Sunday, December 22, 2024
Sports

Updates from Paris: Biles adds to gold medal collection, Lee bronze in all-around, more

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On Thursday, Simone Biles won her second Olympic all-around title, eight years after her first in Rio. Biles becomes the first woman to win two Olympic all-around titles since Vera Caslavska, according to USA Gymnastics.

Her teammate Suni Lee earned bronze in the competition. Biles and Lee were key members of the U.S. squad that won gold in the women’s team final.

The U.S. Olympic women’s basketball team continued group play with an 87-74 win against Belgium, automatically qualifying for the quarterfinals.

A handful of swimming heats and finals took place, including the women’s 4×200-meter freestyle relay. Team USA earned silver in the relay, making Katie Ledecky the most decorated American woman in Olympic history with 13 total medals. Caeleb Dressel also returned to action in the men’s 50m freestyle semifinal.

Golf made its 2024 Olympic debut in individual stroke play. Players such as Scottie Scheffler and reigning gold medalist and Open Championship winner Xander Schauffele teed off early in Paris. Hideki Matsuyama topped the leaderboard at 8 under, while Schauffele slotted in at second at 6 under. Scheffler finished the round in an eight-way tie for sixth at 4 under.

Here’s what you missed on Thursday.

U.S. women’s basketball advances to quarterfinals

It was a seven-point game heading into the final quarter before the U.S. pulled away for an 87-74 win against Belgium. Breanna Stewart and A’ja Wilson led Team USA in scoring again — Stewart had 26 points, while Wilson had 23 points and 13 rebounds, her second straight game with a double-double.

The U.S. clinched a spot in the quarterfinals and will face Germany in its final group game on Sunday. — READ MORE

Ledecky becomes most decorated woman in U.S. Olympic history

Katie Ledecky continues to be the star of American swimming — and further cemented herself in the history books.

Ledecky won her 13th Olympic medal by earning a silver in the women’s 4×200 meter relay with her teammates. She is now the most decorated American Olympian of all time, breaking a tie with Natalie Coughlin, Jenny Thompson and Dara Torres.

Ledecky didn’t speak to the media afterward because she has a qualifying race Friday morning for her final event of the Olympics: the 800-meter freestyle. At stake for the 27-year-old is a ninth gold medal, which would tie her with Larisa Latynina, a gymnast from the Soviet Union, for the most golds ever by a female Olympian. Latynina last competed in the Olympics in 1964.

Most encouraging for swimming fans is that Ledecky has said this week she has no intentions of retiring. She’s looking to finish these Olympics strong, and her eyes are already on Los Angeles in 2028. — Emily Kaplan

U.S. fencing wins first-ever gold in team foil

The Americans in women’s foil fencing are starting to get pretty good at winning gold medals.

After having just one team medal in the event’s 64-year history entering Thursday, Team USA added to that total by the end of the night, and did so in a big way.

With a 45-39 hits victory over Italy, the Americans claimed their first gold. They earned it thanks to their anchor, Lauren Scruggs, coming through with the crucial final touch in the ninth round. The 21-year-old Harvard student earned her second medal of the games, adding to her silver medal in individual women’s foil earlier in these Olympics.

The team foil win made up for the loss the Americans suffered at the hands of the Italians in the bronze medal match of the event at the Tokyo Games. Italy has won three Olympic gold medals in the event.

Throughout Thursday’s match inside the famed Grand Palais, fans from both countries routinely engaged in dueling shouting battles during breaks in action. They yelled “Italia! Italia!” and “USA! USA!” to encourage their athletes, adding to the emotional, high-energy atmosphere inside the historic building. — Coley Harvey

Murray loses in doubles, ending career

Andy Murray’s career is finally over. He and his playing partner, Dan Evans, improbably staved off a total of seven match points in their first two matches, but they were overpowered by Team USA’s Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz, losing in straight sets.

The result caps Murray’s 19 years in professional tennis in which he lifted the Wimbledon trophy twice, won one US Open title and twice became Olympic men’s singles champion. — Connor O’Halloran READ MORE

Douglass gets gold in 200m breaststroke

Finally, another gold medal for U.S. swimming — this time by Kate Douglass in the women’s 200-meter breaststroke. Douglass fended off reigning Olympic medalist Tatjana Smith of South Africa for the win, the 22-year-old’s first gold medal.

