Sunday, December 22, 2024
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What you may have missed on Wednesday: Ledecky grabs gold in 1500m free and more

ndowd
Jul 31, 2024, 05:39 PM ET

Two of Team USA’s top squads continued with group play Wednesday at the 2024 Paris Games.

The U.S. men’s basketball team defeated South Sudan, a team it narrowly defeated July 20, 103-86 to qualify for the quarterfinals. After sitting out the win against Serbia on Sunday, Jayson Tatum got the start this time.

The U.S. Olympic women’s soccer team secured a first-place finish in Group B with a 2-1 win against Australia. The Americans, who were already in the quarterfinals after a 4-1 win against Germany on Sunday, will face Japan on Saturday.

Katie Ledecky and Leon Marchand highlighted the finals in swimming, making history with their wins.

It was a busy day in tennis, as Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz were back in action for doubles, but particularly for American Taylor Fritz. He played three times Wednesday — a mixed doubles quarterfinal with Coco Gauff, a third-round men’s singles quarterfinal and a second-round men’s doubles match with Tommy Paul. Fritz won his men’s doubles match but lost in mixed doubles and men’s singles.

Here’s what you might have missed Wednesday.

U.S. men’s basketball beats South Sudan

Led by 18 points from Bam Adebayo, U.S. men’s basketball remained undefeated with a 103-86 win against South Sudan, a team it narrowly defeated July 20. The win also advances Team USA to the quarterfinal stage.

Kevin Durant continued his Olympic success with 14 points off the bench, while LeBron James added 12 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists. After not playing in the opening game, Jayson Tatum was inserted into the starting lineup. He had four points and five rebounds replacing Joel Embiid. Anthony Davis also entered the starting lineup, replacing Jrue Holiday.

Team USA will face Puerto Rico in the final group game Saturday. — READ MORE

Marchand makes Olympic history with gold in 200m breaststroke

Just moments after standing atop the podium after winning gold in the 200m butterfly Wednesday, and having become the first swimmer in France’s history to win multiple individual gold medals, Leon Marchand returned to the pool for the 200m breaststroke.

If he was tired, or if the pressure had gotten to him, he certainly showed no signs of it.

The 22-year-old made even more history as he became the first swimmer ever to win a medal in both the butterfly and breaststroke with another gold medal — with an Olympic-record time of 2:05.85.

Since 1956, when butterfly was first separated out as its own event at the Olympics, no swimmer — in men’s or women’s events, at any distance, and not even across multiple Games — had ever medaled in butterfly and breaststroke. But with an entire arena behind him — chanting his name and cheering for every single stroke — Marchand not only did it but made it look easy. He now owns three Olympic gold medals — all earned this week — and has more gold medals than any other French swimmer in history.

After the race, Marchand slammed his fist into the pool once he had seen his time and the result. The crowd erupted in cheers and then in song.

Australia’s Zac Stubblety-Cook won the silver, and Caspar Corbeau of the Netherlands earned the bronze.

The night at a still-buzzing La Defense Arena concluded soon after with the men’s 100m freestyle — and that race did not disappoint as China’s Pan Zhanle broke the world record with a 46.40 finish.

Kyle Chalmers of Australia and David Popovici of Romania also ended up on the podium. Americans Jack Alexy and Chris Guiliano, who won gold together as part of the 4×100 freestyle relay team earlier in the week, finished in seventh and eighth place, respectively. — D’Arcy Maine

Americans knock out Carlos Alcaraz-Rafael Nadal

One of the more highly anticipated men’s duos in the 2024 Olympics doubles bracket was eliminated Wednesday. Americans Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram defeated Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal 6-2, 6-4 in the men’s doubles quarterfinals. — READ MORE

Ledecky wins 12th medal, tied for most by a U.S. woman

Katie Ledecky’s status as one of the best swimmers to ever compete has long been cemented, but she left no doubt on Wednesday night with yet another dominant performance in the 1,500m freestyle.

She earned the gold medal with a 15:30.02 finish — over five seconds faster than her previous Olympic record and more than 10 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Anastasiya Kirpichnikova. Ledecky also tied Jenny Thompson’s record for the most gold medals (8) by a woman in the sport.

It was the 12th Olympic medal of Ledecky’s career, tying her with Thompson, Dara Torres and Natalie Coughlin as the most decorated female athlete in U.S. history, and putting her in a five-way tie her for second all-time in the sport’s history, behind only Michael Phelps (23).

