Expect fireworks at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Saturday.

American gymnastSimone Biles has won two gold medals in Paris so far, finishing on top of the podium in the women’s all-around competition and the team event final. She will have an opportunity to pick up a third gold in the vault final on Saturday, but Brazil superstar Rebeca Andrade stands in her way. Andrade finished with silver in the tightly-contested all-around competition, which Biles called stressful: ‘I don’t want to compete with Rebeca no more. I’m tired. She’s way too close. I’ve never had an athlete that close. It definitely put me on my toes.’

Over on the track, U.S. sprinting sensation Sha’Carri Richardson will run in the 100-meter dash on Saturday at Stade de France. Richardson, the defending world champion in the 100, is a favorite to win, even more so after Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson scratched from the event earlier this week.

Meanwhile, American Ryan Crouser is looking to win his third consecutive Olympic gold medal in men’s shot put. Here’s what to know about the medal count ahead of day eight of the 2024 Paris Olympics:

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

What is the medal count at the 2024 Paris Olympics?

The U.S. leads the overall medal count with 43 — nine gold, 18 silver and 16 bronze. However, China leads the gold medal count with 13. Here is the top 10 by total:

1. USA — 43 (9 gold, 18 silver, 16 bronze)
2. France — 36 (11 gold, 12 silver, 13 bronze)
3. China — 31 (13 gold, 9 silver, 9 bronze)
4. Great Britain — 27 (9 gold, 10 silver, 8 bronze)
5. Australia — 22 (11 gold, 6 silver, 5 bronze)
6. Japan — 18 (8 gold, 4 silver, 6 bronze)
7. Italy — 17 (5 gold, 8 silver, 4 bronze)
8. South Korea — 16 (7 gold, 5 silver, 4 bronze)
9. Canada — 11 (3 gold, 2 silver, 6 bronze)
10. Netherlands — 9 (4 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze)

For the full medal count at the 2024 Paris Olympics, click here.

What Olympic medals are up for grabs Saturday?

Here are all the Olympic medal events scheduled for Saturday, in addition to what time the action starts. All times are Eastern:

Shooting

3:30 a.m.: 25m pistol women’s final
9:30 a.m.: skeet men’s final

Equestrian

4:00 a.m.: dressage team grand prix special

Rowing

4:18 a.m.: women’s single sculls final A
4:30 a.m.: men’s single sculls final A
4:50 a.m.: women’s eight final A
5:10 a.m.: men’s eight final A

Cycling Road

5:00 a.m.: men’s road race

Tennis

6:00 a.m.: men’s doubles gold medal match
Second on Philippe Chatrier: men’s doubles bronze medal match
Third on Philippe Chatrier: women’s singles gold medal match
Fourth on Philippe Chatrier: men’s singles bronze medal match

Table Tennis

7:30 a.m.: women’s singles bronze medal match
8:30 a.m.: women’s singles gold medal match

Sailing

6:13 a.m.: women’s windsurfing final
6:33 a.m.: men’s windsurfing final

Archery

8:33 a.m.: women’s individual bronze medal match
8:46 a.m.: women’s individual gold medal match

Badminton

9:00 a.m.: women’s doubles bronze medal match
Not before 10:10 a.m.: women’s doubles gold medal match

Artistic Gymnastics

9:30 a.m.: men’s floor exercise final
10:20 a.m.: women’s vault final
11:16 a.m.: men’s pommel horse final

Judo

10:00 a.m.: mixed team bronze medal A
Second on mat 1: mixed team bronze medal B
Third on mat 1: mixed team final

Boxing

11:38 a.m.: women’s 60kg-semifinal
4:08 p.m.: women’s 60kg-semifinal

Fencing

1:00 p.m.: women’s sabre team bronze medal match
2:00 p.m.: women’s sabre team gold medal match

Athletics

1:35 p.m.: men’s shot put final
2:20 p.m.: women’s triple jump final
2:55 p.m.: 4x400m relay mixed final
3:20 p.m.: women’s 100m final
3:45 p.m.: men’s decathlon 1500m

Swimming

2:30 p.m.: men’s 100m butterfly final
3:08 p.m.: women’s 200m individual medley final
3:28 p.m.: women’s 800m freestyle final
3:58 p.m.: mixed 4x100m medley relay final

Surfing

3:24 p.m.: men’s bronze medal match
4:00 p.m.: men’s gold medal match
4:36 p.m.: women’s bronze medal match
5:12 p.m.: women’s gold medal match

SAINT-DENIS, France — When it comes to the longest distance race at the Olympics, the American men have mostly faded from view over the last decade or so. 