It was the fourth gold medal for the United States swim team at this Olympics — Katie Ledecky in the 1,500-meter freestyle while lapping her opponents, the men’s 4×100-meter relay, and Tori Huske in the 100-meter butterfly. Americans have long dominated in swimming. Team USA has won the most total medals in swimming (men’s and women’s combined) each year since 1992 (1988 was the last year the U.S. didn’t lead; East Germany did).

But this year it felt like America was losing its grip of dominance to Australia. The Americans and the Australians have always had a swimming rivalry.

However, the U.S. has typically finished ahead of Australia in terms of total swimming medals as well as gold medals. It has been as lopsided as recently as 2016, when the U.S. won 16 gold medals to Australia’s three.

In 2012, the U.S. won 12 gold medals to Australia’s one. In a twist entering Thursday’s competition, the Australians had won more gold than the Americans. Douglass’ win pulled the Americans into a tie so far with Australia with four gold medals each. — Emily Kaplan

Smith earns second medal in Paris

Regan Smith finished with a silver medal in the women’s 200m butterfly. Smith’s time marked an American record and her second medal of the 2024 Paris Games, the first earned in the 100m backstroke.

Sports world reacts to Simone Biles and Suni Lee’s medal-winning performances

At 27 years old, Simone Biles is the second-oldest to win the women’s all-around in Olympic history. The last time a non-teenager won gold in the women’s all-around was Ludmilla Tourischeva (Soviet Union) back in 1972 as a 20-year-old.

Biles’ gold medal performance touched some of the sports world’s finest such as Kevin Durant and Magic Johnson.

Biles wins! Lee earns bronze

Simone Biles has done it! Despite a few hiccups and some fierce opposition, Biles won her second Olympic all-around gold medal Thursday at Bercy Arena.

Finishing the competition on floor — and as the last gymnast of the night to compete — Biles and her high-flying tumbling thrilled the crowd and the judges. She earned a 15.066, good enough for a 59.131 final score — and a 1.199 lead over the rest of the field.

Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade won the silver, and Biles’ teammate Suni Lee, the reigning all-around champion, earned the bronze following a clutch performance of her own on floor to end the night. Biles and Lee embraced as soon as Biles’ routine was over, and they waited together for the final scores. When the final scores were announced, they ran out onto the floor holding an American flag together.

Biles was in third place at the meet’s halfway mark, behind Andrade and Algeria’s Kaylia Neymour, but she reclaimed the top spot in the standings after balance beam and took a slight 0.166 lead to the final event of the night.

The United States has now won six straight gold medals in the all-around competition, a streak that started with Carly Patterson in 2004. Thursday marked the sixth gold medal for Biles in her legendary career and ninth Olympic medal overall. — D’Arcy Maine

Lee closes with a gorgeous floor routine and is guaranteed a medal

After being announced to the crowd one final time as the reigning Olympic all-around champion, Suni Lee walked to the floor knowing a medal was possible. She needed a 13.534 or better to pass Italy’s Alice D’Amato for bronze. She earned a 13.533 two nights ago in the team final.

Lee absolutely nailed her opening pass and reacted with a huge smile. Her routine was elegant, powerful and emotional. The crowd followed every move and absolutely exploded after her final double tuck, giving her a standing ovation as she walked off the floor and embraced her coach, Jess Graba.

When her score appeared — a 13.666 — the crowd erupted. She will earn at least a bronze.

Only Biles and Andrade, who are currently first and second with only .166 separating them, are left to compete. — Alyssa Roenigk

Lee and Andrade have minor mistakes on beam; Biles leads again

Last week during training, Lee struggled on her layout step-out mount and changed it to a side straddle for qualifying and team finals. She earned the fourth-highest score on beam in qualifying, a 14.033, but knew she was better. She had two more opportunities to prove it: in Thursday’s all-around final and in Monday’s beam final.

It didn’t go as well as she hoped. Lee used the straddle mount again, had two small balance checks during her routine and took a step on her landing, earning a 14.000. She’s currently tied for fourth.

