The Olympic Games will begin in earnest Saturday, after a spectacular opening ceremony that was both dazzling and rain-swept.

After a turbulent Friday that began with an attack by saboteurs on France's high speed train network in the early morning hours, attention now shifts to sporting excellence and gold medals.

Day one will see 14 medals up for grabs, including four in swimming, plus two each in fencing, judo and cycling.

Flying Start for Swimming

Swimming gets off to an exciting start at La Defense Arena, where Australian Olympian Ariarne TITMUS will be defending her 400 metre freestyle title. She'll face American Katie Ledecky - the Rio 2016 champion - and Canadian wunderkind Summer McIntosh.

The final, which comes three years after Titmus's thriller victory over Ledecky at the Tokyo Games could be Paris’s "race of the Century" if the three athletes qualify.

Australia's four gold medals could be won on the first day of competition. Former world champions Sam Short, Elijah Winnington and the women's 4x100 relay team are all former world champions.

Caeleb Dressel will be driving the United States' bid for gold in the 4x100 relay men. The Australians and Pan Zhanle, who is the China team, are both strong competitors.

ROAD CYCLING ROLLS Into PARIS

In the cycling world, Italy's Filippo Gaanna will face off against Belgium's Remco Evenepoel, a young prodigy, in an individual time trial that is highly anticipated. Britain's Joshua Tarling is the other leading contender.

Chloe Dygert, an American, is one of the favourites in the women's competition. She has shown, with her 2023 title, that she has recovered after Epstein-Barr was diagnosed early 2022. This was followed by heart surgery for accelerating heartbeats.

She will face Australia's Grace Brown, and Britain's Anna Henderson. The form of triple world champion Ellen van Dijk is a question mark following her broken ankle in June.

First Gold Delivered by Shooting

The 10 metre Mixed Air Pistol Mixed Team is expected to win the first gold medal at the Games.

China, a shooting powerhouse, will try to make a statement early at the Chateauroux Centre by using their sharpshooters who have made it a habit to win the first gold medal of the Olympics.

Vincent Hancock, a three-time gold medalist, will lead the United States' charge in the coming weeks.

ALL EYES ON FIJI AT RUGBY SEVENS

The semi-finals at the Stade de France will feature a new look for the semifinals. Fiji is aiming to win their third consecutive title.

Fijians are strong favorites to continue their remarkable streak of winning matches against Australia who is in the semifinals for the very first time.

France is also a newcomer, having missed out on the Tokyo Games but coming into their own Games with a bang after winning the Grand Final at the end of the season.

The final qualifiers, South Africa, will play them in the semi-finals. They shocked New Zealand by beating them in the quarterfinals. The final will be held later on Saturday.

CHINA HEADLINE DIVER

China is a strong favourite in diving after winning seven of the eight golds at the previous two Olympics.

In Paris, Chen Yiwen, a best friend and first-time Olympian, and Chang Yani won the 3m synchronised diving event. This was the first gold medal up for grabs at the Paris Olympics, and in most world tournaments the past couple of years.

SKATEBOARDING BEGINS

The men's Street event will be held on the Place de la Concorde.

Yuto Horigome is attempting to defend his title against the likes Njjah Huson, a skateboarder from the United States and Aurelien Giraud, a French hopeful.

Other Sports

In addition to the medal events, there will be action in badminton and basketball, tennis, handball, surfing in Tahiti in the South Pacific, 15 895 km away. (Reporting from Simon Jennings, Paris; editing by Ken Ferris).