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Final medal count for the 2024 Paris Olympics
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Bring it on! Los Angeles begins countdown to 2028 Olympics
Finally, dramatically, it has ended, the 2024 Paris Olympics finishing its last lap Sunday with incomparable enthusiasm, unbridled joy, and one last look at the gloriously intimidating tour Eiffel.
All of which means one thing.
We’ve got next.
Gulp.
How on earth can the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics surpass what the world just witnessed in a two-week burst of picturesque rejoicing from the Champ de Mars to the Palace of Versailles?
How can we match the overwhelming emotion from screaming fans and weeping athletes in a blockbuster Parisian party that was two weeks of pure Hollywood?
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LA28 touts ‘authentically Los Angeles’ Olympics as it takes handoff from Paris
PARIS — No other city in the world can do what Paris has done over the last three weeks, staging the drama of Olympic competition against the mise-en-scene of a glowing Eiffel Tower and the lush gardens of Versailles.
The 2024 Summer Games, with their classical trappings and sheer visual beauty, raised an important question.
How can Los Angeles possibly top this?
The organizers that will bring the Olympics to Southern California in 2028 offered a sneak peek during Sunday night’s closing ceremony at Stade de France. Instead of tradition, they leaned into production values and pop culture.
Like something out of “Mission: Impossible,” Tom Cruise rappelled from the rim of the stadium to the field below, then roared off on a motorcycle. Snoop Dogg dropped a few bars. Billie Eilish performed, albeit remotely, from Southern California beaches.
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The French definitely did it their way
After the Los Angeles medley, singer Yseult closed the Paris Olympics by belting out “My Way.”
The song has a mix of French and American roots.
Paul Anka, who lives in Los Angeles, wrote the lyrics and Frank Sinatra’s rendition became an international hit.
The music is set to the French song “Comme d’habitude” which was composed by Jacques Revaux. The lyrics have no similarity, but they remain very much linked.
Yseult offered a powerful rendition of the song to wrap up the Paris Olympics.
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Tom Cruise and Olympians eventually hand off to the Red Hot Chili Peppers
Tom Cruise took a motorcycle to a plane and packed the Olympic flag inside a backback before skydiving toward the Hollywood sign, going for “Mission: Impossible” energy.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “By the Way” began playing in the background as the sequence continued.
He then handed off to mountain biker Kate Courtney, who delivered the flag to track and field gold medalist Michael Johnson at the Coliseum. Johnson then gave the flag to two-time Olympic medalist skateboarder Jagger Eaton, who skated with the flag and eventually ran onto a beach.
He joined fans in front a stage on a California beach with the Red Hot Chili Peppers performing “Can’t Stop” near an LA28 logo.
Billie Eilish then took over to sing a medley of hits on the same beach.
Finally, the star of the Paris Olympics Snoop Dogg walked across the sand and began performing his hit “Drop It Like It’s Hot” He was then joined by his forever collaborator Dr. Dre.
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Hello, Tom Cruise
After playing the national anthem, H.E.R. strummed her guitar and actor Tom Cruise grinned while donning a leather jacket and descended from the roof of Stade de France.
He high fived athletes and took selfies on the way to the stage.
Cruise then took the flag from Simone Biles and jogged off stage to a motorcycle, with the flag mounted to the back. He rode through the crowd and out to the streets of Paris.
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L.A. officially accepts the Olympic flag
And now for the start of the big handoff to Los Angeles ahead of the 2028 Olympics.
Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo waved the Olympic flag and handed it off to IOC president Thomas Bach. He then waved the flag before handing it over to L.A. mayor Karen Bass, who was accompanied on stage by star gymnast Simone Biles. Bass began waving the flag complete the official handover process.
H.E.R. then stood on stage to sing the U.S. national anthem.
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President of Paris organizing committee says Games set record for most marriage proposals
After thanking a long list of elected officials and dignitaries, staff, volunteers and the entire country of France for a rousing effort to host joyous and successful Olympic Games, president of the Paris organizing committee Tony Estanguet said he never been so proud to be French. He also noted the Games set a record for most marriage proposals at an Olympics, drawing the biggest roar from the crowd.
IOC president Thomas Bach called for peace, congratulated France and saluted fans for coming together to help create the Olympic spirit at every venue. He also used his speech to seek culture of peace in a war-torn world. Bach tried to make a Seine River joke, but it didn’t land especially well.
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Phoenix delights with crowd with ‘1901’ performance
A series of French artists joined Phoenix for a mini-concert, with the lead singer from Vampire Weekend making a cameo.
Athletes and fans in the stands bopped along to Phoenix’s biggest hit “1901.”
French and American officials promised a few surprises during this ceremony.
Will immensely popular French electronic duo Daft Punk, which broke up in 2021, reunite for an appearance during the ceremony?
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Athletes dance along to ‘Lisztomania’
Popular French band Phoenix played its hit “Lisztomania” and athletes rushed forward to the stage to dance along.
The athletes briefly climbed onto the stage and were asked to scoot back to the field so bands could perform.
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Photos: Striking views from the closing ceremony
Ace Times photograher Wally Skalij captured these striking pictures from a theatrical segment of the Paris Olympics closing ceremony that depicted a dystopian world without the Olympics. A golden traveler with an army of acrobats restored the Games by digging up and elevating the Olympic rings.
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Horse drawn carriage projected in LED lights
As the golden traveler carried the Greek flag, a nod to where the Olympics began, the outlines of a horse-drawn carriage trots around the stadium in LED lights. Later, the Olympic rings are displayed.
The traveler is joined by more dancers performing as they exhume the five Olympic rings to continue the theatrical presentation.
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Ceremony shifts from pop music to theatrical presentation
Stade de France has shifted from blasting pop songs to a theatrical venue.
The main stadium lights dimmed, with accent lights highlighting the start of a show,
Closing ceremony organizers say they intend to celebrate rebirth, humanity coming together and the Olympic spirit.
The ceremony is opening with a dystopian landscape without the Olympics and eventually a gold-clad voyager was lowered from the roof of Stade de France to restore the Olympic spirit.
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Women’s marathon winners receive their medals
IOC president Thomas Bach presented medals to the women’s marathon winners, continuing a tradition of presenting the medals during the closing ceremony.
The difference this year is that it’s the women’s marathon being recognized rather than the men’s marathon.
Paris Olympic organizers chose to stage the men’s race Saturday and women’s race Sunday, flipping the traditional order to put women in the spotlight at the first Games to achieve gender equity in athlete participation.
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Athletes get into ‘We are the Champions’
NBC spoke of athlete karaoke and eventually the athletes in the venue joined in as the stadium DJ played the iconic Queen anthem “We are the Champions.”
Fans at Stade de France joined Olympians cheering.
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M83 thumps as athletes continue to walk into Stade de France
M83 blared while athletes walked into Stade de France during the closing ceremony.
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Athletes parade under way
Unlike the opening ceremony, the athletes walk into the closing ceremony venue swiftly together rather than getting introduced one country at a time.
Between skipping calling out names and fewer athletes participating, the athletes’ parade takes a few minutes rather than hours during the opening ceremony.
Katie Ledecky carried the American flag and struggled to hear NBC questions during the parade, which further confirms David Wharton’s report of booming musice at Stade de France.
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Stade de France ceremony opens with a striking national anthem
While the opening ceremony set the tone of a boisterous French party, the closing has opened with more regal and stately tones on television.
After a greeting between IOC president Thomas Bach and French president Emmanuel Macron, a sweeping symphony performed the French national anthem. It was a remarkable orchestration.
However, David Wharton reports the music is incredibly loud inside the venue and lacks some of the balance we’re getting via the TV production.
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Closing ceremony is under way
NBC advertised the closing ceremony would begin at 11 a.m. PDT or 11:15 a.m. PDT.
Actual start time: noon PDT.
The ceremony began with French star swimmer Leon Marchand, who was relatively unknown before winning four gold medals during the Paris Olympics, extinguishing the LED balloon that was supposed to represent the Olympic torch and carrying a small lantern with a real Olympic flame back toward Stade de France, site of the closing ceremony.
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Imane Khelif and Katie Ledecky among flag bearers for closing ceremony
PARIS — Algerian boxing champion Imane Khelif will be among the flag bearers when Olympic athletes bid farewell to the Paris Games in a closing ceremony at France’s national stadium on Sunday night.
Khelif faced criticism and false claims about her sex, then won gold in the women’s 66 kg class.
Other gold medalists who will do the honors are U.S. swimmer Katie Ledecky and French rugby star Antoine Dupont.
There’s an air of anticipation over what director Thomas Jolly has created to bring the Games to a close at Stade de France after the grandiose and unprecedented open-air opening ceremony on the Seine River.
Athletes entering on a parade on boats and the celebration of inclusivity generated headlines around the world.
The closing ceremony features the athletes’ parade and the handover of the Olympic flag to the organizers of the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.
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U.S. women’s basketball edges France for unprecedented 8th straight Olympic gold
PARIS — It’s not easy making history.
The United States survived a scare from France to win an unprecedented eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal Sunday with a 67-66 victory at Bercy Arena. The Americans trailed by 10 in the third quarter, but rallied to set an Olympic record for a traditional team sport with their eighth straight title. The streak surpasses the seven straight Olympic championships won by the U.S. men’s basketball team.
The Americans are undefeated in Olympic play since 1992, winning 61 straight Olympic contests. The winning streak has outlived nine of the 12 players on the U.S. roster and survived just by a few inches as French star Gabby Williams hit a shot at the buzzer, but had her toe on the three-point line. She covered her mouth in disbelief as her would-be game-tying shot turned into a one-point loss.
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Man seen climbing Eiffel Tower, prompting an evacuation of the site
PARIS — Authorities have evacuated the Eiffel Tower after a man was seen climbing the Paris landmark hours before the Olympics closing ceremony Sunday.
The shirtless man was seen scaling the 1,083-foot tower in the afternoon. It’s unclear where he began his ascent, but he was spotted just above the Olympic rings adorning the second section of the monument, just above the first viewing deck.
The closing ceremony was set to begin at Stade de France in the Saint-Denis area, well away from the Eiffel Tower, around 9 p.m.
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U.S. women’s volleyball takes home silver after being swept by Italy
PARIS — Italy beat the defending champion U.S. team Sunday to win gold in women’s volleyball at the Paris Olympics.
The victory came in straight sets, 25-18, 25-20, 25-17. The Italians ended a dominant tournament having lost just one set.
It’s the first medal in the sport for top-ranked Italy and sends the Americans home in disappointment after they won their first Olympic title in Tokyo. It’s a huge win for the Italians, whose previous best Olympic finish was fifth.
The victory came in front of a boisterous crowd at South Paris Arena, where many fans waved Italian and U.S. flags. People danced and cheered as the Italians romped to the decisive win.
When Italy scored the match point to end it, many of the players collapsed to the court, then began hugging in a huge scrum. Together they tossed veteran Monica De Gennaro into the air. De Gennaro is a 37-year-old, four-time Olympian.
The U.S. was up 6-5 in the third set before Italy scored the next seven points to take a 12-6 lead. The Americans fought back, scoring three of the next four points.
