“As many of you know I modeled our program after Dean Smith’s basketball program, and retiring at this time is a credit to his thinking, as well,” Dorrance said in a school-issued statement. 

“He would re-evaluate his tenure, not after the season, but after he had time to recharge his batteries prior to the next season. When he didn’t, he retired. After last season I initially was excited about the chance to bolster our roster, which we most certainly have done, but as preseason training camp went on, I realized I didn’t have the same energy it takes to give 100% to this year’s team. 

“The players and staff, the university, Carolina athletics and our great fans deserve more, and the respect I have for the amazing legacy the current and former players have built led me to make this decision at this time.”

Dorrance told UNC athletics director Bubba Cunningham on Friday before revealing his retirement to the team Sunday afternoon, according to UNC. 

“Anson is an all-time soccer, coaching and Tar Heel legend. The numbers and accomplishments are staggering and will be hard for any coach or program to replicate or exceed. His impact on the development and growth of women’s sports across the country and around the world has been profound,” Cunningham said. 

“Not only did he elevate women’s sports in the NCAA, but he also led the early dominance of the United States Women’s National Team. With Anson at the helm numerous Tar Heels raised trophies in the World Cup and later in the Olympics.”

Associate head coach Damon Nahas will lead the team this season as interim head coach while Cunningham directs a national search. The Tar Heels open the 2024 regular season at Denver on Thursday. 

Anson Dorrance’s record, accomplishments at UNC 

Dorrance, 73, graduated from UNC in 1974 and went on to become one of the most successful coaches in sport. 

As the Tar Heels’ first and only women’s soccer coach to date, Dorrance led UNC to 934 wins in 45 seasons. He also coached the men’s squad for two years, pushing his career wins to 1,106. 

“Anyone who knows Anson recognizes how deeply competitive he is, so to step aside now underscores his belief it is the right decision for the success of this year’s team. I have great respect for him and his decision,” Cunningham said. 

“Everyone at Carolina thanks Anson, M’Liss, and their family for a 50-plus-year relationship with the university. He will forever be a Tar Heel.”

UNC won 21 NCAA titles and 22 ACC Tournament championships under Dorrance, who racked up 147 NCAA Tournament wins and 31 College Cups. Entering the 2024 season, UNC has been ranked 513 weeks in a row.

“It is no exaggeration to say Anson Dorrance is one of the greatest collegiate coaches of all time, in any sport,” said UNC chancellor Lee H. Roberts. 

He has trained many of the best players in the history of U.S. women’s soccer and has led our program through decades of unparalleled success. Coach Dorrance has shaped the sport for generations to come and leaves an unequaled legacy at Carolina.”

 A seven-time national coach of the year, Dorrance led the Tar Heels to five perfect seasons and set an NCAA record with 92 wins in a row from 1990-94. 

‘What Anson Dorrance has done for women’s soccer – at the collegiate, professional and international level – is beyond compare,’ said ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips. ‘Without Anson, it is undeniable that the sport of women’s soccer is not what it is today. He has been a champion of the sport, and specifically to the countless women’s soccer players he has coached and mentored. His legacy is unrivaled, and we will miss having him on the sidelines.’

Mia Hamm on list of UNC legends to play for Dorrance 

During his time in Chapel Hill, Dorrance coached a crowd of legendary players, none better than Mia Hamm. 

The current president of U.S. Soccer, Hamm was named the ACC’s Greatest Female Athlete in the league’s first 50 years. Hamm set the NCAA scoring record and was a two-time FIFA World Player of the Year. 

Kristine Lilly, one of five Tar Heels to captain the U.S. women’s national team, played in a U.S.-best 354 international games. Crystal Dunn and Emily Fox are among the latest UNC players to play for the USWNT, which won the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. 

Under Dorrance, UNC had 102 first-team All-America awards, 19 ACC Players of the Year , 34 NCAA Tournament MVPs and 22 ACC Tournament MVPs. Fourteen Tar Heels have won 21 Olympic gold medals.  In 2019, UNC dedicated the home of the soccer and lacrosse programs as Dorrance Field. 

Staff writer Rodd Baxley can be reached atrbaxley@fayobserver.com or @RoddBaxley on X/Twitter.

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PARIS – Not even in Mike Tirico’s best-laid plans could he have envisioned all of this. Hosting the most-viewed Olympics since the 2012 London Games. Gearing up for another season alongside Cris Collinsworth as the play-by-play announcer for ‘Sunday Night Football,’ his first Super Bowl call set for the end of next football season. The cherry on top of the NBA coming back to NBC, and the news he will, of course, be the lead play-by-play person for that sport, too. 

To say it was all guaranteed when Tirico, 57, departed ESPN, where he was the announcer for ‘Monday Night Football’ with Jon Gruden, in 2016 would be too rosy. 

He wanted to call the biggest events in sports. By making his bold move eight years ago, his foresight has been rewarded – and then some. 

‘Those are opportunities that were just not there at ESPN at that time, or now, and – did I think it was going to happen? It was a possibility,” Tirico told USA TODAY Sports, acknowledging how rare it is the same person occupies the Olympic host chair and the ‘SNF’ headset. ‘But I wasn’t sure. I just thought it was a great time to write that next chapter.

‘It has been the best portion of my career, without question.’

2024 Olympic medals: Who is leading the medal count? Follow along as we track the medals for every sport.

‘MNF’ was not the brand it once was or what it has turned itself into recently. But that’s because ESPN had to dish out hundreds of millions to steal Joe Buck and Troy Aikman from FOX and revitalize a program that had been struggling – in no small part due to its inability to find a consistent booth – after Tirico’s departure. 

Back then, life after ESPN was more uncertain within sports broadcasting. The nicknames ‘mothership’ and ‘World Wide Leader’ weren’t ironic. Without ESPN, Tirico said, he doesn’t have the versatility to pull off hosting an Olympics. Some of his closest friends still work for the company. But NBC’s platform – and, obviously, Tirico’s skills and downright impressive versatility – has taken him from a cog in the wheel at the ‘Leader’ and made him the face (and voice) of exactly what Tirico sought: the biggest stages in sports.

