PARIS OLYMPICS 2024: What you need to know right now

PARIS (Reuters) -Enfin! A yellow disc appeared in the Paris sky. And with it the biggest star of the Games, gymnast Simone Biles, dazzled in her opening routine.

The rain had gone, the Olympic venues set among the French capital's most famous landmarks were bathed in light and team France's strong start to the Games continues.

Here's what you need to know about the Olympics on Sunday.

BILES BACK WITH A BANG

A radiant Simone Biles made her long-awaited Olympic return in Paris on Sunday, drawing boisterous cheering and clapping from an ecstatic, star-studded crowd in the French capital.

The most decorated gymnast in history is competing in her third Olympics after suffering from the "twisties" at the Tokyo Games, a term used by gymnasts to describe a temporary loss of spatial awareness when doing high-difficulty elements.

Biles experienced pain in her left calf but never considered aborting any of her four apparatus routines, her coaches said.

FRENCH ON FIRE

Two more golds for team France, with the home nation off to a flying start to enthuse the locals.

Mountain biker Pauline Ferrand-Prevot took a high-quality field apart to win the women's cross-country mountain bike race.

Then world record holder Leon Marchand won the 400 metres individual medley in emphatic style to send fans into delirium at La Defense Arena.

NO 'THREE-PEAT'

Italy's Nicolo Martinenghi won the men's 100 metres breaststroke gold at the Paris Olympics on Sunday and ended Adam Peaty's "three-peat" bid to win the same event at three successive Games.

Peaty, hoping to become only the second male swimmer after retired U.S. great Michael Phelps to perform the triple, had to settle for silver alongside reigning world champion Nic Fink of the United States.

YOUNG SKATER STARS

Japan's 14-year-old Coco Yoshizawa led a trio of teens on the podium in the women's street skateboarding at the Paris Olympics on Sunday, in front of a sellout crowd at the La Concorde venue.

ISRAELI DEATH THREAT PROBE

French police have opened an investigation into death threats against three Israeli athletes at the Paris Olympic Games, the Paris' prosecutors office said on Sunday.

Anti-cybercrime officers are also investigating the release of athletes' personal data on social networks on Friday and seeking to have it removed, prosecutors said.

SAUDI'S FIRST FEMALE OLYMPIC SWIMMER

Mashael Alayed, 17, became the first woman from Saudi Arabia to compete in swimming at the Olympic Games, smashing her personal best when she came sixth of seven in her 200 metres freestyle heat.

OPENING CEREMONY CONTROVERSY

Paris 2024 organisers apologised on Sunday to Catholics and other Christian groups angered by a kitsch tableau in the Olympic Games opening ceremony that parodied Leonardo da Vinci's famous 'The Last Supper' painting.

The segment, which recreated the biblical scene of Jesus Christ and his apostles sharing a last meal before crucifixion, featured drag queens, a transgender model and a naked singer made up as the Greek god of wine Dionysus, and drew dismay from the Catholic Church.

The opening ceremony attracted 28.6 million U.S. viewers, according to preliminary data from Comcast's NBCUniversal, which the company said was the most-watched start to a summer Games since London in 2012.

PALESTINIANS FLYING THE FLAG

Two of the Palestinian team's six Olympic athletes were in action on Sunday.

Boxer Wasim Abusal said his Olympic journey was far from over despite his loss to Sweden's Nebil Ibrahim, adding that he hoped to win a medal at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.

Swimmer Yazan Al Bawwab's sole Olympic race lasted less than a minute but he said just being in the water was a statement in itself.

CONVICTED RAPIST VOLLEYBALL PLAYER BOOED

There were boos among the crowd as Netherlands beach volleyball player Steven van de Velde, a convicted rapist, made his Paris 2024 debut.

Van de Velde was sentenced to four years in prison in Britain in 2016 following the rape of a 12-year-old girl two years earlier when he was 19.

DRONE SCANDAL

Suspended Canadian women's soccer coach Bev Priestman apologised on Sunday to her players and the nation for the drone scandal that led to her exit from the Paris Olympics and dealt a massive blow to the team's hopes of a repeat gold medal.

Sport Canada is withholding funding relating to women's soccer coach Bev Priestman and two other suspended team officials, calling the drone scandal that has rocked the Olympic soccer tournament an embarrassment to all Canadians.

IN-SEINE?

France's 1.4 billion euro ($1.5 billion) gamble to hold the triathlon swimming in the river Seine hangs in the balance, after organisers were forced to cancel a training session on Sunday due to excessive pollution levels.

($1 = 0.9211 euros)

(Compiled by Richard Lough, Rachel Armstrong, Ingrid Melander; Editing by Peter Rutherford and Ed Osmond)