The U.S. got within 19-16 before Italy closed it out with a 6-1 run capped by the match point by Paola Egonu, who had a dominant performance, scoring 22 points.
The silver finish by the Americans gives them a seventh Olympic medal to make them the winningest country in the sport.
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U.S. men’s water polo defeats Hungary for first Olympic medal since 2008
NANTERRE, France — Adrian Weinberg made 16 saves in regulation and denied Vince Vigvári in the penalty shootout, helping the United States beat Hungary 11-8 on Sunday for the bronze medal in men’s water polo at the Paris Olympics.
It’s the first medal for the U.S. men since the team lost to Hungary in the final of the 2008 Olympics. The U.S. also won bronze the last time Paris hosted the Summer Games in 1924.
Ben Hallock had two goals for the U.S., which bounced back after losing to Serbia in the semifinals.
Gergo Zalanki and Denes Varga each had two goals for Hungary, the winningest men’s water polo program in history. Hungary took home the bronze at the Tokyo Games.
Hungary opened an 8-6 lead on Daniel Angyal’s goal with 3:22 left. But the U.S. rallied with man-up goals by Alex Bowen and Hannes Daube.
Daube, Max Irving and Bowen converted their opportunities in the penalty shootout, and Hungary was shut out in the tiebreaker. Varga hit the cage before Vigvári was turned away by Weinberg. When Gergo Zalanki hit the cage again, it was over.
As the U.S. coaches and players celebrated wildly — on the sideline and in the pool — Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.” played on the sound system at Paris La Defense Arena. U.S. coach Dejan Udovicic waved his arms in the air to fire up the Americans fans in the crowd.
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Women experienced the best of the Olympics — and the worst — in Paris
PARIS — After punching her way to a gold medal, winning bout after bout, the Algerian boxer felt like she had to keep fighting.
Throughout the 2024 Summer Olympics, Imane Khelif faced withering attacks on social media because she did not look stereotypically feminine. Internet trolls accused her of being transgender or a man in disguise.
“I am a woman like any other woman,” she said. “I was born a woman, I lived a woman and I competed as a woman.”
The controversy surrounding Khelif and another boxer from Taiwan underscored a striking contradiction at these Games. The last two weeks in Paris — a setting for the classic novel “A Tale of Two Cities” — have been the best of times and the worst of times for female athletes.
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L.A. reveals some of its Olympics closing ceremony performers
Southern California musical all-stars Billie Eilish, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Snoop Dogg will be featured during the Olympic closing ceremony that will help introduce the world to Los Angeles, the Summer Games’ next host.
LA28, the group organizing the Los Angeles Olympics, confirmed the acts would be joined by H.E.R., who will perform the U.S. national anthem live at Paris’ Stade de France as part of the official Olympic handover from Paris to Los Angeles.
LA28 teased additional surprises, but did not confirm Tom Cruise’s widely reported role in the ceremony. Cruise is expected to be featured in a series of stunts at Stade de France, along the streets of Paris and in Los Angeles.
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Jordan Chiles will be asked to return her Olympic bronze medal, IOC says
PARIS — At the Olympics, there are take-backs.
Jordan Chiles will be asked to return to the bronze medal she was awarded on floor exercise, the International Olympic Committee said in a statement Sunday, after the Court of Arbitration for Sportvoided the inquiry that boosted the U.S. gymnast from fifth place to third. The IOC will reallocate the bronze medal to Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu, who placed third with a score of 13.700 after Chiles’ initial score of 13.666 was reinstated.
“We are in touch with the [National Olympic Committee] of Romania to discuss the reallocation ceremony and with [U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee] regarding the return of the bronze medal,” the IOC statement read.
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Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands wins the women’s marathon in dramatic finish
PARIS — Sifan Hassan traded elbows with Tigst Assefa with 150 meters left in the women’s marathon, then passed her along the railing to win the race for her third distance medal of the Paris Games on Sunday.
Hassan, an Ethiopian-born racer who runs for the Netherlands, finished in an Olympic record time of 2 hours, 22 minutes, 55 seconds. Assefa won silver for Ethiopia, three seconds behind, and Kenya’s Hellen Obiri took the bronze.
The Ethiopian team lodged a protest to have Hassan disqualified for obstruction, but it was rejected by the Jury of Appeal. It looked as if Assefa was blocking Hassan, who was twice impeded before they traded elbows.
Hassan raised her hands and yelled as he crossed the line, then wrapped the Dutch flag around her head as she celebrated. Wearing an orange bucket hat, she put her arm around Nepal’s Shantoshi Shrestha, whose smile was as bright as the sun pouring down on them.
Then, taking in the enormity of her win, Hassan plunged her head in her hands and appeared to weep with joy.
The 31-year-old Hassan also won bronze in the 5,000 and 10,000. By simply completing the marathon, she ran more than 62 kilometers. She now has six Olympic medals. In Tokyo, Hassan won the 5,000 and 10,000 and finished third in the 1,500.
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Sunday’s Olympics TV schedule: How to watch the closing ceremony
Sunday’s live TV broadcasts unless noted (subject to change). All events stream live on Peacock or NBCOlympics.com with a streaming or cable login.
All times Pacific.
CLOSING CEREMONY
The closing ceremony will be shown live on NBC and Telemundo at noon. NBC will replay the closing ceremony at 7 p.m. on “Primetime in Paris.”
BASKETBALL
2:45 a.m. — Women’s bronze-medal game, Belgium vs. Australia | USA
6:30 a.m. — Women’s gold-medal game, France vs. United States | NBC, Telemundo
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Lasha Talakhadze of Georgia three-peats as Olympic weightlifting champion
PARIS — Lasha Talakhadze of Georgia has won his third consecutive Olympic title in the heaviest weightlifting division, taking gold in the men’s +102 kilograms on Saturday.
Talakhadze won gold in the men’s +102 kilograms after winning at +109 kilograms in Tokyo three years ago and +105 kilograms in 2016 at Rio de Janeiro. He won with a total of of 470. Varazdat Lalayan of Armenia got silver with 467 and Gor Minasyan of Bahrain took bronze with 461.
Norway’s Solfrid Koanda won the women’s 82-kilogram division and China’s Liu Huanhua won the men’s 102 kilograms. Each is a new after the weight divisions were reclassified and reduced for the Paris Games.
China has won four weightlifting gold medals and has a chance at a fifth Sunday when Li Wenwen competes in the women’s 81-plus kilograms.
Liu beat Tokyo champion Akbar Djuraev of Uzbekistan in a reclassified division, as weightlifting was reduced from 14 to 10 events. Djuraev won gold three years ago at 109 kilograms and had to cut down from 240 to 224 pounds (109 to 102 kilograms) for the Paris Games.
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China claims another gold in artistic swimming, caps perfect two weeks at Olympic Aquatics Centre
PARIS — Twins Wang Liuyi and Wang Qianyi gave their country another gold in the sport formerly known as synchro, winning the duet competition Saturday night.
The Wangs built a lead in the technical routine the previous night and carried that momentum to a free routine dubbed “Gravitation,” performed to music by Dutch DJ Junkie XL and German film score composer Hans Zimmer.
The Chinese duo received a total of 566.4783 points, holding off two teams that claimed the first artistic swimming medals for their countries.
Kate Shortman and Isabelle Thorpe of Britain earned the silver with 558.5367, edging out another set of twins, Noortje and Bregje de Brouwer, who took bronze for the Netherlands at 558.3963.
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Swedes David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig beat Germany in straight sets for men’s beach volleyball gold
Jump-setting Swedes David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig beat Germany in straight sets for men’s beach volleyball gold medal.
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New Zealand’s Hamish Kerr edges American Shelby McEwen for gold after jump-off
SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — First they put the bar up higher. Then they lowered it.
Wherever they put the bar, American Shelby McEwen and world indoor champion Hamish Kerr of New Zealand couldn’t clear it. The two high jumpers, who could have decided to tie and both get a gold medal, instead put fans through an interminable jump-off for the gold at the Paris Olympics on Saturday.
The two men had 11 straight misses — so many that there wasn’t enough room on the scoreboard for all the Xs — in regulation and the jump-off. The bar was lowered twice during the jump-off, and Kerr finally broke the streak of failures when he got over 2.34 meters (7 feet, 8 inches) to take the gold.
“To do it the way I did it was just amazing,” Kerr said. “It was crazy.”
McEwen was left with the silver, both he and Kerr having cleared 2.36 (7 feet, 8.75).
The duo mutually agreed to the jump-off rather than sharing the gold medal.
“We talked to each other, and he was like, ‘Let’s jump off.’ And I was like, ‘I’m all for it,’” McEwen said.
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Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting wins gold to conclude Olympics marked by gender controversy
PARIS — Boxer Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan won a gold medal in the women’s featherweight division at the Paris Olympics on Saturday night, following Imane Khelif’s lead a day earlier with a glittering response to the intense scrutiny faced by both fighters inside the ring and around the world over misconceptions about their womanhood.
Lin routed Julia Szeremeta of Poland 5:0 in the final at Roland Garros, capping her four-fight unbeaten run through Paris by winning Taiwan’s first Olympic boxing gold medal.
“I feel incredible,” Lin said after her fourth consecutive 5:0 win. “I want to thank everyone who has supported me, and thanks to my team and everyone in Taiwan. They gave me the power.”
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American Victor Montalvo takes bronze in breaking competition
PARIS — Canadian b-boy Phil Wizard (Philip Kim) took gold in the first Olympic men’s breaking tournament Saturday.
Hometown favorite French b-boy Dany Dann (Danis Civil) won silver, and American b-boy Victor (Victor Montalvo) took the bronze after taking out Japanese b-boy Shigekix (Shigeyuki Nakarai).
“Local hero” Dany Dann, as the emcees referred to him, took the stage each round to rapturous applause, with the crowd chanting “Dany! Dany!” every time he landed a power move. Kim amazed spectators with his powerful moves, quick feet and quirky personality that he synced to the music.
The entire stadium cheered on its feet as both b-boys hugged before the judges announced their scores. Although the battles sparked fierce competition, between rounds and after each battle, the breakers exchanged hugs, pats on the back and sometimes even synced up their movements with each other, contributing to an atmosphere that remained true to the party culture of hip-hop “jams” and “cyphers” — an informal circle formed by breakers in which they enter one by one to dance and battle.
“We’re all representing hip-hop here, we’re all a big family right now,” Montalvo said.
B-boy Victor, an American two-time world champion and the U.S. favorite, was among eight dancers to advance to the quarterfinals after beating out Japan’s b-boy Hiro10 (Hiroto Ono). That win drew loud boos from the many Japanese fans in attendance.
Ono gained rapturous applause after nailing power move after power move — including seemingly endless windmills and headspins — moves that typically get strong reactions from the crowd. Judges are evaluating breakers on more than just their physicality. They’re using the Trivium judging system to grade them on technique, vocabulary, execution, musicality and originality — each accounts for 20% of the final score.
“In breaking, you have to be musical, you have to bring the essence, it’s not just about the moves,” Montalvo said. “Those moves that they’re doing are amazing. But it’s more than that.”