Algeria’s Kaylia Nemour, who was second after two rotations, fought hard to stay on after her layout series, earned a 13.233 and is tied with Lee for fourth. Andrade closed out the beam rotation with a solid routine, took a small hop on her landing and scored 14.133.

Biles is back on top with a 44.065 after three rotations. She has a .166 lead over Andrade with 43.899. D’Amato is third with 42.833.

Next up: Floor, the final rotation for the leaders. Biles has the highest difficulty score there, so is in good position for gold if she hits. — Alyssa Roenigk

Biles hits beam with a huge sigh of relief

Entering the third rotation in third place, 0.267 of a point behind leader Rebeca Andrade, Simone Biles got her dreams for all-around gold back on track on balance beam.

The first competitor of the rotation on the event, Biles wobbled a couple of times and struggled slightly with her wolf turn, but she was clearly pleased with her performance.

Biles had a huge smile on her face after her dismount and then waved and blew kisses to the crowd. Suni Lee was the first to give her a hug once she returned to her seat, and Biles continued to smile as she waited for her score.

She received a 14.566, slightly lower than her qualifying score of 14.733, but still enough to keep her firmly in gold medal contention.

Andrade will be the final gymnast on beam. — D’Arcy Maine

Lee cruises through her bar routine

After falling on her Nabieva release move during the warmup — just like she did during the team final — Suni Lee competed last in the bars rotation and was excellent.

When she stuck her landing, the jumbotron showed Team USA basketball star Steph Curry cheering wildly along with the rest of this raucous crowd. Lee earned a 14.866, an identical score from Sunday’s qualifying. Lee followed Algeria’s Kaylia Nemour, 17, the highest qualifier on bars, who earned the top score of the rotation, as well, a 15.533, which bumped her above Biles in the all-around by .067. Nemour has weaker events to come, however, so will likely not hold on to that spot.

Lee is currently fifth after two rotations, with beam — one of her best events — up next. — Alyssa Roenigk

Biles has a hitch on bars, but works through it

Things got interesting on uneven bars. After taking the early lead in the night’s first rotation, Simone Biles looked to extend her lead over the rest of the field. As she did ahead of the event during Tuesday’s team final, Biles stayed off by herself during much of the warmup — as a camera followed her along — and stood silently.

The second competitor of the event — and again following Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade, the reigning all-around silver medalist — Biles struggled on a release combination in her routine and her legs nearly hit the floor. She scored a 13.733, significantly less than the 14.433 she earned in qualifying.

She was visibly unhappy as she walked back to her chair and sighed multiple times while waiting for her score.

Andrade scored a 14.666 and was all smiles after a small hop on her landing. She fist-bumped Biles as they walked by each other. At the halfway mark, Andrade holds a 29.766-29.499 edge over Biles, though Biles has two very strong events to come, and is likely to outscore Andrade on both. — D’Arcy Maine

Stephen Curry, U.S. men’s basketball team in the house

A day after the U.S. men’s basketball team defeated South Sudan 103-86, the team showed its support for the U.S. women’s gymnastics team.

Simone Biles lands her Yurchenko double pike

Simone Biles, the overwhelming favorite, started her campaign for her sixth gold medal in a big way on Thursday.

Looking to become the first woman in history to win nonconsecutive Olympic all-around titles — and just the third to win it more than once — Biles looked poised to do just that during her first rotation on vault with her Yurchenko double pike. She took a big hop and step back on her landing, but otherwise wowed the crowd with her height and power.

She earned a 15.766 and celebrated with a high five with teammate Suni Lee. Despite an impressive Cheng vault from Rebeca Andrade that earned a massive 9.500 execution score, Biles leads the way by .666 because of the difficulty rating of her vault.

Biles now heads to bars. Will she perform her new skill to get it named after her in the code of points? It’s her last chance — here in Paris, anyway — and we’ll find out soon enough. — D’Arcy Maine

Suni Lee starts off on vault

Two days after winning team gold, 2016 Olympic all-around champion Simone Biles and reigning Olympic all-around champ Suni Lee are back for the all-around final. This is the first Olympic all-around final to feature two Olympic gold medalists.

