Monday, December 23, 2024
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Huske, Walsh take gold, silver for U.S. in women's 100m butterfly, plus more from Paris

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Big names closed out the first weekend at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Simone Biles, Sunisa Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey and Hezly Rivera made their Paris debuts on the U.S. gymnastics team in qualifications Sunday.

Team USA men’s basketball opened group play with a convincing 110-84 win over three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic and Serbia. It marked the first Olympic Game in Stephen Curry‘s career and the first for LeBron James since 2012.

The U.S. women’s soccer team’s quest for its record-extending fifth gold medal continues, with a 4-1 victory against Germany.

Here are some of the top moments from Sunday’s action:

Medals awarded on July 28:

Archery Women’s team Gold: South Korea Silver: China Bronze: Mexico

Canoe Slalom Women’s Kayak Gold: Jessica Fox (Australia) Silver: Klaudia Zwolińska (Poland) Bronze: Kimberly Woods (Great Britain)

Cycling Mountain Bike Women’s Cross-country Gold: Pauline Prevot Ferrand (France) Silver: Haley Batten (USA) Bronze: Jenny Rissveds (Sweden)

Skateboarding Women’s Street Gold: Coco Yoshizawa (Japan) Silver: Liz Akama (Japan) Bronze: Rayssa Leal (Brazil)

Shooting Men’s 10m Air Pistol Gold: Yu Xie (China) Silver: Federico Nilo Maldini (Italy) Bronze: Paolo Monna (Italy)

Shooting Women’s 10m Air Pistol Gold: Oh Ye Jin (South Korea) Silver: Kim Yeji (South Korea) Bronze: Manu Bhaker (India)

Judo Men’s 66kg Gold: Hifumi Abe (Japan) Silver: Willian Lima (Brazil) Bronze: Gusman Kyrgyzbayev (Kazakhstan)/Denis Vieru (Moldova)

Judo Women’s 52 kg Gold: Diyora Keldiyorova (Uzbekistan) Silver: Distria Krasniqi (Kosovo) Bronze: Larissa Pimenta (Brazil)/Amandine Buchard (France)

Swimming Men’s 400 Individual Medley Gold: Léon Marchand (France) Silver: Tomoyuki Matsushita (Japan) Bronze: Carson Foster (USA)

Swimming Men’s 100m Breaststroke Gold: Nicolo Martinenghi (Italy) Silver: Adam Peaty (Great Britain) Silver: Nic Fink (USA)

Fencing Men’s Épée Gold: Koki Kano (Japan) Silver: Yannick Borel (France) Bronze: Mohamed Elsayed (Egypt)

Fencing Women’s Foil Gold: Lauren Scruggs (USA) Silver: Lee Kiefer (USA) Bronze: Eleanor Harvey (Canada)

USNWNT advance to quarterfinals

Sophia Smith netted two goals, while Mallory Swanson and Lynn Williams added a goal apiece. The win gave the team six points in Group B play through two games and secured its Olympic quaterfinal spot.

Fink secures silver in 100m breaststroke

PARIS — Adam Peaty’s quest to become the first swimmer to claim three gold medals in the men’s 100m breaststroke was spoiled by 0.02 seconds in the final medal race of an exciting night in the pool at La Defense Arena on Sunday.

Nicolo Martinenghi of Italy ever-so-narrowly edged out Peaty of Great Britain and Nic Fink of the United States to earn the first gold medal of his career with a 59.03 finish and became the first Italian man to win the event since 2000. Immediately unclear who had touched the wall first, Peaty and Fink tied for the silver.

It marks the first Olympic medal for the 31-year-old Fink, who is the oldest member of the U.S. swim team and competing in his second Games. — D’Arcy Maine

USWNT strikes first against Germany

Huske and Walsh take gold and silver

PARIS — Torri Huske and Gretchen Walsh became the first Americans to win gold and silver in the women’s 100m butterfly since 1984 on Sunday with their dominant side-by-side performances at La Defense Arena in Paris.

