Olympic women’s wrestling gold medalist Amit Elor is set to be honored in a parade in Walnut Creek on Saturday for her performance at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The parade was made possible after an online community push urging the city to recognize her accomplishments. The city initially rejected the idea but changed its tune after massive pushback.
“That didn’t sit well with me,” said Adam Low, who initially reached out to the city. “[I] posted in some groups [and it] gained a little movement.”
The 20-year-old Walnut Creek native became the youngest American wrestler to win an Olympic gold medal.
Elor took down Kyrgyzstan’s Meerim Zhumanazarova 3-0 in the women’s freestyle 68kg final at the Paris Olympics.
Elor’s dominance was very real to her opponents. She had a 31-2 advantage over four matches and was not scored upon in her final three contests.
She became the third American woman to win gold, following Helen Maroulis in 2016 and Tamyra Mensah-Stock in 2021. Women started wrestling at the Olympics in 2004.
After the win, she draped the U.S. flag over her back and skipped around the mat.
“It was one of the best moments in my life,” she said at the time. “I think I’m going to remember it for my entire life. It’s one of the best feelings in the world. And when I experience something like that, it just reminds me that everything is worth it. All the hard days, the grind, it’s all worth it for moments like these.”
Amit will now be in the city limelight as an official celebration occurs at Civic Park.
Elor will hold a question-and-answer session and take photos with residents.
Mayor Pro Tempore Cindy Darling said the celebration will amplify the message Elor made in Paris.
‘Amit has a strong message about women in what are often considered non-traditional sports for women,’ Darling said in a statement. “She has been wrestling since the age of 4 and now, at only 20, has brought home the gold. In Walnut Creek, we want everyone to have that same drive.’
Elor’s brother Orry said he is excited about Saturday’s celebration because it will give his sister the much-deserved recognition she’s earned.
Orry said he and Elor would play at Civic Park as kids, making the event more memorable.
“I was”more proud of not just the accomplishment but more for Amit,” Orry said.
Snoop Dogg was the most visible American public figure during the 2024 Olympics and he may have earned a whopping $9M for the fun he had in Paris.
Now that the 2024 Olympics are over, the road to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics has begun where Snoop Dogg will likely return to be the unofficial Team USA mascot.
During this year’s events, Snoop Dogg was visibly present and even carried the Olympic torch into Paris ahead of the Opening Ceremony. From what we saw, Snoop deserved a gold medal for his time in the City of Light where he closed things out with Dr. Dre for the handover to LA ’28 as part of the Closing Ceremony.
During the Olympics, a rumor surfaced Snoop was banking $500K a day to participate, and on Friday, Snoop seemingly hinted that he made a whopping $9 million overall for his Olympic side quests.
On Instagram, Snoop reposted a creator who broke down his possible earnings.
“This is the main star of the Paris Olympics. Snoop Dogg, a top rapper, gets over $40M rubles daily for his presence at the Paris Olympic Games,” the video says. “Snoop also lives and parties in Paris for free, all to bring more attention to the Olympics. Almost every top broadcast features Snoop, he attends all major Olympic events. For 17 Olympic days, he’ll earn nearly $9 million.”
Snoop didn’t comment on the video but his reposting of it has fans convinced that it’s true.
While $9M is a hefty price tag, it was well worth it and hopefully NBC execs will pay him that much again for the 2028 games.
You can watch the breakdown Snoop Dogg shared on Instagram below.
The countdown to the 2028 LA Olympics has been kicked off!
The 2024 Paris Olympics may now be officially over, but they sure went out with a bang! H.E.R. kicked off the West Coast vibe with a performance of the national anthem, before Tom Cruise literally LEAPT into action from the top of the Olympics venue in Paris! From there, he went on a cross country mission to pass the baton to the 2028 games in LA, where Billie Eilish, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers were waiting to perform! SO California!!!
The Red Hot Chili Peppers kicked off the performance with their hit song Can’t Stop, before Billie took center stage to perform her chart-topping song Birds of a Feather! Next, Snoop Dogg lit up the stage with his own song Drop It Like It’s Hot, before he brought out surprise performer Dr. Dre to help him rap their classic hit The Next Episode.
Talk about Californiacation!
That’s a wrap on the Paris Olympics! LA, we’ll see you in four years!
Reactions to their performance, Perezcious readers?? Sound OFF in the comments down below!
Many viewers are unsure about who the “My Way” singer is at the 2024 Paris Olympics closing ceremonies. The event’s final performance revealed a female singer dressed with a large circular hat, wearing diamond, heart-shaped earrings, and dressed from head to toe in a black outfit. She sang Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” live, starting soft and understated in the first half of the song before finishing the last few bars with stunning high notes that came paired with fireworks all along the rim of the Stade de France stadium. Here is more information on who sang “My Way” at the end of the 2024 Olympic Games.
Who sang “My Way” at the 2024 Olympic Games?
Yseult Marie Onguenet is the “My Way” singer at the closing ceremonies. The French singer-songwriter, who goes simply by “Yseult,” came into prominence after finishing near the top of a singing competition.
“My Way” was chosen as the last song of the ceremony since the music track comes from the song “Comme d’habitude” by Jacques Revaux. It connects France with the United States, who will be hosting the 2028 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Born to Cameroonian parents in Tergnier, France in 1994, Yseult became a well-known figure in France after coming in second place in the reality-tv “Nouvelle Star” singing competition, which is a French adaptation of American Idol. She released an album entitled “Yseult” in 2015 with Polydor Records, but has since released three extended plays as an indie artist. In 2021 the singer became an international spokesperson for L’Oréal Paris, and she was one of the featured voices for the 2024 song “Alibi” by Sevdaliza that has more than 63 million hits on YouTube.
The closing ceremonies had many surprising moments, including a vertical piano player, Tom Cruise doing a jumping stunt, and a performance on the Los Angeles beach that featured Red Hot Chili Peppers, Billie Eilish, and Snoop Dogg.
(CNN) — The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced on Sunday that the bronze medal given to American gymnast Jordan Chiles in the floor exercise at the Paris Games will be awarded to her Romanian counterpart Ana Bărbosu.
It comes after a Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruling on Saturday that said that the initial inquiry made by the USA over Chiles’ score in Monday’s gymnastics floor exercise final was filed after the one-minute deadline.
The US is now appealing that decision and USA Gymnastics announced Sunday that it has submitted additional evidence to CAS as part of the effort to have gymnast Chiles’ medal reinstated.