In a literal photo finish Friday night at Stade de France just outside of Paris, Fisher finished the men’s 10,000 meters in 26:43.46 to claim the bronze medal, as Ethiopia’s Berihu Aregawi leaned past him at the line to clock a 26:43.44. Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei won gold in 26:43.14, shattering the previous Olympic record of 27:01.17. 

‘These races always come down to the last lap, specifically the last 100,’ Fisher said. ‘That last 100 you can see your goal in front of you.

‘I’ve been close to the medals before. But I haven’t gotten one until today.’

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

And he did it in style.

From the gun, it was clear the pace had the potential to be record-setting. That worked to Fisher’s advantage, as he improved on his season-best time by more than 8 seconds to claim a medal. It was the first medal in the 10,000 meters for Team USA since Galen Rupp won silver at the 2012 London Olympics. 

Americans Nico Young (26:58.11) and William Kincaid (27:29.40) finished 12th and 16th, respectively.

‘The narrative when I was a kid was, ‘You just can’t run with East Africans, you can’t run with the Europeans.’ I hope I showed I’m capable of that,’ Fisher said, adding that after his first Olympics, in Tokyo, he started to understand he belonged on the world stage. ‘I hope people see as my mindset shifts, America’s can as well.’

After the race a jovial Fisher, 27, took a victory lap around Stade de France with the American flag draped over his shoulders and a smile stretched across his face. You’d never know he had just run 25 laps around the track.

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Fisher’s is the first track medal for Team USA at the Paris Games. He is just the second American man in 56 years to win an Olympic medal in the 10,000 (Rupp was the other).

‘So many things have to go right to get on the podium,’ said Fisher, who finished fifth at the 10,000 meters at the Tokyo Olympics. ‘I’m happy that they did.’

Friday marked Fisher’s first medal at a major world event. At the 2022 World Championships in Eugene he finished fourth in the 10,000 and sixth in the 5,000. He missed the 2023 World Championships in Budapest after finishing fourth at nationals while running on a stress fracture.

Before Paris, Fisher made it clear he wanted to medal at these Olympics, and believed he was capable of doing so even though coming into the Games he had just the 11th-fastest time of the season. 

After the race, Cheptegei told Fisher, ‘you really fought for it.’

‘It was exciting that Grant was a medalist today,’ Cheptegei said. ‘It’s really special to see young guys come up and inspire young boys out there.’

Fisher is also scheduled to compete in the 5,000 here. The prelims for that race are Aug. 7, and the final is Aug. 10. Fisher is the American record holder in both the 5,000 and 10,000.

Fisher will be trying to follow an American medal trend in the 5,000: At the Rio Games and Tokyo Games, Team USA’s Paul Chelimo won silver and bronze, respectively. 

NANTERRE, France — With six Olympic medals over two Games, American swimmer Regan Smith has the kind of hardware that would make any Olympic hopeful or daydreaming wannabe envious. 

Her five silvers, including three at the Paris Olympics, and a bronze are more than enough for her to be proud of, with strong times accompanying them. That’s how she said she felt after silver No. 4 in the women’s 200-meter butterfly Thursday, and again after silver No. 5 in the 200-meter backstroke Friday.

‘If I had gotten a silver medal and I had been a second slower, I think I would have been really disappointed in myself because that wasn’t putting my best foot forward, that wasn’t what I was capable of doing,’ Smith said about the 200 back final and the second time she finished behind Australian gold medalist Kaylee McKeown.

