Williams, who surprised the world by claiming the 100m hurdles gold in Budapest last season, acknowledges the challenges of building on that success. "It's a brand new year, and we start from scratch," she states. Reflecting on the lessons learned from the previous season, she aims to improve consistency in crucial areas to ensure peak performance at every race.
Addressing the recurring issue of early-season injuries, Williams explains her strategy for navigating this obstacle. "I added a massage therapist, who is there at the track every single day now," she reveals. This proactive approach allows the therapist to monitor and address potential issues before they escalate into injuries, providing Williams with the necessary support to maintain her health throughout the season.
With the world record now at 12.12 and several sprint hurdlers capable of times of 12.2s, Williams believes she has it in her to approach those times but offers a caveat to that objective.
"The conditions have to be perfect, and I can't control the conditions," she admits. Despite the challenges, she expresses her desire to run a personal best every time she competes but emphasizes the difficulty of achieving such feats due to continuous training without breaks from meets.
“Every time I step on the track I want to run a personal best but it's just that's not going to be the case just based on how training is lined up and we don't we don't take breaks from meets, so we train right through. The only meets we take breaks for are the national championship and the world championship, so it's definitely going to be difficult.”
Notwithstanding those challenges, she feels she is capable of exceeding her 12.32 personal best set in 2019. "I definitely know that I have it within me; it's just to get out and execute it on the day," she asserts.
With her eyes set on the upcoming season and the Olympic trials, Williams is determined to overcome past setbacks, stay injury-free, and potentially surpass her personal best, aiming for even greater heights with the ultimate prize being an Olympic medal.
Sophia Smith netted a first-half double on either side of Mallory Swanson's goal before Lynn Williams wrapped up the points late on.
Giulia Gwinn had given Germany hope by equalising, but the USA were too strong as they ruthlessly booked a place in the knockout rounds.
The USA made a quick start, with Smith darting in front of her marker to slot a close-range tap-in past Ann-Katrin Berger, only for Gwinn to cancel it out 11 minutes later with a pinpoint shot into the bottom-left corner.
Emma Hayes' side soon asserted their dominance though – Swanson reacted quickest to latch onto Smith's saved shot, firing in from an acute angle on the left.
Smith then got her second just before the break, helped by a huge deflection, as her effort looped over Berger before bouncing over the line off the inside of the far post.
Jule Brand struck the woodwork just after the hour mark before further misery was piled on the Germans as captain Alexandra Popp was forced off late in the second half with a knee injury that they will be hoping is not too serious.
Williams rounded things off by making a quick impact off the bench, finishing off a lightning-quick counter-attack just under four minutes after coming on.
Data Debrief: Smith and Swanson on song
The USA got the job done in the first half, ensuring Hayes became just the second coach to win each of their first two major tournament matches in charge, after Anson Dorrance in the 1991 World Cup.
Swanson added to her double against Zambia with another goal in Marseille and is just the second player in USA's history to net three times in the group stage of a single Olympics, after Abby Wambach in 2012.
Before today, the winner of each of the five previous major tournament meetings between the USA and Germany has gone on to win the entire tournament, and Hayes will be hoping that is a good sign of what is to come.
The former Wimbledon champion, whose title defence was ended by Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in the first round earlier this month, was a silver medallist in Tokyo three years ago, losing out on gold to Belinda Bencic.
The Czech was aiming to go the extra step this time around at Roland-Garros, where she reached the French Open final in 2019.
However, Vondrousova has instead chosen to focus on preparing for the final major of 2024 at the US Open in August.
"I am very sorry, but due to health reasons, I will not be participating in this year's Olympic Games in Paris," she posted on Instagram.
"I hoped until the last moment that I could go at least in doubles, but problems with my hand won't allow me on the court."
Vondrousova joins Aryna Sabalenka, Ons Jabeur and Emma Raducanu on the absentee list for the women's tournament, while the men's event will not feature world number seven Hubert Hurkacz.
The Pole, who was forced to retire with a knee injury during his second-round match at Wimbledon, has failed to recover in time.
Meanwhile, Poland's Hubert Hurkacz, ranked seventh in the world, has also withdrawn from the men's competition.
The 27-year-old has not recovered from a knee injury which forced him to retire from his second-round match at Wimbledon.
"My rehabilitation is going very well, and I am making continuous progress," he said in a video posted on his Instagram Stories. "However, my team and I have decided that I am unable to compete in the Olympic Games in Paris.