Montalvo and fellow Team USA b-boy Jeffro (Jeffrey Louis), who was knocked out in the quarterfinals, were seeking to redeem the U.S. imprint on the Olympic stage after both American b-girls were eliminated in the first round of Friday’s competition, a blow to the country representing the birthplace of hip-hop and breaking culture. B-girl Logistx (Logan Edra) and b-girl Sunny (Sunny Choi) both ranked in the top 12 internationally but came up short of the quarterfinals.
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U.S. men and women sweep gold medals in 4x400-meter relays
SAINT-DENIS, France — Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Gabby Thomas teamed up for America’s 14th gold and 34th overall medal at the track Saturday, wrapping up the Olympic action at the Stade de France with a 4.23-second runaway in the women’s 4x400-meter relay.
The gold medalists in the 400 hurdles and 200 meters took care of legs two and three for the United States, handing a 30-meter lead to Alexis Holmes, who didn’t lose any ground.
McLaughlin-Levrone, who owns the world’s fourth-fastest time in the 400 to go with her latest world record in hurdles, ran her leg in 47.71. That was .91 seconds faster than the next fastest woman in the field, Femke Bol, who took the Netherlands to silver.
The U.S. team, which included Shamier Little, finished in 3 minutes, 15.27 seconds, only .1 short of the world record set by the Soviet Union in 1988.
The American men won gold in the same race in a much closer finish about 15 minutes earlier.
Rai Benjamin held off Letsile Tebogo on the anchor leg to give the U.S. men a gold medal and an Olympic record in the men’s 4x400-meter relay. The U.S. quartet of Christpher Bailey, Vernon Norwood, Bryce Deadmon and Benjamin completed the four laps in 2 minutes, 54.43 seconds, nearly a second faster than the American 4x400 team ran at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Saturday’s time was just .14 seconds off the world record.
The 34 track medals were the most for the U.S. at a non-boycotted Games since the early 20th century, when there were more events and fewer countries, and the 14 golds are the most in a non-boycotted Olympics since 1968.
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Jordan Chiles likely to lose her bronze medal after appeal ruling
PARIS — Jordan Chiles cried in her coach’s arms, stood on an Olympic podium with a bronze medal around her neck and is memorialized in one of the viral moments of these 2024 Summer Games when she joined Simone Biles bowing to gold medalist Rebeca Andrade.
A court ruled Saturday that none of it should have happened.
After a judging inquiry boosted Chiles from fifth place to third in the women’s floor exercise final on Monday, the Romanian gymnastics federation filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport arguing the timing of the inquiry that awarded Chiles the decisive additional tenth. In a partial acceptance of the petition published Saturday, the Court ruled that Chiles’ inquiry came in four seconds too late and that her original score of 13.666 should stand.
It will be up to the International Gymnastics Federation to rank and determine the medals of the women’s floor exercise event according to the Court’s ruling.
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American Masai Russell wins 100-meter hurdles in photo finish
SAINT-DENIS, France — America’s Masai Russell won a photo finish Saturday in the women’s 100-meter hurdles where the biggest cheer came for Cyrena Samba-Mayela, whose silver medal marks the first of any color for France at the Olympic track meet.
In a close-as-can-be race down the straightaway, Russell finished in 12.33 seconds, but had to wait another 15 seconds to learn she had beaten the Frenchwoman by .01.
Defending champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, who competes for Puerto Rico, was another .02 back for bronze.
No cheers were louder than those for Samba-Mayela, who broke a shutout for the host country on the laset day of action at the Stade de France.
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U.S. women’s soccer proves it’s still an elite power, beating Brazil for Olympic gold
PARIS — U.S. Soccer has been searching for a nickname for the dynamic trio of young forwards leading its women’s national team. Saturday it found one.
Olympic champions.
Mallory Swanson, one of that terrific trio, scored the game’s only goal 13 minutes into the second half to lift the U.S. over Brazil 1-0 in the gold-medal final of the Paris Games, giving the Americans their first Olympic title in 12 years and a record fifth championship in eight tries.
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Lydia Ko adds to her Olympic medal collection, finally winning gold
SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France — Lydia Ko completed her Olympic medal collection on Saturday with the most valuable of of them all, a gold medal that puts the 27-year-old Kiwi into the LPGA Hall of Fame.
Ko built a five-shot lead on the back nine at Le Golf National as her closest pursuers all collapsed, and then had to hang on until the very end. Her lead down to one, Ko made a seven-foot birdie putt for a 1-under 71 and a two-shot victory.
Ko won the silver medal in Rio de Janeiro. She won the bronze in Tokyo. The missing one turned out to be more valuable than its weight in gold. The victory pushed her career total to 27 points for the LPGA Hall of Fame, one of the strictest criteria for any shrine.
Esther Henseleit of Germany finished birdie-birdie for a 66 to make Ko work for it. She wound up with the silver. Xiyu Lin of China birdied the final hole for a 69 to win the bronze.
For Nelly Korda, Rose Zhang and Morgane Metraux, it was a day to forget. All of them were in range early. All of them fell back with a double bogey or worse.
This is the latest prize for a remarkable career for Ko, who won her first LPGA title as an amateur when she was 15 and rose to No. 1 in the world for the first time at 17. She began this year with a victory, leaving her one point short of the Hall.
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Nevin Harrison misses out on defending her Olympic title by slimmest of margins
VAIRES-SUR-MARNE, France — American Nevin Harrison came within a photo finish of winning her second straight Olympic gold medal in the women’s canoe sprint 200-meter event on Saturday.
Katie Vincent of Canada edged her in a world-best 44.12 seconds. Harrison’s time was 44.13 seconds — significantly better than the 45.93 she posted when she won the inaugural event in Tokyo at age 19.
Harrison didn’t guess the outcome after she crossed the finish line and chose patience over premature celebration. When the winner was announced, Harrison was somber before putting the moment in perspective.
“I mean, having come off gold from Tokyo into a silver, it’s disappointing in the moment,” Harrison said. “But I think in reflection, it’s nothing but pride and feeling really happy with myself that I went out there and fought as hard as I did.”
Harrison has faced numerous challenges since winning in Tokyo in 2021. She fought through chronic lower back pain and a hamstring injury. Mental health issues — some coming from the pressure of being a gold medalist — nearly derailed her plans and made her unsure if she’d get a chance to defend her title.
She said any medal would have made her happy given all she’s had to overcome.
“I think the support system I had around me, my sports psychologist, my coach, my family, my friends — all of them built me back into the person that I am right now,” she said. “And if you would have asked me a year ago today, I would not be standing here.”
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Why the man who fought to make Olympic artistic swimming coed was shut out of competition
PARIS — The hotel where they put Bill May is nice, expensive, across from the Jardin des Tuileries. He sits in a tastefully furnished lounge off the lobby, smiling, telling stories, bursting into jolts of laughter.
“It’s been a dream coming to the Olympics,” he says. “I’m just cheering, screaming, making a fool of myself.”
Which doesn’t quite make sense.
May has devoted his life to forging a place for men in a sport traditionally reserved for women. He was crucial to a new rule allowing male athletes in artistic swimming — formerly known as synchronized swimming — at the 2024 Summer Games.
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China completes unprecedented gold sweep of Olympic diving events
SAINT-DENIS, France — Cao Yuan defended his title in the men’s 10-meter platform on Saturday and gave China an unprecedented sweep of the diving gold medals at the Paris Olympics.
China won all eight golds at the Olympic Aquatics Centre, most of them with dominating victories.
That wasn’t the case in the final diving event of the Games. With teammate Yang Hao having an uncharacteristically poor day and Rikuto Tamai of Japan keeping the pressure on until a botched dive in the next-to-last round, the burden of completing the sweep fell entirely on Cao’s slender shoulders.
He was up to the task.
The 29-year-old Cao essentially locked up the gold with big scores on his toughest dive of the competition, a forward 4½ somersaults in the fifth of six rounds. He finished with 547.50 points to become the first male diver since Greg Louganis in 1988 to win a second straight gold off the big tower.
Cao now has four golds in his career. He also won the springboard at Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and a 10-meter synchro gold at London in 2012.
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Why California is uniquely talented at raising more Olympians than any other state
PARIS — The U.S. soccer team, which will play in the women’s gold-medal game at the Paris Olympics on Saturday, has five players from California. All four U.S. beach volleyball players who advanced to the quarterfinals are Californians, as are 11 of the 13 women on the water polo team, who advanced to the bronze medal game.
In fact, everywhere Team USA has competed in these Paris Olympics, chances are a Californian or three were involved. One hundred twenty-one of the 594 athletes on the American team — more than one in five — are from the state. And that doesn’t include the California natives who competed for other nations, such as Trinidadian swimmer Dylan Carter, Filipina gymnast Emma Malabuyo and Japanese tennis player Ena Shibahara.
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U.S. women’s water polo loses to Netherlands in a heartbreaker, missing out on bronze
NANTERRE, France — Sabrina van der Sloot scored with less than a second remaining, and the Netherlands defeated the United States 11-10 for the bronze medal in women’s water polo on Saturday.
The Netherlands got the ball back following a U.S. turnover with nine seconds left. Coach Eva Doudesis had goalkeeper Laura Aarts join the attack for a seven-on-six opportunity, and Van der Sloot beat Ashleigh Johnson into the right side.
Van der Sloot finished with six goals on seven shots, leading the Dutch rally after the team trailed 7-3 at halftime and 10-7 midway through the fourth quarter.
The U.S. was looking for an unprecedented fourth consecutive gold medal going into the Olympics. Then it blew a 5-2 halftime lead in a 14-13 loss to Australia in a penalty shootout in the semis.
The U.S. women’s water polo team lost in a penalty shootout to Australia during an Olympics semifinal. The team is well-versed in handling tragedy.
It struggled to score once again after Jenna Flynn’s power-play goal made it 10-7 with 4:26 left.
“We didn’t handle that very well,” U.S. coach Adam Krikorian said. “Yeah, you know it’s a big moment and it seemed a little bit too big at times, to be honest. ... Sometimes, in these big games, it’s about who’s able to play with the courage and just be able to execute kind of towards the end of the game, and obviously they did a much better job of that.”
The U.S. had been the only country to medal in each women’s water polo tournament at the Olympics since it started in 2000.
“We’ve talked about just trying to learn from our mistakes and getting better,” U.S. captain Maggie Steffens said. “And I feel today we struggled to continually learn from our mistakes. We gave up some really easy counter-attack goals, and not forcing Holland to score difficult goals when we’re up by three.”
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Nikola Jokic and Serbia defeat Germany for bronze in men’s basketball
PARIS — Nikola Jokic had his fifth Olympic triple-double and Serbia beat Germany 93-83 to win the Olympic men’s basketball bronze medal on Saturday.
Jokic finished with 19 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists to help Serbia claim its first medal since winning silver in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. Serbia bounced back after nearly upsetting the four-time defending gold medalist U.S. in the semifinals.
Vasilije Micic added 19 points and Bogdan Bogdanovic finished with 16.
The game was a rematch of last year’s FIBA World Cup final, which was won by Germany. Serbia led throughout in this one, building as much as a 19-point lead in the third quarter.
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Brittney Griner cherishes her Olympic experience after Russian detention
PARIS — Fans wearing the United States’ red, white and blue draped a simple white banner with handwritten black letters over the railing in the front row at Bercy Arena. Behind the basket near the U.S. bench, there was no way players could miss it.
