The United States’ 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.

Against India, the U.S. opened with perfect 10 with the first arrow in all four sets.

The medal for Kaufhold, 20, is the first for a U.S. female archer since 1988 and a nice consolation after the world’s No. 1 suffered an early upset defeat in the individual competition in the Paris Games.

It was the fourth medal for Ellison, 35, who is in his fifth Olympics and still searching for his first gol. He’ll try for that Sunday in the final four rounds of the men’s individual tournament.

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

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SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France — British golfer Tommy Fleetwood is playing this Olympic tournament with a heavy heart while mourning a horrific tragedy in his hometown.

Fleetwood is from Southport, England, where three children were killed and 10 others injured in a stabbing attack Monday at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class. A 17-year-old boy has been charged with the murders of Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice Dasilva Aguiar and multiple counts of attempted murder, according to police.

“It’s very, very difficult and very, very raw at the moment,” said Fleetwood after Thursday’s opening round at Le Golf National.

Fleetwood posted on his Instagram account that he was ‘absolutely heartbroken’ about the news and said ‘my heart will always be in Southport.’

His father and cousins still live in the town, he said.

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“The majority of my family, actually, is still in Southport. Everybody feels the effects of something like that happening, and you kind of never expect it to happen, but especially in a little town like Southport. … All we can do now is try and move forward and make the best of it and do what we can for the ones that have been affected, really, because they are the ones that hurt the most.”

Fleetwood entered Friday’s second round at the Paris Games four strokes off the lead after shooting a 4-under-par 67 on Thursday.

Does the summer of Xander Schauffele continue in France with another Olympic gold medal? Will this be an Olympic moment for world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler? Can Stanford product Rose Zhang win in her Olympic debut like she did last year in her LPGA Tour debut?

There are plenty of exciting storylines during the men’s and women’s golf tournaments at the 2024 Paris Olympics, which will be the third time the Summer Games feature golf after it was introduced at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.  

Schauffele, the defending Olympic champion coming off his first two major wins at the PGA Championship and the British Open this season, is hovering around the top of the leaderboard again in the men’s event that’s already underway. Big names like Jon Rahm (Spain), Hideki Matsuyama (Japan) and Rory McIlroy (Ireland) are also in contention as play continues at Le Golf National in Guyancourt, just outside of Paris.

Here’s what else you should know about the men’s and women’s Olympic golf tournaments: 

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

Is there a cut for Olympic golf at 2024 Paris Games?

No. While most PGA and LPGA Tour events feature a cut after two rounds, the Olympic golf tournament does not. All 60 men’s and women’s golfers will advance to the final two rounds of the event. 

How many rounds are played in the Olympic golf tournament?

Like most professional and amateur golf events, the Olympic golf tournament features four rounds of play. The men’s event began on Thursday, August 1 and concludes on Sunday, August 4. The women’s golf tournament at the Paris Olympics begins on Wednesday, August 7 and wraps up on Saturday, August 10.   

How is Olympic golf scored?

The Olympics use a standard stroke-play format for the men’s and women’s golf tournaments, which is similar to most major professional golf events. The golfer who needs the fewest strokes to complete 72 holes (18 each round) is the winner. 

Does the Olympic golf tournament feature a playoff?

It depends, but it’s certainly possible. If two or more golfers are tied at the end of the final round, the tournament would go to a sudden death playoff hole. The tied golfers would keep playing until the tie is broken. Unlike most professional golf tournaments, however, there would also be a playoff to break a tie for second and/or third place in order to award silver and bronze medals. 

What golfers are playing for Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympics?

On the men’s side, Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Wyndham Clark and Collin Morikawa all qualified for the United States. For the women’s tournament, Rose Zhang and Lilia Vu will represent the United States.

How to watch, stream 2024 Paris Olympics golf tournament

TV Channel: Golf Channel
Streaming: NBCOlympics.com | NBC app | NBC Olympics app | Peacock | Fubo (free trial)

Every round of the men’s and women’s golf tournaments at the Paris Olympics will be broadcast live on Golf Channel. You can stream every round of men’s golf action at the 2024 Paris Olympics on the go on the NBC app, NBC Olympics app or on NBCOlympics.com by logging in with your TV provider credentials. You can also stream it on Fubo, which carries the Golf Channel and offers a free trial, or on Peacock.