"This was a very, very difficult decision because I have always dreamed of representing Poland at the Olympics, being able to win a medal for the national team, but unfortunately, my health does not allow it this year."
Durant did not play any of the pre-Olympic warm-up games due to a calf injury and was only cleared to play for the USA an hour before their opener started.
However, he made a huge impact in just 17 minutes, nailing his first eight shots, including five 3-pointers, as he scored 23 points.
After being touch-and-go for the tournament, with coach Steve Kerr reluctant to rush him back too early, Davis says the team knew he would be ready when called upon.
"We expect nothing less," he said. "We know what he can do when the ball is in his hand, and he got hot. It was fun to watch his first time, second time, 12th.
"To see and be a fan and actually get a chance to cheer for him instead of rooting against [him] with his scoring ability – man, it was fun to watch."
Durant was not the only one in fine form, as LeBron James marked his Olympic comeback with a standout performance, getting 21 points, eight rebounds and nine assists as he provided a spark.
James and Durant also became the first USA team-mates to both score over 20 points in an Olympic opener.
The 39-year-old, playing his first contest at the Games since 2012, when he won his second consecutive gold medal, was full of praise for Durant and the team as the USA chase a sixth title in a row.
"I mean [Durant] is just an out-of-this-world talent," he said after the game. "That's the best game we played so far.
"[I'll do] Whatever it takes [to win]. It's going to be somebody different every day. And we have that type of firepower."
Next up for Team USA in Group C is South Sudan, who made history in their Olympic debut earlier on Sunday.
Their basketball federation was only formed in 2011, and they beat Puerto Rico 90-79 for their first win at the Games.
Wightman won 1,500m gold at the 2022 World Championships, the first global gold won by a Brit in a middle-distance event since Sebastian Coe's 1,500m gold at the 1984 Olympics.
The Scot has been tipped to compete for a medal in the French capital, having also taken bronze at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and silver at the European Championships that same year.
With Team GB looking to better their total of five athletics medals from the delayed 2020 Tokyo Games, Wightman thinks an impressive haul could be on the cards.
"I think collectively it should be one of the best games we could have in athletics. I think it's a bit of a golden era at the moment," he told Stats Perform.
"A lot of people are shaping up to give the best performance they'll ever have. Sadly, the state of global athletics is that it's probably in a bit of a golden era as well.
"Every event has some pretty tough competitors to beat, but if you look at all the British athletes that could medal, then you could end up with a huge tally, not just of medals, but of golds."
Wightman finished 10th in the 1,500m final in Tokyo three years ago, when crowds were limited to fellow athletes due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
He is excited to soak up a different type of atmosphere this time around, adding: "The fact that the last one was Tokyo meant people were going to be watching it in the early hours, so it probably didn't get the reach from home that it could have.
"Whereas this one, an hour's difference, there's no excuse for the British population to get behind it and to support our athletes.
"Personally, it's a chance for me to go out there and try and see what I can do. Once you get to a final, who knows what you could do from there. So for me, it's just taking it each day at a time."
Wightman's father Geoff was also an endurance runner, representing England at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland.
Having moved into television since his retirement, he was also on commentary duties when his son triumphed at the World Championships, a moment Wightman remembers fondly.
"It's pretty unique within sport that your dad is the one that's commentating. He's done it for a very long time," he said.
"For me to win a global title with him on the mic was probably the dream scenario for him. It was a special moment."
The reigning Wimbledon champion recovered from losing the opening set at Roland-Garros, where she eventually prevailed 4-6 6-0 7-6 (7-3) in just under three hours.
Krejcikova has fond memories of Court Philippe-Chatrier, lifting the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen for her maiden singles slam three years ago, but fell behind after she was broken three times in the opening set.
Nevertheless, the Czech came roaring back with a bagel to set up a deciding set, which came down to a tie-break, before she held her nerve to set up a second-round clash with Wang Xinyu.
Data Debrief: Eight straight wins for Krejcikova
It was not easy, but the reigning Wimbledon champion eventually built on her momentum from SW19, stretching her singles winning streak to eight matches.
Although beaten by eventual gold medallist Belinda Bencic in round three in Tokyo three years ago, Krejcikova did triumph in the women's doubles alongside compatriot Katerina Siniakova.
She will hope that previous podium experience will help drive her towards crowning a memorable year with another gold in Paris.