“Griner” it read, “#15”
Playing internationally for the first time after her nearly 10-month detainment in Russia, Brittney Griner has had the support of fans in France, where she’s soaking up the experience and support with gratitude and joy.
“There was a time where I didn’t know if I would ever play USA basketball again or play basketball in general,” Griner said after the United States’ quarterfinal victory over Nigeria on Wednesday. “And I think it just means more to me now.”
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Afghan refugee breaker disqualified for wearing ‘Free Afghan Women’ cape
PARIS — Refugee breaker Manizha Talash, or “b-girl Talash,” was disqualified from the first-ever Olympic breaking competition on Friday, after she wore a cape that said “Free Afghan Women” during her pre-qualifier battle against India Sardjoe — known as “b-girl India.”
The 21-year-old, originally from Afghanistan and representing the Olympic Refugee team, lost in the pre-qualifier battle against Sardjoe.
Political statements and slogans are banned on the field of play and on podiums at the Olympics. World DanceSport Federation, the governing body for breaking at the Olympics, issued a statement afterward that said she “was disqualified for displaying a political slogan on her attire during the Pre-Qualifier battle.”
Talash sought asylum in Spain after fleeing Taliban rule in her home country in 2021.
“I’m here because I want to reach my dream. Not because I’m scared,” she told the Associated Press before the Olympics from Spain, where she was granted asylum.
The International Olympic Committee’s executive board invited her to participate after learning of her efforts to defy the strict rule of the Taliban in her home country.
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Ethiopia’s Tamirat Tola wins gold in men’s marathon, breaking Olympic record
PARIS — Ethiopian runner Tamirat Tola won the men’s marathon at the Paris Olympics on Saturday to end Kenya’s dominance of the race.
Tola finished in an Olympic record time of 2 hours, 6 minutes, 26 seconds, with Belgium’s Bashir Abdi finishing 21 seconds behind and Benson Kipruto taking bronze for Kenya, 34 seconds back.
Tola looked back as he neared the line and had time to soak up the applause. Britain’s Emile Cairess placed fourth and even had enough energy for a sprint finish — of sorts — after 42 kilometers (26 miles) in the sun.
Two-time defending champion Eliud Kipchoge struggled throughout. He was more than eight minutes behind Tola at the 30-kilometer mark and did not finish.
Breaking from tradition, the men’s Olympic marathon was not held on the final day and instead the women will run Sunday.
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Olivia Reeves wins first U.S. Olympic gold medal in weightlifting in 24 years
PARIS — Olivia Reeves tried treating the Olympics like just another competition. It didn’t work.
It didn’t matter, either.
Nerves or no nerves, Reeves won the United States’ first Olympic gold medal in weightlifting in 24 years at the Paris Games on Friday.
“Feeling the weight of this competition is different than the others,” she said. “I kind of knew there were going to be tears, good or bad.”
There were good tears after Reeves lifted 117 kilograms (258 pounds) in the snatch and 145kg (320 pounds) in the clean and jerk for a total of 262kg to beat Mari Leivis Sanchez of Colombia by five kilograms in the women’s 71kg division. Angie Dajomes of Ecuador took the bronze.
Reeves, from Hixson, Tennessee, said despite her attempt to treat the Olympics as just another event, “I got more nervous than all the others, so it didn’t really work.”
She seemed outwardly calm during the competition, but she wiped away tears during the medal ceremony and took deep breaths as the U.S. anthem played.
“I’ve heard the national anthem before. I’ve been on the podium before,” she said. “But this is the Olympics, and to be here, be the Olympic champion hasn’t sunk in yet. I’m not quite sure, but I’m trying to process it.”
Reeves chose higher starting weights than her opponents in both parts of the competition, and completed her first five lifts. Her only failed lift came on a 150kg clean-and-jerk attempt with the gold medal already won.
The U.S. last won an Olympic gold medal in weightlifting in Sydney in 2000, when Tara Nott won the lightest women’s division. That was the first Olympic Games to include women’s weightlifting on the program.
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Noah Lyles’ coach says sprinter had fever during 200 race, will compete in L.A. Olympics
SAINT-DENIS, France — The night American sprinter Noah Lyles won a bronze medal, he had a fever of around 102 degrees Fahrenheit (39 Celsius), according to his coach Lance Brauman.
It’s what made that medal, in his last sprint at the Paris Olympics, all the more impressive to Brauman, who described the sprinter’s condition and future Friday in an interview with The Associated Press.
Lyles tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday and finished third in Thursday’s final behind Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo and American teammate Kenneth Bednarek.
“Those guys raced great,” Brauman said. “But to get a bronze medal in 19.70 with a temperature of about 102, that wasn’t too bad.”
To Brauman, the performance ranks right up there with the one Lyles delivered to win gold in the 100 on Sunday.
“It’s hard to replace a gold medal in the 100 meters at the Olympic Games ... that one was probably the most important medal,” Brauman said. “How did he put it, we talked about it — he will have the most satisfaction out of the bronze.”
The 27-year-old Lyles was back at the track Friday night wearing a protective mask while accepting his bronze medal. He did a lap around the track waving to fans but kept his distance from Tebogo and Bednarek.
There will be other chances, Brauman said, because Lyles is just entering his prime.
“He’s going to be really good through LA at least, and then we’ll see what happens after that,” Brauman said of the next Olympics in 2028. “I just need him to keep doing what he’s doing.”
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Spain defeats rowdy host France in extra time, clinches men’s soccer gold medal
PARIS — It’s been a golden summer for Spanish soccer.
Less than a month after winning the European Championship, Spain followed up with a thrilling 5-3 extra-time victory in the Olympic men’s final against France on Friday.
Sergio Camello’s two goals eventually settled an epic match in Spain’s favor after France fought back from 3-1 down to force extra time at Parc des Princes.
“We are the happiest children in the world,” said Camello, who had come on as an 83rd-minute substitute and likely made himself a national icon.
Spain’s coach Santi Denia said his players deserved to cry “tears of joy” after “such a long-suffering match.”
Long-suffering for the players, maybe. But for anyone watching, it will live in the memory as a classic.
France took an early lead through Enzo Millot but Spain replied with three goals in 10 minutes as Barcelona star Fermin Lopez Lopez struck twice and Alex Baena made it 3-1 in the 28th minute.
Roared on by passionate home crowd, France mounted a late fightback in the second half after Maghnes Akliouche scored in the 79th. France pushed the game to extra time when Jean-Phillipe Mateta equalized from the penalty spot in the 93rd minute.
But the momentum swung once again when Camello lifted over France goalkeeper Guillaume Restes in the 100th and he got his second when racing away from his own half in the first minute of time added on.
The forward tore off his shirt and was quickly swamped by teammates and substitutes, who piled onto the field from the touchline in frenzied celebrations.
Spain, which lost the final to Brazil at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago, became the first European gold medalist in men’s soccer since it last won the tournament at the Barcelona Games in 1992.
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Brazil beats Canada in tense three-set women’s beach volleyball gold medal match
PARIS — Brazil won a tense, three-set final to claim the women’s beach volleyball gold medal at the Paris Olympics on Friday night, finishing off the Canadians following a nose-to-nose confrontation at the net that needed the intervention of the referee — and the Eiffel Tower Stadium DJ.
Ana Patrícia and Duda rallied from an 11-5 deficit to take the first to 21, win-by-two first set 26-24, and Canada won the second 21-12. Brazil opened up a 12-7 lead in the first-to-15 tiebreaker when, after a joust at the net, Brandie Wilkerson began shouting and pointing at Duda.
The second referee, the one at sand level, moved out to separate the two players, but Wilkerson continued to argue; she was shown a yellow card. As the Brazilians got into position to serve for the next point, the DJ began playing John Lennon’s “Imagine,” its lyrics calling for unity and peace.
The players laughed, and the Canadians also clapped in approval. The crowd applauded and then began singing along.
And when play resumed, it took Brazil only five more points to finish off Wilkerson and Melissa Humana-Paredes, kicking off a beach party the sport’s spiritual home hadn’t seen since hosting the 2016 Games at Copacabana. In Tokyo, the country was shut out at the Summer Games for the first time since beach volleyball was added to the program in 1996.
Three years later, Brazil not only returned to the podium but climbed to its top step.
With the Eiffel Tower’s strobes sparking in the background, the Brazilians were awarded their first women’s gold since Atlanta. (The United States, which had won four of the last five, was shut out in both the men’s and women’s tournaments in Paris.)
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Boxer Imane Khelif wins gold to cap an Olympics marked by scrutiny over her gender
PARIS — Algerian boxer Imane Khelif has won a gold medal Friday at the Paris Olympics, emerging a champion from a tumultuous run at the Games where she endured intense scrutiny in the ring and online abuse from around the world over misconceptions about her womanhood.
Khelif beat Yang Liu of China 5:0 in the final of the women’s welterweight division, wrapping up the best series of fights of her boxing career with a victory at Roland Garros, where crowds chanted her name, waved Algerian flags and roared every time she landed a punch.
After her unanimous win, Khelif jumped into her coaches’ arms, one of them putting her on his shoulders and carrying her around the arena in a victory lap as she pumped her fists and grabbed an Algerian flag from someone in the crowd.
“For eight years, this has been my dream, and I’m now the Olympic champion and gold medalist,” Khelif said through an interpreter. Asked about the scrutiny, she told reporters: “That also gives my success a special taste because of those attacks.”
“We are in the Olympics to perform as athletes, and I hope that we will not see any similar attacks in future Olympics,” she said.
Fans have embraced Khelif in Paris even as she faced an extraordinary amount of scrutiny from world leaders, major celebrities and others who have questioned her eligibility or falsely claimed she was a man. It has thrust her into a larger divide over changing attitudes toward gender identity and regulations in sports.
It stems from the Russian-dominated International Boxing Association’s decision to disqualify Khelif and fellow two-time Olympian Li Yu-ting of Taiwan from last year’s world championships, claiming both failed a murky eligibility test for women’s competition.
The International Olympic Committee took the unprecedented step last year of permanently banning the IBA from the Olympics following years of concerns about its governance, competitive fairness and financial transparency. The IOC has called the arbitrary sex tests that the sport’s governing body imposed on the two boxers irretrievably flawed.
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Skateboarder Nyjah Huston’s bronze medal looks more black and ‘like it went to war and back’
U.S. skateboarder Nyjah Huston won his first Olympics medal last week in Paris.
Or at least it was.
Now it is bronze and black. And also kind of chipped.
The Laguna Beach-based athlete posted a video Thursday on his Instagram Stories in which he showed the medal he won in the street skateboarding competition a lot worse after only 10 days in his possession.
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U.S. men continue tradition of struggling with handoffs during 4x100-meter relay
Shortly after the U.S. women celebrated rallying to win gold in 4x100-meter relay, the American men extended an unfortunate tradition.
The U.S. botched two handoffs during the relay, adding to its long history of handoff mishaps. The team of Christian Coleman, Kenny Bednarek, Kyree King and Fred Kerley crossed the finish line in seventh place but was disqualified due to the mishaps.
Coleman crashed into Bednarek on the first handoff, with Bednarek appearing to leave his spot too soon before slowing down and set up the collision. On the final leg, Kerley was slow and gave up ground the sprinters had gained before the first and last exchange.