The organization said it has video evidence “conclusively establishing that Head Coach Cecile Landi’s request to file an inquiry was submitted 47 seconds after the publishing of the score, within the 1-minute deadline required by FIG rule.”
“The video footage provided was not available to USA Gymnastics prior to the tribunal’s decision and thus USAG did not have the opportunity to previously submit it.”
The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) said that Chiles’ original score of 13.666 would be reinstated and that Bărbosu’s ranking – with a score of 13.700 – would be improved to third.
And the IOC confirmed that the score change will mean Chiles will be stripped of her bronze and given to Bărbosu.
“Following the CAS decision with regard to the Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Floor Exercise Final and the amendment of the ranking by the International Gymnastics Federation, the IOC will reallocate the bronze medal to Ana Barbosu (Romania),” the IOC said in the statement.
“We are in touch with the NOC of Romania to discuss the reallocation ceremony and with USOPC regarding the return of the bronze medal.”
The US Olympic and Paralympic Committee said Sunday that it would appeal the decision.
“We firmly believe that Jordan rightfully earned the bronze medal, and there were critical errors in both the initial scoring by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) and the subsequent CAS appeal process that need to be addressed,” the statement read.
“The initial error occurred in the scoring by FIG, and the second error was during the CAS appeal process, where the USOPC was not given adequate time or notice to effectively challenge the decision. As a result, we were not properly represented or afforded the opportunity to present our case comprehensively.
“Given these circumstances, we are committed to pursuing an appeal to help Jordan Chiles receive the recognition she deserves. We remain dedicated to supporting her as an Olympic champion and will continue to work diligently to resolve this matter swiftly and fairly.”
The competition on Monday ended in dramatic fashion. Immediately after the competition finished on Monday with Chiles’ routine, Bărbosu thought she had won the bronze medal after posting a score of 13.700.
Chiles had initially posted a score of 13.666 but her coaches successfully challenged the difficulty score which added 0.1 to her score and moved her up to third, behind gold medalist Rebeca Andrade and American Simone Biles.
Their appearance together on the first all-Black Olympics gymnastics podium produced one of the most iconic images of the Games as the Americans bowed down to Andrade.
However, CAS’ ruling that the inquiry submitted on behalf of Chiles “was raised after the conclusion of the one-minute deadline” stipulated in the regulations threw Chiles’ medal into doubt.
Chiles posted on her Instagram story after CAS’ ruling with four breaking hearts emojis and “I am taking this time and removing myself from social media for my mental health thank you.”
The Olympics are revered for their storied legacy, but there is one tradition that isn’t so celebrated – once opulent Olympic venues repeatedly neglected and turned into forgotten relics once the games are over.
“We’ve got the ruins of ancient Olympia in Greece, but now we’ve got the ruins of modern Olympia,” said historian Miles Osgood, a Stanford University lecturer who has been studying the cultural impact of the Olympic games for nearly a decade.
“You have all of these single-use stadiums in the suburbs…that saw a little bit of action for the Olympics and then we’re allowed to crumble.”
An entire aquatics park was left abandoned in Brazil after the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, athlete housing is now nothing more than rundown apartments in Greece following the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, and bobsled tracks – covered in graffiti – lead to nowhere after they were showcased in the 1984 Winter Games in Bosnia.
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The bobsled tracks used in Bosnia’s 1984 Olympic Games are now covered in graffiti and overgrown weeds.
Venues at Paris Summer Games resemble Olympic roots
Paris has noticeably tried to return to the glory days of the Olympics by hosting the games in the heart of the city, instead of constructing new and permanent facilities in the outskirts of town. The Seine river was used for the swimming portion of the triathlon, while temporary seating helped transform the Eiffel Tower into the world’s most vibrant beach volleyball court. In fact, roughly 95% of the Olympic venues used during the current Paris Games either already existed or were designed to be temporary, according to the Paris 2024 Olympic Organizing Committee.
“Paris 2024 is proving that it’s possible to stage a spectacular, inclusive, and unique games in a more responsible, more sustainable and more useful manner,” said Tania Braga, Head of Olympic Games Impact and Legacy for the International Olympic Committee.
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Temporary seating setup at the base of the Eiffel Tower allowed Paris to create one of the most iconic beach volleyball courts in the world.
LA vows to rely on existing or temporary arenas for 2028 Games
Los Angeles is set to host the next Summer Olympics in 2028 and has already pledged to be the first Olympic Games in modern history to forgo building any permanent venues. Instead, LA will make use of existing facilities like the Lakers’ home arena downtown and the nearby LA Memorial Coliseum.
“The combination of all that allows us to a deliver a games that’s not about construction projects,” said Casey Wasserman, chair of the LA28 planning committee, who made the comments in a promotional video released by his group.
“It’s about embracing the community, embracing the city, welcoming the world into our existing facilities, into our existing infrastructure, and doing it in the most innovative and dynamic way we can do it.”
Los Angeles followed a similar mantra the last time it hosted the Summer Games in 1984, which many experts still consider the only modern Olympics that was profitable.
While building less certainly brings environmental benefits, the decision for cities to use what they already have is largely about cost. The Olympics are notorious for running overbudget by billions of dollars. On average, Olympic host cities pay 159% more than what was originally budgeted, according to researchers at the University of Oxford.
In fact, Budapest, Hamburg, and Rome all pulled out as potential host cities for the current games because of budget concerns, leaving just Paris and Los Angeles.
The International Olympic Committee then took the unusual step of simultaneously offering Paris the 2024 Games and LA the host spot for the 2028 games – essentially skipping the selection process for the next Summer Olympics amid concerns the IOC would struggle to find a willing host.
Historian Miles Osgood says the best way to recruit cities in the future is to look to the past.
The founder of the Olympics, Pierre de Coubertin, really cared about the games being beautiful and incorporating arts and culture – a beautiful architectural surrounding and then a beautiful civic surrounding, Osgood said. “So for Paris to bring things back into some of its most iconic spaces and before some of its most iconic landmarks…I think fulfills that esthetic legacy.”
At an expected price tag of nearly $9 billion, the Paris Olympics will likely be one of the cheapest Summer Games in decades. Los Angeles hopes to cut costs even more in 2028 with an estimated budget of roughly $7 billion, but even that figure has already ballooned by about 30 percent from the original budget.
The push for cities to build less, however, could carry unintended consequences of dramatically reducing the number of countries eligible to host the Olympic games in the future.
“It immediately shrinks the group of potential hosts to cities who have already hosted the Olympic Games,” said Alexander Budzier, who has studied the economic impact of the Olympic Games dating back to the 1960 Olympics in Rome.