‘So I think you get to 2:04.2 – that’s one of my fastest times ever, and I think I really gave Kaylee (McKeown) a run for it, and I made things really close and exciting. So I’m thrilled with it.’

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

For Team USA swimmers, especially the women, the medals are rolling in; most of them just aren’t gold. 

As of Friday night, the Americans have an Olympics-leading 21 total medals in the pool with four golds – thanks to Katie Ledecky, Torri Huske, Kate Douglass and the men’s 4×100-meter freestyle relay team – while 11 are silvers. 

At the Paris Games, Smith, Ledecky and Huske lead American swimmers with three medals apiece so far, though Smith, a 22-year-old two-time Olympian, is the only one without her first gold. 

But that’s not how she’s approaching her races.

‘To be honest with you, I don’t want to think about what it means to win gold versus silver because I think when you get so wrapped up in your head about that, then you’re never going to be happy,’ she said.

‘And then I feel like when you do win the gold, then it’s just like, ‘OK, well, what’s after that?”

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Smith’s mentality is reminiscent of U.S. breaststroker Lilly King’s comments at the 2021 Tokyo Games when she slammed the American inclination to not celebrate Olympic silver and bronze medals as ‘bull-(expletive0.’

Smith acknowledges it’s a cliché, but she wants to be pleased with how she races and the times she earns – like when she broke the 2:04 mark in her 200 fly behind Canada’s gold medalist, Summer McIntosh.

Smith said she’s ‘super proud’ of her 2:03.84 time, which was more than a second faster than bronze medalist Zhang Yufei of China. She echoed that sentiment after her 200 back final, adding that she doesn’t think she ‘could ask for much more than that.’

Three years ago at the Tokyo Games, Smith also won silver in the 200 fly behind Olympic champion Zhang, silver in the women’s 4×100-meter medley relay and bronze in the 100-meter backstroke. 

‘I’m not too worried about the medal count and what I need to do in order to get a specific color of medal,’ Smith said. ‘I think it’s about focusing on your race plan, and if you get too caught up in things like colors of medals, I think that’s how you’re gonna crumble.

‘So I’m gonna focus on doing my best and racing the way that I need to race, and the rest will take care of itself.’

Smith knows she’s been in contention for gold in her individual events but being satisfied with her races is all she’s really asking for. If she falls short performance-wise and doesn’t execute to her full capacity, then she’ll be upset and disappointed, she said.

But that’s not happened yet with her three silver medals in three individual races.

‘If this had happened to me three years ago, I would have been so unbelievably gutted, and it would have really affected my mental health for a long time,’ she explained. ‘And it did. I was struggling after Tokyo for a really long time.

‘But I’m glad that I got more life experience, and I’m older now, and I think I’m in a much better place in my life with swimming. I love it. It’s the biggest passion that I’ve ever had in my life, but it’s not my entire life.’

Though she’s done individually, Smith still likely has at least one medley relay left, if not two, after competing in the mixed 4×100 medley relay prelims Friday morning, helping Team USA qualify first.

‘I’m going to keep fighting like hell and doing the very best that I can do,’ Smith said. ‘And if I walk away as a gold medalist in a relay … excellent. And if I don’t, I’m still me, and it’s just fine.’

This is Richardson’s Olympic debut after a one-month suspension for testing postivie for THC kept her out of the Tokyo games in 2021, but the 24-year-old Dallas native, considered one of the fastest sprinters in the world, is ready to make her mark on the games and win some gold.

She qualified for Paris in the 100-meter sprint event at the United States Olympic trials in late June with a 10.71 time.

Here’s when you can catch Sha’Carri Richardson competing in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

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

When is Sha’Carri Richardson competing in the Olympics?

Sha’Carri Richardson began her 2024 Olympic schedule on Friday, Aug. 2 with the Women’s 100-meter Preliminary Round. She finished first, with a time of 10.94.

The semi-final for that event will be on Saturday, Aug. 3, where Richardson will race in in Semi-Final 2 in lane 7. Should she advance, she will race in the final, also on Saturday.

