PARIS — The latest updates on news in an action-packed day of events Saturday at the 2024 Paris Olympics, including women’s soccer, Sha’Carri Richardson going for an Olympic gold, Imane Khelif possibly clinching an Olympic boxing medal and swimmer Katie Ledecky going for her ninth gold medal:
Halfway to its goal of gold, the U.S. men’s basketball team has the No. 1 seed going into the medal round at the Paris Olympics.
And now the real games start.
Anthony Edwards scored 26 points, six players reached double figures for the U.S. and the Americans wrapped up the top spot coming out of group play by rolling past Puerto Rico 104-83.
— By Tim Reynolds
The second semifinal of the women’s 100 meters has a deep field featuring Sha’Carri Richardson and Julien Alfred: the only two women at the Olympics to crack 10.8 seconds this year.
Also in the field is two-time Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. The 37-year-old won the 100 in 2008 and 2012.
Only the top two finishers in each heat automatically qualify for Saturday night’s final. That means at least one of those three will have to wait to see if they have one of the two best times among non-automatic qualifiers in the evening’s three semifinals to advance.
It was a similar situation at last year’s world championships — not the same three runners, but also heavily stacked — and it was referred to as “The Semifinal of Death.”
— By Jenna Fryer
Zheng Qinwen has claimed China’s first tennis singles gold medal in Olympics history by defeating Donna Vekic of Croatia 6-2, 6-3.
The 21-year-old Zheng displayed the same powerful serves and groundstrokes she used to eliminate No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the semifinals and now has the biggest title of her career.
Not that Zheng hasn’t shown plenty of promise already. She is ranked seventh in the world and was the runner-up to Aryna Sabalenka at the hard-court Australian Open in January.
— By Howard Fendrich
Boxer Imane Khelif of Algeria clinched a medal following days of sharp scrutiny and online abuse as misconceptions about her gender have exploded into a larger clash about identity in sports.
Khelif defeated Anna Luca Hamori of Hungary 5:0 in the quarterfinals of the women’s 66-kilogram bout.
Khelif will win at least a bronze medal after defeating Hamori for the second victory of her tumultuous second trip to the Olympics.
— By Greg Beacham
The U.S has advanced to the semifinals of the women’s soccer tournament at the 2024 Olympics in Paris after beating Japan 1-0 on Trinity Rodman’s goal in extra time.
The Americans will next face Canada or Germany on Tuesday with a spot in the final on the line.
As Algerian boxer Imane Khelif and Hungarian boxer Anna Luca Hamori begin their bout, they each score a few strong blows. Each blow by Khelif is met by a roar by Algerian supporters.
Hamori and Khelif have never sparred, but they have competed in the same tournament before.
— By Megan Janetsky
Simone Biles has won the gold medal in women’s fault. It is his her seventh Olympic gold medal and 10th overall.
Trinity Rodman collected the ball, cut inside and whipped a shot into the top corner of the net with her left foot just at the end of the first half of extra time.
After giving the U.S. a 1-0 lead on Japan in the quarterfinal match, she was then swamped by celebrating teammates. Megan Rapinoe, watching from the stands, seemed to enjoy that, too.
— By James Robson
It will soon be Rebeca Andrade’s turn to take to the vault runaway
The ace Brazilian gymnast is facing a tall order in the defense of her Olympic title. Biles was stunning on her two attempts, finishing with a score of 15.300.
There was speculation Andrade could attempt a Yurchenko triple twist during the final. Andrade has submitted the vault to be named after her in the sport’s Code of Points.
Andrade has performed it at training but did not try it the all-around final when she finished second to Biles.
— By Sam Petrequin
Simone Biles is on good position to win her second Olympic vault title.
She scored an average of 15.300 for her two vaults, a rotation that included her signature Yurchenko double pike, which is the hardest being done in competition by any female gymnast.
— By Will Graves
The game is going to extra time after ending 0-0 in regulation.
It opened up in the final moments, with the U.S. finally stretching Japan’s defense consistently.
There will be 30 minutes of extra time, and if the game is still tied, it will go to penalties.
—By James Robson
Long before the bout begins, Algerian fans like 37-year-old Delilah Benrabah were already gathering outside the stadium cloaked in their country’s flag to support boxer Imane Khelif.
She said she was watching her social media in recent days and felt the spread of false information about Khelif was “shameful.”
“She’s a very strong Algerian women,” Benrabah said. “In Algeria, we don’t accept people hurting Algerians. We are here to support our team. We have to be united. We are here to give her support and we wish she gets the gold medal.
“She’s far from home, and we’re here to support her.”
— By Megan Janetsky
Simone Biles has spent the last decade-plus redefining what is possible in gymnastics. The American star has had five skills named after her in the Code of Points after completing them in competition.
Two of those are in the vault, her upcoming event while seeking a seventh Olympic gold medal and 10th overall.
Biles I (vault version)
As with a lot of gymnastics elements, Biles took a Cheng vault and added another layer of difficulty — this one an extra half twist on a vault originally done by China’s Cheng Fei.
The vault requires Biles to do a round-off onto the vault, then a half-twist onto the table before doing two full twists. It entered the Code after she made it part of her routine at the 2018 world championships.
Biles II (vault version)
This may be the most dazzling, most daring one of them all.
The Yurchenko double pike had never been completed by a woman in competition, and few men have even tried. She began tinkering with it in 2021, but it’s in the last year that it has morphed into perhaps the most show-stopping thing done in the sport.
