November 21, 2024
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2024 Olympics: Katie Ledecky makes history with gold in 800m freestyle

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Two of Team USA’s biggest names competed again in Paris on Saturday — Simone Biles and Katie Ledecky — while the U.S. women’s soccer team survived in a key quarterfinal match.

Biles — who already won the individual all-around and team all-around final — earned her record-extending seventh Olympic gold medal in the women’s vault.

Ledecky won gold in the women’s 800m freestyle, her ninth gold medal and 14th Olympic medal overall. Ledecky joins Michael Phelps as the only swimmer (man or woman) to win the same event at four straight Games, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

The U.S. women’s soccer team faced Japan in the quarterfinals and stayed alive for a shot at its first gold medal since 2012. A goal from Trinity Rodman in the 106th minute put the U.S. ahead for a 1-0 win and semifinal berth.

On the track, Sha’Carri Richardson won silver in the women’s 100m final, earning her first Olympic medal. Noah Lyles made his Paris debut in the men’s 100m preliminary round, finishing second and advancing to Sunday’s semifinals.

The U.S. men’s basketball team also returned to action with a matchup against Puerto Rico. Team USA was led by 26 points from Anthony Edwards in a comfortable 104-83 win that clinched them the No. 1 seed in the quarterfinals.

Here are Saturday’s top moments.

4:18 p.m. ET — U.S. takes gold in 4x100m mixed relay with world record

The night at La Defense Arena ended in thrilling fashion with the American mixed medley relay team holding off China and the rest of the field for the gold medal, while setting a new world record time of 3:37.43.

The team — consisting of Ryan Murphy, Nic Fink, Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske, and swimming in that order — began celebrating as soon as Huske touched the wall, then jumped up and down and had a group hug once the world record was announced.

It was the sixth swimming gold for the United States during these Games, trailing only Australia’s seven.

China earned the silver medal in the relay and Australia took the bronze. France, which included four-time gold medalist Leon Marchand swimming the breaststroke leg, finished in fourth.

There is just one day of swimming at the Games remaining and only four more medal races to go — including the always-memorable men’s and women’s 4x100m medley relays. — D’Arcy Maine

3:42 p.m. ET — Ledecky makes Olympic history with 800m free gold

Katie Ledecky closed out her 2024 Olympics with a historic night at La Defense Arena.

Competing in her marquee event, the 800m freestyle, the three-time reigning Olympic champion won with a 8:11.04 finish. With the win, Ledecky claimed the ninth gold medal of her career — more than any other American woman in history. She is tied with former Soviet Union gymnast Larisa Latynina for the most gold medals won by any woman in any sport, from any country, in Olympic history.

And, the gold medal mark is good enough for second-most all time, trailing only Michael Phelps.

Ledecky, 27, became just the sixth athlete in history — joining only Phelps in the pool — to win gold in the same event four consecutive times. When Ledecky, who owned the top 29 times in the 800m record book entering the race, climbed out of the pool after the victory, she stood on the pool deck and waved to the crowd. A “U-S-A” chant soon followed.

Ariarne Titmus, who won gold in the 400m freestyle and has been Ledecky’s closest rival, kept things interesting for the first 600 meters before Ledecky started to pull away.

During the final lap, most of the fans were on their feet — and the cheering reached a fever pitch for the final length of the pool. Ledecky exchanged congratulatory hugs in the pool with Titmus, who finished in second, and American Paige Madden, who earned the bronze.

Ledecky, Titmus, Summer McIntosh and Leon Marchand are now the only athletes to have won four medals at the 2024 Games. — D’Arcy Maine

3:29 p.m. ET — Summer McIntosh wins third gold, U.S. wins silver in 200m IM

Two final races down and Canada has already claimed three medals at La Defense Arena.

Teenage phenom Summer McIntosh won her third gold — and fourth medal — of the week with a comeback performance in the 200m individual medley. Battling for the lead throughout the race with Americans Kate Douglass and Alex Walsh, McIntosh surged late to get the victory and an Olympic record time of 2:06.56.

Douglass earned the silver medal and Walsh, the silver medalist in the race in Tokyo, finished in third but was disqualified for an illegal turn during the race. Australia’s Kaylee McKeown ultimately won the bronze.