At the Paris Olympics, He bantered with everyone from Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart to Katie Ledecky and Simone Biles over two-plus weeks. During the closing ceremony Sunday, he hit 100 hours on air total at these Games between the two ceremonies, the daytime program and the prime time show.

Tirico meant no disrespect to the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang and the last two COVID-addled ones in Tokyo and Beijing, but Paris has been his favorite stint at the Olympic desk thus far. 

‘This is exactly what you think the Olympics should be in terms of this job,’ he said. 

And with another NFL season starting in less than a month, Tirico will be ready to shift gears once again. While he called and hosted multiple sports at ESPN, going from the Olympics to the No. 1 show in primetime (as NBC likes to bill ‘SNF’) is a privilege only afforded by a place like network television and NBC. 

‘So yeah, in some ways, I was hoping it would be like this,’ Tirico said the day before the Paris Olympics closing ceremony. ‘But I don’t think you could ever sit there and say ‘Yeah, this is exactly the way it’s supposed to be.’ It’s turned out that it’s been the best thing professionally for me.’ 

The satisfaction comes not only because of the assignments, Tirico said, but the people, such as NBC Sports’ lead producer Rob Hyland and his Olympics boss, Molly Solomon – along with NBCUniversal chairman Mark Lazarus and NBC Sports president Rick Cordella. 

‘All these people have helped me do things in my career that I didn’t think I’d do,’ said Tirico, who added that what he is currently doing sometimes seemed too ridiculous to dream about. ‘This has turned into an amazing, one-of-a-kind job, and I’m privileged every day to get to work with these people and do things.’ 

By waiting his turn and stepping up in the soft retirements of Al Michaels and Bob Costas, Tirico has replaced two broadcasting legends – and is one man essentially doing the jobs of both. 

Tirico didn’t have to change what made him one of the best in the business to rise to their level, either. 

‘We knew by watching Mike’s previous work (before 2016 when we hired him) how talented and hard working he was, but he’s exceeded our expectations by a lot,’ Lazarus told USA TODAY Sports in a statement. ‘His ability to host, interview, do play by play and to set any scene, news or otherwise, is at the top of his profession across the board. Fans connect so well with his style and substance, and he easily communicates facts and storylines through any telecast.’ 

Tirico has been connected to Costas for more than 35 years, since he won a scholarship in Costas’ name to attend Syracuse University. Costas was the voice of NBC’s heyday basketball coverage, and as fate would have it, the league’s new media rights deal that included NBC – and puts Tirico back on the mic for the ‘Association’ – became official while he was in France. 

‘It’ll keep us busy, but we love to be,’ Tirico said. 

And nobody is busier in sports media than Tirico. On top of all of his other duties, he anchors NBC’s golf coverage along with the Kentucky Derby. Costas and Michaels displayed similar types of breadth in their primes, but not to the extent Tirico does.

In regards to the two Hall of Famers, Tirico only has reverence.

‘You don’t replace those guys,’ Tirico said, ‘you follow those guys.

‘To even be mentioned in the same breath and the fact I’m doing the job they’ve done, is still a ‘pinch me’ for a kid who grew up in New York wanting to be a sportscaster.’ 

The Whitestone, Queens native who grew up on the Mets and the Jets is still a sports fan at heart. The bronze-medal team handball game had him on the edge of his seat, he said.

Like he always finds ways to keep us on the edge of ours.

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PARIS — A’ja Wilson is the best player on the planet and it’s not even close. 

The U.S. women’s basketball team has its eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal because of it. 

After decades of cakewalking to Olympic gold medals and World Cup titles, the Americans were tested like never before by France on Sunday at the 2024 Paris Olympics. They were hounded relentlessly from the opening tip. Trailed multiple times. Heckled by a raucous crowd that both loves Les Bleues and was eager to see chaos. 

But the U.S. women’s streak wasn’t going to end on Wilson’s watch. 

‘She was incredible,’ Kelsey Plum, who is also teammates with Wilson on the Las Vegas Aces, said after the Americans beat France 67-66. ‘But that’s who she is.’

Wilson was named the Olympic tournament MVP. She was No. 2 in scoring and rebounds, and led the 12-team field in blocks.

Against France, she finished with 21 points and 13 rebounds, both game highs. She also had four blocks, including two monster ones early in the third quarter that kept France from pulling away when the Americans couldn’t buy a bucket, be it in Euros, dollars or francs.

‘I leaned on my defense more. And I think that’s kind of what got things going, not only for myself but for my team as well,’ Wilson said. ‘Once we got it rocking and rolling on the defensive end, we got more energy and smoke to us when it come to the offensive side.’

The Americans are a Who’s Who of women’s basketball, and the general public is accustomed to seeing them roll over opponents. But the gap between the U.S. women and the rest of the world is narrowing, as this tournament showed.

This was the ugliest game the U.S. women had in, well, forever. And if we’re being honest, they had no business winning it. They finished with 19 turnovers and were a paltry 19 of 56 (34%) from the floor.

But Wilson dragged them to the top of the medals podium. If you can’t appreciate that, if you aren’t impressed by her or are still hung up on who wasn’t on this roster, that’s your problem. 

She’s been the WNBA’s MVP twice and is on track to win a third this season. But this game might be her ultimate statement. With the Olympic title, and the dynasty, on the line, Wilson shone brighter than anyone. 

Oh, and this gold medal? It was the last of these Olympics to be awarded, and allowed the United States to tie China for most at the Paris Games.

‘When it comes to showing up and showing out, I’m always going to put my money on women,’ Wilson said. ‘Because we’re just phenomenal.’

Wilson sure is. And because of her, the U.S. women are Olympic champions once again.

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.

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PARIS — Brittney Griner’s eyes began to fill as she heard the first notes of the Star-Spangled Banner. As she watched the U.S. flag rise, she cried unabashedly.

It wasn’t long ago she was in a Russian prison, uncertain of when – or if – she’d get back home. Now, as she stood on the top step of the medals podium, the gold medal she helped win for her country heavy around her neck, Griner was overcome with emotion.