Canada won gold in 37.50. South Africa took silver (37.57), while Britain took bronze (37.61).
The Americans have not won an Olympic 4x100-meter relay medal since 2004 despite success in various sprint races.
Fastest man alive Noah Lyles was expected to run the third leg, but he withdrew after getting COVID.
NBC reported Carl Lewis, a frequent critic of the Americans’ poor performance in the 4x100-meter relay, was furious about the United States’ difficulty executing fundamentals during the relay. NBC reported Lewis said it was a mistake to reshuffle the order of the relay team once Lyles dropped out rather than just replacing him at his intended spot in the relay, calling for changes to the track and field system.
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Sha’Carri Richardson rallies U.S. in 4x100 relay to win her first Olympic gold medal
SAINT-DENIS, France — Sha’Carri Richardson won her first Olympic gold medal Friday night, bringing the Americans from behind in the anchor lap to capture the 4x100 relay.
Richardson, the 100-meter silver medalist, overcame runners from Britain and Germany, to help the U.S. finish in 41.78 seconds, good for a .07-second win over Britain, which struggled with two baton changes in the rain.
Gabby Thomas ran the third leg and got her second gold of the Games, this one going with the 200-meter title. Twanisha Terry and 100 bronze medalist Melissa Jefferson rounded out the team. The exchange between Terry and Thomas that nearly wrecked the Americans in qualifying was better this time.
Still, when Thomas handed off to Richardson, the U.S. was in third.
Richardson had to reel in Daryll Neita (Britain) and Rebekka Haase (Germany), and when she did, she flashed a look to her right — and backward — that said ″you’re not catching me.”
She sprinted eight more steps down the track, and on her ninth, lifted her left leg high and stomped it on the other side of the finish line, then let out a scream.
It marked a sweet close to the Olympics for Richardson, who came into the Olympics as a favorite but surprisingly fell to Julien Alfred of St. Lucia.
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Ex-USC star Anna Cockrell overcomes mental hurdles to take silver in, yes, Olympic hurdles
Sometimes a silver medal is but a silver lining, a small consolation for an Olympic athlete who failed to achieve their goal of gold or bust.
Other times, though, silver can be proof of internal precious metal, a just reward for an unflinching athlete not expected to ascend the podium because their journey was pocked by ceaseless obstacles.
We’d say hurdles, but Anna Cockrell cleared those just fine.
The former USC standout student (first) and hurdler (second) finished a surprising second Thursday in the women’s 400-meter hurdles at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Saint-Denis, France, trailing only U.S. teammate and favorite Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, who set the world record en route to gold.
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Breanna Stewart leads U.S. women’s basketball past Australia and into gold-medal game
PARIS — Breanna Stewart scored 16 points and the U.S. women advanced to their eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal game with a 85-64 victory over Australia on Friday.
The Americans, who extended their Olympic winning streak to 60 consecutive games, will face either France or Belgium on Sunday. The U.S. is trying to become the first team to win eight consecutive gold medals, breaking the tie with the American men’s program that won seven in a row from 1936-68.
A win Sunday would give Diana Taurasi a record six gold medals. A game after not starting for the first time since the 2004 Olympics, the Americans’ most decorated Olympic basketball player didn’t enter the game until 2:08 remained in the third quarter with the U.S. up 63-40.
The USA men’s basketball team rallied from an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit to knock off Serbia and earn a spot in the Olympic gold-medal game.
The U.S. jumped out to an early lead on Australia, but only led 20-16 after the first quarter. The Americans put the game away in the second quarter, starting the period with a 12-0 run. The U.S. led 45-27 at the half.
Things didn’t get any better for the Australians in the second half as they never challenged the Americans.
Jackie Young added 14 points, Kahleah Copper 11 and A’ja WIlson 10 for the Americans.
Isobel Borlase led Australia with 11, and Tess Madgen and Ezi Magbegor each had 10.
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U.S. men win volleyball bronze, defeating Italy in straight sets
PARIS — Four-time U.S. Olympians Matt Anderson and David Smith are medalists once more.
They came back for this chance.
The Americans are taking home men’s volleyball hardware from the Paris Olympics, outlasting Italy in a wild, back-and-forth battle for bronze on Friday.
It went 25-23, 30-28 — a sensational second set in which each country had multiple chances — and 26-24 at a rocking South Paris Arena.
Once TJ DeFalco’s clincher point was scored, longtime libero Erik Shoji’s arms shot into the air in triumph as others fell to their knees. Then after shaking hands with Italy, they all took turns giving long hugs to the coaches and support staff.
No doubt, No. 4 Italy vs. the fifth-ranked U.S. made for quite a matchup.
Facing a match point, Italy tied it up at 24 in the third in a long rally in which both teams made great plays to keep it going. Then, after a service error by Italy, the Americans closed it out on their next chance.
Both teams were vying for their first medal in eight years, since the Rio de Janeiro Olympics where the Americans also took home bronze and Italy lost to Brazil in the championship.
The Americans won gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and then finished fifth in London before the bronze in Rio.
Anderson and Smith led an experienced group on the Olympic stage.
And might Anderson consider making another run at the Olympics in Los Angeles four years from now at age 41?
“We’ll see,” he said this week, “we’ll see.”
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Serbia beats United States in men’s water polo semifinals
NANTERRE, France — Nikola Dedovic scored four times and Serbia beat the U.S. 10-6 on Friday in the semifinals of the men’s water polo tournament at the Paris Olympics, ending the Americans’ surprising run.
Serbia is trying to become the third men’s team to win three consecutive Olympic gold medals. Just like in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo, it has moved to another level after a shaky start in group play.
Dusan Mandic was shut out by the U.S. after he entered with a tournament-best 25 goals. But Serbia captain Nikola Jaksic scored three times, and Radoslav Filipovic made 10 saves.
Serbia advanced to the semis with a 12-11 victory over Greece on Wednesday on Jaksic’s perfect skip shot from deep with 3 seconds left.
Next up is the winner of the second semifinal between Hungary and Croatia. The gold-medal match is on Sunday at Paris La Defense Arena.
It was the first semifinal appearance for the United States since it won silver in 2008. It had won three straight games, including a dramatic 12-11 victory over Australia in a penalty shootout on Wednesday.
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Meet Quincy Wilson, the 16-year-old making his Olympic debut for Team USA track
SAINT-DENIS, France — It was about a month ago that Quincy Wilson qualified for the 2024 Summer Games, the skinny teenager holding his own against grown men in 400 meters at the U.S. Olympic track trials.
“I’m just running for my life,” he said. “At 16 years old, I’m like ecstatic right now.”
On Friday, he became an Olympian, joining the American squad for a preliminary round of the 4x400-meter relay.
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For Olympic newbie sports like breaking, there’s a lot more at stake than medals
PARIS — When the battles begin, when the time comes to throw down, look for Victor Montalvo to bring his classic moves.
That free-flowing style. His smooth transitions from top rock to spins.
With the sport of breaking — don’t call it breakdancing — set to debut at the 2024 Summer Games this week, the Los Angeles B-boy hopes to win gold while also scoring points in the court of public opinion.
“I feel like it’s going to bring breaking to a different audience,” he says of the Olympics. “Like, a broader audience.”
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Kristóf Rasovszky of Hungary wins final swimming event in the Seine
PARIS — There were plenty of concerns about swimming in the long-polluted Seine River.
When the final gold medal was handed out Friday, everyone seemed thrilled to have taken a nearly two-hour dip in the the iconic waterway.
Kristóf Rasovszky of Hungary wrapped up Olympic events in the Seine by winning the men’s 10-kilometer marathon race, a triumph for organizers who undertook a massive project to clean up a river where swimming had been banned for nearly a decade because of toxic water.
“The only reason I wanted to do open water was because I wanted a photo next to the Eiffel Tower,” quipped Irish star Daniel Wiffen, who competed in an open water event for the first time in his career.
Rasovszky set the pace most of the race and held off Germany’s Oliver Klemet in an all-out sprint to the finish. The winner touched in 1 hour, 50 minutes, 52.7 seconds, with Klemet 2.1 seconds behind.
Rasovszky settled for silver in this event at the Tokyo Games. Now, he’s got a gold, which is sure to set up a raucous celebration when he returns to Hungary.
“I don’t think I’m ready for it,” he said, beaming. “But let it come.”
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Rapper Travis Scott arrested while in Paris to watch the Olympics
PARIS — Rapper Travis Scott was arrested at a Paris hotel after an altercation with a security guard, French prosecutors said Friday.
The arrest occurred after police were called to the Georges V hotel early Friday to arrest a man “nicknamed Travis Scott for violence against a security guard,” according to a statement from the Paris public prosecutor’s office.
The hotel security guard had intervened in an altercation between the rapper and his own bodyguard, the statement said. Police are still investigating.
A representative of the rapper said they were “in direct communication with the local Parisian authorities to swiftly resolve this matter and will provide updates when appropriate.” They spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing.
The rapper was in Paris for the Olympics. He watched the U.S. rally over Serbia in the men’s basketball semifinal on Thursday night.
Scott, one of the biggest names in hip hop whose birth name is Jacques Webster, has more than 100 songs that made the Billboard Hot 100 and released four singles that topped the chart: “Sicko Mode,” “Highest in the Room,” “The Scotts,” and “Franchise.”
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Tara Davis-Woodhall and fellow track stars celebrate big medal haul
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone set another world record. Grant Holloway won that elusive Olympic gold medal. Jasmine Moore made some American jumping history. And Tara Davis-Woodhall got to wear that cowboy hat.
It was medal-mania at the Stade de France for the red, white and blue on Thursday, with the country taking home three gold, three silver and two bronze.
On a night when Noah Lyles revealed he tested positive for COVID-19 — and still captured bronze in the 200 — nearly every other American contender was celebrating medals. So much so, that they were running into each other during their victory laps.
Maybe the best scene came when McLaughlin-Levrone, wearing a tiara, met up with the cowboy-hat donning Davis-Woodhall, who had won the long jump competition.
“I was like, ‘You did it.’ And she was like, ‘YOU did it,’” Davis-Woodhall recounted. “And I was like, ‘Oh my god, I did it’. ... Is this real? Am I dreaming?”
That was a common theme on the evening. Moore, who finished third in the long jump, was the first American woman to qualify for the same Olympics in both the long jump and triple jump. Now, she’s the first American woman to win bronze in both.
“I don’t think I pictured this for myself, and it’s way better than I could have imagined,” Moore said. “It makes you want to work even harder because you know what it feels like (winning a medal).”
Holloway knows the feeling. He’s been so dominant in the 110-meter hurdles, winning three straight world titles. But Olympic gold has eluded him — until Thursday. He and Daniel Roberts finished 1-2.
“Today, it was just my day,” said Holloway, who earned silver at the Tokyo Games. “I have the Olympic title, I have the world titles, indoor titles. We just put a lot of whipped cream on it and now we are just going to keep rolling, rolling, rolling until that very last race and put the cherry on it.”
McLaughlin-Levrone had company on the podium in silver-medalist Anna Cockrell, a USC alum.
The night was reason to belt out a tune.