“It will be very, very unlikely that we will see another city from an emerging economy or…that hasn’t hosted the games already to stage a new edition of the games,” Budzier added.
“On the other hand, you have the Olympic movement, that has the goal and objective and the value to increase sport participation globally.”
Just four seconds may be the reason Jordan Chiles loses her bronze medal in the gymnastics floor exercise final.
The Court of Arbitration of Sport stunned the gymnastics world on Saturday by voiding the inquiry that moved the Olympian into bronze position during Monday’s dramatic final.
In the immediate aftermath of Chiles’ floor routine, earning her a score of 13.666, U.S. coach Cecile Landi submitted an inquiry with the judges over the gymnast’s difficulty level.
CAS ruled that Landi’s appeal came outside of the 1-minute window allowed by the International Gymnastics Federation. How far outside that window did the appeal come? Four seconds.
The decision to reinstate Chiles’ fifth place score would place her behind Romania’s Ana Barbosu and Sabrina Maneca-Voinea. The organization said the federation should determine the final ranking “in accordance with the above decision,” and decide who would get the medal.
USA Gymnastics said in a statement it is “devastated” by the ruling.
“The inquiry into the Difficulty Value of Jordan Chiles’ floor exercise routine was filed in good faith and, we believed, in accordance with FIG rules to ensure accurate scoring,” the organization wrote.
The 23-year-old Chiles became a target on social media in the aftermath of the late switch, with critics asking her to give back the medal or offering racist remarks. Chiles posted on X earlier this week that “it’s funny how people can still never be happy for someone.”
Chiles’ mother, Gina Chiles, called out the critics in a post, writing she was “tired” of the derogatory comments being leveled at Jordan.
“My daughter is a highly decorated Olympian with the biggest heart and a level of sportsmanship that is unmatched,” Gina Chiles posted. “And she’s being called disgusting things.”
Joint Statement from USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee regarding the CAS decision on the women’s floor final:
The United States finished the gymnastics meet of the 2024 Olympics in a strong fashion with Simone Biles winning silver and Jordan Chiles taking home the bronze in the women’s floor exercise final Monday after an inquiry shook up the final standings.
Rapper Travis Scott remained in police custody after his arrest at a Paris hotel following an altercation with a security guard, French prosecutors said Saturday.
A statement from the Paris prosecutor’s office said the custody order for Scott was extended Friday night. It did not provide further details. Police are still investigating.
Scott’s US-based representative and his lawyer did not immediately respond to questions from The Associated Press on the development.
Scott was arrested early Friday after police were called to the Georges V hotel to detain a man “nicknamed Travis Scott for violence against a security guard,” according to the prosecutor’s earlier statement. The hotel security guard had intervened in an altercation between the rapper and his bodyguard.
After Friday’s arrest, a representative of the rapper said they were “in direct communication with the local Parisian authorities to resolve this matter swiftly and will provide updates when appropriate.” The representative spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing.
Scott, one of the biggest stars in hip hop whose birth name is Jacques Webster, has more than 100 songs that made the Billboard Hot 100 and released four singles that topped the chart: “Sicko Mode,” “Highest in the Room,” “The Scotts,” and “Franchise.”
He has two children with his former girlfriend, media personality and businesswoman Kylie Jenner.
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Surk reported from Nice, France.
Jonathan Landrum and Barbara Surk | The Associated Press
Saint-Denis (CNN) — The night began with a team of American women charging down the stretch for a thrilling comeback win and it ended with an American man asserting himself as the new top racer in his race.
It was another night of Team USA dominance on the track, save for one disappointing relay that will be surrounded by unanswerable questions when people look back on these Paris Olympics.
Here are seven takeaways from a drama-filled night at the Stade de France.
Sha’Carri Richardson is just too fast
American Sha’Carri Richardson may have been beaten for the gold medal in the individual 100-meter race earlier this week, but she wasn’t letting that happen again in the women’s 4x100m relay.
Even after a difficult handoff into the final leg of the race from 200-meter gold medalist Gabby Thomas, Richardson just would not be denied. She raced down the straightaway, first tracking down Germany’s Rebekka Haase and then Great Britain’s Daryll Neita, blowing by them in a way that made world-class sprinters look like they were standing still.
Despite starting from behind, Richardson was able to pull away so much in the final stages of the race that she was able to take a moment to cast a look at her soon-to-be-vanquished rivals and give them a little bit of side-eye as she crossed the finish line.
It was truly stunning to witness and the only person who seemed to not be surprised at all by what had just happened was Richardson, who nodded to the crowd with a look that appeared to say, “Yeah, I did that.”
“I just remember trusting my third leg, trusting Gabby and knowing that she’s going to put this thing in my hand no matter what, and to leave my best on the track. I was very comfortable with these ladies,” Richardson said after.
The moment clearly meant a lot to Richardson after a surprising silver in the 100 meters earlier this week and missing the Tokyo Games after being suspended for testing positive for THC, a chemical found in marijuana. Tears were running down her cheeks during the playing of the “Star-Spangled Banner” when she received her gold medal Friday night.
US men disappoint in 4x100m relay, Canada capitalizes
Meanwhile, the men’s version of the race will not be remembered nearly as fondly by Team USA’s fans.
It was a night to forget for the American team as a shoddy baton handoff caused the US team to be disqualified from the race. The transfer between Christian Coleman and Kenny Bednarek was the latest in a long line of baton problems that the USA has had in these high-profile relays and led to a bitterly disappointing DQ.
The team of Canadians took advantage of the botch and took gold by seven-hundredths of a second over South Africa. Great Britain would take the gold.
“It just didn’t happen,” Coleman said after the race. “We could’ve put in more work, it just didn’t happen. We practiced a lot. Me and Kenny have been on the team a few times, and we felt really confident going out there. It just didn’t happen this time. It’s part of the sport.”
He added, “We’ll bounce back from it and all of us are world-class. I expect all of us to be back on the team in LA. We’ll have more confidence to bring it all home.”
There will be one unanswerable question that hangs over this race for Team USA: what would have happened if Noah Lyles was healthy?
Lyles tested positive for Covid-19 this week after winning the men’s 100-meter sprint gold medal. He competed on Thursday in the 200-meter sprint, but finished in a disappointing third place – a position that seemed less disappointing after he revealed he had been struggling with Covid symptoms over the previous days.
Lyles was set to be a part of the relay team but announced very early Friday morning Paris time that his Olympic Games were over. He still attended the medal ceremony for the 200-meter race on Friday night in a mask, but his time on the track in Paris was over.