By the time the anthem finished, her face was wet with tears. While her teammates huddled together and began cheesing for photos, Griner took a second to compose herself, swiping at her face with her hand before she joined them.

“It means so much to me,” Griner said, her voice growing thick once again. “I didn’t think I’d be here, like I’ve said before. And then to be here winning gold for my country, representing, when my country fought so hard for me to even be standing here – yeah, this gold is going to hold a special place.”

Griner’s story is known to most everyone by now. Arrested in February 2022 after two nearly-spent vape cartridges with hash oil were found in her bag, she spent almost 10 months in a Russian prison. Though marijuana in any form is illegal in Russia, Griner was a political pawn.

Arrested just days before Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, she was a propaganda gold mine for Vladimir Putin in his cold war with the United States. A valuable bargaining chip, too.

In her book, Griner details how dehumanizing and demoralizing her imprisonment was. What kept her going was the love of her family, her basketball family included.

Though Griner said when she returned that she planned to play again, re-entry was not easy. Physically or psychologically. Even here in France, her first trip overseas since her December 2022 release, there were flashbacks.

The first train ride to Lille, where the U.S. women played their group-stage games, was hard. The last time she’d been on a train it was to travel between prisons in Russia.

“BG’s gone through a lot the last few years,” said Diana Taurasi, who is Griner’s teammate with the Phoenix Mercury and one of her closest friends. “When you talk about literally where she was (almost) three years ago, it’s almost mind boggling that she’s been able to get back to this point. It shows a lot of character.’

There is something healing for Griner in basketball, though. The affection from her teammates and players from other countries is genuine. After the U.S. women beat Australia in group play, Aussie legend Lauren Jackson sought Griner out in the mixed zone and they exchanged a long hug.

It was the first time the three-time WNBA MVP had seen Griner since her release.

“We did follow it. It was on the news every day, it was horrible,” Jackson said. “I feel really honored that I got the opportunity to match up with her again, even for a couple minutes. She’s a beautiful human.”

There are those who’ve tried to paint Griner as anything but, suggesting she somehow deserved the fate she got. Or, worse, was ungrateful to her country. Nothing could be further from the truth, as those who actually know her know.

Griner let it be known soon after she returned that she wanted to play for USA Basketball again. She is a mainstay of the national team, having already won gold medals in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo, and putting on the uniform again was the best way she knew to express the gratitude she feels for the United States.

She delighted being around her teammates, who relished the joy she had at these Olympics. She’s a friendly and fun presence in any locker room, a quality desperately needed on a stage like this and with massive expectations for the U.S. women.

But there is a burden she carries that no one else can understand. After the final whistle, Griner found wife Cherelle. Then, while her teammates were still celebrating, Griner went backstage and found a bathroom, where she let all of the emotions wash over her.

“When you see BG around the team, outward, she’s OK. But you know inside, there’s a lot going on there,” U.S. coach Cheryl Reeve said. “But she always presents her very best version of herself, despite all that she went through.

“And she is thankful to be here. She was so thankful to be here.’

Olympians always talk about the pride they have of representing their country, the privilege of wearing the red, white and blue.

For Griner, though, there is gratitude most of all.

“I always wanted to be here,” she said. “My country fought for me to get back. I was able to bring home gold for my country. There’s just no greater feeling.”

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.

A surprise signing, the Jacksonville Jaguars are welcoming back safety Tashaun Gipson Sr., who played for the team from 2016-18 before being released for cap-saving purposes in March 2019.

The team Jaguars/status/1822725070772646344′ target=’_blank’ rel=’noreferrer noopener’>announced the move Sunday afternoon. In a corresponding move, the Jaguars released linebacker Ty Summers.

According to ESPN’sAdam Schefter, Gipson is set to sign a one-year deal with the team. Gipson is set to serve a six-game suspension for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing substances. He later accepted responsibility, but said in a statement in July that it was ‘in no way related to performance, training or gaining an advantage of any kind at any time.’

Gipson can compete in the preseason before returning to the team after his suspension.

During his three seasons with the Jaguars, Gipson was one of the stalwarts of the team’s secondary alongside cornerbacks Jalen Ramsey and A.J. Bouye. He started all 48 games he played in, accounting for 159 total tackles, six interceptions and 16 pass breakups.

All things Jaguars: Latest Jacksonville Jaguars news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.

Since being released by Jacksonville, Gipson has played for three different teams, including the Houston Texans (2019), Chicago Bears (2020-21) and the San Francisco 49ers (2022-23).

Gipson has played 12 years in the NFL for five different teams, including the Cleveland Browns who signed with the team as an undrafted free agent out of Wyoming. He’s played in 173 games, starting 165. Gipson has accounted for 684 total tackles, 18 tackles for loss, 68 pass breakups and 33 interceptions.

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PARIS – There was just one more turn to go, around the side of Les Invalides, the French national military museum whose lawn is lined by cannons. Sifan Hassan, arguably the greatest distance runner in the world, was scraping the fence and barely behind. Tigst Assefa, the sport’s world record holder, was desperately clinging to the lead.

As the finish line came into view, Hassan surged through the smallest of openings. Assefa’s body turned. After more than two hours of a grueling race along the Seine, past the palace of Versailles and back again, they were both at sprint speeds.

They tangled. They jostled. They were one false move away from taking each other out. Then, in the blink of an eye, Hassan was gone; a blur of Netherlands orange leaving Assefa behind and streaking to the gold medal. And when she crossed the wire in an Olympic record 2 hours, 22 minutes and 55 seconds, there was just one question left.

How is it possible for a human to do this?

‘She’s incredible,’ American Emily Sisson said after finishing 23rd. ‘Generational talent. I think she might be solidified as the (greatest distance runner of all-time now) if she wasn’t already. So that’s pretty amazing.’

Anyone who wins an Olympic marathon is as tough and hardcore of an athlete as exists in the world. But Hassan has taken it to levels at the Paris Olympics that defy all common sense.

Three years ago in Tokyo, she won gold in the 5k and 10k, adding a bronze in the 1,500 meters. This year, after winning the London and Chicago marathons last fall, she decided to one-up herself by adding the ultimate test to her plate.