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PARIS — If your Olympic badminton viewing is limited to 25 seconds during the Paris Games, a solid option is this commentary from Snoop Dogg.

But lest the rapper-turned-Olympics-analyst thinks he’s ready for the badminton bigtime, America’s top player, Beiwen Zhang, has some advice — and scoop.

“He should watch more,’’ Zhang told USA TODAY Sports with a grin.

With flair, Snoop used internal dialogue to capture what felt like a marathon rally worthy of a badminton highlight reel. His thoughts flew as quickly and expertly as did that shuttlecock through the air.

BROADCASTING FUTURE IS BRIGHT: Snoop Dogg’s winning NBC Olympics commentary is pure gold

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

“He’s really shocked,’’ Zhang said, “but that’s our normal day.’’

One thing to clear up: Zhang, the China-born stalwart who became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2021, said any opportunity for badminton exposure should be seized. So Snoop generating a little buzz thanks to his NBC commentary, all for it.

It’s also why she serenely shared some insights Thursday after suffering a three-set defeat to 2016 Olympic gold medalist Carolina Marin in the round of 16.

Wind is an issue.

Never mind that Zhang and the other Olympic badminton players are competing indoors at Porte de La Chapelle Arena. Think vents. Think air conditioning units. Think body heat from the spectators.

Think trouble on Thursday.

The wind current, Zhang said, helps explain why she won the first set 21-12 before losing the final two sets and the match, 12-21, 21-9, 21-18.

“In the first set, the wind is actually what I was planning (on)’’ she said. “In the second set, the wind is a little different.’’

Same building. Same court. Same day.

Different moment, different wind.

“So for me, it’s a little hard to adjust,’’ Zhang said. “I can’t open up the four corners (of the court.)’’

Then the mind games commenced, according to Zhang, who noted that her opponent started asking for new shuttlecocks.

“That’s her style,’’ Zhang said. “That’s not my type (of style). My type is I let her do it.’’

What about Snoop style? Would Zhang be willing to give a lesson, teach him about the wind and mind games and whatever else he might need to aid his badminton commentary?

“Oh, I don’t know,’’ Zhang said with a smile, expressing concern the rapper might “twist his ankles.’’

PARIS — Peter Spens has the best seat in the house.

Spens, a London-based painter, has spent the past eight days at the Paris Olympics in a perch atop the media standard high above the beach volleyball court at Eiffel Tower Stadium overlooking the famous French landmark.

For the third consecutive Olympics, the International Volleyball Federation (FIBV) has commissioned Spens to paint a mural of one of the game’s fastest growing and most popular sports.

Spens started drawing this year’s painting last Friday and has been at the venue ever since, using oil paint to add striking detail to his work. Two-man teams from the U.S. and France play on a rectangular court as a yellow-coated security guard watches from the tunnel. A fan waves an American flag in the stands, another occupies a walkway waving a French flag. The Olympic rings show through the tower in the backdrop.

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

‘It’s complex,’ Spens said Friday during a break from painting. ‘It’s like a 14-day game of chess. And the subject matter’s definitely the grandmaster.’

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On Friday, during a three-set game between France’s Clemence Vieira and Aline Chamereau and Czechia’s Barbora Hermannova and Marie-Sara Stochlova, Spens worked primarily on the crowd section that he called ‘by far’ the painting’s most complex.

A day earlier, it was the lower quarter of the painting, where tabled officials and scoreboard operators sit during the match. Since it’s a morning painting, Spens said he will dedicate next week to finishing the tower, when most of the beach volleyball competition moves to the evening.

When he’s done, the painting will hang at FIBV headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland. Eventually, every beach volleyball winner will receive a signed print.

‘It’s nice,’ Spens said. ‘It’s like for two weeks every four years I become a beach volleyball painter.’

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on X and Instagram at @davebirkett.

PARIS – Team USA hurdler Grant Holloway reminisced about a time at the 2019 world track and field championships when he and Noah Lyles had a conversation about their goals in the sport.