Marileidy Paulino runs away from the field in the 400m for Olympic record
For a moment in the women’s 400-meter race, it seemed like Salwa Eid Naser of Bahrain might be headed for an unbelievable upset.
And then that moment passed as Marileidy Paulino decided it was winning time.
The reigning world champion in this race and the silver medalist in Tokyo, Paulino simply had another level to go to that Naser or the other competitors in the race didn’t have. As she came into the final stretch, Paulino was able to put on the jets and leave the pack behind for an easy victory.
She ended up setting an Olympic record, finishing in 48.17 seconds.
“I’m very happy, I still cannot believe that just happened. It was either going for the world record or the Olympic record, and thank God, I achieved the Olympic record,” she said after.
Yemisi Ogunleye takes gold in the shot put with incredibly clutch throw
Germany’s Yemisi Ogunleye was looking like a lock for the silver medal after being unable to match New Zealand’s Maddison-Lee Wesche for much of the night.
Wesche set the bar in the shot put with a first throw of 19.58 meters. She’d eventually go even further to 19.86 meters on her fifth throw, still just ahead of Ogunleye’s 19.73 meters.
Ogunleye had one last opportunity to take home the gold with her sixth and final throw of the night. And, to her shock, she did it.
With a massive 20-meter toss, Ogunleye stunned the Stade de France crowd and herself with the game-changing throw. She covered her mouth in disbelief and suddenly all the pressure was on Wesche. She wouldn’t be able to beat the mark, having to settle for a shocking silver.
“In that moment, I was just saying a prayer. It was the moment when I knew that, if I have the faith, I am capable to do more than I can think or ask for. In that moment, I just took all the energy that had left and just put it out there,” she said. “When I entered the ring, I just said, ‘God, now it is the time. Let’s just go.’ I know that with my faith, I could do my job and so it happened today.”
She added, “My goal coming into these championships was 20 meters. That was the distance that I threw just once in Glasgow. I knew I was capable of throwing such distances. In the Olympic competitions, it is necessary to bring all the best you have because you only have this chance once.”
Wesche took the sudden turnaround in fortune in stride.
“I had a little bit of butterflies. I knew I was capable of producing a 20-meter throw, but it just didn’t happen on the day,” she said. “Yemi came out on top, and I’m just so excited to be a part of shot put, with it being so competitive at the moment.”
Beatrice Chebet does the distance double with 10k gold
It’s the longest track race in the Olympics and Beatrice Chebet used every second of it to take home the gold.
Chebet was attempting to accomplish the extremely rare distance double at the Olympics, having won the 5,000 meters earlier in the week. She bided her time for much of the 10,000 meters, staying in the middle of the main pack for almost all of it.
But in the final two laps, the world record holder in this event made her move. Over the final 800 meters of the race, the Kenyan shot forward and appeared to be in the clear on her way to another easy victory.
But Italy’s Nadia Battocletti decided in the final 200 meters of the race that she wasn’t going to let Chebet go that easily. The Italian’s kick at one point brought her even with the Kenyan, maybe even a little in front. But she just didn’t have enough to sustain that effort and faded in the final meters, allowing Chebet to take the gold by .10 seconds.
“I’m so happy. To do the 5000m and 10,000m is not something easy,” Chebet said afterwards. “But just focus and know that you can achieve. Just believe in yourself. I believed that I can do it.
“I just wanted to win the 10,000m for my country. My country has never won a gold medal (in the women’s 10,000m), so I said I wanted to be the first woman to win a gold medal in the 10,000m.”
Young Spaniard takes his first Olympics by storm in the triple jump
Jordan Alejandro Diaz Fortun of Spain in action. (Aleksandra Szmigiel/Reuters via CNN Newsource)
Jordan Alejandro Díaz Fortún was under the bright lights of an Olympic final for the first time. But no matter.
Díaz Fortún, who had the longest triple jump this year among the competitors coming into the day, went 17.86 meters on his first jump of the day and that was enough for gold. He beat out Pedro Pichardo of Portugal, the defending Olympic champion, by a mere two centimeters.
Díaz Fortún had previously wanted to quit the sport as a child after many of his friends stopped competing in track and field. But his mother made him keep going so he wouldn’t play video games all day – and now he’s got a gold medal to come home with.
For Pichardo, the defeat was a tough pill to swallow for the Portuguese.
“Sadly, it didn’t turn out as I hoped, but this is how competitions are, and in (the Olympics), you cannot make any mistakes,” he said. “I made a lot of them and I paid for them. I lost the gold medal.”
It’s not clear if the Tokyo gold medalist will retire after the final, telling reporters, “I really don’t know if I want to finish my career here. In my head, it’s making sense to stop my career here. I still have to talk about it with my family, but I’m not really motivated to go on. I need to think about it.”
Rai Benjamin crushes longtime rival in the 400-meter hurdles
It’s a potential changing of the guard moment in the 400-meter hurdles.
Rai Benjamin finished second to Karsten Warholm of Norway in Tokyo, watching as the Norwegian set a world record to take the gold in this race. Over the last two years, each had won a world championship in the 400-meter hurdles, with Warholm coming into the Olympics as the world No. 1 and the world champion.
But Benjamin simply torched him on Friday night.
In the final event of the evening, Benjamin finished in 46.46 seconds and never looked seriously troubled by his Norwegian rival. Warholm came across the finish line six-tenths of a second after Benjamin, only just holding off Alison dos Santos of Brazil in the final stretch.
“I got it done. I finally got it done. In a way, the weight has been lifted. This color of the medal has eluded me for so long, and to get it done in this fashion, in front of my friends and family just means so much to me,” Benjamin said after.
“I don’t think I ever doubted it, it was more about staying patient and keep showing up every day. I told myself, ‘It has to go my way at some point.’ It went my way today and that’s all I can ask for.”
Benjamin said he landed awkwardly off the seventh hurdle of the race and he was worried he might fall going into the eighth. On the 10th hurdle, he had to reach for the obstacle and switch legs to make his leap. But he knew once he got into the final stretch that he was on his way to gold.
“I heard him when we got to five. I was like ‘OK cool, just stay calm, stay patient.’ I know my last 200 is lethal and I know that I can outrun anyone at that point in the race. I just relied on that, trusted what I’ve done all season. That was the game changer for me today,” he said of racing Warholm.
“The whole goal is to come here to win. He wanted to win, everyone in that field wanted to win. It wasn’t going to be given to anyone, I had to come out and take it.”
Every four years, the Summer Olympics are a canon event for millions of people across the globe. The best-of-the-best athletes are transported to some major city (this year, Paris) where they compete to be crowned the best athletes in the world.