The Americans were the fastest two in qualifying on Saturday — with Walsh’s semifinal time good enough for an Olympic record — and they continued their dominance in the final. Huske (55.59) became the first American woman to win the race since Dana Vollmer in 2012. It marked the second medal for both in as many days as both were part of the silver-medal-winning 4x100m freestyle team during the opening night of competition.

The U.S. had been kept off the podium in Tokyo for the event, and it was the first time two American women medaled in the race since 1996. The two embraced while still in the pool as they celebrated together.

Zhang Yufei of China earned the bronze.

Emma McKeon, already the most decorated Australian Olympian in history, had been looking for her 13th medal to become the second-most decorated swimmer in Olympic history but finished in sixth. — D’Arcy Maine

Andy Murray and Dan Evans pull off big comeback

PARIS — Before he retires at these Olympic Games, Andy Murray found time for one last dramatic comeback. It might even be his best yet.

“It’s up there,” he told reporters after a dramatic third-set match tiebreak that saw he and playing partner, Dan Evans, save a remarkable five match points before winning the next two and ensure Murray’s career continues for at least another match.

Sunday’s match against Japan’s Kei Nishikori and Taro Daniel on Court Suzanne-Lenglen started badly for the British pair. They lost four straight games on the way to losing the first set. They were losing the second set at one point too. Murray began to think his career was ending with a whimper.

“I was not feeling great and didn’t serve well and was just struggling a bit on the court. I was feeling like that,” he said.

That’s not the way it ended, though. Murray and Evans clawed their way to a second-set tiebreak, which they won 7-5, sending the match to a third-set match tie break. When they were 9-5 down in that, Evans thought they didn’t stand a chance. But Murray delivered an ace and then they somehow pulled it off.

“Never done it before, and I’ll never do that again,” Evans said. “Neither will he,” he added, laughing and pointing to Murray.

It seems a decent prediction, but maybe when Murray is involved it feels wrong to bet against him.

That next match will come against either France’s Arthur Fils and Ugo Humbert or Belgium’s Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen. It could be Murray’s last, or it could be another step on a special farewell. — Connor O’Halloran

French crowd fired up for Marchand

Leon Marchand, one of France’s biggest stars entering the 2024 Games, opened up his Olympic campaign with a gold medal in the 400m individual medley on Sunday night in front of an adoring and electric crowd at La Defense Arena. Having earned the fastest time in qualifying earlier in the day, and the two-time defending world champion and reigning world-record holder in the event, Marchand broke the Olympic record with his staggering 4:02.95 performance.

He took the lead almost immediately and it only increased with every lap — and the roar of the crowd only got louder as he continued. He ultimately finished more than five seconds ahead of silver medalist Tomoyuki Matsushita of Japan.

After the race, the crowd showered Marchand with an ovation and he stood on the pool deck and waved in celebration.

“The atmosphere was amazing, I don’t know how to explain it. I had goosebumps before, and during the race too,” Marchand said of the atmosphere. “On the breaststroke section I could hear everyone just cheering for me. That was special and winning today was really amazing for me.”

Perhaps no one had more expectations and attention ahead of the Games than the 22-year-old Marchand, and he is featured prominently in marketing and advertising throughout Paris. French flags were seen throughout the stands even during prerace warmups, and the crowd even burst out into song on multiple occasions. But Marchand, who trains with Michael Phelps’ former coach Bob Bowman and was a 10-time NCAA champion at Arizona State, has seemed relatively unfazed. Despite the arena feeling more like a soccer stadium as he was introduced to the crowd, he looked laser-focused as he walked to his starting block.

Also competing in the 200m IM, the 200m butterfly and the 200m breaststroke, Marchand will now look to become the first French man to win multiple individual swimming golds. He is the reigning world champion in the 200m IM and the 200m butterfly.