It was unprecedented. It was potentially dangerous. Her competitors thought it was nuts. Even Hassan thought it was a little crazy.

But six days ago, she finished third in the women’s 5k at Stade de France, running a season-best 14:30.61. Two days ago, she won bronze in the 10k, posting another season-best 30:44.12. She thought she left something in reserve for the marathon, but she couldn’t be sure.  

Would she have the legs not just to run a marathon, not just to win another marathon but to out-kick one of the best in the world when it was up for grabs in the final half-kilometer?

She didn’t know – until she pulled it off Sunday. And the only thing we can possibly ask is how?

How? Seriously, how? The answer is a pain that none of us mere mortals will ever understand.

‘Every moment in the race I was regretting that I ran the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters,’ Hassan said. ‘I was telling myself if I hadn’t done that, I would feel great today. From beginning to end, it was so hard. Every step of the way, I was thinking, ‘Why did I do that? What is wrong with me?’’

With all necessary respect to Michael Phelps, Mark Spitz, Katie Ledecky, Missy Franklin, Simone Biles, Carl Lewis or whoever else you want to put into the conversation, you can argue what Hassan did in Paris is the greatest accomplishment in the history of the Summer Games.

At this elite level of distance running, athletes’ bodies are finely tuned to be in peak form for one particular day. The marathon is the ultimate test of endurance, and thousands of hours of sport science have been devoted to the ideal amounts of training, rest, calorie consumption and hydration necessary to last the 26.2 miles.

All that goes out the window when you run a 5k, a 10k and a marathon – all within about 142 hours – against the best in the world.

Merely trying it is an audacious test of human endurance. It’s pushing one’s body past limits that even the best would not dare to attempt. It’s almost impossible.

‘To finish the marathon is a kind of hell,’ Hassan said after the 10k.

And it burned. Goodness, did it burn, as much or more than she imagined. She kept going anyway.

Then she won.

‘Every single step is so hard and so painful,’ Hassan said. ‘I was never more focused in my life. Every step I challenged myself, and now I am so grateful I didn’t push myself too much on the track. I was scared of this race.’

Hassan was not running among those at the front until more than halfway through the race. At the 40-kilomter mark, as the packs started to separate, Hassan was officially in fifth place.

How easy would it have been to accept that just getting to the finish line was worth as much as an Olympic medal? What was that torment like between her legs and her lungs and her mind to get them all in agreement for those final strides when Hassan pushed past the pain and shoved her way by Assefa?

‘At the end I thought, ‘This is just a 100 meter sprint – come on, Sifan,’’ she said.

That’s where the controversy comes in, to the extent that there is any.

The pushing and shoving at that stage of a race is unusual. The Ethiopian delegation protested the finish, claiming obstruction. It took more than an hour for the protest to be rejected and the results to become official. Assefa said she was happy with the silver medal.

‘I didn’t expect that at that moment,’ she said through a translator but didn’t elaborate much more when pressed for details about the incident and how it impacted her chances.

But at the end, we all saw what we saw. They were on even terms. Then somehow, against all human logic given everything she had put her body through this week, Hassan had left Assefa behind.

It was a triumph of talent, audacity and pushing human limits.

‘She has shown the world she can do everything,’ third-place finisher Helen Obiri said.

We’ve seen a lot of amazing things over the two-plus weeks of the Paris Olympics. But on the final day of these Games, Hassan pulled off a feat we may truly never see again.

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PARIS — When Diana Taurasi was announced as a member of the U.S. women’s basketball team for the 2024 Paris Olympics, her intentions were clear: She wanted to win one more gold medal than her basketball bestie, Sue Bird, Team USA’s longtime point guard. 

Sunday evening in Bercy Arena, in the final event of the 2024 Summer Games, Taurasi accomplished that feat when the Americans hung on for a 67-66 win over France to earn an unprecedented eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal.

So, how is it to be able to brag about that to Bird, who was sitting courtside watching the game? 

“Yeah, it’s the only reason I came. It’s funny because we scored the same amount of points today,” Taurasi deadpanned after the win, a game in which she did not leave the bench.

In Tokyo three years ago, after Bird and Taurasi had led Team USA to its seventh consecutive gold, Taurasi caused a stir when she ended her TV interview by quipping, “See you in Paris.” 

2024 Olympic medals: Who is leading the medal count? Follow along as we track the medals for every sport.

She wasn’t possibly serious, was she? Turns out, she was. 

The 42-year-old Taurasi became the oldest American basketball player to ever compete in the Olympics when she started the first pool play game on July 29 against Japan. 

She wasn’t the only seasoned veteran playing hoops for the U.S. this summer, as 39-year-old LeBron James led the U.S. men to gold over France on Saturday night. But neither of them took the title of oldest hooper at these, or any, Games. That distinction went to 43-year-old Lauren Jackson, who returned to the Australian Opals after a 12-year absence. Australia beat Belgium Sunday for Bronze. 

Though coach Cheryl Reeve didn’t put Taurasi in the gold medal game, she was effusive in her praise of the woman widely considered to be the GOAT of the WNBA. 

“She’s defined USA basketball,” Reeve said. “And in her final Olympics, the mark that she’s making in terms of leadership, just sharing the knowledge that she has. She’s a six-time Olympian who’s left her mark every time she’s around the team. I don’t know that there’s a greater competitor in USA basketball (history). Dee is sorta on Mount Rushmore in that way.”

Taurasi had an up-and-down Olympics. Though she wasn’t scoring much, if at all, she started in all three pool play games that the U.S. played in Lille, a town on the northern border of France. When the team moved to Paris for the knockout round, she was benched in favor of Jackie Young. Taurasi came off the bench to play 14 minutes in the quarterfinals and just six minutes in the semis. 

Asked how this medal compares to her other five, Taurai joked, “I like the other ones better.” 

“It always feels good when you beat the home team at home,” she said. “There’s a little bit of satisfaction there.” 

So, what does this mean for the 2028 Olympics, which will be held in Taurasi’s hometown of Los Angeles?

“I’ll be there,” she said, “with a beer, on the beach, sitting next to Sue.” 

