, and then it just became a waiting game, waiting for those (results) to pop up on the board.

“To come away with a silver medal, I’m just so happy it doesn’t even feel real.”

SWIM MARATHON
Distance swim star Moesha Johnson has no regrets after her best friend and Dutch open water legend Sharon van Rouwendaal’s tactics won the Olympic gold medal after a stunning 10km marathon swimming race in the River Seine.

Declaring she’d swum in much dirtier water than the much-publicised Paris waterway, Johnson said the entire race came down to one moment, as the swimmers passed under the last bridge on the final sprint to glory.

Johnson, who had led for the best part of 6km, hugged the shoreline, while van Rouwendaal cut the corner slightly and used the current to push her way into the lead to win by just five seconds, with the Australian taking silver.

“It’s gonna take a while to sink in,” Johnson said.

Johnson never planned to be the race leader, but seeing the field stretch out in single file, and knowing the current was so strong that it was going to be almost impossible to overtake on the return home, she knew it was her only way to chase an all-or-nothing shot at glory.

But it meant the tactical van Rouwendaal could draft for the last three laps in second place, before making her final move to snatch the gold medal – her third Olympic medal in a row in this event and second gold after winning at Rio in 2016.

ATHLETICS
Jessica Hull has cruised into the final of the 1500m with a stunning performance at Stade de France. Hull (3:55.40) looked as though she had plenty in reserve as she sat on the shoulder of the leaders for the opening three laps, then pulled away with Ethiopia’s Diribe Welteji as the finish line beckoned.

She qualified for the final in second spot behind Welteji (3:55.10), although she will fancy her chances against the Ethiopian when the final is held on Sunday morning (AEST).

Georgia Griffith missed the final after fading in the home straight and finishing in 9th place – only the top six from each semi-final qualified for the final. Hull is ranked No. 3 in the world.

WATER POLO
After winning a dramatic penalty shootout 14-13, the Aussie Stingers have booked a place in the gold medal match for the first time since Sydney 2000.

An early penalty and goal after an exclusion opened up a 2-0 lead for their American opponents. Charlize Andrews got one back but it was all USA, up 5-2 at half time.

But the Stingers got on top in the third quarter thanks to Abby Andrews. Her hot hand delivered four goals alone in that term as the Aussies closed the gap and put the pressure back on the USA.

A Bronte Halligan goal with less than a minute and a half to play levelled the scores at 8-8. Despite both sides having late chances, it would go to another shootout.

The Stingers had already won two shootouts during the group stages in Paris and that experience played its part as they held their nerve.

All five takers were successful with their first attempt, until Gabi Palm continued her incredible match by saving the USA’s final penalty and booking Australia’s place in the gold medal final.

The Aussies didn’t lead once in the match until it mattered most: that final penalty save.

The Stingers will now play Spain for the gold medal on Saturday night (AEST).

BEACH VOLLEYBALL
Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho del Solar became the first team to take a set off Brazil’s rampaging world No. 1 pairing of Ana Patricia Ramos and Eduarda Santos Lisboa this tournament but they were beaten in a fabulous contest 22-20, 21-15, 15-12.

Australia now play Switzerland for the bronze medal with Brazil hot favourites in the gold medal showdown with Canada. The standard was breathtaking at times.

The match lifted a gear in the third set and del Solar gave the tournament the point of the games when Australia were down and desperate and she dived near the baseline with an outstretched hand to somehow rescue a point that seemed gone.

DAY 12
It has rained gold overnight, with four gold medals on Day 12 delivering Australia its best ever result. Walker Jemima Montag started the day nicely for Australia, taking her second bronze of the Games in the mixed marathon relay.

The bronze medal with relay partner Rhydian Cowley makes Montag only the ninth Australian track and field athlete to win two medals at one Olympic Games.

From there, it was on for Australia and then some.

SKATEBOARDING
Keegan Palmer blitzed the final to defend his Tokyo title. An incredible result when just a few months ago, Palmer was sore, stressed and fearful that his Paris push was in ruins.

Now he stands as a skateboarding legend after leaving the pain and anxiety behind to win his second gold medal in as many Olympics.

And he did it in a field “10 times’’ stronger than the one he beat in Tokyo.

Palmer gave Australia its second skateboarding gold in as many days, after our youngest ever gold medallist, 14-year-old Arisa Trew, won the women’s park final.