Making his Olympic debut, Carson Foster continued the American medal streak in the event by earning bronze. The U.S. has won a medal in the 400m IM at every Games since 1988. — D’Arcy Maine

An all-American affair in fencing

For the first time in history, two fencers representing the United States will square off in the women’s foil finals. Lee Keifer — who captured the gold medal in the event at the 2020 Tokyo games — will face Lauren Scruggs, a rising college senior making her first Olympic appearance.

Team USA downs Serbia

Team USA’s 110-84 drubbing of Serbia was propelled by Kevin Durant‘s electric first half. Durant was perfect off the bench in the first half, going 8-for-8 from the field, and finished as the game’s top scorer with 23 points. Nikola Jokic led Serbia with 20 points, 8 assists and 5 rebounds.

Stephen Curry put a bow on the victory with a 3-pointer from the right wing with just five seconds remaining.

Kevin Durant is red-hot

Kevin Durant came off the bench for Team USA after missing the team’s pre-Olympic exhibition matches with a calf strain, and he wasted no time stealing the show in Lille. The Phoenix Suns star poured in 21 points on just eight shots in the first half, shooting a perfect 8-of-8 from the field — leaving Serbia without answers. Powered by Durant, Team USA leads Serbia 58-49 at the half.

USA men’s basketball gets underway

Who else to deliver the squad’s first points of the Games than LeBron James, whose heroics twice led the team to victory in tuneup contests leading up to Paris?

James’ fast-break dunk got Team USA rolling, but it was Serbia who took the biggest lead of the quarter — forcing a U.S. timeout trailing 10-2 early. Team USA slowly but surely found their rhythm though, and ended the first quarter with a 25-20 lead.

Ilona Maher moving with authority

Team USA women’s rugby got pool play underway on Sunday with an assertive result, cruising (and bruising) past Japan 36-7 at Stade de France.

Ilona Maher delivered the game’s signature highlight on a carry early in the contest, shoving an opponent to the ground en route to a successful try.

Nadal disrupted by young fan

PARIS — One of the unwritten rules in the fan’s guide to mid-match tennis revelry is knowing exactly when you can shout for your favorite player.

Sadly, one young child in attendance at Roland-Garros learned that lesson the hard way Sunday afternoon.

As 14-time French Open champ Rafael Nadal of Spain was tossing up a ball for a 40-love serve late in the first set of his singles opener against Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics, the child in the upper deck of Philippe-Chatrier Court suddenly broke the pre-serve quiet to shout the legend’s name: “Rafa!”

Immediately, an audible, yet hushed, gasp echoed across the venue.

The exclamation broke Nadal’s concentration. He ended up catching the ball with his hand instead of hitting it, regrouping and taking a deep breath before eventually tossing it back up in the air and firing off the serve.

Ultimately, the supportive yet ill-timed shout had no effect. Nadal quickly closed out the first set seconds later, winning 6-1. Nadal did, however, stumble as he started his second set, dropping the first three games. — Coley Harvey

Snoop Dogg shows love to Simone Biles

With women’s gymnastics qualification in full swing today, Snoop Dogg showed up at Bercy Arena to support Team USA — as well as sport some distinctive merchandise.

Under his custom Olympic jacket, Snoop Dogg boasted his allegiances less subtly, rocking a white T-shirt emblazoned with “USA” … as well as Simone Biles’ face.

PARIS — As injuries and illnesses continue to mount among tennis players at the Olympics, another unexpected name has appeared in the men’s singles draw: Petros Tsitsipas.

The 24-year-old from Greece, and the younger brother and doubles partner of Stefanos, Tsitsipas was announced as the replacement for Cameron Norrie on Sunday after he withdrew due to injury.

Why is this so unexpected? The 24-year-old Tsitsipas is a doubles specialist who has played just six tour-level singles matches in his career. His career-high singles ranking is No. 727, which he achieved three years ago. Tsitsipas is currently unranked. He has never played in singles at a Grand Slam.

While most tournaments, including majors, allow for lucky losers from qualifying to be named as replacements, the Olympics has no such qualifying draw. Instead, only players who are named to a country’s official roster one week before the start of the Games are eligible to play in any draw. As a result, when a singles player withdraws after the rosters are set but before play begins, their spot will go to a doubles player. Some also play singles, but others have little or no experience.