Among the highlights of countries competing at the 2024 Paris Olympics is seeing how many medals each nation can rack up, showing off its dominance to the rest of the world.

During the 2021 pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics, Team USA won 113 medals, including 39 golds, while China won 89 medals and 38 golds.

As these Games conclude, USA TODAY Sports has been keeping track of just how many medals the United States earned throughout the competition. These Olympics marked a record-setting haul for Team USA, which led the overall medal count in Paris with 126 – including 40 gold.

Here are the daily counts of medals won by Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

2024 Olympic medals: Who is leading the medal count? Follow along as we track the medals for every sport.

USA medal count at 2024 Paris Olympics

The United States has earned 126 medals — 40 gold, 44 silver and 42 bronze. America led the overall medal count, followed by China (91), Great Britain (65) and host country France (64).

Team USA gold medalists

Team USA’s first gold medal of the Paris Games came in the men’s 4×100-meter relay. The team of Jack Alexy, Chris Guiliano, Hunter Armstrong and Caeleb Dressel posted a blistering 3:09.28 time to win gold. Here are the rest of the Americans who finished atop of the podium so far:

July 28: American fencer Lee Kiefer won her second consecutive Olympic gold medal in individual foil by defeating teammate Lauren Scruggs 15-6 in an all-American final. Kiefer becomes only the second U.S. fencer to win two Olympic gold medals in individual competition.
July 28: American swimmer Torri Huske won gold in the women’s 100 butterfly in 55.59 seconds.
July 30: Simone Biles led the U.S. women’s gymnastics team to an Olympic gold medal in the team final. The U.S. team, made up of Biles, Jade Carey, Sunisa Lee and Jordan Chiles, finished nearly six points ahead of the silver medal winners Italy, with Brazil grabbing bronze.
July 31: Katie Ledecky won gold in the women’s 1,500-meter freestyle in dominant fashion, setting an Olympic record of 15:30.02. It marked her first gold medal of the Paris Games to go along with a bronze she won Saturday in the 400 freestyle. Ledecky now has won 12 medals in four Olympic Games.
Aug. 1: Michael Grady, Nick Mead, Justin Best and Liam Corrigan rowed to gold in the men’s four finals with an incredible clocking of 5:49.03, holding off New Zealand (silver) by less than a second (5:49.88), and Great Britain (bronze, 5:52.42). It had been 64 years since Team USA had won the Olympic men’s four rowing event.
Aug. 1: Simone Biles edged out Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade in the all-around final to become the oldest all-around Olympic champion since 1952. Biles, 27, is also just the third woman in history to win multiple golds in the all-around, and the first to win all-around titles eight years apart.
Aug. 1:The U.S. women’s foil team – made up of fencers Lee Kiefer and Lauren Scruggs, who won individual gold and silver earlier this week, respectively – beat top-seeded Italy for its first gold medal in the women’s team foil event, 45-39.
Aug. 1:U.S. swimmer Kate Douglass is officially an Olympic champion, winning the women’s 200-meter breaststroke final with a time of 2:19. 24 – a new American record. 
Aug. 3: By winning gold in the men’s individual skeet shooting event, Vincent Hancock entered the pantheon of Olympic icons. He became the seventh Olympian in history to earn four gold medals in an individual event, and is just the fifth American to do so (joining Katie Ledecky, Michael Phelps, Carl Lewis and Al Oerter).
Aug. 3: Simone Biles won her second Olympic title on vault, adding to the gold she won in 2016. It was her 10th Olympic medal and seventh gold. At these Paris Games alone, Biles has already won three medals, all of them gold.
Aug. 3: U.S. shot putter Ryan Crouser won his third consecutive Olympic gold medal with a throw of 75 feet, 1¾ inches. He’s the only shot put thrower to win three Olympic gold medals in the event.
Aug. 3: Katie Ledecky won her fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal in the 800-meter freestyle, completing her week with her fourth medal in Paris and 14th in her Olympic career. Ledecky is one of seven Olympians with gold medals in the same event in four different Games, and among five Americans to do so (joining Vincent Hancock, Michael Phelps, Carl Lewis and Al Oerter).
Aug. 3: The USA’s mixed 4×100-meter medley relay team of Ryan Murphy (backstroke), Nic Fink (breaststroke), Gretchen Walsh (butterfly) and Torri Huske (freestyle) set a new world record in the event, winning a thrilling race by .04 seconds over China.
Aug. 4: Bobby Finke defended his Olympic title in the men’s 1,500-meter freestyle final, breaking the world record in a race he never trailed in to win gold.
