Tuesday, November 19, 2024
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Team USA sweeps gold medals in 4×400 relays, men's hoops tips off and more in Paris on Saturday

ndowd
Aug 10, 2024, 05:39 PM ET

It was a gold medal match day for U.S. men’s basketball and the USWNT on Saturday at the 2024 Paris Games.

The men’s basketball team clinched the United States’ fifth straight gold medal with a 98-87 victory over France.

Kevin Durant and LeBron James both won their fourth Olympic medals, which ties the men’s basketball record. Durant also made history as the first men’s basketball player ever to win four Olympic golds, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

The USWNT took home gold against Brazil, moving the U.S. women to 5-0 against Seleção in the Olympics, including wins in the 2004 and 2008 gold medal soccer matches.

The final day on the track was headlined by Team USA’s gold medal finishes in the men’s and women’s 4×400-meter relay finals. Team USA grabbed gold in the women’s 4×100 relay final Friday but was disqualified in the men’s race.

Here’s what you missed from Saturday.

5:16 p.m. — Team USA wins men’s basketball gold medal game against France

The United States men’s basketball team is the Olympic champion after its 98-87 victory over host country France in Saturday’s gold medal game in Paris.

It is Team USA’s fifth consecutive gold medal at the Olympics in men’s basketball since earning bronze in the 2004 Games.

“This is storybook stuff; that’s what Steph does,” coach Steve Kerr said of Stephen Curry and Team USA’s golden effort.

4:34 p.m. ET — Jordan Chiles loses Olympic floor bronze

American gymnast Jordan Chiles was stripped of her Olympic bronze medal in the floor exercise after the Court of Arbitration for Sport voided an appeal from Chiles’ coach that vaulted her onto the podium.

CAS ruled Saturday that the appeal by U.S. coach Cecile Landi to have 0.1 added to Chiles’ score, which boosted her from fifth to third, came outside the 1-minute window allowed by the International Gymnastics Federation.

FIG announced later Saturday that the initial finishing order has been restored, with Romania’s Ana Barbosu placing third, her teammate Sabrina Maneca-Voinea placing fourth and Chiles finishing fifth.

Before the final decision was announced, Chiles hinted at the decision in an Instagram story Saturday, indicating that she was heartbroken and was “taking this time and removing myself from social media for my mental health, thank you.”

USA Gymnastics said in a statement that it is “devastated” by the ruling. — READ MORE

4:20 p.m. ET — Phil Wizard wins first (and only) men’s breaking gold; American Victor Montalvo gets bronze

Canada’s B-Boy Phil Wizard, the 27-year-old Vancouver-based breaker whose real name is Philip Kim, won gold Saturday at La Concorde. Kim is the first B-Boy Olympic champion in breaking — and because Paris marks the only time breaking will appear in the Games, he will retain that title indefinitely.

France’s B-Boy Dany Dann, a 36-year-old breaker from French Guiana who moved to mainland France to pursue his dream of making a living in the sport, took silver.

B-Boy Victor Montalvo, the 30-year-old Floridian who was the first breaker to qualify to the Olympics for Team USA, used a blend of powerful, controlled moves and smooth musicality to win the bronze medal battle over Japan’s B-Boy Shigekix.

For the past two days, the breaking arena at the Paris Games has been a party. Saturday night, that party extended outside of the open-air stadium, where hundreds of fans who purchased tickets into the five-sport venue stood beneath giant video screens and watched the semifinal and final battles, screaming and cheering right along with the fans inside. In the stands, fans performing a call and response of Naughty By Nature’s “Hip Hop Hooray,” has replaced the traditional wave.

When the final two B-Boys were announced, fans seated on the floor stageside waved Canadian and French flags and giant cutouts of B-Boy Dany Dann’s head with his hair blond instead of the bright blue he dyed it for the Games.

The final battle did not disappoint. When it ended, B-Boy Phil Wizard and B-Boy Danny Dann — Danis Civil when he’s not breaking — put their arms around each other and walked to the front of the stage, where they received a standing ovation. — Alyssa Roenigk

4:12 p.m. ET — Team USA leads France at halftime

Team USA holds a 49-41 lead over France in the men’s basketball gold medal game. The first half saw 10 lead changes. Victor Wembanyama and Guerschon Yabusele combined for 28 of France’s 41 points.

3:39 p.m. ET — USA-France off to hot start in men’s hoops’ gold medal final

A signature block by James led to a 3-pointer by Durant. Shortly after, James dished an impressive behind-the-back dime to Devin Booker.

3:05 p.m. ET — Women’s 4×400 relay team dominates in final

The 4×400 team of Shamier Little, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Gabby Thomas and Alexis Holmes made American Olympic history by posting a U.S.-record time of 3:15.27. It is 0.10 of a second off the world and Olympic record. On the second leg, McLaughlin-Levrone’s race-leading 47.70-second sprint gave the Americans a comfortable lead that they never relinquished.

3:05 p.m. ET — Men’s 4×400 relay team goes for gold

Rai Benjamin’s impressive stretch continued as he served as the anchor leg for the men’s 4×400 relay team’s gold medal race. Chris Bailey, Vernon Norwood and Bryce Deadmon will join Benjamin atop the podium after their Olympic-record time of 2:54.43.