And Tsitsipas isn’t the only player who surprisingly found his way into the singles draw in Paris. Australia’s Matthew Ebden, also unranked in singles, hadn’t played a singles match in over two years before being tapped to replace Denmark’s Holger Rune. He lost 6-0, 6-1 to Serbia’s Novak Djokovic in just 53 minutes in the first round on Saturday. And Portugal’s Francisco Cabral, who has never played a tour-level singles match, is also now in the draw, having replaced injured Australian Alex de Minaur.

Djokovic criticized the policy after his win on Saturday.

“I don’t think it’s a good image for the sport, to be honest,” Djokovic said. “There were a lot of singles players that have plenty of time, that were alternates, that could have been called to come. This part I don’t get.”

Ebden told Djokovic at the end of the match he was now officially retired from singles.

Tsitsipas will play Holland’s Tallon Griekspoor on Sunday in the day’s final match on Court 10. — D’Arcy Maine

South Sudan’s run in men’s basketball isn’t over

Just over a week ago, South Sudan came close to pulling off one of the greatest upsets in basketball history when it took Team USA to the wire in a 101-100 loss. That game was merely an Olympic tuneup, though, and South Sudan’s first official contest at the Games proved Cinderella’s slipper still fits.

Powered by Carlik Jones’ 19 points, South Sudan upset Puerto Rico 90-79 on Sunday morning, marking the country’s first win ever in Olympic basketball.

U.S. leads field in women’s gymnastics

The Americans faced some challenges in qualifying but ended the day in first place after Subdivision 2, leading by nearly 5½ points. The team will easily qualify into Tuesday’s team final, where they will be the gold medal favorites.

After strong bar routines in the final rotation, Simone Biles and Sunisa Lee currently sit in the first two spots in the all-around, with Lee edging teammate Jordan Chiles by less than a tenth of a point. With only two gymnasts per country allowed into the all-around and individual event finals, Chiles, in third, misses out.

Biles and Jade Carey are in the first two spots on vault, so both should easily qualify to vault event finals, with Chiles an unlucky third place on vault as well. On bars, Lee is in third and Biles in eighth. Lee’s spot should be secure, but since only the top eight qualify, Biles may get bumped.

On beam, Biles and Lee are second and third, respectively, and on floor, Biles and Chiles are first and second. Defending Olympic champion Carey, who fell on floor earlier in the day, will miss out on floor finals.

Algeria’s Kaylia Nemour is currently first on bars, and China’s Zhou Yaqin leads beam.

A Team USA volleyball legend prepares for her final ride

With a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, a silver medal at London 2012 and a gold medal at Tokyo 2020, Jordan Larson doesn’t lack for team accolades in Olympic volleyball. Having been named the event’s Most Valuable Player at the 2020 Games, she doesn’t lack for personal ones, either. Now 37, Larson has set her sights on this year’s Games being her last with USA volleyball, but her journey to reach that decision was a winding one. — READ MORE

Injury questions for Biles, but Team USA powers through

PARIS — After three rotations, the U.S. has opened a sizeable lead of nearly three points over China and Italy in Subdivision 2. But Sunday hasn’t been completely smooth for the gold-medal favorites. After a solid start on balance beam, the U.S. women moved to floor, where their lineup includes world and Olympic champions and is typically where they shine. But trouble started early. Reigning Olympic all-around champion Sunisa Lee stepped out of bounds on her second pass. Then, after Chiles came through with another solid performance, reigning Olympic floor champion Jade Carey struggled from the start. She stepped out of bounds on three of her four passes, and on her final pass, she pulled up into a single tuck, sat down and rolled onto her back. The team will drop her 10.633 and she and will miss the floor final.

Throughout her teammates’ routines, there was a lot of chatter about Biles’ left calf. She was seen talking with her coaches and USAG team doctor Marcia Faustin about pain in her left leg. Biles seemed to signal that she was fine and performed with her left ankle and lower calf taped. Once again, she delivered. The routine wasn’t perfect and she was clearly dealing with pain, but she earned a session-high 14.6 for her performance.