And, yes, there are a million different aspects of the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics that we could discuss. This year, the internet has meme’d every single competitor from “Mr. Pommel Horse” Stephen Nedoroscik, the women’s artistic gymnastic team headed by Simone Biles, and, of course, French pole vaulter Anthony Ammirati.
All eyes are on the Olympians as we head into the final week of competitions before the closing ceremonies on August 11…and while we celebrate them for their elite athletic abilities, I want to chat about something else they excel in: fashion.
Yes, some of your favorite Olympians are gold medalists not only in their sport, but also in dressing well.
Because the Olympics are splashed across the world stage for several weeks every other year, we all get to know the athletes pretty well. Some are returning fan-favorites (Katie Ledecky, Biles, Noah Lyles), and there are newfound competitors who’ve stolen our hearts.
And while the world appreciates the gymnastics leotards or the Opening Ceremonies costumes, I like to look at the athletes who show their style in other ways. Take Noah Lyles and his painted nails, for example, which have of course been a topic of controversy.
If you’re watching these athletes compete, chances are you’re catching bits of their personality regardless. And I’m sure you’re looking them up on social media hungry to learn everything you can about them.
I’m no different than you. I’m constantly searching social media while watching these Olympians medal. I need to know their life story…Which is how I’ve found some of the most stylish Olympians competing this year. Here are my findings:
Suni Lee
Suni Lee has quite the story: overcoming two rare kidney disease diagnoses and battling her way back up to Olympic caliber. Not only is she an Olympic medalist this year, but she’s also a bit of a fashion icon herself.
Suni was the face of the Team USA Olympic SKIMS campaign, and often isn’t shown without iconic lash extensions and flawless makeup. You catch a flavor of Suni’s inimitable style in everything she wears and not just from hair and makeup alone.
Simone Biles
Simone’s got swag, to put it bluntly. With a bejeweled rhinestone travel bag announcing “Simone Biles Owens” next to the Olympic rings, gems nestled into her canine teeth, and a diamond goat chain, she lets her personality shine despite having to wear a conforming uniform.
Biles Owens is insanely talented, with multiple gymnastic moves attributed to her, but I love how she shows her flashy style and wears it with confidence. Such a Biles move.
Noah Lyles
World champion sprint runner, Noah Lyles, is no stranger to winning. Following his Olympic Gold in the 100-metre dash – which he won by 5-thousandths of a second! – his Olympic-themed nails were a hot topic of conversation.
He won the Olympics this year wearing an ornate choker and multiple bracelets. But off the track, his style is getting pinned straight to our Pinterest boards.
Sha’Carri Richardson
Sha’Carri is famous for being one of the fastest women in the world, but something that also sets her apart is her style. Often running with her hair down, lash extensions, and always-intact acrylic nails, Sha’Carri’s not too shy to show a little bling.
Richardson constantly shows she’s got flair and attitude through her fiery hair and even more fiery antics.
Coco Gauff
The face of New Balance and brands like Ray Ban, Coco Gauff radiates effortless style. Tennis-core is a big trend right now, but for Coco, it’s just her uniform. She has her own New Balance line, of course, and was decked out in the brand for her Olympic debut.
What Gauff does best is simplicity. She chooses her accessories deliberately: like wearing two matching wrist sweatbands when competing.
And there’s more action in track and field — Tokyo silver medalist Grant Holloway is looking to medal in the men’s 110m hurdles, and athletes will be competing in the women’s long jump and men’s javelin throw.
For the first time in two decades, Team USA found themselves on the podium in artistic swimming. The team took home the silver medal after not sending an Olympic team since 2008.
Helping the team was Milpitas native Jacklyn Luu. After three days of routines the U.S. team secures a score of 914.34, beating out Spain which secures 900.73 points.
Watching it all was Bianca Van Der Velden and Sonja Van Der Velden, former coaches of Luu. The pair currently coach at Santa Clara Artistic Swimming.
The coaches held a watch party in Milpitas with young athletes cheering on Team USA.
Jocelyn Moran has more on the watch party and the team’s success in the video above.
Noah Lyles has said when people see the race, they know something special is about to happen and he didn’t disappoint in the men’s 100 m finals with *** photo finish. It’s *** personal best for Lyles in 9.72 seconds in *** race that came down to 5000 th of *** second. His teammate Fred Curly wins bronze, his second Olympic medal in the 100 m. Lyles is the first American man to win gold in the 100 m since Justin Gatlin at the 2004 Athens games. Everybody thought that this was going to be *** slow year for the 100 but here we are proving that it wasn’t. This race came down to 5, 1/1000 of *** second. I mean, that’s maddening how small that is. How much of that is the energy of this crowd. I feel like it definitely got in tune with the energy. But at the end of the day, we all train for these moments like this and you can’t take it away from nobody. I think it’s hard being the world’s this man will try being his mom. We talked to her just minutes before her son raced. I told him that he was born for such *** time as this, this moment was created for him. I told him to have fun that we love you, but he already knows that and just go out there and do what you do next up. It’s the men’s 200 m prelims that’s coming up Monday night, Paris time at the Paris Olympics. I’m Deirdre Fitzpatrick.
Lyles makes Olympic 200-meter final despite finishing second in semifinal qualifying race
Updated: 12:13 PM PDT Aug 7, 2024
Noah Lyles will race for his second Olympic gold medal despite finishing second Wednesday in the 200-meter semifinal, his first loss at that distance in three years. Letsile Tebogo of Botswana finished the heat in 19.96 seconds, beating Lyles by .12 and marking the first time the American has lost a 200 of any kind since he finished third at the Tokyo Games.It opened up a 24-hour period to debate and discuss the meaning of the second-place finish, which still earned Lyles an automatic qualifying spot in Thursday night’s final but could have him running the curve from a less-than-ideal lane.Last weekend, Lyles notably lost both his opening heat and the semifinal round of the 100, before coming back to eke out a .005-second victory over Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson in the final. That win came about 90 minutes after another Jamaican, Oblique Seville, beat him in the semifinal for that sprint.Lyles, normally a regular in the interview room with reporters, even after early rounds, skipped it this time and team officials said he had headed to the medical tent. Asked if Lyles was OK, his coach, Lance Brauman, told The Associated Press: “He’s fine.”Some things to consider:—Was Tebogo, a world bronze medalist with the third-best time of 2024, trying to send a message, and if so, did he burn too much energy trying to make his point? He finished in 19.96 for the only sub-20 run of the night.—Was Lyles taking it easy, even after conceding he had been a bit unprepared for the challenges he would face in the early rounds after opening the Games with a second-place finish in the 100 meters?—Or might this fuel Lyles, who does not take kindly to being messed with in his favorite race?Video above: Noah Lyles’ mom shares her Olympic journey as her son makes historyAmong those waiting for him in the final will be Kenny Bednarek, the American who came within .06 of Lyles earlier this summer at Olympic trials. Also, Erryion Knighton, the 20-year-old American who was long seen as Lyles’ next, big threat but whose only victories over Lyles came in the opening rounds of the 2021 Olympic trials.The defending champion, Andre De Grasse of Canada, finished third in his heat and did not advance.