The event’s defending champion — and the owner of the 19 fastest times in the race’s history entering the race — Ledecky took the lead in the first lap and it only continued to grow. The 27-year-old splashed her hand in the water in celebration after she won and as the rest of the field was still swimming.

Ledecky won’t have much more time to celebrate tonight. She still has two more races this week, the 800m freestyle and the 4x200m freestyle, and a chance to make even more history.

While Ledecky’s victory seemed all but certain for most of the race, there was a battle between three women for the final two spots on the podium. Ultimately France’s Kirpichnikova earned the silver — earning a bigger reception than Ledecky from the home crowd once she touched the wall — and Germany’s Isabel Gose notched the bronze. Simona Quadarella of Italy finished in fourth. — D’Arcy Maine

LeBron etches name into Olympic history

LeBron James is already the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. With a basket against South Sudan Wednesday, James became the third U.S. men’s basketball national team player to score 300 Olympic points — the other two being Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony.

Marchand grabs gold after electric comeback

Two races down, two gold medals for Leon Marchand.

One of France’s most recognizable and hyped stars of the 2024 Games earned the top spot on the podium — again — in the 200m butterfly on Wednesday in front of a capacity-filled crowd at La Defense Arena. The crowd chanted his name as he walked to the starting block, but reached a fever pitch as he hunted down Hungary’s Kristof Milak during the final stretch.

And when he won with a final time of 1:51.21, the crowd erupted in cheers and song. At just 22, he is now the first French swimmer in history to win multiple individual gold medals.

Milak earned the silver and Canada’s Ilya Kharun — Marchand’s former Arizona State teammate — took home the bronze.

And Marchand isn’t done for the night. He will later compete in the 200m breaststroke and look to become the first swimmer ever to win an Olympic medal in both butterfly and breaststroke.

In the night’s first event, Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom stunned the star-studded 100m freestyle field for a 52.16 final and the second gold medal (and fifth overall) of her career.

American Torri Huske finished in second place and earned her third medal of the 2024 Games. Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey — already the most decorated Olympian in her country’s history in any sport — collected her fourth medal with the bronze. — D’Arcy Maine

U.S. women’s national team wins final group game

The USWNT rolled through the group stage, tallying two wins in its first two matches. Its impressive form carried through to its third match against Australia, with the U.S. taking the lead just before halftime on a point-blank toe poke from Trinity Rodman in the midst of a set piece scramble. Korbin Albert added a second goal in the 77nd minute on the brink to a 2-1 win.

The U.S. finish the group stage phase with the best goal difference (plus-7) of any team in the field. They will face Japan in the quarterfinals.

Japan’s Shinnosuke Oka wins gold in men’s gymnastics all-around

Two days after earning team gold, reigning world and Olympic all-around champion Daiki Hashimoto of Japan struggled in Wednesday’s all-around final. He fell on pommel horse and, despite qualifying third, finished outside of medal contention in sixth place.

Instead, it was Hashimoto’s 20-year-old teammate, Shinnosuke Oka, who won gold in his first Olympics. China’s Boheng Zhang, who suffered a fall on floor early in the competition, earned silver and his teammate, Ruoteng Xiao, took bronze. Less than half a point separated the gold and bronze medalists.

American Fred Richard, who qualified 10th, fell off the pommel horse in his opening rotation but hit his next four routines before falling on his final pass on floor. He finished 15th. Richard’s University of Michigan teammate, Paul Juda, hit six clean routines but lacked the difficulty to break into the top 10 and finished 14th. Brody Malone, a two-time Olympian and the leader of Team USA at these Games, failed to qualify for the all-around final, but was on the floor supporting his teammates, carrying their chalk, adjusting their apparatus and cheering as loudly as anyone at Bercy Arena.

After four rotations, Ukraine’s Oleg Verniaiev, 30, led the competition by just over a tenth of a point over his 20-year-old teammate, Illia Kovtun, and the duo had the crowd behind them. Fans erupted in cheers each time either of the men was shown on the big screen with light yellow warmup jackets draped over their shoulders. Kovtun finished fourth and Verniaiev finished eighth. — D’Arcy Maine

Tom Daley unveils sweater knitted at Paris Games

Great Britain diver Tom Daley gained acclaim for knitting at the 2020 Tokyo Games. This time, he showed off the finished product of a sweater he worked on in Paris days after winning silver alongside Noah Williams in the men’s 10m synchro event. — READ MORE

U.S. women’s volleyball takes down two-time champions

After losing to China in its opening pool match, the U.S. women’s volleyball team had a tough task to get their first win of the 2024 Paris Games — beat the two-time defending world champions in women’s indoor volleyball, Serbia.