“I was singing ‘Love On Top’ in the call room, so shout out to Beyoncé,” Cockrell said. “I’m really happy. I’m ugly crying, but I’m really happy.”
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US women’s water polo loses to Australia in Olympic semis, ending attempt for a 4th straight title
NANTERRE, France (AP) — The U.S. women’s water polo team was eliminated by Australia in the semifinals of the Paris Olympics on Thursday night, ending its run for a fourth consecutive gold medal.
Australia went 6 for 6 in a penalty shootout and goalkeeper Gabi Palm denied Maddie Musselman on the last attempt of the tiebreaker, sending the Aussies into the final. It was Australia’s third win of the Paris Games via penalty shootout.
Next up for Australia is Spain, which advanced with a 19-18 victory over the Netherlands in a penalty shootout. The gold-medal match is on Saturday at Paris La Defense Arena.
The U.S. blew a 5-2 halftime lead in its second loss of the Paris Games and third loss at the Olympics overall since it dropped the 2008 final against the Netherlands. It went 5-0-1 in London, 6-0 in Rio de Janeiro and 6-1 in Tokyo.
No team — men’s or women’s — has won four straight water polo titles at the Olympics.
Spain was led by Judith Forca, who scored five times in regulation and made her attempt in the penalty shootout. Bea Ortiz, Elena Ruiz, Paula Crespi and Maica García Godoy also converted as Spain went 5 for 5 in the tiebreaker.
Goalkeeper Martina Terre stopped Brigitte Sleeking’s penalty shot before García Godoy closed out the win.
The victories for Spain and Australia were the first two times that a women’s semifinal was decided by penalty shots at the Olympics.
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Noah Lyles comes up short in Olympic men’s 200 meters while battling COVID
SAINT-DENIS, France — Minutes after Noah Lyles collapsed on the track, medical personnel wheeled him down a long hallway, deep beneath the stands at Stade de France.
Someone asked if he wanted to call his mother. Lyles shook his head.
“I just needed some time,” he said. “So they wheeled me off the track.”
The world’s fastest man, it seemed, had been slowed by COVID.
Days after winning gold in a thrilling, historic 100 meters, a weakened Lyles struggled to finish third in his specialty, the 200, at the 2024 Summer Olympics. Letsile Tebogo of Botswana won his country’s first-ever gold medal with a time of 19.46 and Kenny Bednarek of the U.S. was second.
The 21-year-old Tebogo, a rising star in track, slapped his chest as he crossed the finish line.
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Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone sets world record, repeats as Olympic 400-meter hurdle champion
SAINT-DENIS, France — Performing on the world’s biggest stages over the last few years, the dueling stars from the U.S. and the Netherlands met once again in the finals of the women’s 400-meter hurdles at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
This time, there wasn’t much suspense in it.
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone improved on her own world record and finished well ahead of the pack for gold on Thursday night. U.S. teammate Anna Cockrell won silver and Femke Bol of the Netherlands took the bronze.
With a time of 50.37 seconds, the winner all but acknowledged running in a class of her own.
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Grant Holloway wins 110-meter final for long-awaited Olympic gold
Grant Holloway’s long wait to reach the top of the Olympic podium is over.
The American hurdler cruised to victory in the men’s 110-meter final. The three-time world champion and silver medalist in Tokyo three years ago exploded out of the blocks to win going away.
Holloway finished at 12.99 seconds, well clear of teammate Daniel Roberts in second at 13.09. Roberts out-leaned Rasheed Broadbell of Jamaica, who finished with bronze.
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Fans elated as France edges Germany to advance to men’s basketball gold-medal game
PARIS — Guerschon Yabusele scored 17 points and France beat Germany 73-69 in front of a raucous crowd to advance to the men’s Olympic basketball gold medal game.
Isaia Cordinier added 16 points and Victor Wembanyama finished with 11 points and seven rebounds to help France – which won the silver medal in Toyko three years ago --- reach its second straight Olympic final.
The victory sent the crowd into a frenzy as France celebrated. After a postgame handshake with their German opponents, the entire team ran to the baseline and saluted the crowd — which seemed to get louder to acknowledge the tribute.
The Paris Games host nation will play the winner of Serbia and the U.S. on Saturday.
Dennis Schroder led Germany with 18 points. Franz Wagner added 10 points and eight rebounds.
This ends the incredible run the Germans have been on over the last two years. Dating back to winning last year’s World Cup they had won 12 consecutive games in major international competition.
With French and German basketball icons Tony Parker and Dirk Nowitzki sitting side-by-side at courtside, France outscored Germany 38-25 in the second and third quarters to take a 56-50 advantage into the fourth.
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Defending champion U.S. women’s volleyball team beats Brazil in semifinal thriller
PARIS — Karch Kiraly made one request when the decisive fifth set began: Win or lose, make sure to enjoy the moment.
The coach asked the American women to take in the atmosphere, one of the best for women’s volleyball, with mighty Brazil on the opposite side of the net.
Now, Kiraly’s U.S. women’s volleyball team will get another shot under the bright Olympic lights — a shot to repeat as gold medalists. And it took every extra hustle play by every American on the floor against the experienced Brazilians.
“It’s kind of sad that either team has to lose a match like that,” Kiraly said, “because both programs are legendary in terms of consistently high level of play in good tournaments like the Olympics and world championships.”
As Brazil’s fans waved flags, chanted and sang from every corner of South Paris Arena, the U.S. women edged their fellow world powerhouse in a five-set thriller on Thursday, a compelling rematch of their Tokyo final won in straight sets by the U.S.
That was the Americans’ first Olympic title, and now they can make it two in a row.
Brazil got within 12-10 in the fifth before the U.S. held on for the victory, 25-23, 18-25, 25-15, 23-25, 15-11.
When Kathryn Plummer’s winning spike for her match-high 26th point closed it out, the Americans huddled together in a huge group hug and bounced on the court in celebration.
They will play in Sunday’s Olympic final while Brazil will go for bronze Saturday against the loser of the late match between top-ranked Italy and No. 3 Turkey.
The Brazilians haven’t won gold since the London Games 12 years ago.
Brazil led 5-3 and was 10 points from taking the first-to-15 fifth when the Americans rallied to tie it at 6-all and momentarily went ahead on Jordan Thompson’s spike.
“We just told ourselves to let it rip, have confidence, be fearless, it’s a quick game to 15,” Plummer said. “That’s what you have to do, you don’t really have time to fix things or make adjustments very quickly, so it was just play the game you know how to play and go rip it.”
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Jordan Chiles rejoining UCLA after medaling twice at Paris Olympics
A lot has changed for Jordan Chiles this summer.
The gymnast won her first Olympic gold medal, helping the U.S. win. the team competition at the Paris Games last week.
She also claimed her first individual Olympic medal, bringing home the bronze Monday in the floor competition.
But, Chiles confirmed Thursday, she is still a Bruin.
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At 16, Quincy Wilson set to make U.S. Olympic history
SAINT-DENIS, France — Quincy Wilson is in line to race for the Americans in the men’s 4x400 meter relay on Friday, which would make the 16-year-old the youngest man to compete for the U.S. track team.
Wilson posted on his Instagram page a picture of himself with the reminder to “tune in at 5:05 a.m. Friday morning” (on the U.S. East Coast) for the men’s relay.
At the Olympic trials earlier this summer, Wilson broke the under-18 world record twice with times of 44.66 and 44.59 that put him in the final of the 400 meters. He finished sixth there and was later chosen as part of the U.S. relay pool for the Olympics.
“I’m 16 years old running grown-man times,” the Maryland native said at trials.
According to Olympic historian Bill Mallon, the youngest U.S. man in Olympic track was Arthur Newton, who ran the steeplechase in 1904 at age 17. Jim Ryun was 17 when he qualified for his first Olympics in 1964, and Erriyon Knighton was 17 when he made it to Tokyo three years ago.
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China moves closer to unprecedented golden sweep in diving
SAINT-DENIS, France — China won its sixth gold medal in diving on Thursday at the Paris Olympics as it stays on track for an unprecedented sweep of all eight at the Games.
China has dominated diving for decades but never has taken all eight golds.
Xie Siyi took the gold on the three-meter springboard and teammate Wang Zongyuan won silver, repeating their finish in the event three years ago in Tokyo. Osmar Olvera of Mexico took bronze.
Xie scored 543.60 points in six dives, Wang had 530.20 and OIvera finished with 500.40. American Carson Tyler was fourth with 429.25.
Including Thursday’s results, China has won 53 of 70 gold medals in diving since the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, where it won its first. If you count from the 2008 Beijing Olympics, it’s won 33 of 38 gold medals in the discipline.
Diving wraps up with the women’s three-meter springboard on Friday and the men’s 10-meter platform on Saturday.
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As breaking debuts at Olympics, meet the New York DJ behind the Paris party
PARIS — All eyes are on the round boxing ring, where dancers trade air flares instead of jabs under a bright spotlight. But the most influential person in the room stands in the shadows behind a turntable.
It’s where Stephen Fleg does his work.
More than neutral referees but less than a dancer at center stage, DJs like him are the backbone of breaking competitions. The New York-based DJ, producer and B-boy is one of two DJs who will be at the controls of breaking’s Olympic debut at Place de la Concorde. DJ Fleg will split duties with Poland’s DJ Plash for the women’s competition Friday and the men’s event Saturday.
In an art form redefining Olympic sport, it’s no surprise that breaking is built on a unique relationship that doesn’t exist in other events.
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Allyson Felix wins athlete election at Paris Olympics to join IOC as a member
PARIS — Seven-time Olympic gold medalist Allyson Felix won an election Thursday to represent athletes at the IOC for the next eight years.
Felix, the retired United States sprinting great, got the most votes — 2,880 of the 6,576 ballots cast by athletes at the Paris Olympics — of four athletes elected by their peers, the International Olympic Committee said.
The other winners from a slate of 32 candidates were Germany gymnast Kim Bui, Australia canoeist Jessica Fox — who is a double gold medalist in Paris — and New Zealand tennis player Marcus Daniell.
One of the four athlete IOC members they will replace, who all were elected at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, is Yelena Isinbayeva, the Russian holder of the world record in women’s pole vault.
The IOC has a maximum of 115 members, which include members of royal families in Europe and Asia, a head of state — the Emir of Qatar — former heads of government, sports officials, former Olympic athletes and an Oscar-winning actor, Michelle Yeoh.
Member duties at annual IOC meetings include approving recommended candidates as future Olympic hosts.
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Speed climber Sam Watson secures bronze with another world record time
LE BOURGET, France — Sam Watson leaves the Paris Games with another world record but without the Olympic gold medal.
The American broke the sport climbing speed world record on Thursday for the second time at the 2024 Paris Olympics, but the feat came in the fight for the bronze after he was eliminated in the semifinals.
The 18-year-old Watson, the heavy favorite for the gold, lost to Wu Peng of China in the semifinals before setting the record time of 4.74 seconds in the third-place heat.
Watson first broke the record with a time of 4.75 in an elimination heat two days ago. He had held the previous world record of 4.79 since April.
Leonardo Veddriq of Indonesia won the gold with a time of 4.75 in the final. Peng ended with 4.77.