Palmer outclassed a stellar field at La Concorde with a blistering run in the final.

POLE VAULT
Australian Nina Kennedy overcame a shaky start to win gold in the pole vault at Stade de France.

Kennedy, the top-ranked pole vaulter in the world coming into the competition, lived up to the billing as she found herself in a battle with American superstar Katie Moon for the gold.

Kennedy eventually prevailed, after becoming the first and only competitor to clear 4.90m. Moon tried and failed with two attempts at 4.95m, meaning the gold finished in Kennedy’s hands.

Kennedy is the first Australian woman to win a gold medal in the pole vault and only the second Australian woman to win a medal at all, after Tatiana Grigorieva’s silver medal in Sydney in 2000.

CYCLING
Australia’s new Awesome Foursome has been crowned.

Three years after crashing in Tokyo, Australia’s pursuit team has won gold in Paris after getting past arch rivals Great Britain.

The new kings of track cycling are Oliver Bleddyn, Sam Welsford, Conor Leahy and Kelland O’Brien.

Overcome with elation, the four riders embraced and pumped their fists in the surreal realisation that they were Olympic champions.

Out-foxing, outsmarting and ultimately outgunning the Brits, the Aussie boys roared around the 4km distance of the National Velodrome in a time of 3.42.067.

SAILING
Matt Wearn has extended one of sailing’s most extraordinary winning runs by claiming Australia’s fourth straight gold medal on a bizarre day of racing involving a general recall, restarts, a shortened course, a race abandonment and almost two full races before the ILCA 7 medals were decided on the Bay of Marseille.

The win came after the first race of the day was abandoned just minutes from gold being decided and after Wearn had won an extraordinary tacking duel with his major rival for gold, Pavlos Kontides from Cyprus.

A visibly frustrated Wearn – who needed to finish in the top seven if Kontides won – managed to recompose himself as race officials pulled anchor in search of new and better breeze in the hope of restarting the medal race.

Less than an hour later another race was started with Wearn again replicating his tactics of covering the Cypriot before winning the finale to take the gold.

DISCUS
And finally, Matthew Denny has the Olympic medal that agonisingly eluded him three years ago, after holding on for bronze in the final at Stade de France.

Denny momentarily moved into the gold medal position in the final after he launched the discus 69.31m with his second throw, just four centimetres short of his PB.

However, his lead didn’t last long. Within minutes, world record holder Mykolas Alekna had set a new Olympic record with a throw of 69.97m.

Denny then dropped to third after Jamaican Roje Stona broke the Olympic record with his fourth throw – 70m exactly – to bump Alekna into second.

The Aussie held on from there to win the bronze, erasing the disappointment of a series of near misses in big competitions.

DAY 11
SKATEBOARDING
Arisa Trew, at just 14, is our newest Olympic gold medallist. She is also now our youngest ever Olympic medallist. The Gold Coast teen settled her nerves and delivered a flawless final run, laden with tricks, to win.

Trew is supremely talented and was the first skater in history to land a 720 in competition. The 720 is two full mid-air rotations and one of the rarest tricks in skateboarding. It was first done by Tony Hawk in 1985.

Hawk, one of the greatest skateboarders of all time, paid tribute to the Australian teen’s extraordinary talents after she claimed Olympic gold.

He was watching at La Concorde Palace skate bowl and said the 14-year-old’s final run for gold was exceptional.

“She absolutely deserved it, I think that she’s leading the way of what’s possible in skateboarding and women’s skateboarding,” Hawk said.

“I think that we’re just lucky to have her … she did a couple of 540 variations, including a McTwist and also a body variable five and that’s not something you generally see in one run.”

Swimmer Sandra Morgan previously held the record for the youngest Australian Olympic medallist in history. She was 14 years and 184 days old when she won the gold medal in the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay event at Melbourne 1956, alongside swimming great Dawn Fraser.

BEACH VOLLEYBALL
Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho del Solar are into the medal rounds and eyeing gold after surviving a thrilling beach volleyball clash. The duo’s hopes of upgrading their silver medal from Tokyo are still alive after the three-set thriller under the Eiffel Tower.

Going into the game, the Australians had produced a mixed-bag of results and got off to a shaky start in their opening set against undefeated Swiss pair Esmee Boebner and Zoe Verge-Depre.