McIntosh, 17, is the first Canadian to win three individual gold medals in a single Summer Olympics.

In the first race of the night — the men’s 100m butterfly — Hungary’s Kristof Milak won his second medal of the week and second career gold after rallying for a blistering 49.90. He had won silver in Tokyo in the race.

But, as teased, it was Canada that really surprised in the race. Having a medal drought in the event since 1972, the country saw Joshua Liendo take silver and Ilya Kharun earn bronze. It was Liendo’s first Olympic medal, and Kharun’s second, having taken home the bronze in the 200m butterfly earlier this week. The sizable contingent of Canadian fans — many waving flags — let their excitement be known as soon as the final results were confirmed on the videoboard.

American Caeleb Dressel, the defending champion in the event and the reigning world and Olympic record-holder, failed to advance to Saturday night’s final during the semifinals on Friday. No Americans made the final.

And the excitement hasn’t been limited just to the medal races. During the second semifinal of the women’s 50m freestyle, Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom broke the Olympic record a 23.66. After finishing first in her qualifying heat earlier in the day, Sjostrom, who also owns the world record, said she thought she had a chance of having an Olympic-best time.

“For the 50, I usually need a few races before I really get the extra little speed, [but] I definitely think I will be a little bit faster as I go through,” she said.

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Up next? Katie Ledecky and the 800m freestyle. Will more history be made? Probably, but stay tuned. — D’Arcy Maine

3:24 p.m. ET — Richardson grabs silver in women’s 100m final

In her first Olympic final, Team USA’s Sha’Carri Richardson grabbed silver in the women’s 100m final, running a 10:87. Her teammate, Melissa Jefferson, added a bronze, while Saint Lucia’s Julien Alfred won gold.

3:10 p.m. ET — U.S. wins silver in 4×400 mixed relay

After setting a world record in the semifinals, the U.S. came up just short of a gold medal in the 4×400 mixed relay on Saturday.

Team USA was in the lead in the final leg, but Netherlands’ Femke Bol stormed back with a 47.93s anchor leg.

3:06 p.m. ET — Ryan Crouser makes shot put history

As a shot put thrower, Ryan Crouser is far from a household name in the States.

But perhaps it’s time he should be.

In the crowning moment of his career, the 31-year-old claimed his third consecutive Olympic gold medal Saturday night at the Stade de France, becoming the first shot putter to ever accomplish the feat.

Crouser earned the gold with a season’s-best 22.90-meter throw on his third attempt. Fellow American Joe Kovacs joined him on the medal stand, claiming silver with a 22.15 throw.

Along with grabbing gold in Paris, Crouser did the same at the Games in Tokyo and Rio.

This latest gold-medal performance came amid one of the toughest stretches of pre-Olympics training of Crouser’s career. Back in April, he required elbow surgery around the same time he tore a pectoral muscle in his chest.

Because of his injuries and their rehab, he didn’t throw competitively between March and late June. His first post-injury throws came at U.S. trials, when he won gold with a throw of 22.84 meters that qualified him for Paris. — Coley Harvey

2:30 p.m. ET — Celebs take in track and field

2:09 p.m. ET — Richardson advances to 100m final

Sha’Carri Richardson raced to a second place finish in the 100m semifinal, qualifying for the final that takes place later on Saturday. Richardson ran a 10.89 to make her first Olympic final.

2:01 p.m. ET — Biles says she’s done with the Yurchenko double pike … but maybe not gymnastics

After winning another gold on vault on Saturday, Biles said she was officially retiring her iconic Biles II vault, but did not rule out another Olympics.

“Definitely [done with] the Yurchenko double pike,” Biles said when asked if she’d competed in her last vault competition. “I kinda nailed that one. Never say never, though. The next Olympics is at home, so you just never know. But I am getting really old.”

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0:42

Will Simone Biles compete at LA 2028? ‘Never say never!’

Simone Biles looks to the future after a dominant vaulting display secured her third gold medal of Paris 2024.

1:09 p.m. ET — Anthony Edwards flushes home windmill in Team USA win

Anthony Edwards was on fire for Team USA in the 104-83 win over Puerto Rico, amassing a game-high 26 points to go with three rebounds and three assists.