Richardson also has a spot on the relay team and will compete in the Women’s 4 X 100-meter Relay starting Thursday, Aug. 8.

Watch every Sha’Carri Richardson event with Peacock

How to watch Sha’Carri Richardson race at the 2024 Paris Olympics

Location: Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France
Cable TV: NBC, USA, E!
Streaming: Peacock; NBCOlympics.com; NBC Olympics app

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The highly anticipated athletics event featuring the fastest men in the world has finally arrived on Day 8 of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Team USA will be in full force with their own Noah Lyles looking to claim his first 100-meter dash title and taking the sprinting throne.

Lyles, proudly wearing the red, white, and blue, and perhaps even concealing a Yu-Gi-Oh trading card, is aiming to join an exclusive group of athletes who have won gold in both the 100 and 200 meters. This is a feat that the legendary Jamaican Usain Bolt achieved in three consecutive Olympic Games in 2008, 2012, and 2016. Only eight Americans have managed this, with the last being Carl Lewis in 1984.

Lyles, with his exceptional speed and determination, is the undisputed favorite to triumph in the races he is set to compete in at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. However, before he can claim victory, he must first navigate the preliminary heats.

Here is when you can catch Noah Lyles in his first event of the 100 meter dash on August 3, at the Stade de France.

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

What time does Noah Lyles run?

Noah Lyles will compete in the Men’s 100-meter preliminary round at 4:35 a.m. ET on Saturday, August 3. If he advances from the preliminary heats, Lyles will compete in the men’s 100m round 1 at 5:55 a.m. ET.

2024 Paris Olympic Games men’s 100-meters schedule, results

This article will be updated once Lyles completes his various heats.

Saturday, August 3:

4:35 a.m. ET: Men’s 100-meters preliminary rounds
5:55 a.m. ET: Men’s 100-meters round 1

Sunday, August 4:

1:05 p.m. ET: Men’s 100-meters semi-finals
2:50 p.m. ET: Men’s 100-meters final

How to watch the 2024 Paris Olympic Games

TV: NBC | USA Network | CNBC | E! | Telemundo | Universo
Streaming: NBCOlympics.com | NBC app | NBC Olympic app | Peacock | Fubo (free trial)

Every event at the 2024 Paris Olympics will air live across one of NBC, USA Network, E! and CNBC, as well as Spanish broadcasts on Universo and Telemundo. All events will be available to stream live on Peacock, Fubo (which offers a free trial) and NBCOlympics.com.

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The U.S. women’s national soccer team is back in the knockout stage once again in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. The USWNT continues its perfect streak of quarterfinal appearances in the Olympics with eight in a row.

They got there behind one of the most prolific runs through group play in the tournament. The USWNT scored nine goals in group matches, the most of any team in the tournament. They beat Zambia 3-0 in the opener before a 4-1 statement win over Germany, a team ahead of them in FIFA’s world rankings entering the Olympic Games. They clinched a quarterfinal appearance with a 2-1 win over Australia in the group stage finale.

Though they lead the tournament in scoring, it hasn’t been behind one athlete. Mallory Swanson leads the way with three but Olympic debutants Trinity Rodman (two goals), Sophia Smith (two), and Korbin Albert (one) have all found the net. Lynn Williams netted a goal as well against Germany.

Now, it’s on to the quarterfinal stage with the best women’s teams in the world. Seven of the eight teams are in the top 10 of FIFA’s latest rankings: Defending Women’s World Cup winner Spain (No. 1), France (No. 2), Germany (No. 4), USWNT (No. 5), Japan (No. 7), Canada (No. 8), and Brazil (No. 9). Colombia (No. 22) is the odd club out and made it in over Australia (No. 12) because of goal differential.

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

Here’s the final standings, quarterfinal schedule, and remaining bracket.

Olympics 2024: Women’s soccer Olympic groups for Paris

Group A

Group B

Group C

Olympics 2024: Women’s soccer knockout rounds schedule

All times ET.