A long serve from Clancy put them on the chase from the start, with the score quickly blowing out to 6-2 in favour of the Swiss.

The Aussies managed to fight their way back into the set. The turning point was a brilliant piece of teamwork to keep the ball alive that caught the Swiss players off guard.

Clancy struggled with her serves, missing six in the opening set.

But the Australians managed to regroup and take the first set 21-19.

More serving errors cost them the second, while the Swiss pair kept their cool to seal it at 21-16 and send the game to a decider.

The Australians took the lead early in the third 7-4 but the Swiss pair came back to level scores at 8-8. An attempted Swiss spike that soared over the baseline saw the Australians take the match 15-12 in the third.

BASKETBALL
Bronze medal winning brothers Patty Mills and Joe Ingles have most likely played their final international games after the Boomers crashed out of the Paris Olympics with a heartbreaking 95-90 overtime quarter-final loss to Serbia.

The result didn’t go Australia’s way as they surrendered a 24-point lead to lose to a Nikola Jokic-led Serbian side.

Once the pain subsides after letting a giant lead slip, veterans Mills and Ingles will be celebrated for their significant contribution to the green and gold.

SURFING
And in case you missed it, far from Paris on the French Polynesian Island of Tahiti, competing in yet another time zone, Jack Robinson created history earlier in the week at legendary surf break Teahupo’o by claiming Australia’s first Olympic silver medal in surfing. Robinson’s score of 7.83 was no match for Frenchman Kauli Vaast’s 17.67 in the final, but a near-miss during practice between the break’s notoriously shallow reef and Robinson’s Achilles put things in perspective for the Aussie, who just felt lucky to be there at all.

Local lad Vaast grew up surfing the world famous break and became Tahiti’s first Olympic gold medal winner on the back of the victory.

Vaast had the gold medal sealed within the opening 10 minutes of the men’s final after the local paddled hard to the line-up to get priority from the outset.

He found himself entering the biggest tube of the day, before emerging with two fists raised, holding the hopes of the Olympic host nation on his shoulders.

It was scored a 9.50. Robinson hit back and squeezed everything he could out of a smaller wave to get a 7.83 before Vaast added an 8.17.

The West Australian silver medallist, who now resides on the Gold Coast, was inspired by late world champion Andy Irons as a child and reflected on the influence he would now have on young Aussies and surfing lovers worldwide.

“I remember when I was little how much I looked up to Andy,” Robinson said. “In the final and in the semi-final I did get feelings of when I was young.”

“I imagined myself doing it for that little kid who was inspired or motivated to be here one day on this platform. You get those flashbacks.”

DAY 10
KAYAK CROSS
Noemie Fox has stepped out of the long shadow of her big sister, the greatest paddler of all time Jessica Fox, to win her own Olympic gold in the kayak cross.

Fox had a flawless run up to the final, winning her round 1 race, heat, quarter and semi-final to advance to the final four in the new Olympic discipline.

And she was outstanding again, making what proved a decisive move around the first upstream gate to gain a lead that she never conceded.

Many were trumpeting Jess’s chances of winning an Olympic treble in Paris but when both sisters were drawn in the opening heat round, Noemie advanced while Jess was knocked out, the older sibling immediately throwing her support behind her sister.

“(I’m) gutted absolutely but at the same time when you see your little sister win the heat … the emotion went straightaway and I just gave her a massive hug because I was really proud of her,” Jess said.

And even though her parents, coach Myriam and father Richard were on course, there was no bigger supporter than Jess, who ran the course screaming support for her sister and getting more and more excited by the second as it emerged that the family would include another Olympic champion.

With just one spot per nation available in the kayak and canoe slalom – taken by Jess, the world No. 1 and gold medallist in both events at these Games – the Fox cub has been unable to display her skill on the biggest stage until now.

But she has sure stepped out of her sister’s shadow, showing Australia and the world that she too possesses the skill and speed that has made every member of her family an Olympian.

SAILING
For his first Olympic medal at the Tokyo Games, Matt Wearn only needed to start, sail and finish the medal race to snare his gold.

In Marseille, Wearn has a tougher but still very achievable battle on his hands to become Australia’s first ever single-handed sailor to defend an Olympic crown.

With a 14 point lead over his closest rival Pavlos Kontides from Cyprus – which equates to seven places in a double-point scoring medal race – Wearn is guaranteed a silver medal at worst in Tuesday’s medal race.