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China calls for more intensive testing of U.S. track and field athletes
BEIJING — China is trying to fight fire with fire in the face of persistent doping allegations that have dogged its swimmers at the Paris Olympics.
The China Anti-Doping Agency called Thursday for more intensive testing of American track and field competitors, citing in a news release past doping scandals and questioning how the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency handled them.
Repeated blasts from the Chinese agency have been echoed by reports in the government-controlled state media complaining about double standards applied to Chinese competitors. The reports have highlighted the more than 600 tests undergone by Chinese swimmers at the Paris Games with no violations found.
Dismissed positive drug tests for Chinese swimmers and the IOC’s push to stop a potential FBI investigation into the matter has angered many U.S. swimmers.
The World Anti-Doping Agency and World Aquatics have acknowledged that 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for a banned substance ahead of the Tokyo Olympics. The results were not made public until revealed by media reports earlier this year, with both bodies accepting the Chinese explanation that the positive tests were caused by tainted food.
After the details emerged, the U.S. launched an investigation under a law passed in 2020 giving federal authorities power to investigate sports doping and cover-ups.
China’s anti-doping agency and its state media have zeroed in on an American sprinter, Erriyon Knighton, who was competing Thursday in the 200-meter finals. Knighton tested positive for a banned substance in March but the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said an arbitration panel determined it came from contaminated meat, allowing him to compete.
The Chinese agency issued a release Tuesday accusing the U.S. agency of double standards. It followed up Thursday with the release calling for more testing of U.S. track and field competitors.
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Raven Saunders qualifies for shot put final in Paris
SAINT-DENIS, France — Who was that masked person?
It was Raven Saunders, of course — the theatrical American shot put standout who uses the pronouns they and them and brings their own distinctive style to every meet they attend.
Saunders qualified for the Olympic final Thursday, wearing a full-faced black mask and gold-hued sunglasses. Their hair was dyed neon green on one side and purple on the other. Saunders had gold grills covering their upper and lower teeth, along with long fingernails on their left hand that were bedazzled and in Team USA colors and the letters H-U-L-K.
This is Saunders’ alter ego once the shot put starts flying. Turning into “The Hulk” helps them feel like a superhero getting ready to hurl that 8.8-pound hunk of metal.
“I’m in full form,” Saunders said of their costume. “I had to remind the people, I am who I am.”
And that’s a threat to add another medal to the silver they took in Tokyo. And a mental-health advocate. And a role model. And a reminder to the world that the Olympics are a bridge that can reach well beyond sports.
“It is one way to make me stand out and encourage other women,” Saunders said of their shot-put persona. “A lot of younger athletes are coming through and they really push their own styles.”
After scratching on their first throw, they recorded 17.93 meters on their second and 18.62 on their final to ensure their spot in the final. As usual, it will be as interesting to see what Saunders wears as how far they throw.
“I have something even better,” they said of what’s in store.
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Sharon van Rouwendaal takes gold in 10-kilometer open water swimming
PARIS — Casting aside concerns about the safety of swimming in the Seine River, Sharon van Rouwendaal of the Netherlands used a late pass to win the women’s 10-kilometer open water swimming at the Paris Olympics on Thursday.
After Moesha Johnson of Australia led most of the way, Van Rouwendaal cut into the strong current of the Seine as the lead pack came around the final bridge support. Johnson stayed closer to shore, allowing the 30-year-old Dutch swimmer to claim the gold.
Van Rouwendaal reached up to slap the finishing pad in 2 hours, 3:34 seconds, while Johnson settled for silver in 2:03:39.7. The bronze went to Ginevra Taddeucci of Italy, the only other swimmer who had a shot at the end, in 2:03:42.8.
With a picturesque backdrop that no other city can provide — the Eiffel Tower looming over the course, the gold-domed Invalides a couple of blocks away, the statue-lined Pont Alexander III overlooking the starting buoy and finishing chute — Van Rouwendaal added to her legacy as perhaps the greatest female open water swimmer in history.
She won gold at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games and a silver in Tokyo three years ago.
Despite massive, expensive efforts to clean up a river where swimming has been largely banned for more than a century, there were still doubts just 48 hours earlier that the event would go off as planned because of illness-causing bacteria lingering in the Seine.
Triathlon events had already been held in the river, though the schedule was upended by fluctuating bacteria levels in the water.
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WNBA synergy shines during U.S. Olympic basketball team’s 59th straight win
Flag football has yet to make its Olympic debut, but the United States showed it has plenty of quarterback options for 2028 on its women’s basketball team.
Chemistry between WNBA teammates shined as Kelsey Plum launched a three-quarters court pass to A’ja Wilson and Chelsea Gray equaled the feat with a pass to Jackie Young that had the Bercy Arena announcer shouting “touchdown” during the United States’ 88-74 victory over Nigeria in the basketball quarterfinals on Wednesday.
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U.S. exits beach volleyball at Paris Olympics without a medal after men’s quarterfinal loss
PARIS — Miles Partain and Andy Benesh could not stop the slide and the United States is leaving beach volleyball at the Paris Olympics without a medal.
Their 21-14, 21-16 defeat to Qatar’s Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan on Wednesday made it the first American medal shutout since the sport joined the Summer Games in Atlanta in 1996. They carried American hopes with both the women’s teams and the other men’s team out of the tournament.
They led 12-11 in the first set but some sloppy shot-making allowed the Qataris to pull away with the Eiffel Tower glowing next to them. Younousse and Tijan drew roars from the nighttime crowd with some of their improvised moves.
The Qatar pair have a chance to do better than in Tokyo three years ago, when their bronze was the first Olympic medal in beach volleyball for any Middle Eastern country.
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These U.S. figure skaters won gold in 2022. They finally got medals 2½ years later in Paris
Worth the wait? Absolutely affirmative for the nine U.S. athletes who received gold medals Wednesday at the Paris Olympics, 2½ years after their figure skating team event ended at the Beijing Olympics.
The five men and four women attended a special medal ceremony in front of 13,000 jubilant fans at Champions Park in Paris. The scene was a joyful departure from what would have been a medal ceremony in front of a handful of onlookers in an indoor Chinese arena during the 2022 Winter Games dampened by COVID-19 protocols.
“That was everything,” said U.S. figure skater Alexa Knierim, whose fingernails were painted gold. “It was liberating, it was exciting, it was invigorating, it was loud.”
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Hampton Morris is first American men’s weightlifter to medal since 1984
Hampton Morris does not have a driver’s license. He does have an Olympic bronze medal.
The 20-year-old who trains in his garage at home in Marietta, Georgia, on Wednesday became the first U.S. men’s weightlifter to take home a medal of any color at the Games in four decades. Narrowly missing out on a world record that would have gotten him silver, Morris followed Mario Martinez and Guy Carlton from Los Angeles in 1984 as the most recent American men to medal at the Olympics.
“It’s amazing that I’m able to leave that kind of mark in the sport,” Morris said after finishing third in the men’s 61-kilogram division. “I’m just in disbelief.”
Li Fabin of China defended his Olympic weightlifting title after going in as the overwhelming favorite to repeat. The 31-year-old set a Games snatch record by lifting 143 kilograms (315 pounds) on his third and final attempt, paving the way for gold when he got to 167 kilograms (368 pounds) in the clean and jerk for a score of 310.
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Lin Yu-ting advances to gold-medal bout, winning amid gender misconceptions backlash
PARIS — Boxer Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan has advanced to the gold-medal bout in the women’s featherweight division, winning her third consecutive bout while dealing with widespread scrutiny regarding misconceptions about her gender at the Paris Olympics.
One day after welterweight Imane Khelif of Algeria reached her weight division’s final with a third straight victory in Paris, Lin defeated Esra Yildiz Kahraman of Turkey 5:0 on Wednesday night. Lin will fight for gold on Saturday.
Lin and Khelif have dominated all of their Olympic bouts despite the massive distractions created by the fallout from the Olympic-banished International Boxing Association’s decision last year to disqualify both fighters from the world championships for allegedly failing an eligibility test.
Both fighters have responded to this unwelcome spotlight by making two of the best tournament runs of their lengthy amateur careers. Just like Khelif, Lin has never been a dominant champion in her sport, but that hasn’t stopped many observers from casting both as unstoppable boxing machines during the Olympics because the IBA disqualified them last year.
In fact, the 28-year-old Lin is a veteran amateur boxer who won world championships in 2018 and 2022 during a solid decade at the top level of the sport. She is usually taller and more slender than her opponents, winning her bouts through solid technique and savvy use of her reach rather than power.
That’s exactly how she beat Kahraman, who attempted to force a more physical fight while Lin patiently picked her apart mostly from distance for three rounds.
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American Quincy Hall rallies to win gold in the men’s 400-meter final
American Quincy Hall pulled off a dramatic rally, surging from fourth place to win the 400-meter gold medal on Wednesday while favored U.S. teammate Michael Norman struggled.
Hall crossed the finish line with a time of 43.40 ahead of Great Britain’s Matthew Hudson Smith (43.44) and Zambia’s Muzala Samukonga (43.74).
Norman clocked a surprising time of 45.62 and crossed the finish line in eighth place.
Hall is the first American since LaShawn Merritt in 2008 to capture gold in the one-lap race. His victory came an evening after American Cole Hocker came from far behind late to beat the favorites in the men’s 1500.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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American Freddie Crittenden uses track’s new repechage rule to earn place in hurdles final
SAINT-DENIS, France — Taking the easy road has never been the way for American hurdler Freddie Crittenden, and he certainly didn’t change at the Olympics.
Crittenden advanced to the final of the 110-meter hurdles Wednesday, three days after he intentionally exploited a new “repechage” rule in track that gives runners and hurdlers a second chance if they don’t advance through the first round.
Nursing an adductor injury heading into Paris, he jogged through the 10 hurdles in his opening round, essentially giving himself an extra day to nurse the injury.
It worked. He’s feeling better — he’s wearing a lot of tape on his right leg — and ready to race even if he’s a little tired.
“This unfolded beautifully,” said Crittenden, who finished second in his semifinal heat to advance after winning his repechage heat Tuesday. “This isn’t really a new thing for me. My coach and I always, always, always, always say, ‘If we’re not feeling it, let’s Plan B it. Take it easy, figure it out, live to fight another day.’”
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U.S. earns redemption, wins first medal in artistic swimming in 20 years
SAINT-DENIS, France — The United States won a medal in artistic swimming for the first time in 20 years, completing a transformation four years ahead of schedule.
The Americans relocated to Los Angeles for training with an eye on reaching the podium during the 2028 Olympics, but the team surprised by earning a silver medal in team acrobatic artistic swimming Wednesday at the Paris Olympics.
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Noah Lyles makes Olympic 200-meter final despite finishing second in semifinal qualifying race
SAINT-DENIS, France — Noah Lyles will race for his second Olympic gold medal despite finishing second Wednesday in the 200-meter semifinal, his first loss at that distance in three years.
Letsile Tebogo of Botswana finished the heat in 19.96 seconds, beating Lyles by .12 and marking the first time the American has lost a 200 of any kind since he finished third at the Tokyo Games.
It opened up a 24-hour period to debate and discuss the meaning of the second-place finish, which still earned Lyles an automatic qualifying spot in Thursday night’s final but could have him running the curve from a less-than-ideal lane.