Team USA rose to the occasion, defeating Serbia 25-17, 25-20, 20-25, 14-25, 17-15.

It marked the second time in Olympic competition the U.S. played a deciding fifth set in its opening two matches of an Olympics, according to ESPN Stats & Information. The U.S. is also now 4-1 against Serbia in Olympic play.

It will play France next on Sunday in the final game of group play.

Lola Anderson’s father’s legacy lives on with gold

Lola Anderson and Great Britain’s rowing team edged the Netherlands by 0.15 seconds to take gold. But after earning the hardware, the only thoughts that circulated in her mind was a conversation between her and her late father, and a goal she set for herself when she was younger. — READ MORE

An upset in tennis doubles

Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula, representing the United States, lost in the second round on Wednesday to Czech duo Karolina Muchova and Linda Noskova 2-6, 6-4, 10-5 in a a match tiebreaker. Gauff and Pegula had entered the tournament as the top-seeded duo in the bracket. It’s the second upset defeat in as many days for Gauff, who fell Tuesday as the No. 2 seed in singles play to Donna Vekic of Croatia.

Angelique Kerber bids farewell

Angelique Kerber‘s long and incredible career came to an end on Wednesday in Paris.

The three-time major champion and former world No. 1 had previously announced the Olympics would be her final tournament — and her last match was a fitting one. Known for her fighting spirit, the 36-year-old German saved three match points against Qinwen Zheng in a quarterfinal that lasted more than three hours and was decided in a third-set tiebreak.

Ultimately, Zheng won the match 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (6), but Kerber was showered with an ovation from the fans in the stands on Court Philippe-Chatrier as she waved and walked off the court. Kerber, who had won the silver medal at the 2016 Games and is a three-time Olympian, said she had wanted to finish her career at the tournament because it had meant so much to her over the years.

“The Olympics, [that] I’ve participated in so far, have been more than just competitions as they represent different chapters of my life as a tennis player: the climb, the peak … and now, the finish line,” Kerber wrote on social media. “[Paris] will mark the finish line of the most incredible journey I could have ever dreamed of growing up with a racket in my hand.” — D’Arcy Maine

Refugee Olympic Team sets sights on first medial

The Refugee Olympic Team are dreaming of winning their first-ever medal after boxer Cindy Ngamba won her women’s 75kg first-round match on Wednesday, meaning she will secure at least a bronze should she win her next fight.

Ngamba, who trains in the U.K., has long been a major IOC hope to become the first refugee to win a medal at the Olympic Games. When Ngamba qualified for Paris 2024 — the Refugee team’s third since being established in 2016 — IOC President Thomas Bach watched on and celebrated from the organisations offices in Switzerland.

Those hopes could have been dashed after Ngamba was handed a difficult first-round draw, facing third-seeded Canadian Tammara Amanda Thibeault. She took a direct hit to the head that forced a standing count second into the fight, but she to win a points decision.

In the stands, she was cheered on by many other members of the Refugee Team. — Connor O’Halloran

Horns up in Paris

The University of Texas sent quite the contingent to the Games, with 30 athletes having competed for the Longhorns. Texas is particularly well represented in swimming events, with the school sending 10 swimmers to Paris. In fact, a trio of Longhorns are competing on the same relay team: 3/4ths of Team USA’s silver medal-winning 4x200m free style relay unit swam collegiately for Texas. Two members of that group, current Longhorns swimmer Luke Hobson and 2022 graduate Drew Kibler, took the time to rep their school with the “horns up” sign in front of the Eiffel Tower after their victory.

Former gymnast makes Olympic Guatemalan history in shooting

Adriana Ruano’s dream was to be an Olympic gymnast. In 2011, the then-16-year-old trained for the world championships, which served as a qualifier for the 2012 London Games, until she experienced back pain. An MRI helped Ruano discover she had six damaged vertebrae, which ended her gymnastics career.

The doctor, however, recommended she try shooting as a sport.

Guatemala never earned a gold medal in the Olympics until Ruano’s showing at the Paris Games, where she secured the top honor and an Olympic-record score of 45 of 50.

Fencing captivates crowd at Grand Palais

The Olympics are all about exploring new sports. After covering Wednesday morning’s triathlons, I walked by Paris’ Grand Palais, a beautiful 124-year old exhibition hall, and heard roars that all sportswriters and fans recognize as a good time.