‘We were roommates in Doha in 2019. We were talking and we were like we can really take this sport by a chokehold,’ Holloway recalled at the USA track and field Paris Olympics press conference. ‘I think ever since then for both of us, we’ve had our ups and downs, that’s track and field. Any given Sunday anything can happen. We both just want to be consistent and dominant in the sport.’

Since then, the two have dominated the world track and field championships. Lyles has won six world championship gold medals and Holloway’s won three consecutive world championship golds in the 110 hurdles. However, neither topped the podium at the previous Tokyo Olympics. Lyles took home one bronze medal in the 200 and Holloway finished second in the 110 hurdles after he was upset by Jamaica’s Hansle Parchment.

They have both acknowledged their disappointment regarding the Tokyo Olympics; Holloway doesn’t even like discussing those Games.

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

‘Obviously, Tokyo is Tokyo and we’re in Paris now.’ Holloway said. ‘I honestly don’t even like talking about it because at that time I was just literally running. I didn’t know what I was doing for hurdling. I knew how to hurdle but I was literally just running. I didn’t know what I was doing for hurdling. Like I know how to hurdle but I was really just running. I don’t know what I was doing in a sense. Now I know my segments. It’s just like reading a book. You read left to right. You get a little more intricate with your abilities – what you’re strengths and weaknesses are. I just been homing in on that.’

The USA track and field squad named Holloway a team captain along with 400-hurdle world-record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. Holloway is seeking redemption in the 110 hurdles in Paris. At the U.S. Olympic track and field trials, he made a statement by running a world-leading time of 12.86 seconds. It’s the second-fastest time he’s ever run. He’s undefeated in the event this year.

‘I love the sport,’ Holloway said. ‘I love the consistency that I’m having and how everybody recognizes how consistent I am.’

Holloway’s personal-best time of 12.81 is just shy of the 12.80 world record set by Aries Merritt in 2012. The U.S. hurdler could threaten the world record in Paris. But the primary objective for the three-time world champion is to win his first ever Olympic gold medal.

‘The gold medal of course is the main goal for all of us here on this stage,’ Holloway said. ‘To be able to represent our country, our last name, who we are and our communities. I think just kind of going forward for all that. We are all fit, we are all ready and we are all ready to have some fun.’

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VILLENEUVE-D’ASCQ, France – Team USA men’s 5×5 assistant basketball coach Erik Spoelstra called it a master’s class in coaching.

Four of the best basketball coaches in the world working together, learning from one another and enjoying the 2024 Paris Olympics experience led by U.S. head coach Steve Kerr (Golden State Warriors) and assistants Ty Lue (Los Angeles Clippers), Mark Few (Gonzaga) and Spoelstra (Miami Heat).

‘We’re all coming together, and we’ve all gotten better from this, and at this point in our careers, it’s so gratifying,’ Spoelstra said.

The coaches have impressive credentials: Kerr has four NBA titles, Spoelstra two, Lue one and Few has led Gonzaga to two Final Fours.

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

‘Just incredible people,’ Few said of his fellow U.S. coaches. ‘They’re humble, even with the incredible amount of success they’ve had. The amount of humility they have is impressive and inspiring, but also they love to share ideas. We just sit and talk hoops or we talk how to present it to the players, how to deal with the players, how to handle the whole coaching profession.

‘At the end of the day, it is coaching, and so we’ve just had some great sessions. Whether we’re on the floor, in the film room, in the meeting room, or just out to dinner, it’s been great. We’ve developed great friendships over the course of this last year.’

Kerr put Lue in charge of defense, Spoelstra in charge of offense and Few in charge of what he calls specials teams, which includes zone offense and zone defense (because zones are utilized more in college) and out of bounds plays.

‘You have these meetings every day, and you go, ‘Oh, that’s a really good idea. I hadn’t thought of doing something that way,’’ Kerr said.

USA TODAY Sports talked with all four coaches about their USA Basketball experience which includes last summer’s FIBA World Cup and this summer’s Olympics.

Steve Kerr

Spoelstra got to know Kerr when Kerr worked as an analyst for TNT, and the network televised several Heat games as the Heat appeared in four consecutive Finals with LeBron James in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014.