Aug 4: The team of Regan Smith (backstroke), Lilly King (breaststroke), Gretchen Walsh (butterfly) and Torri Huske (freestyle) broke the world record in the women’s 4×100-meter medley to win gold in the final swimming event.
Aug. 4: Kristen Faulkner won gold in the women’s road race for Team USA’s first medal in the event in 40 years.
Aug. 4: Scottie Scheffler tied a course record by firing a 9-under-par 62 at Le Golf National in the final round of men’s golf to take gold.
Aug. 4: Noah Lyles proved he is the fastest man in the world by winning the men’s 100-meter final in a photo finish.
Aug. 5: Valarie Allman made it back-to-back golds in women’s discus with a throw of 69.50.
Aug. 5: Caroline Marks won the women’s shortboard surfing in in Teahupo’o, Tahiti.
Aug. 6:  Cole Hocker took the gold medal in the men’s 1,500-meter race, and he also broke the Olympic record with a time of 3:27.65.
Aug. 6:Gabby Thomas won the women’s 200-meter final, sprinting to the finish with a time of 21.83. 
Aug. 6: Amit Elor won the gold medal in the women’s wrestling 68-kilogram weight class, becoming the youngest American wrestler to win Olympic gold.
Aug. 7: Team USA, made up of Lily Williams, Jennifer Valente, Kristen Faulkner and Chloe Dygert, won its first gold medal in Women’s Team Pursuit.
Aug. 7: Quincy Hall won gold in the men’s 400-meter dash. He trailed early but a spectacular straightaway dash allowed him to claim gold with a personal-best time of 43.40.
Aug. 7:SarahHildebrandt gave Team USA its second wrestling gold medal in as many nights at the 2024 Paris Olympics, defeating Yusneylys Guzmán of Cuba, 3-0, in the 50-kilogram final at Champ-de-Mars Arena. 
Aug. 8:Long jumper Tara Davis-Woodhall won a medal in women’s long jump by leaping 7.1 meters (or more than 23 feet) through the air.
Aug. 8:Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone won gold in the women’s 400-meter hurdles in dominant fashion on Thursday, posting another world record time at 50.37. It’s the sixth time she lowered her own world record. McLaughlin-Levrone is the only woman to win the event in consecutive Olympic Games.
Aug. 8:Grant Holloway won a gold medal in the 110-meter hurdles at the Paris Games’ Stade de France with a time of 12.99 seconds
Aug. 9: The star-powered U.S. women’s 4×100-meter relay team – featuring Gabby Thomas, Sha’Carri Richardson, Melissa Jefferson and Twanisha Terry – cruised to first place, running a season-best 41.78.
Aug. 9: Hurdler Rai Benjamin cleared 10 hurdles around the track to win Olympic gold in the men’s 400 hurdles, running a season-best 46.46. It’s Benjamin’s first Olympic gold medal. 
Aug. 9:Olivia Reeves won gold in the 71kg weightlifting competition, giving the United States its first weightlifting gold medal in 24 years. Reeves’ gold was Team USA’s first since Tara Nott-Cunningham in 2000.
Aug: 10: The United States women’s national soccer team defeated Brazil 1-0 to earn gold, their first gold medal since 2012. Mallory Swanson, part of head coach Emma Hayes’ new front three along with Sophia Smith and Trinity Rodman, scored the game-winner in the 57th minute. Korbin Albert, inserted by Hayes into the starting lineup for the final, set her up with a timely through ball. 
Aug. 10:Masai Russell won gold in the women’s 100 hurdles in a close photo finish. She ran a time of 12.33 to earn the gold, finishing .01 seconds ahead of France’s Cyréna Samba-Mayela, who ran a 12.34 to place second. Puerto Rico’s Jasmine Camacho-Quinn crossed the line at 12.36 to come in third.
Aug. 10:The U.S. men’s 4×400-meter relay team— Chris Bailey, Vernon Norwood, Bryce Deadmon and Rai Benjamin — claimed gold with an Olympic record time of 2:54.43 over Botswana (silver) and Great Britain (Bronze).
Aug. 10: The American quartet of Shamier Little, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Gabby Thomas and Alexis Holmes dominated the women’s 4×400-meter relay race and won gold in the event for the eighth consecutive Games with a time of 3:15.27, a new American record. Netherlands finished with a silver medal and Great Britain earned a bronze.
Aug. 10: The U.S. men’s basketball team defeated France 98-87 to claim gold at Bercy Arena, marking the fifth consecutive Olympic gold medal for the American men. Steph Curry finished with a team-high 24 points, all coming from three-pointers. LeBron James added 14 points, while Kevin Durant and Devin Booker each had 15.
Aug. 11: Jennifer Valente won her second consecutive gold medal in women’s Omnium cycling at the National Velodrome. Valente totaled 144 points, edging Poland’s Daria Pikulik (silver) and New Zealand’s Ally Wollaston (bronze).
Aug. 11: The U.S. women’s basketball team held on to defeat France, 67-66 in the Olympic final, giving the Americans their eighth consecutive gold medal and extending their winning streak at the Games to 61 games.