Then the team moved to vault, where it has earned a reputation for power and difficulty. Biles warmed up her eponymous skill, the Yurchenko double pike, but again seemed to be dealing with pain. Despite all that happened before it, the U.S. looked like the best team in the world on this rotation. Lee stuck one of the best double-twisting Yurchenkos in recent memory, Chiles nailed her Yurchenko double twist (as well as a Lopez second vault), Carey redeemed herself with two finals-worthy vaults and Biles landed her eponymous “Biles II” Yurchenko double pike for a 15.8, the highest score on any event so far. She then went back and hit her Cheng vault, to lead the way into vault finals. Biles leads the all-around in Subdivision 2 and Chiles leads Lee by more than four-tenths with only bars to go. It will be a race for the all-around final between Chiles and Lee, with only two per country able to qualify. But they head to bars, Lee’s best event. — Alyssa Roenigk.

Heroics from the cap catcher

The athletes are the stars of the show in Paris, but the support staff is essential to the Games running smoothly as well. Sunday morning proved that after U.S. swimmer Emma Weber lost her swimming cap in the pool — thus calling into action a man in a speedo, tasked with clearing the pool of the lost item.

The “cap catcher,” as he was dubbed by the broadcast team, quickly proved to be a fan favorite among spectators, as the crowd roared their approval.

Simone, Suni and U.S. team start off strong

PARIS — With the stands packed with U.S. fans and A-list celebrities — we see you, Tom Cruise, Anna Wintour and Jessica Chastain! — the U.S. women’s gymnastics team started competition Sunday afternoon at Bercy Arena, and after one rotation have more than a one-point lead over Italy and China in its subdivision.

Tokyo Olympian Jordan Chiles started the competition for Team USA and set the tone with a solid beam set that sent the crowd into a frenzy. Rookie Hezly Rivera had a few issues but stayed on and set up reigning Olympic all-around champion Suni Lee, who changed her mount after podium training, and performed well enough to likely earn a spot in beam finals later in the week. And then there was Simone Biles, who nailed one of her best beam routines in recent memory. When she landed, she grabbed her heart and ran to her coach, Cecile Landi. The U.S. leads its subdivision by more than a point over Italy and China. — Alyssa Roenigk

Previewing women’s gymnastics

Simone Biles and the U.S. women’s gymnastics team begin their quest for “redemption” Sunday. It’s no surprise the seven-time Olympic medalist will anchor three of the four lineups during qualifying, which utilizes a four-up, three-count format in which teams drop their lowest score on each event.

Reigning Olympic all-around champion Sunisa Lee will anchor the U.S. on uneven bars, and Biles, Lee and two-time Olympian Jordan Chiles will compete in the all-around, a necessity if a gymnast wants a chance to qualify for Thursday’s final. The top 24 gymnasts will make the final, but only two per country are eligible.

Team USA gymnasts — four of whom competed in Tokyo — say they aren’t turning their minds to individual finals until the work of winning team gold is complete.

“I think when we go out on the floor for the first time, we’re going to be really emotional, really excited and grateful to be back out there because we’ve all wanted it bad for the past three years,” said reigning Olympic floor champion Jade Carey, who competed in Tokyo as an individual. “We’re really driven by that redemption and we want to have a different experience this time around.”

Setting the tone for Sunday’s competition falls on Chiles, who leads off the team in its first rotation on the balance beam. Carey and 16-year-old rookie Hezly Rivera will each compete in two events during qualifying. Lee will perform the final routine of the afternoon for the U.S. women on uneven bars, her specialty.

The lineups:

Balance beam: Chiles, Rivera, Lee, Biles

Floor: Lee, Chiles, Carey, Biles

Vault: Lee, Chiles, Carey, Biles

Uneven bars: Rivera, Chiles, Biles, Lee

— Alyssa Roenigk


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