Saturday, Aug. 3

USWNT vs. Japan: 9 a.m.; USA Network, Universo, Telemundo, Peacock, and NBCOlympics.com.
Spain vs. Colombia: 11 a.m.; Telemundo, Universo, Peacock, and NBCOlympics.com.
Canada vs. Germany: 1 p.m.; Universo, Peacock, and NBCOlympics.com.
France vs. Brazil: 3 p.m.; Telemundo, Peacock, and NBCOlympics.com.

Tuesday, Aug. 6

Semifinal #1: USWNT-Japan winner vs. Canada-Germany winner, Noon; USA Network, Telemundo, Peacock, and NBC Olympics.com.
Semifinal #2: Spain-Colombia winner vs. France-Brazil winner, 3 p.m.; E!, Universo, Peacock, and NBCOlympics.com.

Olympics 2024: Women’s soccer medal rounds schedule

All times ET.

Friday, Aug. 9

Bronze medal match: Semifinals losers, 9 a.m.; USA Network, Telemundo, Peacock, and NBCOlympics.com

Saturday, Aug. 10

Gold medal match: Semifinals winners, 11 a.m.; USA Network, Telemundo, Peacock, and NBCOlympics.com.

Paris Olympics 2024: How to watch the Summer Games across TV and streaming

Date: July 24-Aug. 11

TV: Games broadcast across NBC, USA Network, E!, Telemundo, CNBC and Golf Channel

Streaming: Peacock, nbcolympics.com 

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PARIS — The U.S. men’s soccer team is leaving the Olympics without a medal, missing out on what the Americans believed was a reachable goal.

At least they got here.

Not in a rah-rah, “Go USA!” way. The Paris Games are the first time the American men have made the Olympics since 2008, and this summer is a reminder of just how costly those absences have been. If the USMNT is ever going to be a World Cup contender — a real one, not a pretender like the one that got punched in the mouth in Copa America this summer — it needs to be at every Olympics.

The senior USMNT can play all the friendlies it wants and talk about the challenges of Concacaf qualifying. But nothing will prepare them for the World Cup better than having young players who come to the senior team already knowing about the demands of a knockout-round tournament, with its travel demands, hostile environments and elite competition.

“It does help in that regard,” Walker Zimmerman said after the Americans were knocked out in the quarterfinals Friday in a 4-0 loss to Morocco.

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

“Big knockout tournaments, you need those games to grow as a group,” said Zimmerman, the only one of the three overage players on this roster who was on the 2022 World Cup team. “I’m thankful these guys are going to have that opportunity, and hopefully they take that experience and use it in their future World Cups.”

Not everyone on this team will be in the mix for the 2026 World Cup, which the United States is co-hosting with Canada and Mexico. But a handful of them will be. And when they go up against an Argentina or a France or a Spain, they’ll be able to draw on the lessons from this tournament.

Morocco was the better team Friday, and there’s no shame in losing to the Atlas Lions. But in both their losses in France, the Americans collapsed in the second half.

Just as they did in the group-stage opener against France, the U.S. men were able to hang with Morocco for the first 60ish minutes. Then things fell apart. The Atlas Lions scored two goals in a seven-minute span in the second half, capitalizing on U.S. mistakes on both.

In the 63rd, Abde Ezzalzouli dribbled up the sideline, cut into the middle of the field and got by Zimmerman before sliding the ball to Akhomach, who buried it. Seven minutes later, Hakimi won a header over Kevin Paredes, then had a clear path to the goal before scoring on a worm-burner that skirted along the inside edge of the net.

Morocco’s other two goals came off U.S. penalties. Soufiane Rahimi scored in the 28th minute, after Nathan Harriel clipped Rahimi in the back of the calf. Mehdi Maouhoub in second-half stoppage time after Miles Robinson was whistled for a handball in the area.

Morocco finished the game with a whopping 8-1 advantage on shots on goal and had eight corners to the U.S. men’s three.

“In this game and the game against France, there were details that changed the game. And obviously, after that, the result really went against us,” U.S. coach Marko Mitrovic said. “When we are down 1-0 against teams like France or Morocco, how we can sustain that longer and make the game more difficult?”

