Paris Olympics 2024 — Day 15 latest
The United States women’s soccer team and men's basketball team both won gold on the penultimate day of the Paris Olympic Games.
The USWNT defeated Brazil 1-0 on Mallory Swanson's goal, while LeBron James and co defeated France 98-87 on the back of Steph Curry's red-hot three-point shooting.
On the track, American Masai Russell won the women's 100m hurdles final, while the U.S. teams won both 4x400m relays.
And New Zealand’s Lydia Ko emerged triumphant in the women’s golf tournament to complete her set of Olympic medals, after she won a silver at Rio 2016 and a bronze at Tokyo 2020.
Live soccer | Live basketball | Medal table | How to follow
What to watch Sunday: Closing ceremony
Time: 3 p.m. ET, 9 p.m. in Paris
TV: NBC and Peaco*ck
The conclusion of arguably the biggest stage in sports gets underway. Unlike the opening ceremony, this won’t feature boats on the River Seine; instead, it returns to a traditional stadium format at the Stade de France — host of track and field.
Swimmer Katie Ledecky and rower Nick Mead will be the flag bearers for the U.S. By the end, the Olympic flag will be passed along to Los Angeles — the next Summer Olympics host in 2028.
Advertisem*nt
What to watch Sunday: Hassan seeks history in marathon
Time: 2 a.m. ET, 8 a.m. in Paris
TV: USA Network and Peaco*ck
Dutch runner Sifan Hassan aims to become the first person to medal in the 5,000 meters, the 10,000m and the marathon since Emil Zátopek, the Czech runner who swept those three events in 1952 in Helsinki.
Hassan, 31, won gold in the 5,000 and 10,000 in Tokyo, and has won bronze in both here in Paris. The marathon medal attempt comes just two days (less than 48 hours) after her 10,000m race.
What to watch Sunday: Men’s water polo medal matches
Time: 4:35 a.m. ET (U.S. vs. Hungary, bronze), 10:35 a.m. in Paris; 8 a.m. ET (Serbia vs. Croatia, gold), 4 p.m. in Paris
TV: USA Network and Peaco*ck
Hungary is the most decorated men’s water polo team at the Olympics, with nine gold medals all time. The Hungarians had a run of three straight gold medals from Sydney in 2000 through Beijing in 2008.
The U.S. hasn’t medaled since taking silver in 2008 (where it lost to Hungary), but is 5-2 in these Games. But Sunday’s match will be tough. The U.S. lost 10-6 in the semifinals to Serbia — a team Hungary dismantled 17-13 in the preliminary round.
The gold medal match poses Serbia — the two-time reigning gold medalists, by the way — against Croatia. It’s a rematch of the 2016 gold medal game in Rio, which Serbia won 11-7.
What to watch Sunday: U.S. women’s volleyball hoping for repeat
Time: 7 a.m. ET, 1 p.m. in Paris (live); 1:30 p.m. ET (replay)
TV: NBC, Telemundo and Peaco*ck
The Italians have already accomplished a first: They’ll win their first medal in women’s indoor volleyball. A silver at worst.
The Americans won their first gold medal during the Tokyo Games in 2021. After dropping its first game to China, the U.S. has defeated Serbia, France, Poland and Brazil — the latter a rematch of 2021’s gold medal match.
Italy has been dominant, dropping just one set in five matches and winning 14 consecutive sets entering Sunday.
U.S. coach Karch Kiraly could win his fifth gold medal as a coach and player. He won gold in indoor volleyball with the men’s U.S. team in 1984 and 1988, as a beach volleyball player in 1996, and as coach of this team in 2021.
What to watch Sunday: U.S. women's basketball goes for 8th straight gold
Time: 9:30 a.m. ET, 3:30 p.m. in Paris (live); 3:30 p.m. ET (replay)
TV: NBC, Telemundo and Peaco*ck (live), USA Network (replay)
The U.S. women’s basketball team has won all five of its games by double digits, with Belgium posing the biggest challenge in an 87-74 finish on Aug. 1. The Americans have balanced the weight of expectations as their winning streak hit 60 games. But they’ve shown few signs of vulnerability, crushing Australia 85-64 in the semifinals at Bercy Arena on Friday.
Two-time WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson leads the U.S. in points (18.2) and rebounds (9.6) per game, and fellow two-time MVP Breanna Stewart has added 18 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.0 assists.
France’s only loss so far came to Australia. It took down Belgium 81-75 in the semis. The French have a balanced attack, with Gabby Williams being the only player to lead the team in scoring multiple times. Williams is one of four French players with WNBA experience, including Valériane Ayayi, Marine Johannès and Iliana Rupert.
France has reached this stage once before, losing to the U.S. 86-50 in the 2012 gold medal game in London.
Basketball: France's Lessort wears Martinique flag during medal ceremony
Mathias Lessort, who was born in Martinique and raised there until the age of 15 before moving to France to play basketball, draped a flag of the French region over his shoulders during the medal ceremony on Saturday night.
The United States beat the host nation France 98-87 at Bercy Arena to win its fifth consecutive Olympic gold medal in men’s basketball.
Afterward, while the French players were standing on the podium to receive their silver medals, Lessort, 28, who plays for Panathinaikos in Greece, bowed his head with the flag across his shoulders.
A previous version of this post misidentified the flag Mathias Lessort held during the medal ceremony. Lessort held the flag of Martinique, a Caribbean island that is a region of France, not the flag of Palestine.
Advertisem*nt
Highlight of the day: This
Stephen Curry made his first Olympics a memorable one.