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Team USA silver medalists

Here’s the rest of the U.S. silver medalists:

July 27:The U.S.women’s 4×100-meter relay team, made up of Kate Douglass, Gretchen Walsh, Torri Huske and Simone Manuel, secured silver behind Australia.
July 28:Haley Batten won silver for Team USA, finishing second in the women’s mountain biking competition.
July 28:Gretchen Walsh won the silver in the women’s 100 butterfly in 55.63 seconds, trailing American teammate Torri Huske.
July 28:Nic Fink finally won himself an Olympic medal, tying world record holder Adam Peaty of Great Britain for silver in the men’s 100-meter breaststroke final.
July 28: Fencer Lauren Scruggs won a silver medal in the women’s individual foil competition behind teammate Lee Kiefer in an All-American final.
July 29: Jagger Eaton won a silver medal in men’s street skateboarding behind Japan’s Yuto Horigome.
July 29:Katie Grimes won silver in the women’s 400-meter individual medley, with Canada’s Summer McIntosh finishing in first.
July 30: Swimmer Regan Smith raced to a silver medal in the women’s 100-meter backstroke. Smith was out-touched by Australian Kaylee McKeown, who won gold.
July 30: U.S. distance swimmer Bobby Finke, the American record holder in the men’s 800-meter freestyle, finished second in the event to win silver.
July 30: The U.S. men’s 4×200-meter relay team, made up of swimmers Luke Hobson, Carson Foster, Drew Kibler and Kieran Smith, raced to silver in the event final.
July 31: Perris Benegas won the silver medal in women’s BMX freestyle with two clean runs. Benegas’ second, which carried over her emphasis on soaring through the air to impress the judges, ended with a score of 90.70.
July 31:Swimmer Torri Huske pulled off an absolute stunner to win silver in the women’s 100-meter freestyle final. This is the second individual medal of the Paris Games for Huske following her first Olympic gold in Sunday’s women’s 100-meter butterfly final. Huske also won silver as part of the women’s 4×100 freestyle relay on Saturday.
Aug. 1: American swimmer Regan Smith took home silver medal in 200-meter butterfly, her second of the Paris Games.
Aug 1:Team USA won a silver medal in the women’s 4×200-meter relay. The team of Claire Weinstein, Paige Madden, Katie Ledecky and Erin Gemmell posted a 7:40.86 time to finish behind Australia. The silver medal marks Ledecky’s 13th overall Olympic medal, the most ever by female American Olympian in any sport.
Aug. 2: Sagen Maddalena was a surprise medalist in the women’s 50-meter three-position rifle shooting competition, taking home silver. It marks Team USA’s first Olympic medal in shooting at the Paris Games.
Aug. 2:The U.S. won its third consecutive silver medal in the team jumping event. The trio of Laura Kraut, Karl Cook and McClain Ward – and their horses Baloutine, Caracole de la Roque and Ilex, respectively – accomplished the feat Friday at the historic Chateau de Versailles.
Aug. 2: Swimmer Regan Smith picked up another silver medal, her third of the Paris Games, in the 200-meter backstroke final. Smith finished behind Australian star Kaylee McKeown, who swept the women’s backstroke events at the Olympics for the second straight Games.
Aug. 3: Conner Lynn Prince finished behind fellow American Vincent Hancock to earn silver in the men’s individual skeet shooting event.
Aug. 3: For the third consecutive Olympics, Joe Kovacs finished second behind history-making U.S. shot putter Ryan Crouser.
Aug. 3: A day after breaking the world record in the 4×400-meter mixed relay, the team of Kaylyn Brown, Bryce Deadmon, Shamier Little, Vernon Norwood finished second to the Netherlands in the final.
Aug. 3: The tandem of Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram earned silver in men’s tennis doubles, losing the final to Australia’s Matt Ebden and John Peers in a tiebreaker.
Aug. 3: Sha’Carri Richardson settled for silver as Saint Lucia’s Julien Alfred was the surprising winner of the title of ‘world’s fastest woman.’
Aug. 3: Kate Douglass won the silver in the women’s 200-meter individual medley, finishing behind Canadian Summer McIntosh, who won her third gold of the Paris Olympics.
Aug. 4:Brady Ellison took home silver in the men’s individual archery final, narrowly missing gold by five millimeters in a one-arrow shootoff against South Korea’s Kim Woo-Jin.
Aug. 4:Ryan Murphy (backstroke), Nic Fink (breaststroke), Caeleb Dressel (butterfly) and Hunter Armstrong (freestyle) won silver in the men’s 4×100-meter medley relay.
Aug. 5: The mixed triathlon relay team of Seth Rider, Taylor Spivey, Morgan Pearson and Taylor Knibb took the silver, finishing a second behind gold medal-winning Germany and just head of Great Britain in a photo finish.
Aug 5:Simone Biles won silver in the women’s floor exercise final, giving her four medals, including three golds, at these Games.
Aug. 5:Sam Kendricks won the silver medal in the men’s pole vault. He finished behind Mondo Duplantis of Sweden, who set the pole vault world record.
Aug 5: Vincent Hancock and Austen Jewell Smith earned a silver medal in team skeet shooting, the first time the event has ever been contested in the Olympics.
Aug. 6: Annette Nneka Echikunwoke earned the silver medal in the women’s hammer throw.
Aug. 7: Skateboarder Tom Schaar took silver in the men’s park competition.
Aug. 7: Team USA won silver in the artistic swimming team event, the country’s first medal in the event since 2004.
Aug. 7: Katie Moon vaulted 15 feet, 11 inches in her final successful attempt to earn silver in the women’s pole vault event.
Aug. 7:Distance runner Kenneth Rooks, ranked 24th in the world in the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, shocked the field with a silver medal, clocking a personal-best 8:06.41.
Aug. 8: Anna Cockrell came in second in the women’s 400-meter hurdles with a personal-best time of 51.87, finishing behind fellow American Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone.
Aug. 8: Daniel Roberts came in second place in the 110-meter hurdles for the silver medal, finishing a tenth of a second behind teammate Grant Holloway at 13.09.
Aug. 8:Kenny Bednarek captured silver in the men’s 200m final with a time of 19.62. Bednarek finished behind Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo.
Aug. 9:Spencer Lee won silver in men’s wrestling at 57 kilograms after losing in the gold medal match to Japan’s Rei Higuchi, 4-2, at Champ-de-Mars Arena.
Aug. 10: American sport climber Brooke Raboutou earned silver in the women’s boulder and lead combined final, becoming the first Team USA climber to medal in sport climbing.
Aug. 10: Nevin Harrison took silver in the most tightly-contested 200-meter canoe sprint in Olympic history, finishing in 44.13 seconds but losing to Canada’s Katie Vincent (44.12) in a photo finish. She was one agonizing 100th of a second away from winning her second gold medal.
Aug. 10:American high jumper Shelby McEwen earned silver in the men’s high jump after going to a jump off with New Zealand’s Hamish Kerr. It is the first high jump medal for the U.S. since 2012.
Aug. 11: The U.S. women’s volleyball took silver on the final day of competition, losing to Italy 25-18, 25-20, 25-17 Sunday, after winning gold in Tokyo.
Aug. 11: Kennedy Blades earned the silver in the women’s wrestling 76kg freestyle competition on Sunday, marking the sixth wrestling medal Team USA captured in Paris.

Team USA bronze medalists

Katie Ledecky, the greatest female swimmer in history, added to her remarkable résumé with a bronze medal in the much-anticipated women’s 400-meter freestyle race on the first day of the Paris Games.

Here’s all the rest of the U.S. bronze medalists:

July 27:Cyclist Chloe Dygert earned bronze in the women’s road cycling individual time trial.
July 28: Swimmer Carson Foster took bronze in the men’s 400 individual medley.
July 29: Nyjah Huston won a bronze medal in men’s street skateboarding behind Japan’s Yuto Horigome and U.S. teammate Jagger Eaton.
July 29: Swimmer Luke Hobson won bronze for his first Olympic medal in the men’s 200-meter freestyle.
July 29: Ryan Murphy extended his Olympic medal streak with bronze in the men’s 100-meter backstroke.
July 29: Swimmer Emma Weyant won bronze in the women’s 400-meter individual medley, just behind fellow American Katie Grimes.
July 29: Fencer Nick Itkin won the bronze medal in the men’s individual foil with a victory over Japan’s Kazumi Iimura.
July 29: Team USA men’s gymnastics won bronze in the team competition. The team of Frederick Richard, Brody Malone, Stephen Nedoroscik, Paul Juda and Asher Hong gave the U.S. its first men’s team gymnastic Olympic medal since 2008.
July 30: Swimmer Katharine Berkoff won a bronze medal in the women’s 100-meter backstroke, finishing behind Australian Kaylee McKeown and teammate Regan Smith.
July 30: The U.S. women’s rugby sevens team made history on Tuesday in a 14-12 comeback victory over Australia to win bronze, their first ever Olympic medal. 
July 31: Evy Leibfarth won Team USA’s first canoe slalom medal in 20 years, capturing the bronze in the women’s canoe slalom with a score of 109.95.
Aug. 1: Gymnast Suni Lee, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics all-around champion, finished on the women’s all-around podium in Paris, taking bronze in the all-around final behind gold medalist Simone Biles and silver medalist Rebeca Andrade of Brazil.
Aug. 2:Ian Barrows and Hans Henken earned a bronze medal in the men’s skiff during sailing competition, which marked Team USA’s first-ever Olympic medal in the event. Spain earned gold and New Zealand took silver.
Aug. 2:Casey Kaufhold and Brady Ellison combined Friday to win the bronze medal in the archery mixed team competition. The Americans beat India 6-2 in the bronze medal match after losing 5-3 to Germany in the semifinals.
Aug. 2: In a photo finish, Grant Fisher finished third in the men’s 10,000 meters in 26:43.46 Friday night to claim bronze, finishing just barely behind Ethiopia’s Berihu Aregawi, who ran a 26:43.44.
Aug. 3: The team of Chris Carlson, Peter Chatain, Clark Dean. Henry Hollingsworth, Rielly Milne, Evan Olson, Pieter Quinton, Nick Rusher and Christian Tabash earned bronze in the men’s eight rowing event.
Aug. 3: Five days after helping the U.S. win bronze in the men’s gymnastics team event, Stephen Nedoroscik had another standout performance on the pommel horse.
Aug. 3: Jade Carey claimed the bronze medal in the vault, the same event which was won by U.S. teammate Simone Biles.
Aug. 3: Jasmine Moore won the bronze medal in the women’s triple jump, finishing behind Dominica’s Thea LaFond and Jamaica’s Shanieka Ricketts.
Aug. 3: The tandem of Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul took the bronze in the men’s doubles tennis event.
Aug. 3: Paige Madden earned the bronze medal in the women’s 800-meter freestyle event, which was won by U.S. teammate Katie Ledecky.
Aug. 3: Melissa Jefferson won bronze in the women’s 100-meter dash, finishing behind Saint Lucia’s Julien Alfred and U.S. teammateSha’Carri Richardson.
Aug. 4: Suni Lee won bronze on uneven bars for her third medal of this year’s Olympic Games.
Aug. 4: Austen Jewell Smith won bronze in the women’s skeet shooting.
Aug. 4: Fred Kerley won bronze in the men’s 100-meter final, giving the U.S. two medals in the event after Noah Lyles won gold in a photo finish.
Aug. 5:Jordan Chiles won bronze in the women’s floor exercise final, finishing just behind Simone Biles. But on Aug. 11, the International Olympic Committee announced that Chiles will be required to return her medal after the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that the judging panel for the women’s floor exercise final made a mistake in granting an inquiry filed by Chiles’ coaches, which moved the American gymnast into medal position. 
Aug. 5: The women’s 3×3 basketball team of Cierra Burdick, Dearica Hamby, Rhyne Howard and Hailey van Lith beat Canada for the bronze medal.
Aug. 6: Yared Nuguse took bronze in the men’s 1,500-meter race, joining gold medalist Cole Hocker on the podium.
Aug. 6: Brittany Brown got bronze in the women’s 200-meter final, which was won by fellow American Gabby Thomas.
Aug. 6: Boxer Omari Jones, 21, won bronze at the Olympics, the only American boxer to medal in Paris.
Aug. 7: Hampton Morris, a 20-year-old who trains primarily out of the garage at his family’s Georgia home, won bronze, becoming the first American man to medal in weightlifting in 40 years.
Aug. 8:Sam Watson, an 18-year-old-American, set a new world record in the men’s speed climb when he completed the 49-foot tall route in 4.74 seconds. Shortly thereafter, he received an Olympic bronze medal, to go along with his current title of ‘Fastest Climber in the World.’ (Medalists are determined by head-to-head races.)
Aug. 8: Noah Lyles, the Olympic 100m champion, fell short of the sprint double and finished in third place in the men’s 200m final behind Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo and American teammate Kenny Bednarek. After the race, Lyles revealed that he competed while fighting COVID-19.
Aug. 8:Long jumper Jasmine Moore placed third in the women’s long jump with a distance of 6.96 meters.  
Aug. 9:USA men’s volleyball rebounded from a ‘devastating’ five-set semifinal loss to Poland to defeat Italy for the bronze medal. It’s the second bronze in the past three Olympics for the U.S. men’s team.
Aug. 9: Kristina Teachout won the bronze medal in the 67kg division of women’s taekwondo. The 18-year-old from Palm Bay, Florida, defeated Song Jie of China 2-0 in the bronze medal match.
Aug. 9: Wrestler Aaron Brooks beat Uzbekistan’s Javrail Shapiev, 5-0, for a bronze medal at 86 kilograms. 
Aug. 9:Helen Maroulis won the bronze medal in the women’s 57kg wrestling event to become Team USA’s first women’s wrestler to medal in three Olympic Games.
Aug. 10: USA distance runner Grant Fisher won bronze in men’s 5,000 meter, picking up his second medal of the Paris Games after earlier getting bronze in the 10,000 meters.
Aug. 10: American wrestler Kyle Dake clinched bronze in the men’s freestyle wrestling 74kg event.
Aug. 10: American B-boy Victor, whose real name is Victor Montalvo, won bronze in the inaugural men’s breaking competition, showing creativity and endurance over the course of 15 rounds to work his way onto the medal stand. He lost to French B-boy Dany Dann in his semifinal before defeating B-boy Shigekix of Japan in the bronze-medal bout.
Aug. 11:Team USA men’s water polo was victorious in a thrilling 11-8 bronze-medal match that ended in a shootout against historical powerhouse Hungary. It’s the Americans’ first Olympic medal in men’s water polo since 2008.