But the two-time world champion and Olympic titleholder is chasing the gold and to get it he needs to finish in the top seven of the 10-boat finale.

WATER POLO
The Sharks have been bitten by Japan in the pool, after a shock loss in their final group match ahead of their historic quarterfinal clash against Croatia.

The Sharks were on fire during their opening week of the Olympics, knocking off Serbia, France and Hungary during the group stage and have done enough to advance to the quarters.

But they fell to a surprise one-goal defeat, going down to Japan on Monday, a side they had only lost to once in their previous 13 attempts.

Australia took a commanding 7-3 lead early in the game but took the foot off the pedal and Japan eventually made them pay, winning their first match of these Olympics, 14-13.

“It definitely brings us back to Earth a bit,” Lachlan Edwards said.

ATHLETICS
Kurtis Marschall has finished sixth in the pole vault final at Stade de France. Marschall, who came into the Olympic Games after suffering an ankle injury in the lead up, failed to fire and was eliminated with the bar at 5.95m.

The world championship bronze medallist took two attempts to get over 5.80m and had two chances at 5.95m before his competition came to an end.

Torrie Lewis has missed a place in the women’s final of the 200m. Lewis (22.92) finished in seventh place in her heat, which was won by American star Brittany Brown.

She still has the 4x100m relay to come, where Australia is an outside chance of a medal.

DAY NINE
ATHLETICS
Noah Lyles is the Olympic champion and fastest man in the world … just.

In one of the tightest finishes in Olympic 100m history, the American claimed the title by the smallest of small margins – officially it was five thousandths of a second on the line.

Lyles produced a career best 9.79sec to win gold from Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson, who was also awarded 9.79sec with American Fred Kerley taking bronze in 9.81sec.

Lyles is a known bad starter and when the Olympic final eventually got underway, he was easily the worst out of the blocks.

By halfway he’d gained momentum and over the final few metres it looked like it was his race. The problem was he was in lane seven and Thompson was over in lane four so it was hard to line them up.

Over the line they both looked at each other, confused, and then stood together as they waited for the result to appear on the scoreboard.

For the first time all night the Stade de France was silent.

Then mayhem* broke out. Lyles’ name popped up first and off he went, ripping off his name tag and sprinting towards the crowd.

This was the title he craved and the sport needed to fill the void left by Usain Bolt.

Lyles couldn’t lay claim as heir to the throne until he did it on the Olympic stage.

In the lead-up to Paris he said as much: “You can’t claim to be the greatest without having an Olympic gold medal to go with it,” he said.

Now he can say what he wants – particularly if he doubles up in the 200m which is his more favoured event – because he has delivered on all the hype.

HIGH JUMP
Nicola Olyslagers has soared to a second consecutive Olympic silver medal as Australia again made it a double act on the medal dais in the women’s high jump.

While world record holder Yaroslava Mahuchikh handled the pressure and expectation to win the gold medal, Olyslagers and Eleanor Patterson again flew the Aussie flag with distinction on the world’s biggest stage.

Patterson added an Olympic bronze medal to her impressive CV, sharing the honour with Ukraine’s Iryna Gerashchenko.

At 2.00m Olyslagers missed her first two attempts before pulling something special out, channelling the encouragement of the 80,000 fans inside Stade de France she sailed over the bar.

An excited Olyslagers then sprinted back to her bag and grabbed the journal in which she writes notes in at every competition

She rates herself on various aspects of her technique. This includes her run-up, takeoff and execution. She also jots down technical advice, motivational quotes, and any personal reflections after each jump.

TENNIS
Novak Djokovic has pulled off the most incredible and significant victory of his life to become Olympic champion.

He’s conquered Carlos Alcaraz in two thunderous tie-break sets at Roland Garros to put a gold medal and exclamation mark on what was already the greatest career in the history of men’s tennis.

Exhausted, his eyes bloodshot from weeping, the great Serb said: “I’m still in shock. I put my heart, my soul, my body, my family, my everything on the line to win Olympic gold. At age 37, I finally did it.”

Australia also claimed its second ever tennis gold medal on the weekend, with star duo Matt Ebden and John Peers taking out the men’s doubles at Roland Garros in an unexpected and tense tie-break victory.

