Surfing: France grabs surfing gold
Much-anticipated swell arrived at Teahupo’o late in the day, but it was just on time for the men’s final, which pitted Kauli Vaast of France against Jack Robinson of Australia.
The two came out swinging, with Vaast achieving the highest score of the day on his first wave. Robinson paddled for the same wave and forced Vaast, who had priority, to drop in deep and stay there as the wave covered him completely. Robinson may have done him a favor.
In a magical moment, Teahupo'o local Vaast emerged from the tube on his feet. It should have consumed him. He earned a 9.50 and set the tone for a final that was a proper tube-riding battle.
Robinson followed with his own clean barrel, which scored 7.83. And Vaast was up again, pulling into another liquid cyclone, coming out unscathed and then hitting the lip and floating down without falling for punctuation. It scored 8.17.
The flurry of waves — the day’s best, with scores among its highest — seemed to come to an abrupt end, leaving competitors sitting atop their shortboards and watching the clock as a wind-whipped sea seemed to move beneath them for several minutes.
The clock ran out. And that’s how the 2024 Paris Olympics surfing competition ended, a Zen moment of placid seas.
France emerged from the surfing competition with two medals — gold and bronze, the latter earned by Johanne Defay — and a venue that will be hard for any future host nation to beat.
Gymnastics: Thanks to teenager Ángel Barajas, Colombia has its first medal of the Games
Ángel Barajas’ silver on high bar tastes like gold for Colombia. Barajas’ medal is the country’s first of these Games, and its first medal ever in artistic gymnastics.
The silver also makes Colombia one of only two Latin American countries to have medaled in artistic gymnastics at the Games.
Barajas got the same score on his routine as gold medalist Shinnosuke Oka of Japan; however, Shinnosuke scored a higher execution score, giving him the gold and Barajas the silver.
Barajas earned his first Olympic medal before he became an adult. He will turn 18 one day after the closing ceremony Aug. 11.
Barajas traveled outside Colombia to train, as he could not find the safe and necessary equipment in his hometown, Cúcuta, his coach said in an interview in April with Colombian outlet Antena 2. After Barajas nearly got injured training in his hometown, he spent three months training in Medellin, a bigger city in Colombia, and in Spain.
Barajas said he got into gymnastics after having watched the kids’ TV show “Lazy Town,” which follows a young girl who moves to a town where she is surprised to learn the residents lead inactive lifestyles and sets out to teach them how to be more active.
Barajas’ coach, Jairo Ruiz, said in an interview with Colombia’s W Radio earlier today that despite Barajas’ success, the job is not done.
“What is coming is more difficult because you have to educate, regulate, be humble, be submissive and noble to continue having blessings,” Ruiz said. “You cannot overflow and say you are the best; you have to do the work of parents to educate the family.”
Barajas thanked his family for their support and said Ruiz was like a father to him.
Paris Games invigorated by an unexpected source of enthusiasm: the French
Cries of “allez les blues” and spontaneous singing of “La Marseillais” have filled sports venues and the streets here in the French capital for more than a week now.
Coming shortly after a bitter national election and years of local skepticism over the Olympics, the joyful waving of the tricolor seems to have taken some locals by surprise.
“We are just one nation for this moment, from this moment. There is no politics,” architect Jérémy Boutier told NBC News outside a 3x3 basketball game. “It is very particular.”
Surfing: France takes bronze medal at iconic surf spot
Johanne Defay of France earned a bronze medal in surfing at Teahupo'o in French Polynesia by beating Brisa Hennessy of Costa Rica in challenging conditions.
A wave forecast of 4- to 6-foot waves was late to the reef break, and the day's heats were held in typical contest surf — head high with the occasional barrel. Defay attacked the tallest set waves by carving and bashing and, most important, landing without falling.
Defay set the tone early with a showcase of shredding, earning relatively high scores that proved difficult for Hennessy to match before the clock ran out.
After the horn sounded, the two congratulated each other and Defay's coach paddled over to celebrate in the water.
France will earn another surfing medal as Kauli Vaast takes on Australia's Jack Robinson in the men's final.
Gabby Thomas' mission away from the track
American sprinter Gabby Thomas posted a 21.86-second semifinal in the women’s 200 meters to book her spot in a second consecutive Olympic final.
But gold is just one of Thomas' missions. She is also an advocate for equity in health care.
Thomas, a Harvard graduate, wants to close the gap in disparities in the American system, and she volunteers at an Austin, Texas, clinic for people with no insurance.
Julien Alfred opens attempt at 100-200 double
Forty-eight hours after winning 100-meter gold, the very first for St. Lucia, sprinter Julien Alfred opened her quest to achieve the 100m-200m double in Paris.