The Americans also got a taste of how tense the atmosphere can be at a World Cup. Yes, U.S. fans travel well. But they don’t compare to fans of Argentina or Brazil.

Or Morocco.

Two hours before kickoff Friday, the streets around Parc des Princes were filled with Morocco fans. Much of the stadium was bathed in red and the U.S. players were greeted with jeers and whistles when they were introduced. After each Morocco goal, fans set off smoke bombs.

“With the crowd being on their side, we wanted to silence them early and we failed to do so,” midfielder Jack McGlynn said. “And they kind of punished us.”

Yes. But the worst punishment was not getting to the Olympics in the last 16 years. And the entire U.S. men’s system has suffered because of it.

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Hockey Hall of Fame goalie Dominik Hašek is calling on NHL team owners to not let Russian players compete in the league.

Hašek, a two-time Stanley Cup winner, said today NHL owners should ‘not let Russian citizens, Russian players, step on the ice’ in a video said to be from Volia Space in Parc de la Villette – the site for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games’ Park of Nations. He urged the NHL and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to keep Russian athletes out of competition due to the ongoing war in Ukraine.

‘The NHL should, and could make a decision,’ Hašek said from Volia Space. ‘It’s not only about [NHL Commissioner] Gary Bettman. There are 31 owners of NHL teams, and I think that those people are the most responsible. They can sit in their room, and they can vote and make a decision, but they do not want to make that decision.’

These are the latest comments from an all-time hockey great who has recently criticized the IOC and other government bodies for letting athletes from Russia compete in the games in the first place.

Who is Dominik Hašek?

A native of Czechoslovakia (now Czechia – more widely known as the Czech Republic), Hašek is one of the greatest goalies in league history. He spent 16 years in the NHL, most notably with the Buffalo Sabres and Detroit Red Wings.

Nicknamed ‘The Dominator,’ he won the Vezina Trophy for the NHL’s top goalie five times (1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001). He won the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player twice in 1997 and 1998 and holds the highest career save percentage in NHL history at 0.9223.

He’s a two-time Olympian and played a huge role in Czechia’s gold medal in the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. He allowed just six goals in six games to earn the country’s first Winter Olympics gold medal.

Hašek’s comments on Russia in the Paris Olympics

Hašek initially spoke out against Russian athletes playing in the Paris Olympics on the first day of the games.

‘Unfortunately, many Russian athletes who have never (officially) condemned the Russian imperialist war and Russian crimes can participate in the Olympic Games,’ Hašek said in a post on X, translated from Czech. ‘Their participation (public appearance) will be a huge advertisement for the actions of the Russian country.’

Though he argued against their presence, Hašek did not blame the Russian athletes themselves for participating. Instead, he blamed IOC officials who he says could’ve banned ‘this war advertisement,’ something he reiterated Friday during his speech from Volia Space.

‘This is a huge advertisement for Russia’s war of aggression and Russian crimes, including the genocide of Ukrainian children,’ Hašek said in a video from Volia Space. ‘The Olympic Games have one of the biggest impacts. By allowing many Russian athletes to perform at the Paris Olympics, who have not officially publicly condemned the Russian imperialist war and Russian crimes, these Olympics have become a huge advertisement for all Russian crimes in Ukraine.’

In addition to the IOC, Hašek specifically called out the European Parliament and French legislators for allowing Russian athletes to compete in the Paris Olympics.

‘All of them had the opportunity to submit and approve a law or a regulation banning the entry or public appearance of Russian citizens on the territory of France,’ he said in his speech. ‘All these people, both the IOC officials and politicians elected by us citizens, had the opportunity to stop this huge advertisement for the Russian war and Russian crimes.’

He acknowledged that many athletes may be afraid to speak out against the ongoing war in Ukraine out of fear for their friends and families. Because of that fear, he called on other retired athletes to speak out in support.

‘You are all in a different position, and you could, and should speak up,’ he said in a video Friday. ‘You are not employees of anyone, and especially for the great athletes of the world. Be open.’