Last weekend, Lyles notably lost both his opening heat and the semifinal round of the 100, before coming back to eke out a .005-second victor y over Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson in the final. That win came about 90 minutes after another Jamaican, Oblique Seville, beat him in the semifinal for that sprint.
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MyKayla Skinner to Simone Biles: ‘Please ask your followers to stop’ with death threats
MyKayla Skinner is asking for Simone Biles’ help.
Skinner, a former U.S. gymnast who won a silver medal in vault at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, says she and her loved ones have been subject to cyberbullying and death threats after an Instagram post by Biles last week appeared to reference recent comments by Skinner that were critical of some current members of the U.S. gymnastics team weeks.
Now Skinner is calling on her one-time teammate to put a stop to it all.
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Poland rallies to end U.S. dreams of men’s volleyball gold
PARIS — Poland will play for a gold medal in men’s volleyball, rallying from a 2-1 deficit to beat the United States in the deciding fifth set of the Paris Olympics’ semifinals on Wednesday.
Poland came back from 20-18 in the third and needed two set points to force it to a deciding fifth, sending the largely pro-Poland crowd at South Paris Arena into a frenzy, with chants of “Polska!” and horns blaring throughout the stadium.
Led by Cuba native outside hitter Wilfredo León in the attack, Poland jumped out to an early lead in the fifth and left the Americans trying to play catch up the rest of the way.
A service ace by Max Holt pulled the Americans within 11-10. León’s spike out of bounds made it 14-13 before his successful point moments later sent the team onto the floor in celebration of the comeback.
Four-time American Olympians Matt Anderson and David Smith were oh-so-close to finally playing for a gold medal. The Americans haven’t been to the Olympic championship since winning it all at the 2008 Beijing Games.
Despite this defeat, getting to the medal round is sweet redemption for a U.S. men’s team that failed to advance out of group stage play in Tokyo three years ago — and it’s a major reason several of the older players on the team returned for one last Olympic hurrah.
The veteran U.S. squad will play for bronze against the loser of the late match Wednesday between Italy and France, while Poland plays for the title Saturday against the winner.
U.S. coach John Speraw guided UCLA to an NCAA title last year and had hoped he could add an Olympic crown in the same calendar year.
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Romanians appeal gymnast’s score after inquiry drama in floor exercise final
PARIS — The Romanian Olympic Committee says it has appealed Sabrina Maneca-Voinea’s score from the floor exercise final at the Paris Games after a last-minute inquiry on behalf of American rival Jordan Chiles prompted heartbreak and rage from the former gymnastics powerhouse.
Maneca-Voinea and Romanian teammate Ana Barbosu were left outside the medals in Monday’s floor final after finishing with matching scores of 13.700. Barbosu thought she had won bronze over Maneca-Voinea via a tiebreaker — a higher execution score — and began celebrating with a Romanian flag.
Chiles was the last athlete to compete and initially was given a score that put her in fifth place, right behind Maneca-Voinea. Chiles’ coaches called for an inquiry on her score, and after a review, judges boosted Chiles’ total by 0.1. That was enough to leapfrog Barbosu and Maneca-Voinea for the last spot on the podium.
Simone Biles finishes second in floor exercise to Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade in what likely was the final event of her storied Olympic career. Jordan Chiles earned bronze.
Maneca-Voinea was given a 0.1 deduction for stepping out of bounds during her routine, but replays showed she narrowly kept her heel inbounds during the moment in question.
The Romanian Olympic Committee said its president, Mihai Covaliu, wrote a letter of protest to the International Gymnastics Federation asking it to reconsider Maneca-Voinea’s score, saying an initial challenge was rejected.
“The way in which the score was assessed and the refusal to present the full reasons/proofs for the rejection of the appeal submitted within the time limit set by the rules seriously harms the image of international gymnastics, but in particular affects the athlete, even jeopardizing their mental health,” Covaliu said.
The gymnastics federation did not immediately confirm whether Romania had indeed appealed and if it would hear that appeal. It’s unclear when the Romanians made the initial challenge.
Meanwhile, the Romanian Gymnastics Federation said it has submitted requests to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. It said one of them is linked to the inquiry submitted by Chiles’ coaches.
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This South Korean sharpshooter won a silver medal. Then Elon Musk helped her go viral
SEOUL — A day after Kim Ye-ji won a silver medal in the 10-meter air pistol event at the Paris Olympics, she learned that the internet had decided she was the coolest shooter on the planet.
Driving the sensation was a video of the 31-year-old South Korean casually setting a world record in May while wearing a black cap turned backward, sci-fi-esque shooting glasses and a pink elephant doll tied at her hip. The clip inspired fan art, video montages and a suggestion from Elon Musk on X that she should star in an action movie.
She was a heavy favorite for gold in the 25-meter event, but an error in the qualifying round — she failed to get her shot off in the required three-second window — cost her a trip to the finals.
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Australian field hockey player taken into custody for allegedly trying to buy cocaine
PARIS — A member of the Australian Olympic field hockey team was taken into custody in Paris after trying to buy cocaine, prosecutors said Wednesday.
The Paris prosecutor’s office said in a statement that police interrupted a drug transaction outside a building in the 9th arrondissement of Paris overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday. They said the investigation has been turned over to a police antidrug unit for investigation.
The alleged buyer was a 28-year-old member of the Australian field hockey team, prosecutors said. The 17-year-old alleged seller was also taken into custody.
The Australian Olympic Committee said in a statement that no charges had been filed and said it is continuing to make inquiries and arrange support for the team member.
Neither Australian officials nor Paris prosecutors released the name of the athlete.
Australia’s men’s and women’s teams were eliminated in the quarterfinals Sunday and Monday, respectively. The men won silver at the Tokyo Games in 2021.
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Aleksandra Miroslaw wins gold to cap record-setting speed climbing performance
LE BOURGET, France — Two world records, one Olympic gold medal.
Aleksandra Miroslaw capped her dominant performance at the Paris Games by winning the gold in women’s speed climbing on Wednesday.
It was her first Olympic medal after just missing out on the podium with a fourth-place finish in Tokyo three years ago.
The gold came two days after she twice broke the women’s world record, which now stands at 6.06 seconds.
She won the final in 6.10, beating the 6.18 time of silver medalist Deng Lijuan of China. Aleksandra Kalucka of Poland won the bronze.
Miroslaw was the 2023 bronze medalist at the world championships.
American Emma Hunt, the silver medalist at the worlds last year, failed to contend for a medal after slipping in her quarterfinal run.
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How Snoop Dogg became America’s sweetheart at the Paris Olympics
Making waves in a pool with Olympic swimming legend Michael Phelps. Rolling with LeBron James and the U.S. men’s basketball team. Trading dance moves with gymnast Simone Biles and her teammates. Throwing some side eye at the Mona Lisa inside the Louvre.
Snoop la la!!!
Biles and U.S. swmmer Katie Ledecky may have been crowned athletic GOATs at the Summer Games, but they‘re sharing the spotlight with the D-O-Double-G as Snoopmania sweeps through Paris.
Snoop Dogg, who began his career as one of the most prominent gangsta rappers of the West Coast hip-hop scene, has emerged as an MVP of NBC’s Olympics coverage this year, helping the network strike gold with record ratings. Since carrying the torch in the opening ceremony, the lanky, molasses-smooth artist has been an ubiquitous presence, balancing his role as a special correspondent for NBC with leading the cheers at numerous events, including fencing, judo and badminton.
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Israeli Olympic committee says its athletes have received threats
PARIS — Israel’s Olympic team said some of its athletes have received threats as they compete in Paris amid larger tensions over Palestinian deaths during the war in Gaza and the threat of a wider regional conflict in the Middle East.
Yael Arad, president of the Israeli National Olympic Committee, told the Associated Press that team members had received “centralized” threats meant to generate “psychological terror” in athletes, without giving further details.
Last week, Paris prosecutors opened an investigation into emailed death threats to Israeli athletes, and the national cybercrime agency is looking into the leak of some Israeli athletes’ personal data online, which has since been taken down. Prosecutors also launched an inquiry into inciting racial hated after Israeli athletes received ‘’discriminatory gestures” during an Israel-Paraguay match.
Tom Reuveny, a 24-year-old Israeli athlete who won a gold in wind surfing over the weekend, was among those who said he’s received threats. Politics “should be put aside” during the Games, he told the AP, speaking during a memorial Tuesday of the deadly attack that targeted the Israeli delegation at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Germany. The Sept. 5, 1972, assault by the Palestinian group Black September killed 11 Israelis and a police officer.
“I don’t think any politics should be involved in sport, especially in the Olympic Games,” Reuveny said. “Unfortunately, there is a lot of politics involved — not in the Games — of the people who don’t want us to compete and don’t want us to be here. I’ve gotten quite a few messages and threats.”
While Israel has called for the Olympics to remain a neutral space, the Palestinian delegation has used the Games as a way to generate conversation about the day-to-day struggles of those in Gaza. The Israel-Hamas war has claimed more than 39,000 Palestinian lives.
“The thing that really hurts me is that people are looking at Palestinians as just numbers now. The number of people that died. The number of people displaced,” Palestinian American Olympic swimmer Valerie Tarazi told the AP on Sunday.
“As athletes, we’re here just as everyone else. We want to compete. As people, we have lives. ... We want to live in our homes, just like everyone else in the world,” she added.
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NBA star Victor Wembanyama inspires euphoria among French fans during the Olympics
PARIS — Just by walking onto the court before tip-off, Victor Wembanyama gets the crowd roaring, bouncing up and down. The public address announcer sings his name like music.
Wem-ban-YAMA!
Just by taking a foul shot, he starts the fans screaming again.
“When they chant ‘MVP’ at the free-throw line,” he says, “the least I can do is make it.”
Basketball’s newest phenom and NBA rookie of the year, Wembanyama has risen to the level of pop icon at these 2024 Summer Olympics. Standing well over 7 feet tall, the prodigious 20-year-old is a generational talent who can dunk, block shots and shoot three-pointers.
Also, he’s a Parisian.
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Olympic triathlete who fell ill after swim in Seine River says a virus made her sick
PARIS — A Belgian triathlete who fell ill, causing her team to withdraw from a mixed relay event at the Paris Olympics, said blood tests showed it was a virus that made her sick.
Belgium’s Olympic committee announced Sunday that it would withdraw its team from Monday’s triathlon mixed relay because Claire Michel was unable to compete. Michel had competed a few days earlier in the women’s triathlon, which included a swim in the Seine River.
Bacteria levels in the long-polluted river have been in flux during the Games, causing test swims ahead of the triathlon events to be canceled and the men’s triathlon to be delayed by a day. Organizers had said that water quality tests done the day of the individual triathlon races showed “very good” levels of fecal bacteria E. coli and enterococci.
Some news outlets had reported that Michel had been sickened by E. coli and spent several days in the hospital. In an Instagram post Tuesday, she wrote that there had been “a lot of conflicting information in the media lately” and that she wanted to “clarify a few things.”
It was not E. coli that made her sick, she wrote, adding that she sought treatment at a clinic in the Olympic village on Sunday after several days of vomiting and diarrhea “left me quite empty.”