The vault asks Biles to do a round-off back handspring onto the table, then two backward flips in pike position with her hands essentially clasped to her knees. She does it with so much power, she can sometimes overcook it. At the U.S. Olympic trials last month, it drew a standing ovation.
“No, it’s not normal,” longtime coach Laurent Landi said after she drilled it at the 2023 U.S. Championships. “She’s not normal.”
— By Will Graves
▶ Read more about Biles redefining her sport
Jade Carey won’t defend the floor exercise gold medal she won three years ago in Tokyo, but she is in the vault final this afternoon.
Carey is the second American gymnast competing among the eight top vaulters, along with Simone Biles.
The 24-year-old earned a spot in final following a third-place finish behind Biles and Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade. Carey made the vault final in Tokyo, finishing eighth.
— By Sam Petrequin
The quarterfinal game between United States and Japan has kicked off at Parc des Princes in Paris.
It looks like a full house again after the men’s match between the U.S. and Morocco on Friday.
The winner of this match plays either Canada or Germany in the semifinals in Lyon on Tuesday.
— By James Robson
Just the name Simone Biles is enough to trigger applause.
More than an hour before the vault event that also features Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade, the presenter at Bercy Arena announcing that expected duel set off wild shouts from the still half-empty venue.
If Biles wins, it will be her seventh Olympic gold medal, and 10th overall. Andrade was second to Biles in all-around.
▶ Read more about Biles’ pursuit of history at the Paris Games
— By Sam Petrequin
The U.S. women’s national team made one change to the starting lineup for its quarterfinal match against Japan in Paris.
Korbin Albert replaced Sam Coffey in the midfield. Coffey was ineligible for the game because of yellow card accumulation.
The United States also made forward Jaedyn Shaw available after she missed the first three games with a leg injury.
— By Anne M. Peterson
▶ Read more about the U.S. looking to reclaim Olympic women’s soccer gold
Matt Ebden and John Peers won Australia’s second tennis gold medal in Olympic history on Saturday, beating Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram of the United States 6-7 (6), 7-6 (1), 10-8 in a match tiebreaker in the 2024 Games men’s doubles final.
Olympics doubles uses a first-to-10, win-by-two tiebreaker in place of a traditional third set.
Ebden and Peers trailed by a set and 4-2 in the second before breaking Ram’s serve to begin the comeback. Their tennis gold follows the one won for Australia by Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde in men’s doubles at Atlanta in 1996.
— By Howard Fendrich.
▶ Read more about the men’s Tennis doubles
IOC President Thomas Bach said Saturday the “hate speech” directed at boxers Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-Ting at the Paris Olympics is “totally unacceptable.”
“We will not take part in a politically motivated … cultural war,” Bach said at a news briefing at the midway point of the games, that also tried to draw a line under days of global scrutiny about the female boxers’ gender.
“What is going on in this context in the social media with all this hate speech, with this aggression and abuse, and fueled by this agenda, is totally unacceptable,” the International Olympic Committee leader said.
— By Graham Dunbar
▶ Read the latest on boxer Imane Khelif
Simone Biles ’ second Olympic all-around gymnastics title is a testament to her mental and physical toughness.
The 27-year-old has long relied on both during a career that’s made her the greatest of all time in her sport. The mental health advocate practiced what she preached during the all-around final.
Biles closed her eyes and reset herself after two rotations and responded with fabulous routines on balance beam and floor exercise that made her the third woman in Olympic history to claim multiple all-around crowns.
She goes for her third gold medal at the Paris Games in the women’s vault final starting at 4:20 p.m. EDT.
— By Will Graves
▶ Read more about Biles’ road to being arguably the greatest U.S. gymnast in history
These Olympics have been full of memorable moments since the dazzling opening ceremony: The Seine River was too dirty for the triathlon swim to go off as scheduled, a gender controversy has emerged in women’s boxing, and of course, Simone Biles has dazzled while winning two gold medals with more still up for her taking.
Here’s a look at some of the other memorable moments from the first half of the games:
— By Jenna Fryer
1. The internet fell in love with “Pommel Horse guy”: The world was introduced to the lovable Stephen Nedoroscikwhen he helped the U.S. men’s gymnastics team win its first Olympic medal in 16 years.
2. Leon Marchand ruled at the pool:The French star racked up with four golds in four swimming events
3. “The Real John Wick” fueled meme after meme: Yusuf Dikec, 51-year-old Turkish pistol shooter, went viral on social media for a seemingly casual attitude while shooting his way to a silver medal in mixed 10-meter air pistol.
4. A scene from the opening ceremony sparked controversy: The opening ceremony prompted a storm of outrage for a contentious scene featuring drag queens and other performers.
▶ Read more about memorable moments from the Paris Olympics
Noah Lyles finished second in his opening heat of the 100 meters but still advanced and kept alive his hopes for the sprint double.
The American got off to a sluggish start and finished in 10.04 seconds, which was .06 behind Louie Hinchliffe, a British sprinter being trained by Carl Lewis.
The second-place finish means Lyles won’t have the premier lane choice when he races in the semifinals Sunday. If he advances there, he’ll race for the gold medal later that evening.
— By Pat Graham
▶ Read more about track and field at the 2024 Olympics
Snoop Dogg carried the torch in the leadup to the 2024 Olympics and made his way around Paris. His latest stop is the Palace of Versailles for equestrian competition.
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AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
