PinnedAthletics Heating Up: Team USA sprinters Gabby Thomas, Brittany Brown, McKenzie Long, Kenny Badnarek, and Noah Lyles advanced in their respective 200-meter race events, coming out on top of their heats Monday. Kenneth Rooks was the only one of four American athletes who qualified for the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
Cycling Record: Great Britain broke the women's team track cycling world record and set the first Olympic record with a time of 45.472.
On Her Terms: Simone Biles missed the podium on balance beams after a fall and took the silver on the floor exercise with a calf injury, but told media she was not disappointed with her Paris Olympics. Biles, 27, has redefined the sport, performing above the level of her last Olympics and taking gold in the all-around event, where the past 12 champions were teenagers. Her comeback has truly been, as she said it would be, on her terms.
Olympic gold medalist Zac Stubblety-Cook raised concerns about the inconsistent application of anti-doping rules following revelations of multiple positive drug tests among Chinese swimmers.
"We all have to conform to the same rules, right? So it's just very conflicting with what we have to do versus what happened," the swimmer told Reuters on Monday.
Team USA's Valarie Allman defended her gold medal in the women's discus throw with a distance of 69.50.
China took the bronze and Croatia silver.
After a defeat by Team Spain, the USA women’s 3x3 basketball team won their match against Canada and took the bronze medal.
Team USA’s Gabby Thomas and Brittany Brown locked in first-place finishes in their respective heats of the women’s 200 meters. McKenzie Long, finishing third in her heat, also advanced.
Thomas finished with a time of 21.86 seconds, Brown 22.12, and Long 22.30.
American sprinter Kenny Bednarek qualified for the next round in the race with a time of 19.96, the fastest of the day so far.
Competing in the fourth heat, Bednarek sealed his spot alongside Dominican Republic’s Alexander Ogadno and Germany’s Joshua Hartmann, who finished second and third respectively.
Kenneth Rooks will be the sole American representative in the 3,000-meter steeplechase final after a strategic performance in the qualifying round. In a second heat characterized by a slower pace, Rooks displayed tactical awareness, settling into third position before making a surge to lock in second place behind Ethiopian Lemecha Girma.
Kenya’s Simone Koech took the third qualifying spot, while Tunisia’s Mohamad Amin Jhinaoui secured the fourth and final automatic qualifier. Canada’s Jean-Simon Desgagnes rounded out the top five.
Spain continued its impressive run in men’s soccer this summer.
One month after winning the Euro 2024, the Spaniards will play for a gold medal in the 2024 Paris Olympics after a 2–1 victory over Morocco in the semifinals on Aug. 5.
After trailing 1–0, Spain tied the game with a goal by midfielder Fermin Lopez in the 65th minute. Then, substitute defender Juanlu Sanchez took a deft pass from Lopez, beat his defender, and scored the game-winner from inside the penalty area in the 84th minute.
In an upset, Canada eliminated the USA from women’s beach volleyball with a straight-set victory in the round of 16. The match was a closely contested battle, with both teams fighting for every point.
Canada prevailed with scores of 21-19 and 21-18. Despite trailing by five points in the first set, the Canadians moved ahead to secure the win. In the second set, the United States fought back to tie the score at 18 before Canada closed out the match with three consecutive points.
In a heart-stopping overtime finish, Spain stunned the defending United States to capture a gold medal in women’s 3x3 basketball. The game was tied at 16 after regulation.
Sandra Ygueravide proved to be Spain’s hero, sinking a free throw with seconds remaining to bring the score to 18-16. The United States had a chance to win on Rhyne Howard’s jumper, but it rimmed out, opening the door for Ygueravide to drive and draw a foul from Dearica Hamby. With the United States out of fouls, Ygueravide converted the free throw to seal the win and deny the Americans a chance at gold.
The British women’s track cycling team shattered the world record in the team event. The trio clocked in at 45.472 seconds, eclipsing the previous benchmark of 45.487 seconds held by China.
The performance not only set a new world record but also established the first-ever Olympic record for the event, which recently transitioned from a two-rider to a three-rider format.
Andy Benesh and Miles Partain won their beach volleyball match against Italy, advancing to the quarterfinals where they will play the winner of the Qatar-Chile match on Wednesday.
Team USA had trained with Team Italy ahead of the Games.
New Zealand's Finn Butcher won the gold medal in the men's kayak cross at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium on Monday.
Britain's Joe Clarke took the silver medal, with Noah Hegge picking up the bronze for Germany.
Australia's Noemie Fox won the gold medal in the women's kayak cross, a new Olympic event.
Fox's sister Jessica won gold in the canoe slalom and kayak slalom events earlier before losing out to her sister in the kayak cross heats. That's three gold medals between the two sisters at this Olympics.
The Paris Olympic Games have witnessed several proposals over the last few days.
Gold medal-winning American rower Justin Best proposed to his girlfriend, Lainie Duncan.
Team USA’s Vincent Hancock and Austen Jewell Smith took silver in the skeet shooting mixed event, losing to Team Italy’s Diana Bacosi and Gabriele Rossetti by only one point in the match for the gold.
Hancock won his fourth gold medal in the individual event earlier, and Smith earned bronze in her individual event.
Team USA's Chase Budinger and Miles Evans lost to Norway in two sets in the beach volleyball Round of 16, eliminating them from the competition. Norway’s Berntsen Anders Mol and Christian Sandlie Soerum advance to the quarterfinals.
Team USA still has three beach volleyball duos competing.
Rebeca Andrade of Brazil won the gold medal in the women's gymnastics floor event, marking her sixth Olympic medal. Andrade, who had previously placed narrowly behind Simone Biles in events featuring both athletes, is Latin America's most decorated gymnast.
Biles called it after her own performance.
Both Simone Biles and Suni Lee of Team USA missed the podium in the balance beam event, placing fifth and sixth, respectively, where both athletes had fallen off the beam. They each scored 13.100.
It was a shock for Team USA, which has won a medal in this event every year since 2000.
Germany won the Olympic triathlon mixed relay, which took place as planned in Paris on Monday. The United States secured the silver medal, while Britain took bronze.
Training sessions in the river were canceled on Sunday. Belgium withdrew from the race after one of their athletes, Claire Michel, fell ill, the Belgian Olympic Committee said. Michel had competed in last Wednesday's women's triathlon.
Reigning champions the United States, Canada, Spain, and Germany, are battling for a medal in the women's 3x3 basketball tournament, with the semi-finals and final also scheduled for Monday.
Latvia's Karlis Lasmanis and Nauris Miezis, who secured a direct spot in the last four, will be looking to retain their Olympic title in the men's competition.
The first-ever medals in kayak cross will be handed out at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium, with the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and finals all taking place on Monday.
Simone Biles could join an elite club of the greatest female Olympians as she goes for titles eight and nine in the balance beam and floor exercise finals on the last day of artistic gymnastics competition at the Paris Games on Monday.
The American phenom, who won team, all-around, and vault golds in Paris, is the favorite on floor but not a shoo-in on beam, the apparatus on which a mere centimeter of misjudgment can separate a medalist from last place.
Ironman Bobby Finke and the U.S. women's medley relay team shattered world records in golden performances as the Olympic swim meet ended in exhilarating fashion on Sunday, with the Americans on top again.
On the track, American Noah Lyles won the closest-ever Olympic 100-meter final by five-thousandths of a second, giving the United States the title for the first time in 20 years.
Novak Djokovic claimed his first, and potentially last, Olympic gold for Serbia, beating Spain's Carlos Alcaraz 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2) in an enthralling and evenly matched men’s tennis singles final at the Paris Games.
