USA and Australia go head-to-head in 4x100m freestyle relay heat
The final heat of the men's 4x100m freestyle relay came down to a duel between closers Caeleb Dressel for Team USA and Kyle Chalmers for Australia, with Chalmers narrowly edging out Dressel.
Later today, the rival teams will meet again for the free relay final, set to start at 3:44 p.m. ET.
Rail traffic resumes in France but disruptions remain
Some rail traffic has resumed as normal in France but disruptions remain after part of the nation’s high-speed rail network was paralyzed yesterday by an arson attack that upended service for hundreds of thousands of passengers.
France’s national railway company SNCF said that normal rail traffic resumed this morning on the eastern high-speed lines, but that other services were still facing severe delays that will continue throughout the weekend.
SNCF said all transportation for Olympic teams will be maintained as planned.
First lady Jill Biden attends the 2024 Paris Olympics
First lady Jill Biden attends the fencing competition at the Grand Palais during the 2024 Paris Olympic Games on Saturday. United States’ fencer Eli Derschwitz was eliminated from the Games in the round of 32, ending his hopes of winning a medal.
In shocking upset, U.S. fencer Eli Dershwitz out of medal contention
In a shocking upset, U.S. fencer Eli Derswhitz, the reigning world champion who was expected to be in serious medal contention for men’s individual saber, lost his match in the round of 32.
This eliminates him from future rounds, including the semi-finals and finals.
In another shock, Hungary’s reigning Olympic saber champion Aron Szilagyi has been eliminated during the round of 32 as well. If Szilagyi had come out victorious and ultimately earned Gold, he would have join Michael Phelps and only a few other Olympians who have won the same individual event four times.
Dershwitz and Szilagyi were the favorites for the event, widely expected to face off in a final match.
Tahiti hosts surfing nearly 10,000 miles from Paris
Tahiti, an overseas French territory famous for its surfing, will host 48 athletes this summer for surfing events.
And 9,759 miles away from Paris, it is the farthest an Olympic competition has been held from the host city since 1956. Back then, the equestrian events at the Melbourne Olympics were held in Stockholm, Sweden, due to some strict Australian policies on equine quarantine.
The first round of the men’s event will take place at 7 a.m. local time in Tahiti, 12 hours behind France, and 1 p.m. ET.
Love, l’oeuf and deuce: Tennis scoring is famously convoluted. Here's an explainer.
An Olympic gold medal is the only major title missing from Serbian superstar Novak Djokovic's trophy cabinet, while Coco Gauff is going for gold for Team USA, but how exactly does the tennis event at the Olympics work?
The men's and women's singles events feature a field of 64 players, half the number of players who compete at Grand Slams including the U.S. Open. Both fields will play best of three sets with the winner of a set being the first to reach six games (winning by at least two games). That means to win a match, you need to win two sets.
If the scores are tied at 6-6 in a set, a tiebreaker is played where the first player to seven points, winning by two, wins the set.
To win a game, a player needs to win four points before their opponent does. Having no points in a game is referred to as "love." One point is "15," winning a second point gets you to "30" and a third point is "40." Winning a fourth point means you win the game.
Why the scoring system came to be is a mystery, but it is meant to represent the quarters of a clock face (15, 30, 45 with game at 60), but 'forty-five' was deemed to be too long to say, so was truncated to 40. Among the possible explanations for the non-romantic use of "love" is that it's a loan word from l’oeuf, French for egg.
If a game is level at 40-40, the score is referred to as "deuce." To win a game from deuce, a player needs to win at least two points in a row. Winning a point at deuce gives a player 'advantage' — if they win that point, they win the game. If the player with advantage loses the point, the score returns to deuce.
The doubles events follow the same rules. The only exception is that if the match is level at one set all, a tiebreak is played in place of a third set.
The tennis tournament is a straight knockout bracket. The winners of each semifinal play for gold and silver, and the losers play for bronze.
South Korean president says nation was surprised and baffled after their athletes were introduced as being from North Korea
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has told IOC President Thomas Bach that mistakes should not be repeated after South Korean athletes were incorrectly introduced as being from the Democratic People’s Public of Korea, also known as North Korea, during the opening ceremony.
North and South Korea have been in an ongoing conflict since 1948.
Yoon and Bach have since spoken by telephone, and Bach has apologized. Yoon said the incident left the people of South Korea surprised and baffled, but has expressed his wish for a successful Olympics Games, his office said on Saturday.
A similar incident occurred at the 2012 Olympics in London when a South Korea flag appeared alongside North korea’s women’s football team on stadium screens as players warmed up before their opening match.
Beach volleyball kicks off underneath Eiffel Tower
Despite a steady drumbeat of rain, it’s a nearly full stadium at Stade de Eiffel Tower for beach volleyball — Cuba vs. USA.
The announcments are in English and there was plenty of applause for Cuba.
And in case anyone was wondering, yes there are cheerleaders in beach volleyball.
Basketball: Kevin Durant set to be fit for Team USA's opener
Kevin Durant is set to be fit for Team USA's opener against Serbia tomorrow, according to coach Steve Kerr.
Durant, who is aiming to win a record fourth gold medal at these Games, missed all five of Team USA's exhibition games in the build-up with a calf injury, but Kerr is confident of having his entire roster — including Joel Embiid and Anthony Davis, who have both had bouts of illness this week — available.
“Hopefully,” Kerr responded when asked whether Durant will play. “He came through the scrimmage two days ago pretty well, and we’ll have another practice today and we’ll just keep taking it day by day.”
“He looked extremely well the other day in practice," added LeBron James. "Obviously his wind and his rhythm is going to continue to come, but if we’re able to get him back and make a huge impact to our club.”
Team USA face Serbia, who features three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic, tomorrow at 11:15 E.T. in Lille.
U.S. men's gymnasts in a solid position as they wrap up qualifying, but Brody Malone disappoints
With First Lady Jill Biden watching, Team USA's men's gymnasts have wrapped up their qualifying efforts, and now the wait is on to see who will advance to the various finals.
Finishing second behind Great Britain in the first subdivision of the team all-around, their score of 253.229 should be comfortably enough to finish in the top eight overall to advance to Monday's team final.
Having finished third at last year's World Championships, they are aiming to end a 16-year wait for an Olympic medal in the team event. With China and Japan set to dominate, Britain is expected to be Team USA's main competition for bronze.
Individually, Frederick Richard and Paul Juda should progress to the all-around finals after finishing third and fourth respectively. A surprise package, Juda's showing was particularly notable. He wasn't expected to make the team before impressing at the U.S. trials, and he has carried that form over to Paris.
It was, however, a hugely disappointing showing for Brody Malone, the team's only returnee from the Tokyo Games. He fell twice on the horizontal bars — his specialist apparatus that won him world gold in 2022 — wrecking his chances of making both the individual all-around and horizontal bars finals. He will be eager for redemption should Team USA make Monday's team all-around final.