None of his buckets were as emphatic as his dunk to open up fourth quarter, though. The Minnesota Timberwolves star opted for some style points on the breakaway finish, adding a windmill windup to his slam after stealing an errant pass. — READ MORE

1:03 p.m. ET — Boxer Imane Khelif clinches medal

Algeria’s Imane Khelif defeated Hungary’s Anna Luca Hamori 5:0 in the quarterfinals of the women’s 66kg bout. Khelif’s win clinches at least a bronze medal. It comes days after the boxer faced international scrutiny after the International Boxing Association claimed Khelif failed an unspecified eligibility test for women’s competition last year. — READ MORE

12:38 p.m. ET — U.S. men’s basketball rolling against Puerto Rico

Team USA dealt with a slow start and found themselves trailing Puerto Rico 29-24 come the end of the first quarter. The squad found a spark to the tune of a 39-point second quarter, though, and have now expanded their lead to 28 points at the end of the third. Anthony Edwards has a team-high 17 points, on a 7-of-9 shooting day from the field.

12:29 p.m. ET — Qinwen Zheng wins China’s first gold in tennis singles

China’s 21-year-old Qinwen Zheng won the gold medal in the single women’s tennis tournament after defeating Croatia’s Donna Vekic (6-2, 6-3) on Saturday. After Zheng’s final point, she slid onto her back and laid on the clay looking up to the sky. After the handshake, she blew kisses to the crowd, which was filled with fans waving Chinese flags. No Chinese man or woman has ever won Olympic gold in tennis singles.

Both women had incredible tournaments of upsets. In the semifinals, Zheng beat world No. 1 Iga Swiatek, who was riding a 25-match win streak at Roland Garros. Swiatek went on to win the bronze. Meanwhile. Vekic knocked out world No. 2 Coco Gauff. In the end, Zheng was the final woman in the Top 10 standing. Zheng had a ton of support in the crowd on Saturday, and is playing with serious confidence. Zheng hasn’t won a major yet, but has been building a case this year as one of the next big names in the sport. — Emily Kaplan

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12:24 p.m. ET — Nedoroscik wins bronze on pommel horse

Stephen Nedoroscik, who rose to viral fame earlier this week by helping the U.S. team win its first bronze since 2008, also earned the only individual medal for the U.S. men with a bronze on pommel horse Saturday. He scored a 15.300, one-tenth of a point higher than his score in qualifying.

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Ireland’s Rhys McClenaghan took first with a 15.533 and Kazakhstan’s Nariman Kurbanov was second with a 15.433. — READ MORE

11:48 a.m. — Biles wins gold on vault, with Carey in bronze

Simone Biles added to her record-setting medal haul Saturday, earning gold in the vault final by .344 over Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade, who earned silver. Jade Carey earned bronze. This is Biles’ seventh Olympic gold and Carey’s second individual Olympic medal.

Biles won the vault, floor and all-around titles in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and is now two-thirds of the way to doing the same here in Paris, where she also has an opportunity to add a balance beam title to her haul.

Carey, who made the Tokyo vault final and was a medal favorite before tripping on the runway on her Cheng, wanted redemption on Saturday. She was the final competitor of the meet and needed greater than a 14.216 for bronze. She earned a 14.433 during qualifying, so a medal was within her reach.

There were no mistakes or missteps this time. She landed one of the best Chengs of the competition — redemption complete! — and then stuck a double twisting Yurchenko. When her combined score of 14.466 appeared, she and Biles celebrated together, hugging and jumping up and down.

Biles was the fourth athlete to compete and opened with the Yurchenko double pike, otherwise known as the Biles II — the most difficult vault in women’s gymnastics. Her form was exquisite, and she took only a small hop back on the landing.

During warmup, Biles launched the YDP so high, she over-rotated the skill to her back and her coach, Laurent Landi, motioned for her to dial back her power. She listened and earned a massive 15.700 for her first effort. On her second, she launched a beautiful Cheng, traveling so far, she landed near the back of the landing mat. She took another small hop back and scored a 14.800. Her combined score of 15.300 put gold out of reach for the rest of the field. — Alyssa Roenigk

11:27 a.m. ET — Trinity Rodman goes top bins to give USWNT the lead

22-year-old Trinity Rodman’s third goal of the Olympics was a stunner, and it couldn’t have come at a better time for the United States. Cutting inside after receiving a diagonal ball, Rodman opted to go for goal rather than play a pass. Her choice proved to be a wise one, as her shot arced into the far corner of the net, beating Japanese goalkeeper Ayaka Yamashita. The goal gave the USWNT a precious 1-0 extra-time lead, as the team continues their quest for their first gold medal since the 2012 London games.