‘During the pregame prep interviews, he came across as highly intelligent, very curious,’ Spoelstra said. ‘And the questions he would ask weren’t necessarily the normal ones about the broadcast but behind-the-scenes stuff, trying to get a feel for a team philosophies, defensive coverages, things more in depth. And I always found those discussions interesting.

‘And then as I’ve gotten to know him in this setting, he’s very good with people. He can see the big picture and can manage things from a higher lens.’

Kerr absorbs responsibility. When he didn’t play All-NBA first-team forward Jayson Tatum in the first Olympics game against Serbia, Kerr explained his decision in a calm, logical manner. He said it’s his job to make decisions that give the U.S. the best chance of winning gold.

That’s what Few appreciates about Kerr. They are similar, and both acknowledge that.

‘He’s just so genuine and so real and treats everybody so good,’ Few said. ‘He commands a great audience that way, just out of respect. And then I feel like our styles are very similar. It might seem that we’re slightly laid back. There’s a fire that burns intensely in him, and he’s quite an intense competitor. He’s very collaborative too, and I like to do with my staff – gather all the wisdom in the whole room and try to harness that. I think he’s very much all about that too.’

Asked what he knows now about Kerr that he didn’t know before joining this staff, Lue said, ‘Nothing.’ From their Finals battles in 2016, 2017 and 2018, Lue learned what kind of coach Kerr is.

But Lue said, ‘Having all these basketball minds in the same room and having a chance to learn and pick up different things has been great for me.’

Ty Lue

Spoelstra compared Lue to Russell Crowe’s portrayal of mathematician and economist John Nash in the movie ‘A Beautiful Mind.’

‘If he had a wall in every coach’s meeting, he’d be filling it up with a bunch of different Xs and Os diagrams, ideas and thoughts and most of them out of the box,’ Spoelstra said. ‘He’s a very creative thinker, and he’s not afraid to take calculated chances, particularly in playoffs series. He has a great feel for teams and personnel tendencies And as I’ve gotten to know him, I’ve enjoyed just seeing how he thinks the game.’

Said Few: ‘Ty’s amazing. He remembers every set and every play and every defense from 2005 until the present. He’s like a savant in that way.’

Lue and Kerr had battles in the Finals with Lue’s Cleveland Cavaliers winning that memorable seven-game series in 2016 and Kerr’s Warriors winning in 2017 and 2018 against the Cavs.

‘He’s a brilliant defensive mind, and he showed that in the playoffs when we played them year after year,’ Kerr said. ‘They had a real knack for making adjustments and understanding what was happening and what we were trying to do. I think he’s one of the great defensive minds in the game. And coaching with him the last couple of summers, that’s only been reinforced. He’s brilliant with his drill work and with his preparation for what we want to do.’

Mark Few

Spoelstra and Few go back more than 30 years when Spoelstra played at Portland and Few was a Gonzaga assistant coach. ‘Because of the success that he’s had at Gonzaga, I’ve been a fan of his and rooted for him and rooted for the program that’s become the representative of West Coast Conference,’ Spoelstra said. ‘And we all have that mid-major chip on our shoulders. And he’s taken a program now that was a mid-major and turned it into major-major.

“Even with the success that they’ve had, he is one of the most underrated coaches in all of basketball. He’s a first ballot Hall of Famer right now. And he’s so humble and understated. He doesn’t want any of the credit.’

USA Basketball has a long history of keeping a college coach on staff of the Olympic team, and Kerr found a kindred spirit.

‘My kind of guy. He just gets it,” Kerr said. “He’s passionate about the game, passionate about life, passionate about his family. Humble enough to know that he doesn’t have all the answers, but driven and smart enough to seek the answers. And above all, he loves being part of the staff. And so the dinners and the coaches’ meetings, there’s great humor and joy. It’s just somebody I want to be around every day.’

Spoelstra had another pop culture reference. Few likes to fly-fish, and recalling the great last line from the novella ‘A River Runs Through It,’ Spoelstra said of Few, ‘he is haunted by waters and game plans and strategies to help his team be their best version.’