The duo join the Woodies as Australia’s only tennis Olympic gold medallists after their unseeded, unexpected and ultimately unstoppable run culminated in an excruciatingly tense and narrow victory over Americans Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram.

SWIMMING
Meg Harris was stunned after winning silver in the women’s 50m freestyle final. She was looking at her name on the board after the race, a big two next to it, and still she didn’t believe. The look on her face told the story when she turned to the scoreboard to see a time of 23.97 seconds and the No. 2 next to her name.

“I’m proud of that,” Harris said. “I got out there with the goal to enjoy myself and I did and it was the most fun race I’ve been a part of.

“It took me a while to find out (the result) and line up all the times.

“I was shocked for a second. I was just sitting there like, ‘I have no idea what’s going on’.”

Still in the pool, Australia jumped to third on the medal tally at the end of day seven, with a triple gold “hour of power” that delivered some outstanding moments in Australian sporting history.

Cameron McEvoy finally claimed that elusive 50m freestyle title, Kaylee McKeown posted another back-to-back gold.

“We have to declare that this hour and a half is the best hour and half of Olympic achievement Australia has had this century,” journalist Crash Craddock said on the Matty and the Missile podcast, after Australia won three gold medals in 77 minutes.

McEvoy’s Olympic title had been a long time coming and the 30-year-old’s training methods have attracted nearly as many headlines as his win.

“He’s now doing as little as 7km a week in the swimming pool, where at his peak 100m freestyle times, he was doing 80km a week in the swimming pool,” James Magnussen said.

“He’s completely revolutionising the style of training for the 50m freestyle. He comes out here tonight, now it’s one of the most high pressure events at the Olympic Games, 20 seconds of action, any mistake and it’s over.”

“A final littered with talent, Florent Manaudou, Caleb Dressel, Ben Proud, on the biggest stage, at 30 years of age, at his fourth Olympic Games, McEvoy finally does it.

“A lot of coaches around the world now are looking at what McEvoy is doing.”

Then it was Kaylee McKeown’s turn in the 200m backstroke, becoming the second female swimmer in the 128 year history of the modern Olympics that has completed a double-double.

As for what McKeown has achieved in the pool, Craddock shared insight from Kaylee’s family, who had said after losing her father a few years ago, it was a sink or swim moment for the champion, with her determination and resilience prevailing.

“I spoke to her sister Tayla and she said, ‘When Dad died, Kaylee could’ve gone two ways. She’d go down there and be absolutely shattered and depressed and never recover, or she’d say stuff you mate, I’m going to prove something to the world,’” Craddock said.

“She goes to bed at 8pm at night, she leaves her food out beside her, she’s meticulous, always does extra training.”

BMX
The third gold of that magical hour was Saya Sakakibara’s courageous and inspiring ride to the top of the podium, in a result that pulled heart strings across the nation.

It was Sakakibara’s greatest-ever result: claiming Olympic gold in the BMX racing final in Paris.

What made her stunning achievement even more special was that the 23-year-old had made a pact to bring home a medal for her brother Kai, who was seriously injured before the Tokyo Olympics in a career-ending accident.

Additional reporting for Kids News by Diana Jenkins

POLL

GLOSSARY

• mayhem: chaos

EXTRA READING

Kids go for gold in Spelling Bee

Stink erupts over Seine swimming

No food, fuel or fees for future Olympians

REFLECTIONS

1. What has been your favourite Olympic moment so far?
2. What was the biggest win in the pool for a country other than Australia?
3. Which athlete has inspired you most by overcoming injury to compete?
4. Who got Australia to the top of the medal tally on day one?
5. Whose loss at the Olympics have you felt most deeply?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

DAY 13

DAY 12

DAY 11

DAY 10

DAY NINE

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES

To celebrate the world’s biggest sporting event, Kids News has produced a dedicated Paris Olympics Education Kit.

The free digital kit comes with a workbook of 35 classroom activities designed to help students from Year 3 onwards learn all about the Olympic Games, from its ancient beginnings to the modern spectacle it has become.

Activities are created by a teacher for teachers and are aligned to the national curriculum.

The kit content covers:

• The Ancient Games
• The Modern Games
• Olympic values
• Olympic Torch and the Olympic Flame
• The Opening and Closing Ceremonies
• Life in the Olympic Village
• Medals and mascots
• Sports and teams
• Host nation Paris/France profile
• The Paralympics
• Australia’s Olympic heroes
• The Winter Olympics
• Australia’s Olympic Games

The workbook is supported by feature stories on the Paris Olympics, collected and published on our Education Kits topic page HERE.