Celebrating the athletes — and cultures — of the world
Shouting over the pulsating beats of DJ Sumit Shenoy, sipping an authentic Indian mango spritz cocktail and chowing down some freshly cooked dosa with spicy chutney, it’s easy to forget that the world’s largest sporting event happens to be playing out elsewhere in the city.
This is the Parc des Nations in northern Paris, an open space where more than a dozen countries have set up “houses” where people can come and watch competition and, perhaps most importantly, sample the cultural delights of their host countries. Among the most impressive is India House, which combines an air-conditioned pavilion, where people can learn about Indian athletes and Kashmiri textiles, with a miniature music festival out back, where dancers jam with DJ Shenoy to entertain the imbibing masses at sunset.
“It’s so great,” shouted Clara Rouiller, 23, a costume designer who lives near Paris and bought a 5-euro ticket for the spectacle, which quickly sold out. “I love the energy here. I feel transported to India, which is amazing because I’ve always wanted to go there.”
Joseph Johnson, 30, from Kerala, India, could barely hear NBC News’ questions over the music. “I’m having such a great time!” he yelled, or at least that’s what it sounded like he said.
Just as lively was Casa Brasil, a few hundred yards away, where kids and adults played beach volleyball and street soccer while others sipped tiny, 7-euro beers with wedges of lime, while a ukulele-led band played the samba.
Slovenia’s area was less ambitious but nonetheless well-attended (it was free and had shade, and the beer was ice cold). And others with areas here include the U.S., France, Ukraine and Mexico. Some countries have houses in other parts of the city, such as the Danish Pavilion on the Champs-Élysées or Great Britain in Pavillon d’Armenonville, an 18th century hunting lodge. But here at Parc des Nations, which is spread across Parc de la Villette, a former slaughterhouse turned into a green public space, is where the main action is.
Of course this cornucopia of sun, booze and good times is not without ulterior motives. India’s area is sponsored by the Reliance Foundation, the nonprofit arm of the business empire owned by India’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani. A quote from India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, is on the wall, and it forms part of his push for India to host the Olympics in 2036, a prestigious prize for the world’s most populous country.
And not everyone is entirely happy. As in the rest of the Games, Taiwan is unable to use its preferred name but must instead call its area “Chinese Taipei House.”
“Our name and flag is part of our identity,” said Yu Tsing Lin, 25, who is originally from Taiwan but currently works in sales in London. “Politics shouldn’t be mixed up with sports like this.”
Surfing: Medina power surfs his way to a bronze medal for Brazil
Three-time world champion Gabriel Medina of Brazil exited the 2020 Tokyo Olympics without a medal, and it looked like he might do the same in French Polynesia for the 2024 Games.
Team Peru's Alonso Correa seemed to be in front before the second half of the bronze medal heat at Teahupo'o, but the judges' call to let Medina keep a score on a wave that Correa clearly believed was snaked through interference changed the tone.
After that, Medina displayed his champion's resolve and surfed like the last waves on Earth were before him, displaying power moves that almost seemed to make judges forget this was a tube-riding spot.
Medina and Correa got barreled when they could, but the heat came down to small-wave, skateboarding-style maneuvers, and Medina just couldn't be beat.
After one of the juiciest tubes of the day, Medina punctuated the ride with an aerial 360 but fell when he landed nose-heavy. It was a relatively high-scoring wave anyway, and Correa never caught up.
Badminton: Viktor Axelsen defends men’s singles title to win gold
Viktor Axelsen of Denmark defended the men’s singles badminton title that he won in Tokyo to win the men’s singles gold medal. Axelsen topped Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand in straight games to take home his second gold medal.
Surfing: Brazil's Tatiana Weston-Webb capitalizes on foe's mistake
Brazil’s Tatiana Weston-Webb advanced to the surfing final after capitalizing on a mistake by competitor Brisa Hennessy of Costa Rica, penalized for taking off on a wave that should have gone to Weston-Webb.
The interference happened earlier in the semifinal heat at Teahupo'o, and Hennessy never seemed to recover after she lost priority wave choice as a result.
On the other hand, Weston-Webb put on a workshop in high-performance surfing, making the most of head-high, so-so waves that rarely opened up for the spot's trademark, high-scoring barrels.
She didn't seem to care as she charged aggressively and painted the horizon with rooster tails of spray, carving up head-high walls with cool precision and taking the win via back-to-back, mid-scored waves.
Weston-Webb faces the U.S.' Caroline Marks in the gold medal final. Hennessy will head to the bronze medal round against Johanne Defay of France.