Russia’s presence at the Paris Olympic Games Olympic Games

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 four days after the 2022 Winter Olympics, the IOC has banned both Russian and Belarus from sending national teams to the Olympic Games.

Athletes from Russia already had to compete under the ‘Olympic Athletes from Russia’ designation in the 2018 Winter Olympics and ‘Russian Olympic Committee’ designation in 2021 due to a doping scandal.

What is Volia Space?

Volia Space is the hospitality house organized by the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine in the Park of Nations area at Parc de la Villette.

‘In this Team Ukraine Hospitality House, every athlete can express themselves freely,’ Vadym Guttsait, president of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine, said prior to the Olympics. ‘Often, actions speak louder than words; raising the flag will demonstrate to the world that Ukraine has endured, it has been, and always will be.’

The Volia Space is set up near Czech House, the area for Hašek’s home country.

USA Today has reached out to Volia Space for comment and will update with any further information.

LEXINGTON, Ky. — The NCAA on Friday ruled Kentucky’s football and swimming programs committed violations.

The football violations centered on impermissible benefits, while the swimming infractions involved countable athletically related activities.

The university reached an agreement with the NCAA with regard to both programs’ improprieties.

The football violations involved at least 11 former players receiving payment for work they did not perform between spring 2021 and March 2022.

Eight of the players went on to appear in games ‘and receive actual and necessary expenses while ineligible,’ the NCAA wrote. The organization also wrote that its enforcement staff and Kentucky agreed no athletics department staff member ‘knew or reasonably should have known about the payment for work not performed, and thus the violations involving the football program did not provide additional support for the agreed-upon failure-to-monitor violation.’

As part of their agreement with the NCAA, the Wildcats were fined and placed on probation for two years. The football program also will have to vacate the records of games in which the ineligible players participated.

As a result, Kentucky will vacate all of its victories from the 2021 campaign, when it won 10 games in a season for only the fourth time in school history.

Per the NCAA release, ‘Kentucky agreed that the violations in the swimming program supported findings of a failure to monitor and head coach responsibility violations.’ An unnamed former coach did not take part in Friday’s agreement; that portion of the case will be handled separately by the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions, which will release its full decision at a later date.

The men’s and women’s swimming program’s violations entailed ‘exceeding limits on countable athletically related activities,’ the NCAA wrote. Specifically, swimmers were not permitted to take required days off.

The Wildcats also exceeded the NCAA’s limit for practice hours for nearly three years.

‘We have worked really hard to make sure that our compliance and our integrity was at the highest level. In this case, our processes worked,’ Kentucky athletics director Mitch Barnhart said Friday in a joint video statement with university President Eli Capilouto. ‘Our compliance office uncovered both of these violations and worked through, over the last three years, trying to find a way through to solution and resolution, which we have now received.

‘So, we are thankful that the process has come to a close, and we’re ready to move forward. This has been a long process, but I’m thankful for the people in our department that have worked hard to bring it to a conclusion.’

After the NCAA’s announcement, Capilouto wrote a letter to the university community detailing the violations, noting the ‘deeply distressing’ allegations against former swim coach Lars Jorgensen and what Kentucky is doing ‘to further ensure a culture of compliance and a community of well-being and belonging for everyone.’

While acknowledging rules were broken, Barnhart said he did not want Friday’s news ‘to diminish the efforts of what young people have accomplished’ at Kentucky the past two decades.

“We have been supremely focused on putting rings on fingers and diplomas in hands. And we’ve done that at the highest level,’ Barnhart said. ‘We’ve won many, many championships. Many, many postseason events.

‘We’ve graduated … thousands of young people that have left our program and are accomplishing amazing things in the world. This does not diminish any of that. Nor does it stop our progress going forward for what we’re trying to do to continue to do that.’

Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.

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LATROBE, Pa. — Like old times, Russell Wilson was bubbly, upbeat and flowing with positivity after a recent Pittsburgh Steelers training camp practice. Due to extra demands – autographs, pictures, interviews, small talk – he was the last man off the practice field.

And Wilson, 35, loved every minute of it.

