2024 Olympics: U.S. women win gold in soccer; NBA stars clinch 5th straight basketball gold for Team USA

The 2024 Paris Olympics comes to a close Sunday, with the United States going into the final day of competition with the most medals, 122.

China will start Sunday, which includes competition and the closing ceremony, with the most gold medals, 39, compared to Team USA's 38. China has the second-most total medals, 90, as counted at the end of today.

Today, the last full day of competition, saw the United States add 11 medals to its total. They include five gold, three silver, and three bronze. It was the second-best day for medals for Team USA, bested only by Aug. 3's take of 18 medals.

The day's count was fueled in part by gold in women’s soccer, Masai Russell's gold in women’s 100-meter hurdles, gold in both men's and women's 4x400-meter relay and gold in men’s basketball.

Brooke Rabatou won silver in the inaugural boulder and lead sport climbing event, Nevin Harrison in women's canoe sprint C-1 and silver in men's high jump for Shelby McEwen.

The bronze medals came in breaking, the men's 5,000 and the men's freestyle wrestling 74kg — Victor Montalvo, Grant Fisher and Kyle Dake, respectively.

After two long days of intense breakdancing battles, the sport's first Olympic showing has come to an end with three men and three women crowned the best in the world.

The men's competition today brought the same energy as the women's yesterday — and perhaps more, as the French were likely losing their voices going crazy for hometown favorite and eventual silver medalist Dany Dann.

Like gymnastics, the men's contest brought more power, with tougher freezes and spins, sometimes executing skills that didn't seem humanly possible. But the women brought the personality, and of course, the outfits.

Cao Yuan won gold in the men’s 10-meter platform final, completing China’s sweep of the eight diving events at the Paris Olympics. Japan’s Rikuto Tamai and Great Britan’s Noah Williams took silver and bronze, respectively.

Grant Holloway stands on the top step of the podium and accepts his gold medal after winning the men’s 110-meter hurdles. He was joined by American teammate Daniel Roberts who took home the silver medal.

The U.S. women’s national soccer team won gold in the 2024 Paris Olympics, defeating Brazil 1-0 in today's final. The result returns Team USA to the summit of women’s soccer, with its fifth Olympic and first women’s gold medal since the 2012 London Games.

The first half was even, with both teams having multiple scoring opportunities. The U.S. team had one of its best chances halfway through the first 45 minutes, when forward Mallory Swanson had a shot denied at the near post by Brazil’s keeper Lorena.

Brazil, meanwhile, had several chances to get the go-ahead goal, including a kick from forward Ludmila that was ruled offside and a sensational save from U.S. keeper Alyssa Naeher that denied a shot from close range by Brazil’s Gabi Portilho in the final minutes of the first half.

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The last two races of the Paris Games were a gold rush for the U.S., with both the women and men dominating the 4x400-meter relays Saturday.

The women — comprising Shamier Little, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Gabby Thomas and Alexis Holmes — closed out the Olympics in a race that was not close.

When McLaughlin-Levrone built up a jet-heeled lead in the second leg, it took some of the crowd a second to realize quite what was happening. From then on, the gold medal was such a formality that many fans were paying more attention to the close battle for second, won by the Netherlands.

And in one of the fastest relays in history, the American team of Rai Benjamin, Christopher Bailey, Bryce Deadmon and Vernon Norwood took home the gold, setting a new Olympic record of 2:54.43. In the last lap, it came down to a race between two gold medalists: Benjamin and Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo.

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Another Olympics, another iconic men's high-jump battle. Except this time Team USA’s Shelby McEwen and New Zealand’s Hamish Kerr didn’t share the gold, as Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi and Mutaz Barshim of Qatar did at Tokyo 2021, but instead opted for a dramatic and physically grueling jump-off.

McEwen suggested that Kerr took the initiative, and he agreed. “I’ve never had to face a decision like that,” he told reporters after winning silver. “He was down for a jump-off and I was open to it.”

Was he tempted by the $50,000 prize money for winning gold? “Most definitely. I mean, I got a family to feed!” he laughed.

But he also thought about the tight battle at the top of the medal table, with the U.S. and China closely matched on golds. “I did think about those things, just to be able to represent the country, because I want to win the medal count and I want to win more goals,” he said.

Kerr, who won the contest, said that sharing the gold in 2021, for which both he and McEwen were present, “was such a special thing for the sport.” But the jump-off tonight was “cool to add to the history in a different way.”

In his retelling of the moment, it was more of a joint decision. “I had my head that I wanted to do it,” he said. “And I’m pretty sure Shelby was in the same mindset because we just looked at each other, nodded, and off we went. It was pretty simple.”

Though she ended up winning gold, Masai Russell came into the 100-meter hurdles final with one goal: no regrets. Above all, she wanted to avoid a repeat of the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, last year, when she crashed into a hurdle and didn’t finish the semi final.

“I failed, but I always knew that I had the talent and the capability of being one of the best hurdlers ever,” she told reporters at the Stade de France. Her main aim was “not wanting to be in that bad place again, not regretting anything when I lined up here today,” she said. “I was like, I’m not gonna regret the things that I didn’t do in this race. I’m gonna make it happen."

She beat France’s Cyréna Samba-Mayela in a photo finish by one-hundredth of a second. Did she think she’d won on the line? “I felt like I was in the top three, because I knew my finish was super strong,” she said. “But when I was waiting, I was like: Come on, come on, come on. Give it to me, give it to me. And then I took off running. So, yeah, it was crazy.”

She put her win down to her explosive finishing power. “I knew it was gonna come down to a dive” for the line, she said. “I take a lot of pride in my last five hurdles. I know a lot of people can’t compete with me on the back end.”

As a well-done present for getting to Paris she bought herself a Mercedes-Benz. Her prize for winning gold? “Probably a house, now!”

She’s also known for accruing legions of followers on social media. Is she expecting more now she’s an official OLY? “Absolutely, they better go up, I’m not playing!” she laughed. “But it’s bigger than social media,” she added. “I love inspiring on social media, but what I do, my purpose, my path, is not to gain followers, it’s to honestly walk away with great performances.”

Faith Kipyegon took gold for Kenya in the women’s 1,500-meter, becoming the first athlete to win the race in three successive Games .

She set an Olympic record in the process — 3:51.29.

Kipyegon's win today adds to her golden collection from the Rio and Tokyo Olympics.

Australian Jessica Hull came in second and Great Britain’s Georgia Bell third.