Erik Spoelstra

While Spoelstra was impressed with Kerr’s inquisitive mind during the Heat’s Finals runs, Kerr was equally impressed with Spoelstra.

‘I always just loved his combination of confidence and humility,’ Kerr said. ‘He’s a very good communicator, not only with our players, but with the rest of the staff – really clear and decisive in what he wants to see. He and the Heat have built an amazing culture. We all talk about it, and it’s a real thing.

‘Having Spo on the staff is really big for me and a big deal for the team and getting to know him now behind the scenes and last summer, he’s every bit is good, or even better, than I thought he was.’

Spoelstra and Lue never coached against each other in the playoffs, but they’ve met in regular-season games. ‘Hard-nosed, tough, no BS,’ Lue said. ‘His teams play hard, they compete. They’re always going to be in shape. They’re going to do things the right way, and it doesn’t change. He’s the same way. Fiery, into it, passionate about it, and so when he speaks and is making a point, guys are locked in and paying attention.’

Just as players have set aside ego, the coaches did the same. Each has the résumé to be the head coach of the Olympic team.

‘It’s an absolute honor to be part of the USA basketball program,’ Spoelstra said. ‘I always want to be a part of it in any shape or fashion, and then to collaborate with these great basketball minds, it’s been just an absolute blessing to be able to learn and grow.’

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There’s an image from the 2024 Paris Olympics that may never be forgotten. On the left is a Black American, born in Ohio, raised in Texas, who was once in and out of foster care, but would go on to become the best gymnast in the history of the sport. On the right is an Asian American, a child of immigrants who came to the U.S. from Laos.

Both are smiling and waving while holding an American flag. In that moment, that stunning, beautiful photographed moment, Simone Biles, Olympic all-around gold medalist, and Suni Lee, bronze winner, are not just Americans, they represent something bigger. They represent the future.

They stand for a future where a Black woman can be president. Or an Asian woman can. Or both simultaneously. They represent love and hope, fierceness and kindness, decency and honor. They represent a future where women of color fight authoritarians and stereotypes. Where they lead the world. Where their inventions clean the oceans and cool the fire that is consuming the planet.

They are a future where they have kids. Or don’t. And no one asks questions about it. In this future they smile. Or don’t. They have choice. They have autonomy. They laugh, they dance, they create.

They have cats and everyone minds their business about it. In their future, Project 2025 is the nickname of the robot they invented. They are captain of the Enterprise, the aircraft carrier or the starship. Take your pick.

It is all there, in that photo. You can see it. You can see the timelines unfold and the future ripple forward from this moment on. A better future, led by them, and women who look like them. Women of color who refuse to be put in a box or stay silent in the face of ugliness. Maybe they are Black journalists insulted by a former president. Or maybe they are an Asian journalist insulted at a White House press briefing by that same former president. And maybe those women decide they are tired and will never take that crap again.

Maybe a child of color sees that photo and wants to become the next Simone Biles or Shirley Chisholm. Or Michelle Yeoh or Naomi Osaka.

That photo shows the possibilities. The endlessness of them.

“I really didn’t think that I would even get on podium, so it’s just like crazy that I was here and I did everything that I could,” Lee said after the competition.

“I went out there and I just told myself not to put any pressure on myself because I didn’t want to think about past Olympics or even trying to like, prove to anybody anything. Because I wanted to just prove to myself that I could do it because I did think that I could, but it’s taken a lot.”

She was there because of those possibilities.

These are ugly times we’re in. Things seem to vacillate between disastrous and more disastrous. We are inundated with the scary and the brutal. We see the monstrousness of mankind and we move on. Because stopping to think about it would be crippling. The Earth is getting smaller and scarier.

Black Americans are demonized. People are still using a racial slur to describe COVID-19. If you’re a person of color, and especially a woman of color, you are often targets of people who hate both of those parts of you.

It is bad … but then … then comes that photo. That moment. And you melt. Because you know they are the brightest of futures.

There’s an image that may never be forgotten. On the left is Biles, the best gymnast on this or any other planet. On the right is Lee, a special talent herself. They are smiling and waving and holding that flag. They aren’t just Americans. They are more. So much more.