11:09 a.m. ET — Biles nails her signature move

Though she fell in a warmup vault, Simone Biles didn’t let it get to her head. Her Yurchenko double pike “Biles II” was a thing of beauty, and she looks like she’s still the favorite to win gold in the women’s vault.

11:01 a.m. ET — Extra time for the USWNT

Team USA and Japan are locked in a tense quarterfinal matchup in women’s soccer. Lots of shots through two halves, but zero goals, and the two teams head into extra time.

10:54 a.m. ET — Yulo earns Philippines’ second-ever Olympic gold

The Philippines waited almost 100 years for its first Olympic gold medal before Hidilyn Diaz became a weightlifting champion in Tokyo. They didn’t have to wait too long for their second.

Gymnast Carlos Yulo won gold in the men’s floor event in Paris, performing an impeccable routine, the highlight of which was a 3½-twist dismount. Now the Philippines can celebrate being Olympic champions once again. — Connor O’Halloran

10:52 a.m. ET — Khelif fights again amid controversy

The women’s boxing tournament in Paris captured headlines Thursday when Algerian Imane Khelif advanced to the quarterfinals after her opponent, Italian Angela Carini, withdrew after a strike to the face. A social media firestorm followed the bout, with a number of celebrities and pundits decrying the inclusion of Khelif, referring to her as a “biological male” and, in some cases, as a “man.”

Khelif, 25, had been disqualified from the IBA World Championships in 2023 because of a failed gender verification test. The IOC, however, characterized IBA’s decision as “sudden and arbitrary.” Khelif, who was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the 2020 Olympics, has a 37-9 career record. One of those defeats came to Ireland’s Amy Broadhurst, who spoke out in support of Khelif on social media.

“Personally I don’t think she has done anything to ‘cheat’,” Broadhurst posted on X shortly before Khelif defeated Carini at the Olympics. “I thinks it’s the way she was born & that’s out of her control. The fact that she has been [beaten] by 9 females before says it all.”

For more on Khelif (who fights again today) and the decisions regarding her inclusion in the Games, Katie Barnes has a full breakdown. — READ MORE

10:32 a.m. ET — Fritz, Paul secure doubles bronze

Moments after Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek left the court after falling to Matthew Ebden and John Peers, their American teammates Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul did what they could to join them on the podium.

And they needed just 70 minutes to do it.

Facing Tomas Machac and Adam Pavlasek, longtime friends Fritz and Paul cruised to a 6-3, 6-4 victory. Their win marked the first occasion since tennis was reintroduced in 1988 — and the first time since 1904 — that multiple American pairs won a medal in men’s doubles.

On Friday, Fritz and Paul had been eliminated from gold medal contention by Ebden and Peers in the semifinals but Fritz said they were determined to regroup for Saturday and had a new goal to play for.

“It sucks to lose, it hurts, we wanted to win a gold medal,” Fritz said. “But it’s going to hurt a lot more if we spend too long thinking about that and then leave here with absolutely nothing.” — D’Arcy Maine

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10:11 a.m. ET — Unlikely hero Ebden helps Australia to gold in men’s tennis doubles

Matthew Ebden’s Olympic debut started with a 6-0, 6-1 loss to Novak Djokovic.

After he walked off the court last Saturday after just 53 minutes, few could picture the 36-year-old Australian leaving Paris with a gold medal a week later.

But Ebden believed.

He knew how lopsided the match had been, but simply wasn’t fazed. It had been his first singles match in two years after switching to become a doubles specialist and he played only because of a quirk in Olympic rules about doubles players getting tapped to replace singles players in the event of a withdrawal.

Lleyton Hewitt, the captain of the Australian team, didn’t even want him to do it. When Ebden told him he thought playing the 24-time major champion on Court Philippe-Chatrier sounded like the perfect official retirement to his singles career, a reluctant Hewitt made him promise he wouldn’t get injured.