We’ll cover breaking Olympic news stories each day but these feature stories will assist your students to answer the questions in the workbook.

The Olympics Education Kit is FREE to teachers who sign up to the weekly Kids News newsletter. New subscribers can email Kids News to request the kit code at any time in this second week of the Games at kidsnews@news.com.au

VCOP ACTIVITY

Choose one or more of these VCOP activities to complete each day.

Girls in sport

There are many sports in which we’re seeing an increase in female participants. What sports have you noticed, or maybe joined yourself, where you have seen an increase in the amount of girls now playing? How do you feel about this? Why do you feel this way? Do you think it’s a positive shift? Why/why not?

Use your VCOP to express how you feel towards girls taking up more sporting roles. Explain why you feel this way. Use your emotive language to express your point of view.

You’re a hero in my eyes

Sometimes heroes go unnoticed. They are everyday people, who make a big difference to those they meet.

Write a letter to a hero in your eyes. Explain to them why they are your hero and that you have noticed them. Your letter can be anonymous or you can personally sign it off.

Remember when writing a letter:

• start with a greeting: Dear Sir,

• then on a new line, write the body of the letter.

• finish with a closing: Kind regards,

• and finally, sign the letter.

Try to include detail and emotion in the letter to connect with your target audience: your unsung hero.

Walking in their shoes

The Olympians that have headed over to the Olympics have been training tirelessly to represent Australia. Imagine how they must feel as their dreams of competing in the Olympics come true. It’s time to walk in their shoes and imagine what they must be thinking and feeling. Write a descriptive piece recounting your experiences. You may like to include: training in your chosen sport; being selected for the Olympic team; travelling to an exciting destination; life in the Olympic Village and the moments before, during and after your event.

My Olympic hero

Write a letter to one of the Olympic athletes. Explain to them how proud you are of them, why they are an Olympic hero to you, and that you have noticed them. Your letter can be anonymous or you can personally sign it off.

Remember when writing a letter:

•start with a greeting: Dear Sir,

• then on a new line, write the body of the letter.

• finish with a closing: Kind regards,

• and finally, sign the letter.

Try to include detail and emotion in the letter to connect with your target audience: your Olympic hero.

A new Olympic category

The Olympic committee has decided they should revise the Olympic sports and make sure they haven’t left out any competition. Write a letter to the Olympic Committee trying to convince them that your own talent should be classed as a sport and included in the next Olympics. Remember to include clear reasons why your talent should be included, use persuasive and emotive language, and back up your reasons with detailed explanations.

Athlete profile

It’s time to shine a spotlight on our Olympic athletes. Create a template for a character profile that we can fill in with all the information you want to know about some of our athletes. Make sure the layout has subtitles, and perhaps questions under each subtitle, to help us fill it in.

Extension: Let’s test your layout. Can you use the character profile layout and fill it in with information about yourself? Check to see if you included enough categories. Will we learn a lot about you, or do you need to add more sections? Share your fact file with your class, so they can learn more about you.

Olympic word splash

Let’s create a word splash. Sit with a partner, and between you, write the word OLYMPICS in the middle of a piece of paper.

Decide who goes first. Then take it in turns to write a word around the central word that you both associate with the Olympics. Keep a tally of how many words you can come up with. Your partner can challenge you to justify how or why your words are associated with the central word.

Did you come up with any wow words that you should share with your class and add to the vocabulary display? Can you use them in a sentence?

Olympic poem

Imagine you are an athlete about to complete, or who has just competed in their Olympic event. Write a description of the scenes as a poem to explain your experience.

You can either start each line the same: I see, I feel, I touch, I taste, I smell, I am – 0r, you can use “show don’t tell” to describe each of the senses.

Acrostic poem

Think of a word that you associate with the Olympics, (athlete, medal, compete, glory, Paris, Olympics etc.) and create an acrostic poem to share about the Paris Olympic Games. Try and include varied words throughout your poem to maintain the interest of the reader.

I’ve always wanted to know

If you had the opportunity to talk to one of the athletes and ask them five questions, what would you ask them?

Come up with five different questions. Challenge yourself to use different question stems (question openers words) to write your questions, and don’t forget to end with a question mark.