1:57 p.m. ET — Masai Russell secures gold in the 100-meter hurdles

In the men’s 100-meter dash, it was Noah Lyles. American hurdler Masai Russell repeated almost the same order of events in the women’s 100-meter hurdles final, where her photo finish proved her victory. Though Russell faded a bit early to Puerto Rico’s Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, Russell didn’t lose sight of her technique and gave a mean lean across the finish line to run .01 seconds better than France’s Cyréna Samba-Mayela with a time of 12.33 seconds.

1:20 p.m. ET — U.S. women’s soccer back on top

There were a few moments of stress down the stretch for the USWNT, but with help from a highlight-reel save from Alyssa Naeher and more, the U.S. pulled out its first triumph in the gold medal game in 12 years.

Emma Hayes becomes the second USWNT coach in history to win a major tournament within 365 days of being hired (Pia Sundhage being the other), per ESPN Stats & Info. Hayes was named as coach in November.

12:32 p.m. ET — The USWNT breaks through

After nearly 60 minutes of scoreless play, Mallory Swanson has broken the deadlock in the gold medal match for the U.S. women’s national soccer team.

Latching onto a through ball, Swanson kept her cool to slot the ball into the far bottom corner. The U.S. now looks to be 30 minutes away from its first gold medal since the 2012 London Games.

12:13 p.m. ET — Lydia Ko goes for gold to complete medal trifecta

Silver in Rio. Bronze in Tokyo. And now gold in Paris for Lydia Ko.

Ko’s achievement was extra sweet for her — in addition to earning her first Olympic gold medal, she also clinched the points necessary for induction into the LPGA Hall of Fame. A pair of stellar middle rounds of the four-round event powered Ko to victory, as she shot 5 under par in Round 2 and 4 under in Round 3.

10:51 a.m. ET — Wanda Durant is the real MVP in Paris, too

Kevin Durant‘s 2014 NBA Most Valuable Player honor hits a bit different for his mother, Wanda Durant, in 2024. Kevin began playing basketball when he was 7 years old, according to Wanda, and he is now preparing to play in one of the biggest games of his career as Team USA takes on France for a gold medal. Wanda depicts what it has been like to see Kevin grow as a player and a person, and details her experience of watching Kevin compete in Paris. — READ MORE

10:39 a.m. ET — USWNT is in the house for gold medal match

The United States women’s national soccer team has traditionally dominated in Olympic play. The U.S. has captured four of the seven gold medals that have been awarded in the sport’s Olympic history. Prior to the 2020 Games, the USWNT had never gone back-to-back Games without a gold medal. It took bronze in Tokyo, and is now looking to reclaim its throne in Paris. To do just that, the Americans will need to get past Brazil, which is searching for its first-ever gold medal. The contest is a rematch of the gold medal games at the 2004 and 2008 Games, both of which were won by the U.S.

10:28 a.m. ET — France takes down Poland for men’s volleyball gold

French men’s volleyball is feeling golden on home soil. With its win over Poland, France became the first nation to win back-to-back gold medals in men’s volleyball since the United States achieved the feat at the 1988 Games.

France took the decisive match in straight sets, winning 25-19, 25-20, 25-23. Jean Patry led the way for the French, amassing a match-high 17 points.

9:07 a.m. ET — History for Brooke Raboutou

Brooke Raboutou, 23, achieved something that’s becoming increasingly rare in American Olympic sports history: a first.

Prior to Saturday, no American woman had ever medaled in climbing at the Olympics. Raboutou etched her name in history by capturing silver honors in the boulder and lead final, amassing a final tally of 156 points.

7:46 a.m. ET — Jokic triple-double powers Serbia to bronze

After a one-Games hiatus away from medaling at the 2020 Olympics, Serbia men’s basketball is back on the podium.

Serbia showed little signs of remorse from Team USA’s 17-point comeback on Thursday, pacing their way past Germany 93-83 at Bercy Arena. Star center Nikola Jokic led the way — posting 19 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists for his fifth triple-double in six Olympic matches.

7:19 a.m. ET — Nelly Korda opens up hot in final round

It’s never a good idea to count out the world No. 1. Korda entered the day’s action tied for seventh place at 4-under par, but she’s found a groove early in the decisive fourth round.

Korda fired consecutive birdies on Holes 2 and 3, and she seems to be positioning herself for a medal push as the leaders are all underway at Le Golf National.

6:47 a.m. ET — Carmelo Anthony returns to watch Serbia/Germany

Before Team USA rallied in their men’s basketball semifinal clash, Serbia appeared to troll Anthony by mimicking his famed “three to the dome” celebration. Anthony would get the last laugh when Team USA’s 32-point fourth quarter brought them to victory, but it seems his interest in Serbia’s performances weren’t done.

Anthony made his way to Bercy Arena for Serbia’s bronze medal match against Germany. Serbia currently leads the contest 85-74 with five minutes remaining.

6:23 a.m. ET — Netherlands storm back to seal women’s water polo bronze

Late in the third quarter, the Dutch’s women’s water polo medal hopes appeared to be in dire straits. Team USA possessed an assertive 9-5 lead.

But the Netherlands rallied, unleashing a 6-1 run to end the game. The Dutch ended on a run of four unanswered goals, including Sabrina van der Sloot’s winner with just one second remaining on the clock. The late comeback stamps the first Olympics since women’s water polo debuted as a sport that the U.S. squad will not medal.


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