So the rout wasn’t exactly a surprise — and it made Ebden more committed to his goal of winning an Olympic medal in doubles.

“I did come off that singles match, fully focused on the doubles,” Ebden said Saturday. “That [match against Djokovic] was a nice little miracle that happened to say goodbye to my singles career. But then, yeah, we knew that was just preparation and [I] got to hit some balls out there for the next day, which [was when] we started the doubles. It’s been great ever since.”

Since then, Ebden and his partner John Peers have won five matches including Saturday’s gold medal match, again on Court Philippe-Chatrier. Fueled by frequent “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie” chants, Ebden and Peers rallied back to defeat Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram of the United States in a hard-fought match tiebreak 6-7 (6), 7-6 (1), 10-8 to claim both of their first gold medals and just the second-ever Olympic gold for Australia in tennis.

Before receiving his medal, Ebden said it hadn’t fully sunk in yet but called the accomplishment “more than a dream.” And while he knew he and Peers had been capable of doing it, and said he believed all week they could ultimately stand atop the podium, even he was struck by how his week began and how it ended.

“Last night I did think about it [and] I was actually dreaming of an Instagram post, like ‘How it started, how it’s going,'” Ebden said. “I was thinking of my score eight days ago, winning one game and then I was thinking swipe right and there’s a gold medal photo. Maybe I’ll have to make that post at some point. But yeah, it’s trippy.” — D’Arcy Maine

8:24 a.m. ET — A star-studded semifinal heat in the women’s 100M

Between two of the top young names in track and field and a legend competing in her fifth games, the field for one of Saturday’s semifinal heats in the women’s 100M is loaded with talent.

Sha’Carri Richardson, 24, is searching for her first Olympic medal after missing out on the 2020 Tokyo games. Julien Alfred, 23, is just behind her with similar aspirations. And then there’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who competed in her first Olympics at Beijing 2008 when Richardson and Alfred were 8 and 7, respectively. Fraser-Pryce boasts eight career Olympic medals — including three golds — and has finished on the podium in the 100-meters in four of her five Olympic outings.

7:29 a.m. ET — Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s dominance, broken down

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s star has risen higher with each Olympics she has competed in. First she was the youngest athlete to compete at the Games for Team USA in track and field in over 40 years when she made her debut in 2016 at age 17. In 2020 she won two gold medals, setting records in the process. Now, she’s back to defend her crown. McLaughlin-Levrone’s excellence is a convincing mix of athletic IQ and raw speed. — READ MORE

7:08 a.m. ET — A major accomplishment for Team USA in men’s eight rowing

For three consecutive summer Games, the U.S. was unable to get out of fourth place in men’s eight rowing. On Saturday, the squad finally got back on the podium for the first time since 2008, taking the bronze medal. In securing third place in the final they nudged past Germany, which had made the podium each of the past three Games.

6:42 a.m. ET — Noah Lyles takes second in opening heat

Noah Lyles’ Olympic Games have officially begun, and with a little less dazzle than anticipated.

The American sprinter came in second place in his opening 100-meter heat at the Stade de France. His 10.04-second time was outpaced by the heat’s leader, Louie Hinchcliffe of Great Britain. Hinchcliffe ran in 9.98 seconds.

Even with the second-place finish, Lyles qualifies for Saturday night’s semifinal.

Lyles, who is expected to compete for a medal in the event, didn’t pull off the dominant early-round victory that had been expected. He was running in the middle of the pack for much of the race, until bursting forward for the last 30 meters.

Lyles said he wasn’t expecting the other runners to push the pace so quickly in the early round, but that he’ll avoid making that mistake again. — Coley Harvey

6:31 a.m. ET — U.S. swimming’s struggles continue

Team USA leads all nations in total swimming medal count, but boasts only four gold medals. The U.S. is on pace to finish second — or worse — in the final gold medal tally for the first time since the 1988 Games. The squad’s frustrations continued into Saturday morning, as Simone Manuel failed to qualify for the 50M freestyle semifinals, finishing in 18th place in her heat. Manuel had taken home silver at the event at the 2016 Rio games.

Manuel isn’t the only high-profile American swimmer to struggle. Caeleb Dressel, who left Tokyo in 2021 with three individual gold medals, has been unable to defend any of those crowns in Paris.



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