Matt Wearn is on the verge of defending his Olympic title in the men’s dinghy, with the Australian sailor leading the competition ahead of tonight’s gold medal race at the Marseille Marina.

The 28-year-old, who won gold in Tokyo three years ago, will be declared champion if he places seventh or better in the final race, while his worst possible outcome is a silver medal.

Cyprus’ Pavlos Kontides is the lone competitor challenging him for gold, but Wearn boasts a 14-point cushion that equates to seven places in the gold medal race, which gets underway at 11.43pm AEST.

Teenage phenom Arisa Trew is on the brink of the women’s park skateboarding final after moving into fifth position with one five-woman heat remaining – with the top eight advancing.

The 14-year-old, who claimed worldwide acclaim as the first female skateboarder to complete a 720 trick in competition and to land a 900, was impressive from the get-go before a late crash halted her first run.

“Oh my god. She has just come out of the gates and is not holding back,” one of the Aussie commentators proclaimed of her bravery.

The second run was much stronger with an 82.95 moving her into fifth overall – in her heat, only behind British sensation Sky Brown – with room to take more risks on her final run.

But Trew crashed out three-quarters of the way through her third attempt.

Fellow Aussie Ruby Trew (no relation) is in action in the fourth and final heat.

The final will be held at 1:30am AEST on Wednesday morning.

In the athletics 2000m world record holder Jessica Hull is through to the 1500m semifinals after finishing second in her heat as she looks to push for an Olympic medal.

“It’s always been tricky the first rounds, especially watching the men earlier in the week,” Hull told Channel Nine after the heat.

“(It) reminded (me) that strange things can happen. I just wanted to run a clean round and stay out of trouble. To me, that’s on the shoulder of the leader. Not in the washing machine of the pack. A good start.”

Hull was not the only Australian to book a spot in the semifinals after Georgia Griffith finished fourth (3:59.22), with the top six racers from each heat progressing through.

Meanwhile, Linden Hall will have to race in the repechage for an opportunity to go through to the semis after coming up short in her heat.

Hall set the pace as the leader with two laps to go but started to drop back at the start of the final lap, eventualling fall out of the Top 6 and finishing eighth.

Later, Ellie Beer missed out in the 400m repechage after finishing fourth with a time of 51.65, telling Channel Nine in an emotional interview that she was “hoping for more”.

“I was trying to make the semifinal,” she said.

“I think it’s all hitting me now… my second Olympics… I wish I could do more … I should be really happy, I’m so grateful to be out here to represent the green and gold. Sorry I didn’t make the semi… it’s been an unreal experience.”

Beer ended her interview by saying she was “really looking forward” to giving her mum and dad and coach a “big hug”.

“I just want to say a big thank you to the IOC team. They made it feel like so much at home at the village,” she added.

“I couldn’t really be more grateful for how much they have looked after us as well as all Athletics Australia. Just everyone. The support behind us, all athletes, has been unreal.

“… There’s definitely been so many learning curves here. I’m definitely hungry for more now.”

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In other news from the track and field, Brooke Buschkuehl recorded a best mark of 6.31 metres but it wasn’t enough to qualifying in the women’s long jump.

Cameron McEntyre was also in action in the men’s javelin but his 81.18m effort in his Olympics debut didn’t reach the qualifying mark, with the Australian four places short.

Elsewhere, Oceania Mackenzie is through to the women’s boulder final while Kurtis Matthews has booked his spot in the semifinal of the men’s 3m springboard after finishing eighth in the qualification round.

Later, the undefeated Stingers will face Greece in a must-win women’s water polo quarterfinal (3am Wednesday AEST), while the Boomers take on Serbia in their men’s basketball quarterfinal clash (10.30pm AEST).

The canoe sprint heats also got underway on Day 11 of the Paris Games, with reigning gold medallists Jean van der Westhuyzen and Tom Green making a perfect start as they look to claim the Kayak Double 500m crown.

Van der Westhuyzen and Green won their heat after leading for the entire race and will now compete in the semifinals, looking to build on their gold medal win at the Tokyo Games in the K2 1000m.

Van der Westhuyzen’s brother Pierre was in action later in the day alongside veteran Riley Fitzsimmons and fellow debutants Jackson Collins and Noah Harvard.

They were competing in the men’s kayak four 500m quarterfinals, which was introduced at the 2020 Games, and sent a statement to their rivals with an Olympic record time of 1:19.39.

New Zealand and Denmark more than one second behind in second and third respectively, both recording times of 1:20.56.

Unfortunately for Australian duo Aly Bull and Ella Beere, they both came up short of qualifying for the semi-finals in the canoe sprint.

Australian divers Ellie Cole and Melissa Wu will feature in the women’s 10m platform final, while Leigh Hoffman, Matthew Glaetzer and Matthew Richardson are eyeing a medal in the men’s team sprint cycling track event at the Velodrome.

And if that’s not enough for you, we have Australians competing in beach volleyball, artistic swimming and sport climbing.

AUSSIES IN ACTION – DAY 11 HIGHLIGHTS

All times AEST

5.20pm – Canoe Sprint Heats (Jean van der Westhuyzen/Tom Green)

6pm – Men’s Diving: 3m Springboard Preliminary (Kurtis Mathews)

6pm – Women’s Sport Climbing: Boulder & Lead, Semifinal Boulder (Mackenzie Oceania)

6pm – Table Tennis: Women’s Team Round of 16, Australia vs Chinese Taipei

6.05pm – Athletics: Women’s 1500m, Round 1 (Jessica Hull, Georgia Griffith, Linden Hall)

6.05pm – Athletics: Men’s 100m Hurdles, Repechage Round (Tayleb Willis)

7.15pm – Athletics: Women’s Long Jump, Qualification (Brooke Buschkuehl)

7.20pm – Athletics: Women’s 400m, Repechage Round (Ellie Beer)

7.50pm – Athletics: Men’s Javelin Throw, Qualification (Cameron McEntyre)

8.30pm – Athletics: Men’s 200m, Repechage Round (Calab Law)

8.30pm – Women’s Skateboarding, Park Prelims (Arisa Trew, Ruby Trew)

9.10pm – Canoe Sprint Quarterfinals (Jean van der Westhuyzen/Tom Green)

10.30pm – Men’s Basketball: Semifinal, Australia vs Serbia (Boomers)

11pm – Women’s Diving: 10m Platform Final (Ellie Cole, Melissa Wu)

11.43pm – Men’s Sailing: Dinghy Medal Race (Matt Wearn)

1.30am – Women’s Skateboarding, Park Final (Arisa Trew, Ruby Trew)

1.30am – Cycling Track: Women’s Team Pursuit, Qualifying (Georgia Baker, Sophie Edwards, Chloe Moran, Maeve Plouffe)

2.59am – Cycling Track: Men’s Team Sprint, First Round (Leigh Hoffman, Matthew Glaetzer, Matthew Richardson)

3am – Women’s Water Polo Quarterfinal, Australia vs Greece (Stringers)

3.14am – Cycling Track: Men’s Team Pursuit, First Round (Oliver Bleddyn, Sam Welsford, Conor Leahy, Kelland O’Brien)

3.35am – Athletics: Men’s 400m Semifinals (Reece Holder)

4.07am – Athletics: Women’s 400m Hurdles Semifinal (Alanah Yukich)

4.10am – Cycling Track: Men’s Team Sprint Final (Leigh Hoffman, Matthew Glaetzer, Matthew Richardson)

5am – Women’s Beach Volleyball Semifinal: Australia vs Switzerland (Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy)