Jade Jones suffered a second successive Olympic heartbreak as she lost in the first round of the women’s under-57kg taekwondo.
The British fighter, who won Olympic gold in 2012 and 2016, was beaten in the last 16 by North Macedonia’s Miljana Reljikj.
It was better news for team-mate Bradly Sinden, who made a strong start in his bid to go one better than his silver in Tokyo three years ago.
Elsewhere, GB had a good morning at the athletics in the heptathlon and the 4x100m relay heats, while there is the possibility of more medals in the diving.
Erin McNeice progressed to the final of the women’s climbing in the boulder and lead discipline, which takes place on Saturday.
It was bad news in the sailing though, as it all went wrong on the start line for John Gimson and Anna Burnet in the mixed multi-hull medal race.
They were judged to have been over the line ahead of time and, as a result, had to withdraw from the double-points race.
This caused them to slip from third to fourth in the overall standings, with New Zealand snatching bronze.
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Jones and Sinden in contrasting campaigns
Sinden and Jones were among GB’s major medal hopes at these Games, and both started their campaigns on Thursday.
They could not have been more contrasting.
Sinden made a strong start to progress to the semi-finals with a 8-6 9-11 18-10 win over Croatia’s Marko Golubic. He will aim to be involved when the medals are fought for in the men’s under-68kg at 20:19 BST.
But Jones’ hopes of gold are over at the last-16 stage, as they were in Tokyo. She was beaten 7-6 4-5 1-1 by Reljikj – who won the tie despite the drawn final round as she landed more hits across the bout.
It follows a controversial build-up to the Games for Jones. She was initially suspended for refusing a drugs test before being cleared to compete after she was found to having committed a no-fault doping violation on confidential medical grounds.
Jones could still enter the repechage for bronze if Reljikj reaches the final.
Johnson-Thompson takes early heptathlon lead
It is early days, but Katarina Johnson-Thompson has made a strong start in her bid for an elusive Olympic medal.
Twice a world champion, the 31-year-old is yet to produce her best at the Olympics.
The Liverpudlian finished 14th on her Olympic debut in 2012, came sixth four years later in Rio and injury prevented her from finishing in Tokyo three years ago.
Johnson-Thompson also withdrew from the European Championships after just three events in June – but showed no ill signs in an encouraging display on Thursday morning at the Stade de France.
She was eighth fastest overall in the opening discipline – the 100m hurdles – before going toe to toe with two-time defending Olympic champion Nafissatou Thiam in the high jump.
Johnson-Thompson and Thiam were the only two women to clear 1.92m, and while the Belgian won the event as she needed fewer attempts to reach that height it was enough to put the Briton top of the standings after the first two events.
Thiam sits second overall, with Anna Hall of USA third and Johnson-Thompson’s team-mate Jade O’Dowda ninth.
The heptathlon continues on Thursday evening with the shot put followed by 200m. The athletes compete in long jump and javelin on Friday morning, before the 800m to conclude.
It was also a good morning for GB’s sprinters, as both the men’s and women’s 4x100m teams qualified for Friday’s finals.
The women won their heat, and still have 200m finallists Daryll Neita and Dina Asher-Smith as options for the final after they were rested on Thursday.
Reid and Harper progress to diving final
Great Britain have enjoyed a fruitful Olympics in the diving pool, and their success continued in the semi-finals of the women’s 3m springboard.
Both GB representatives, Grace Reid and Yasmin Harper, went through among the 12 finalists.
Reid came seventh while Harper was comfortable until an error on her final dive – but she still progressed in 12th place.
Once again, China top the standings. Chen Yiwen, the gold medallist from the synchro, qualified with the best score.
Now it is the turn of the men – GB’s Jack Laugher and Jordan Houlden will go for gold in the men’s 3m springboard from 14:00 BST.
Dutch gold medallist dedicates win to her late dog
Conditions in the River Seine have been a constant concern for Games organisers, with pollution leading to several familiarisation sessions being cancelled and the men’s triathlon being delayed by a day.
But they got some respite as the women’s 10km marathon swim was cleared to take place as scheduled early on Thursday morning.
The Netherlands’ Sharon van Rouwendaal took gold after two hours of gruelling swimming, for her second Olympic title after winning at Rio 2016.
Australia’s Moesha Johnson came second with Italy’s Ginevra Taddeucci in third, while GB’s Leah Crisp finished 20th.
Afterwards, Van Rouwendaal dedicated the victory to her pet dog Rio, who died in May.
“My world stopped and I didn’t care about swimming for like three weeks. He was my little baby,” she told the BBC.
“I swam for him with my whole heart. I won it for him.”
Rhythmic gymnastics brings sparkle to Paris
One of the most photogenic events of any Games is the rhythmic gymnastics, which got under way at La Chapelle Arena on Thursday.
Balls, hoops and glittery outfits were the order of the day – here’s some of the best shots from the morning…