“It’s just vibrant, man,” Wilson told USA TODAY Sports, describing his personal outlook as much as the atmosphere fueled by rabid fans who descended on quaint Saint Vincent College, where the team has held summer camp for 56 of the past 58 years.

No doubt, after two stormy seasons with the Denver Broncos, this energized 13th-year veteran needed to land someplace like this as he tries to revive a once-stellar career: on a team desperate for a quarterback upgrade and for a coach with whom he can connect.

You’d think he’s carrying some fire, too, eager to prove that coach Sean Payton and the Broncos – eating $85 million over two years in guaranteed money due to Wilson’s release – made a big mistake in kicking him to the curb. If that’s part of the incentive, though, he’s not speaking it. Typical Wilson.

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“You go through some things,” he said. “The motivation should never change. The motivation is always to be the best, to be successful.”

The big takeaway from the Denver drama?

“I’ve learned how not to blink in the midst of the storm,” Wilson said.

Besides, he added, “I get to start all over again in a new place, a new environment.”

Wilson, who during his heyday with the Seattle Seahawks had a Harry Houdini trait for slipping out of danger and keeping plays alive, still has that knack when it comes to his messaging.

The fresh start, though, has come with a box of new challenges. 

First off, the starting job must be officially earned – especially given the presence of a viable alternative in Justin Fields, the fourth-year pro obtained in a trade with the Chicago Bears a day after Wilson signed as a free agent. Although Mike Tomlin has maintained since March that Wilson (who led the Seahawks to two Super Bowls, winning one) is in the “pole position,” the competition has legs.

“I’d be doing them and this team a disservice if I wasn’t open to competition,” Tomlin told USA TODAY Sports. “Now, you pay respect to, obviously, Russell’s extended resume. And I’ve done that. That’s what I mean when I say he’s pole position. Certainly, there’s competition. But very rarely, realistically speaking, is competition 50-50.”

Especially if you’re counting practice reps. Since the start of camp, the script has been altered by an apparently minor calf injury Wilson sustained while pushing a sled during the conditioning test. While Wilson quickly returned to practice, he’s been limited in running the system installed by new coordinator Arthur Smith. That’s allowed Fields to work extensively – and impressively – with the starters. And it has ignited a narrative that Fields is closing the gap.

“What’s really important, Coach says, ‘We’ve got 17 games to go in the regular season,’ “ Wilson said, alluding to the pace of his workflow. “And I said, ‘Hopefully, plus four more.’ “

Tomlin has his reasons for having a cautious approach.

“I’m getting to know him,” he said. “I don’t want a small problem to become a big problem. I definitely don’t want to take any steps backward as we push forward toward the season.”

After the issues that confronted his offense last season (starting quarterback Kenny Pickett was injured, benched and ultimately traded; offensive coordinator Matt Canada was fired at midseason), Tomlin’s concern is reasonable.

Wilson, meanwhile, certainly sounds like he’s preparing to be the starter. He passed for 26 touchdowns with eight interceptions, with a 98.0 efficiency rating, yet was benched for Denver’s final two games. He acknowledged the competition with Fields, but in a generic sense.

“You’re trying to be the best version of you every day,” he said. “That’s all I’m seeking every day. I know if I do that, our football team is going to be better.”

Asked if he would be shocked if he was not the Week 1 starter, Wilson shuffled into cliché speak.

“I’m not focused on tomorrow or down the road,” he said. “Just let your play speak for itself. Just go focus on what you can control and that’s today.”

Still, it’s natural to anticipate the Steelers’ matchup for Week 2, when Wilson is slated to return to Denver. Typically, Wilson wouldn’t bite on any revenge theme.

“I think more importantly, we’re focusing on this training camp,” Wilson said. “You can’t get to Week 2 until you get through training camp. I mean that. You know me. I just want to focus on the now. I’m not ahead on anything. I just want to be in the moment where my feet are. Get better today. Watch the film. See where we can get better as a team. That will get us ready for Week 1 and then we’ll go from there.”

At least that is Wilson’s plan.