Two nights after his 36-point outburst in a close win over Serbia, the Golden State Warriors star knocked down eight 3-pointers to push Team USA to a 98-87 win over France in the men’s basketball gold medal game.
The Athletic’s Joe Vardon has much more.
Team USA's Noah Lyles tests negative for Covid-19
Two days after revealing he had tested positive for COVID-19, and finishing third in the men's 200 meters, Olympic 100m men's champion Noah Lyles says he's now COVID-free.
"Thank God, I am Covid free," the American sprinter posted on X.
Super pic
Love this.
Lin Yu-ting earns gold on what could be boxing’s last Olympic night
Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan, who quietly weathered a firestorm during these Paris Games of at times ugly speculation about her personal biology, won a gold medal Saturday on what could potentially be the last night of boxing at the Olympic Games.
In a ring centered at Philippe-Chatrier Court at Roland Garros, Lin set all the wider noise aside with a victory that played out much like the rest of her wins at these Games: Fairly subdued, defensive and filled with counterpunching to score a unanimous decision in a system where knockouts are highly difficult to attain.
Julia Szeremeta, 20, of Poland, didn’t help herself by fighting with her hands often down by her sides, a strategy she had successfully employed earlier in the tournament to throw her opponents off by inviting hurried attacks that she could counter.
It didn’t work against Lin, who has been the most disciplined fighter in this featherweight division of 57 kilograms (125 pounds). With her longer length, she often had Szeremeta within reach and hit her enough to bloody her nose by the end of the bout. None of the five judges awarded Szeremeta a round.
“Every fight is not easy,” Lin said. “Winning 5-0 might seem easy but behind that is a lot of practice and hard work.” Read more below.
Beach volleyball: Gold for Sweden!
Swedish pair Ahman/Hellvig have taken gold against Germany's Ehlers/Wickler in the men's beach volleyball, winning 21-10, 21-13.
As mentioned earlier, Norway took bronze.
Advertisem*nt
United States win basketball gold!
THEY'VE DONE IT! Hosts France have played so well, but you just cannot touch this absurdly stacked, gifted United States men's basketball team.
The last dance of legends has ended with gold for the USA! Kevin Durant a record four-time gold medalist! The King, LeBron James, with another crowning moment.
But that game was decided by the stream of massive three-pointers at the end from super Steph Curry, probably the best shooter in the history of the sport.
Follow all the reaction, analysis, quotes, and more with The Athletic's live blog specifically dedicated to that match, here.
Boxing: Gold for Li Qian!
It's gold for China's Li Qian, pictured, in the women's 75kg final, as she beats Atheyna Bylon of Panama.
While in the men's super-heavyweight (+92kg) event, Uzbekistan's Bakhodir Jalolov beats Spain's Ayoub Ghadfa 5-0 by unanimous decision.
U.S. men's team closing in on gold in the hoops!
In the men's basketball gold medal match, we are in the fourth quarter with around seven minutes left.
USA lead France, the hosts, 80-69,
Can they hold on for gold and continue the American Olympic dynasty in the sport?
Follow all the updates with our live blog here.
High jump recap: Tamberi finishes 11th after visiting hospital
Italian high jumper Gianmarco Tamberi, who made headlines at the Tokyo Olympics for sharing the gold medal with Qatar’s Mutaz Essa Barshim, participated in the men’s high jump final at the Paris Olympics on Saturday just hours after going to the hospital.
Fans cheered for Tamberi when he stepped on the track at Stade de France after he had posted on social media earlier in the day about riding in an ambulance due to a kidney illness.
Tamberi missed his first two attempts at 2.22 meters before clearing the bar in his third try to advance to the next round. However, he missed all three attempts at 2.27 meters. Tamberi finished 11th after New Zealand’s Hamish Kerr won gold following a jump-off with Team USA’s Shelby McEwen.
The 32-year-old Tamberi had a nice moment with the crowd after his final jump, holding his hand on his heart and waving, before fellow Italian Stefano Sottile and Barshim gave him some encouraging words. An emotional Tamberi then walked to the stands to receive hugs from his coach and other Italian athletes.
Earlier in the day, Tamberi shared on Instagram that he had thrown up blood twice. Read more about his bravery today below.
Weightlifting: Talakhadze wins his THIRD Olympic title in a row!
Brilliant from Georgia's Lasha Talakhadze, who has just won his third successive Olympic title in the heaviest men's weight category.
He lifted 215kg in the snatch and 255kg in the clean and jerk for a ridiculous, gargantuan total of 470kg.
Silver for Armenian Varazdat Lalayan (467kg) and bronze for Bahraini Gor Minasyan with 461kg.
Advertisem*nt
It's gold for France's Althea Laurin in the women's taekwondo!
The Grand Palais is absolutely bouncing!
In the women's +67kg taekwondo event, French home favourite Althea Laurin has beaten Uzbekistan's Svetlana Osipova 2-0 in the best-of-three final and she will lift gold!
A delighted Laurin, overcome with emotion, carries the tricolore flag over her head. What a moment, at her home Games.
Bronze went to Turkey's Nafia Kus Aydin and Lee Da-bin of South Korea.
Basketball: USA leading France in men's gold medal match
The United States, the stacked all-star team, are leading hosts France 51-41 in the men's final.
Follow the action with our live blog here.
Boxing: Lin and Khalokov secure gold in 57kg category
Two more golds from the boxing at Roland Garros: both in the 57kg discipline, one in the men's, one in the women's.
In the men's, Abdumalik Khalokov of Uzbekistan beat Kyrgyzstan's Munarbek Seiitbek Uulu, while in the women's, Lin Yu-ting of Chinese Taipei, pictured, beat Poland's Julia Szeremeta to triumph.