SAINT-DENIS, France —
Noah Lyles will race for his second Olympic gold medal despite finishing second Wednesday in the 200-meter semifinal, his first loss at that distance in three years.
Letsile Tebogo of Botswana finished the heat in 19.96 seconds, beating Lyles by .12 and marking the first time the American has lost a 200 of any kind since he finished third at the Tokyo Games.
It opened up a 24-hour period to debate and discuss the meaning of the second-place finish, which still earned Lyles an automatic qualifying spot in Thursday night’s final but could have him running the curve from a less-than-ideal lane.
Last weekend, Lyles notably lost both his opening heat and the semifinal round of the 100, before coming back to eke out a .005-second victory over Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson in the final. That win came about 90 minutes after another Jamaican, Oblique Seville, beat him in the semifinal for that sprint.
Lyles, normally a regular in the interview room with reporters, even after early rounds, skipped it this time and team officials said he had headed to the medical tent. Asked if Lyles was OK, his coach, Lance Brauman, told The Associated Press: “He’s fine.”
Some things to consider:
—Was Tebogo, a world bronze medalist with the third-best time of 2024, trying to send a message, and if so, did he burn too much energy trying to make his point? He finished in 19.96 for the only sub-20 run of the night.
—Was Lyles taking it easy, even after conceding he had been a bit unprepared for the challenges he would face in the early rounds after opening the Games with a second-place finish in the 100 meters?
—Or might this fuel Lyles, who does not take kindly to being messed with in his favorite race?
Video above: Noah Lyles’ mom shares her Olympic journey as her son makes history
Among those waiting for him in the final will be Kenny Bednarek, the American who came within .06 of Lyles earlier this summer at Olympic trials. Also, Erryion Knighton, the 20-year-old American who was long seen as Lyles’ next, big threat but whose only victories over Lyles came in the opening rounds of the 2021 Olympic trials.
The defending champion, Andre De Grasse of Canada, finished third in his heat and did not advance.
Noah Lyles wasted no time. After winning the 100 meters at the Paris Olympics, he promptly declared what he wanted the most as the newly anointed Fastest Man Alive.
“ I want my own shoe,” he said. “I want my own trainer. I’m dead serious. I want a sneaker. There ain’t no money in spikes, there’s money in sneakers. I feel like for how many medals we bring back and the notoriety we get, the fact that hasn’t happened, that’s crazy for me. I feel like that needs to happen.”
Athletes come to the Olympics seeking gold medals, but for some, there are more lucrative prizes at stake. The two-week competition provides a global stage for competitors to be noticed and potentially cash in and extend their 15 minutes of fame.
Few outside of gymnastics had ever heard of Stephen Nedoroscik before the Paris Games. After helping the U.S. men to their first team competition medal in 16 years, the bespectacled “Pommel Horse Guy” should have eyeglass maker Warby Parker banging on his door.
American runner Kendall Ellis found herself stuck in a porta potty at the U.S. track trials, and she landed a sponsorship deal with toilet paper maker Charmin.
“It was just the perfect fit,” Ellis said.
French pole vaulter Anthony Ammirati found offers coming his way — granted, from porn company CamSoda — after he was eliminated from the Paris Olympics because he couldn’t clear the bar. The reason? It had gotten stuck on his crotch and knocked down, resulting in a 12th-place finish.
The agent for American rugby player Ilona Maher can barely catch her breath in Paris, where Maher has boosted her initial popularity from three years ago at the Tokyo Games all the way to bona fide stardom. Maher’s savvy use of social media attracted attention in Tokyo but is now at a global level — she has nearly 5.5 million followers across her social media accounts and almost 121 million likes across all her TikToks — and has cultivated a brand.
“A lot of people see her popping off right now and having this viral moment, but we’ve been working really strategically to be able to position her to have a lightning in a bottle moment,” said agent Rheann Engelke of Range Sports.
A tracking service found that Maher saw a 257% increase in Instagram followers from June 30 to July 30, as she led the United States to its first medal, a bronze, in rugby sevens.
With her crowning athletic achievement and burgeoning fame, the offers began pouring in. Maher’s platform is focused on body positivity, women empowerment, promoting rugby and encouraging young girls to play sports, but her sharp sense of humor and social media use has brought in dozens of opportunities — including some in the entertainment space.
Simone Biles added four Olympic medals to her collection with her performances in Paris. Here’s a look at how she got each one.
“What’s really special about Ilona is going into this Olympic moment, she knew exactly who she was, she knew what her message was and she knew the kind of brands she wanted to align with,” Engelke said. “We can take the process a little slow and really look at who is aligned with her, who is the right brand partner. It’s certainly hectic right now, but we will be somewhat strategic and slow because it is vitally important for Ilona being exactly who she is.”
T. Bettina Cornwell, the Philip H. Knight Chair at the University of Oregon and head of the department of marketing, believes an athlete must go beyond building a social media platform to have real staying power. The big deals go to Simone Biles, Katie Ledecky, or retired swimmer Michael Phelps. The athletes from lesser known sports must understand the audience.
“An athlete captures an audience at the intersection of sport performance and a life story. This is not to say that top performing athletes cannot have top follower numbers on social media, but to truly capture the heart of an audience, storytelling is essential,” Cornwell said. “The more relatable an athlete is as a person, the more the audience will enjoy their unrelatable elite athletic performance — ‘I don’t know how she does it, but I love watching her!’”
But the world today is fickle and meme-driven, said John Baick, a professor of history at Western New England University, who noted there’s no way to predict how the audience will react to any athlete or viral moment. In the case of Nedoroscik, he was trending before he had even gotten onto the pommel horse for his calm demeanor as he silently sat and waited, Clark Kent-style, wearing his glasses.
“In our age of memes, it is your look, it is your glasses, it is your character, and there’s no way of knowing in advance what’s going to attract people. Will people make fun of him for that? Or will people find it endearing?” Baick said. “This is where one person on Instagram can change someone’s fate. And if that one person is liked enough, and we are definitely in a meme culture, the case for a bronze medal for someone quirky is ultimately going to be worth more than a gold medal for someone in a sport no one cares about.”