I knew fencing was popular here in France, and that the event is one of the hottest tickets in town. “Friends and family keep asking for tickets,” a Team USA source told me earlier this week. “I just have to tell ’em: There’s nothing I can do. It’s sold out!”

It was the men’s team quarterfinals, and the place was packed. To the naked eye it seemed like every seat was taken. The press box was full, too. There were four matches on, one including the USA, but the one the crowds had their eyes fixed upon was France-Egypt.

If you’ve ever wanted to feel like Scott Hanson, go watch an Olympic fencing event. It’s like the in-person equivalent of NFL RedZone. All four matches happen simultaneously, which creates a chaotic atmosphere. At any one moment there is a point being awarded or denied. There’s even a large screen showing all the matches via a quadruple box.

The crowd was fixated on the France match. They stomped their feet against the temporary metal bleachers and bounced as they chanted. “ALLEZ LES BLEUS! ALLEZ LES BLEUS!” After any point won, one fencer would often stare down the judge, while the other would celebrate wildly like an NFL defensive back swatting down a deep ball.

In the end, France emerged victorious. It won 45-41 and booked a place in the semifinals Wednesday afternoon. All the while, the glass roof ceiling of the Grand Palais amplified the roars. — Connor O’Halloran

Top Jamaican sprinter drops out of the women’s 100-meter dash

Jamaican sprinter Shericka Jackson, one of the sport’s top competitors, withdrew from the 100-meter dash, ending her chance of seeking a sprint double. She will still compete in the women’s 200-meter dash. Tia Clayton and three-time Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce will represent Jamaica as Sha’Carri Richardson and the United States’ biggest threats in the sprint.

To stay or not to stay?

The Olympic Village is a staple of the Games. But athletes have different approaches regarding how much time they actually spend living in the Village.

Some competitors — such as Coco Gauff — spend their time at the Olympics in the village, citing the social experience of meeting hundreds of other elite athletes. Others — including Team USA’s men’s basketball team — bolt from the dorms to hotels at the first opportunity, in search of better food and bedding (among other advantages). — READ MORE

A well-earned haka by New Zealand

New Zealand repeated as rugby sevens gold medalists with their win over Canada on Tuesday, and celebrated the feat in traditional fashion — with a haka.

A ceremonial dance of the Māori people, the performance has been adopted by a number of New Zealand’s national teams over the years. New Zealand’s rugby sevens triumph was the nation’s first gold medal of the Paris Games.

Usyk to pay Ukrainian boxers out of pocket

An Olympic gold medalist himself, Ukrainian heavyweight boxer Oleksandr Usyk has pledged to reward any Ukrainian boxer who makes the podium.

Usyk has been supporting and providing advice to the country’s three competitors in Paris already, but has now upped the ante. According to Ukrainian coach Dmitry Sosnovsky, Usyk has pledged $80,000 for a gold medal, $70,000 for a silver medal and $50,000 for a bronze medal.

This isn’t the first time Usyk has been in the news in Paris. On Tuesday, he made headlines in calling for changes to amateur boxing, set to the background of the sport potentially being dropped from the 2028 Olympics.

Noah Lyles looks to strike gold in Paris

There’s a lot on Noah Lyles’ résumé to boast about. He’s a six-time world champion who won three titles at the most recent World Athletics Championship in Budapest. He’s part of an electric American 4×100 relay squad that just captured first place two months ago at the World Athletics Relays. But there’s one thing his trophy cabinet still awaits: Olympic gold.

Lyles left the Tokyo Games in 2020 with a bronze medal. Armed with his trademark smile and swagger, the stage feels set in Paris for Lyles to earn his first Olympic gold medal. — READ MORE

Competition goes forward in the Seine

After months of speculation and a scheduling debacle, the men’s and women’s Olympic triathlon events finally took place, including their starting legs on the Seine.

It took a lot to get here. Paris spent €1.5 billion ($1.4bn) on a project to clean the river and conducted sample tests in the afternoon and in the dead of night. But finally, at 4 a.m. CET, organisers declared the races were on.

The events ended in golds for France’s Cassandre Beaugrand and Team Great Britain’s Alex Yee, as well as glorious shots of the athletes running down the Champs-Élysées and then in front of the Grand Palais … but what did they make of the water?

“It felt normal. It felt a bit cold, especially because it was raining before the race,” Swiss silver medalist Julie Derron said. “I felt a bit chilly before the start, but the water is just normal water.”

Beaugrand added: “It’s magical, it’s the best route we’ve had in a long time.” She sounded a little biased until she delivered the next line: “I know all the other athletes feel the same.” — Connor O’Halloran


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