The women are rotating together, started with vault and will finish on floor. Two-time Olympian Jordan Chiles, who finished fourth in qualifying but will not compete due to a rule that allows only two gymnasts per country to qualify into the all-around final, is in the stands supporting her teammates. Their other teammates, Jade Carey and Hezly Rivera, are in the stands as well.

Lee led off the rotation and landed a double-twisting Yurchenko (DTY) with a hop back. The judges took quite a while to determine Lee’s score of 13.933, and Lee paced, put on her warmup jacket and cut the tape off her left ankle while she waited. — Alyssa Roenigk

Simone and Suni are ready

Simone Biles and Suni Lee arrived earlier today for the women’s all-around competition (noon ET), with teammate Jordan Chiles also there as an alternate. Biles qualified in first with a 1.866 lead over second-place qualifier Rebeca Andrade of Brazil. Lee, the 2020 Olympic all-around champion was third. All scores are wiped clean for today, though those three are all medal favorites, with Biles the clear front-runner for gold.

Alcaraz advances to the semifinals of men’s singles

Carlos Alcaraz is taking his skills to the next level of the Olympic singles bracket after cruising past Tommy Paul in the quarterfinal 6-3, 7-6 (7), allowing the 21-year-old to reach the semifinals. Alcaraz’s victory over Paul makes him the youngest man to reach the singles semifinal since Novak Djokovic in 2008. — READ MORE

Silver medal with no gear

Focus and determination was all Turkish shooter Yusuf Dikec needed. The Olympic Games are nothing new for the 51-year-old, as he’s participated in every Olympics since the 2008 Beijing Games. En route to a silver medal in the 10-meter Air Pistol event, Dikec went without gear — no headphones or protective glasses. Dikec and Sevval Ilayda Tarhan won Turkey’s first-ever Olympic medal in the event.

Inside Jewell Loyd’s experience in Paris

For Seattle Storm guard Jewell Loyd, participating on a stacked Team USA roster featuring A’ja Wilson, Diana Taurasi and Breanna Stewart brings new responsibilities from her role of playing in the WNBA. Loyd sits down with Andscape’s Marc J. Spears about the competition comparison in the Olympics opposed to the WNBA, and her personal and playing experience in Part 3 of her diary. — More from Andscape here.

‘This ain’t no mystery!’

It has been three days since the U.S. men’s gymnastics team won a bronze medal in artistic gymnastics, and they’re still hyped up. Frederick Richard, also known as Frederick Flips, met up with rapper Flavor Flav, where he was praised by one of Public Enemy’s founding members. Richard let Flav wear the medal, and Flav put the big clock around the gymnast’s neck.

Swiatek’s Olympic singles journey comes to an end

All that Poland’s Iga Swiatek needed was two solid sets to play her way into a chance for gold. But China’s Zheng Qinwen ended the world No. 1’s hopes after upsetting her in straight sets (6-2, 7-5) to reach the Olympic final. — READ MORE

U.S. men’s rowing wins first gold in 64 years

Team USA rowing hasn’t won a gold medal in men’s fours since the 1960 Rome Olympic Games. Rowers Liam Corrigan, Nick Mead, Michael Grady and Justin Best ended the 64-year drought with a win over New Zealand and Great Britain with a time of 5:49:03.

Trick shots … in badminton?

India’s Lakshya Sen and Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie had an intense sequence in their badminton match — and you’ll have to see how Sen won the point to believe it.

Scheffler off to strong Olympic debut

Golf’s first outing at the Olympic Games was in 1900, coincidentally in Paris. American Scottie Scheffler, the world’s top-ranked golfer, is making his debut at the Games and is off to a strong start.

Scheffler made a birdie on his first hole and is currently tied in ninth at 2-under.

U.S. men’s water polo falls short of victory to Greece

Team USA men’s water polo came into their match against Greece 1-1 after a 14-8 win over Romania and a 12-8 loss to Italy. With no losses in their Olympic showing, Greece is playing some of the best water polo of the Games. In a tough duel against Greece, teams traded goals to keep the game within one. But Greece took advantage in power plays to beat the U.S., 13-11. The United States is now 1-2 with two games left in group play.


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