There is an ability for athletes to attract corporate sponsorship outside of the Olympics, and in some cases, even before they’ve reached the elite level.
Team USA athlete Gabby Thomas took home the gold medal in the 200 meter race at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday.
Raynald Aeschlimann, the president and CEO of Omega, said the company that serves as the official timekeeper of the Olympics does the same for the Youth Olympic Games, “so the stars of the future are never far from our attention.”
“That’s where our partnership with Noah Lyles began,” said Aeschlimann, who touched on what it takes for an athlete to be noticed by a brand. “It’s about the personality. Who has confidence? Who has that determination to go right to the top? Sometimes, we recognize excellence when we see it.”
Aeschlimann also disputed the notion the athletes are only relevant every four years during the Olympic cycle.
“The spotlight is not just every four years. These athletes inspire the next generation throughout their careers — and often beyond,” Aeschlimann said. “We work with legends like Michael Phelps and Allyson Felix, whose influence is immortal. That’s the power and worth of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Athletes have a chance to etch their names in history.”
Katie Ledecky won her fourth consecutive gold medal in the 800m freestyle, holding off Australia’s Ariarne Titmus at the Paris Olympics.
Olympic open water swimmers received the go-ahead to train in long-polluted Seine River on Wednesday after Paris organizers determined it was safe to dive in.
A two-hour training session was to be held, according to an email from World Aquatics Communication Manager Torin Koos. It would be the only chance for swimmers to familiarize themselves with the picturesque course through the middle of the French capital.
It wasn’t clear how many swimmers would actually take advantage of the test run, which was being held one day before the women’s 10-kilometer marathon event. The men’s race is set for Friday.
Open water swimmers do most of their training in the controlled conditions of a pool. Given concerns about bacteria levels in the Seine, many might choose to skip the training session and limit their time in the river to the actual event.
Then again, some may want to familiarize themselves with the conditions, especially the strong current that has also raised concerns among the athletes.
Triathlon events have already been held in the river, though the schedule was upended by the readings that are taken daily of the water quality.
Now, it’s time for open water, which at least has a backup plan in place if the Seine is determined to be unsafe. The races would be shifted to Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium, site of the rowing and canoeing events.
The triathlon mixed relay event was held Monday. World Triathlon released data Tuesday showing the levels of fecal bacteria E. coli and enterococci were within acceptable levels for the length of the triathlon relay course during those swims.
The marathon swims take place on longer portions of the river and will start and finish at the Pont Alexandre III. Marathon swimmers do six laps on the 1.67-kilometer (1 mile) course for a total of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles.)
Organizers said they “remain confident” that the marathon swimming events will happen in the Seine as planned based on “a favorable weather forecast and forward-looking analysis.”
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, who took a highly publicized swim in the Seine in July to allay fears about water quality ahead of the Olympics, echoed that confidence.
“There’s been a clear improvement of the weather these past few days,” she said. “So I’m really proud and happy and to all those who want to continue saying it’s impossible to depollute a river, I tell them, ’Yes it’s possible, we did it.’”
With a few exceptions, swimming in the Seine has been prohibited since 1923 because the water has been too toxic.
Paris’ deputy mayor, Pierre Rabadan, called for people to wait for “all the facts before rushing to conclusions” regarding a Belgian athlete becoming ill after swimming in the Seine river.
Paris undertook an ambitious plan, including 1.4 billion euros ($1.5 billion) in infrastructure improvements to ensure that some swimming events could be held in the river. That included the construction of a giant basin to capture excess rainwater and keep wastewater from flowing into the river, renovating sewer infrastructure and upgrading wastewater treatment plants.
Water quality in the Seine is closely linked to the weather. Heavy rains can cause wastewater and runoff to flow into the river, resulting in elevated bacteria levels, while warm temperatures and the sun’s ultraviolet rays can kill the germs and lower those levels.
While the weather has mostly been hot and sunny during the Games, there have been several instances of drenching rain.
Four triathletes — of the more than 100 who competed in the men’s and women’s individual races last week — became sick in the following days, though it’s unclear whether the water was to blame.
Most strains of E. coli and enterococci are harmless, and some live in the intestines of healthy people and animals. But others are dangerous and even a mouthful of contaminated water can cause infections in the urinary tract or intestines.
So when is the final and what has the journey to the final involved for Team USA? Here’s what to know:
When is USA women’s soccer vs. Brazil?
The gold medal match is scheduled to take place at 11:00 a.m. ET on Saturday, Aug. 10.
Team USA’s Sophia Smith scored the semifinal’s first and only goal during overtime, the second time in Olympics history a women’s semifinal match was scoreless after 90 minutes.
What TV channel is the US women’s soccer game on? How do I watch?
The U.S. women’s final versus Brazil will air live on NBC. You can also watch live on Peacock or stream on nbcolympics.com.
The match will re-air Saturday night in primetime.
Who has the US played so far?
The U.S. women’s soccer team beat Zambia 3-0, Germany 4-1, and Australia 2-1 in Marseille before reaching the quarterfinals.
The team then played Japan in the quarterfinals, winning 1-0 after Trinity Rodman scored the lone goal in the 105th minute in extra time.
In the semifinals, USWNT once again was involved in a low-scoring affair, with the game against Germany going into extra time scoreless. In the 95th minute, Sophia Smith put one in the back of the net, and the U.S. held off late scoring threats from the German team to advance to the final.
The U.S. women’s soccer team moves on to the semifinals after Trinity Rodman scored in extra time to lead her team over Japan on Saturday.
When was the last time the US won gold in women’s soccer?
The U.S. will be looking to add to its 6 medals in this event, having won four Olympic gold medals, including three straight from 2004/2008/2012. But the USWNT has not won gold since 2012, and no player on the current team has won Olympic gold.
The team earned a bronze at the Tokyo Olympics.
Brazil has never won a gold medal at the Olympics in women’s soccer. Their best result has been two silver medals, in 2004 and 2008.
The U.S. played Brazil in the 2004 and 2008 gold medal matches, coming out on top in extra time in both games to win gold. Marta, Brazil’s current captain, played in both matches.
Marta, 38, will be returning to the pitch after being sidelined for the past two games due to a red card suspension.
The USWNT last played Brazil in March at the Concacaf women’s Gold Cup, winning 1-0 with the goal coming from captain Lindsey Horan.
Goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher only allows a goal as U.S. women’s soccer defeats Germany 4-1 in pool play at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Alica Schmidt finally got to run in the Olympics last week. But at what cost?
The German track star who has been dubbed “the world’s sexiest athlete” went to the Tokyo games but didn’t get to compete. Last week though she got to compete as part of the four-person team in the 4×400 mixed relay.
However, that seems to have caused controversy within Team Germany as her own teammate seems to have taken offense at not being selected over the more glamorous option.
Alica Schmidt at the amfAR Cannes Gala in 2023. / (c) MEGA/WENN
24-year-old Luna Bulmahn wrote on social media:
“Yes, I am the second fastest 400m athlete on paper. No, I was not nominated for the mixed relay.”
Hmm. Reads as sour grapes to us! (Or should we say saurgrapes?) It certainly seems like she’s implying Alica was chosen for another reason. We mean… the woman does have over 5 MILLION Instagram followers and over 250k subscribers on her YouTube channel. Her celebrity is probably good for German sports.
But you could see why Luna was unhappy about it. The changeup not only meant she couldn’t run, she also couldn’t compete alongside her boyfriend Jean Paul Bredau in the event. Ouch.
Is Luna really faster than Alica? And if so did it cost the team? They finished behind Team Great Britain in their final heat. And GB went on to compete in the finals, where they placed third, after the Netherlands and Team USA. (You can watch the race HERE!) So if they were a little faster could they have been up there on that podium getting bronze? Hmm…
What do YOU think? Was Alica chosen because of her looks and celebrity instead of her running ability? Could another runner have made the difference? Let us know your thoughts in the comments (below)!
The men’s 1500m final has track enthusiasts saying it could be one of the best mid-distances races in decades, with talent everywhere you look, including a trio of Americans — and even a rivalry.
For a full rundown of all the events each day, we have a full breakdown of everything airing, along with where and how to watch. Every Olympic event will be streaming live on Peacock.
When it comes to the medal count, the United States is the favorite to win the most medals. China is unlikely to overtake the U.S. in the overall medal haul, but has a chance to win more gold medals than the Americans — and has been maintaining a lead in golds for much of the first week.
So which country is leading in medals as of the ninth day of competition? Here is a look at the Olympic medal count.
Here is the full leaderboard, last updated Aug. 5 at 4 p.m. ET
Christopther Carlson, Peter Chatain, Clark Dean, Henry Hollingsworth, Reilly Milne, Evan Olson, Pieter Quinton, Nicholas Rusher, Christian Tabash
Aug. 2
Track and Field
Men 10,000m
Grant Fisher
Aug. 2
Sailing
Men skiff
Ian Barrows & Hanks Henken
Aug. 2
Archery
Mixed team
Brady Ellison & Casey Kaufhold
Aug. 1
Gymnastics
Women all-around
Suni Lee
July 31
Canoeing
Women canoe slalom
Evy Leibfarth
July 30
Swimming
Women 100m backstroke
Katharine Berkoff
July 30
Rugby
Women
July 29
Fencing
Men individual foil
Nick Itkin
July 29
Swimming
Men 100 backstroke
Ryan Murphy
July 29
Swimming
Men 200m freestyle
Luke Hobson
July 29
Swimming
Women 400m individual medley
Emma Weyant
July 29
Gymnastics
Men Team
Richard Frederick, Asher Hong, Paul Juda, Brody Malone and Stephen Nedoroscik
July 29
Skateboarding
Men street
Nyjah Huston
July 28
Swimming
Men 400m individual medley
Carson Foster
July 27
Swimming
Women 400m freestyle
Katie Ledecky
July 27
Cycling
Women individual time trial
Chloe Dygert
The last Summer Olympics in which the United States did not top the gold medal table was in 2008 in Beijing. Countries always get a medal bump being the host nation, and France is expected to almost triple the number of gold medals it won in Tokyo.
Team USA Highlights: Day 10
SILVER BY A SLIVER
Team USA earned silver in the second ever Olympic triathlon mixed relay in a photo finish.
Seth Rider, Taylor Spivey, Morgan Pearson and Taylor Knibb gave the U.S. a second straight mixed relay silver medal after Team USA placed second in the inaugural event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Germany secured gold when Laura Lindemann pulled ahead of Knibb and Great Britain’s Beth Potter, the women’s triathlon bronze medalist, over the final sprint to the finish line. It is Germany’s first medal in the event after it placed sixth in Tokyo.
Knibb and Potter were neck and neck down the stretch, but Knibb crossed first in a photo finish for the silver medal.
BILES AND CHILES END ON A HIGH NOTE
It may not be how they drew it up, but both Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles will leave Paris on a high note, earning a medal in their final event.
Biles scored a 14.133 on floor exercise, with landing deductions for going out of bounds twice. Her score was the second-highest behind Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade, who had a 14.166.
Biles’ floor routine was stunning, at a difficulty level far above other competitors, but landing out of bounds twice cost her .6 points in penalties. She lost to Andrade by .033 points.
Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles discuss the final day of gymnastic competition at the Paris Olympics.
With the medal, Biles tied Czechoslovakia’s Vera Caslavska for second-most by a female gymnast in Olympic history. The record is held by Larisa Latynina, who had 18 for the Soviet Union between 1956 and 1964.
Biles had been seeking an eighth gold medal, which would have placed her one shy of the record for most by a woman in Olympic history, which is held by Latynina and U.S. swimming star Katie Ledecky.
Chiles meanwhile will leave with a bronze, her first individual medal after gold in the 2024 team event and silver in the 2020 team event. The 23-year-old American was initially off the podium but that changed after a review.
When Chiles’ score in floor exercise final was first announced at 13.600, she appeared to finish in fifth place. But Team USA submitted an inquiry, arguing that one of her leap’s difficulty level should be graded a D instead of C — which means Chiles would get more points for successfully completing it.
The inquiry was approved and Chiles’ score rose to 13.766, just ahead of Barbosu’s 13.700.
The United States finished the gymnastics meet of the 2024 Olympics in a strong fashion with Simone Biles winning silver and Jordan Chiles taking home the bronze in the women’s floor exercise final Monday after an inquiry shook up the final standings.
LET’S DISCUSS DISCUS
Team USA’s Valarie Allman won gold in the women’s discus throw final on Monday.
She finished the event with a total result of 69.50. She was the defending Olympic champion in the event after also having won at the Tokyo Games.
China’s Bin Feng won silver with 67.51 while Croatia’s Sandra Elkasevic took home bronze (67.51).
Stephen Wade of the Associated Press contributed to this report.
