NANTERRE, France — Kate Douglass was aiming for a best time, like most swimmers going into a race, especially an Olympic one. But she also had her sights on her own American record for the women’s 200-meter breaststroke. 

She had a feeling that if she broke that record, she’d win her first Olympic gold medal. She bet on herself and the race strategy that previously lifted her to best times, and she won big with Team USA’s third individual swimming gold medal so far at the Paris Olympics. 

“For a while I wasn’t sure if ‘Olympic champion’ was going to be possible for me to say, and now it’s really exciting to see it happen,” said Douglass, a two-time Olympian who was on the silver medal-winning 4×100-meter freestyle relay team in Paris and won a bronze in the 200-meter individual medley at the Tokyo Games. 

She won with a time of 2:19.24, which did, in fact, break her own 2:19.30 American record as she out-touched silver medalist Smith, who finished with a 2:19.60 race. Netherlands’ Tes Schouten won bronze, finishing nearly two seconds behind Douglass.

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

Once Douglass, 22, took the lead on the second of four 50s, she never relinquished it. But she said in the final moments, even when she was clearly out front, she wasn’t sure if she’d win.

“I could see on the turn where I was, so I kicked it into high gear on the last 50,” she said. “I couldn’t really tell if [Smith] was going to catch me or not, so I just gave it all I had.”

That high gear helped Douglass drop half a second from her semifinal time. 

And it actually gave fellow American and three-time Olympian Lilly King – who finished eighth – a unique view on the last lap. It’s one that King can laugh about now with a feeling of relief over her last individual Olympic race.  

“Tonight, I think, is all about celebrating Kate and that great accomplishment,” the 27-year-old King said. 

“I was actually so far behind, I took a peek up before the flags, and I saw her finish and win. So that was my little treat the last five, 10 meters of that race.”

Kind of like a metaphorical passing of the baton.

As King is wrapping up what she’s said will be her final Olympic Games, she said she’s “glad to see [Douglass] come into her own, especially in the Olympic space” and feels much more optimistic about the future success of American breaststrokers compared with past years. 

She was also “100%” confident Douglass would win her first Olympic championship Thursday. Her next race is the 200 IM, which begins Friday.

Douglass now joins Katie Ledecky and Torri Huske as the only American swimmers to win individual gold medals in Paris so far — though Team USA extended its medal count in the pool to 20 total Wednesday. 

“When Kate started to focus on the 200 breast, we knew that she was going to really be something special in that event,” King continued. 

“After her semifinal last night, it was pretty evident that she was going to be able to do it. So, glad she got the job done. She’s one tough cookie.”

Team USA had a huge gold-medal day Thursday at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Simone Biles and American teammate Suni Lee competed in the women’s gymnastics all-around final, and it led to an exhilarating finish that ended with Biles securing the gold medal and Lee earning a bronze.

The Olympic swimming schedule featured four finals, including Katie Ledecky back in the pool for Team USA in the women’s 4×200-meter free relay. While Australia swam to gold, the U.S. women took silver – and Ledecky made Olympic history in the process. But Team USA did not leave the Olympic pool Thursday without hearing the national anthem. Kate Douglass won the women’s 200-meter breaststroke for her first Olympic gold medal.

Fencing continued to be a successful sport at these Olympics for Team USA. After winning gold and silver, respectively, earlier this week, in women’s individual foil, Lee Kiefer and Lauren Scruggs led the U.S. squad to gold in women’s team foil. And the day kicked off with a celebration on the water as Team USA rowers earned the first gold medal in men’s four since the 1960 Olympics.

USA TODAY Sports has a recap of all the results from Thursday, as well as the highlights, medal count, and more.

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

Olympic surfing: American Carissa Moore, who won gold in Tokyo, eliminated 

There will be a new gold medalist in women’s surfing after 2020 Tokyo Olympics winner Carissa Moore was knocked out in the quarterfinals. 

Moore wasn’t able to put up any spectacular waves against France’s Johanne Defay, who had herself a remarkable round that made it difficult to defeat. Defay advances to the semifinals and will next face American Caroline Marks, the last American – woman or man – remaining in the surfing competition being held in Teahupoʻo on the southeastern coast of the island of Tahiti in French Polynesia.

This will be the last competition for Moore, the decorated surfer out of Hawaii. She plans to step away from surfing and focus on starting a family. — Jordan Mendoza

Olympic surfing: American Caroline Marks advances to women’s semifinals

The U.S. will have at least one surfer in the women’s semifinals after Caroline Marks won her quarterfinal matchup against Tyler Wright of Australia. Olympic surfing is being held in Teahupoʻo on the southeastern coast of the island of Tahiti in French Polynesia. 

The two surfers had solid best waves in the first half of the matchup, with Marks having just a slight lead. But in the second half, Marks was able to keep up her performance, while Wright struggled to get a spectacular wave to propel her to first. Marks won by more than two points.

Marks’ win means thre could be an American vs. American semifinal. She’ll await the winner of the quarerfinal between teammate Carissa Moore and France’s Johanne Defay. — Jordan Mendoza

U.S. men’s 3×3 basketball team stunned, still seeking first win

The American men’s 3×3 basketball team has hit a new low.

The U.S. team was two points away from victory against 2020 Olympics gold winner Latvia, but the defending gold medalist went on a 6-0 run to win 21-19 and provide another devastating loss to Team USA. The U.S. team was up 19-15 with two minutes left, but Latvia completed the comeback in the next 100 seconds as Team USA missed its final four shot attempts.

It was a golden chance for the team to pick up momentum as it has an uphill battle to make the knockout round. The loss keeps the U.S. as the only winless team at 0-4. In last place out of eight teams, the top six teams advance to knockout play, and Team USA will likely need to win its final three games to advance. Meanwhile, Latvia is the only undefeated team at 4-0. — Jordan Mendoza

Olympic beach volleyball: U.S. women’s team of Nuss and Kloth stay undefeated

PARIS – Nothing has been able to stop the United States women’s beach volleyball tandem of Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth at the 2024 Paris Olympics. 

Not the rain or lightning that filled the skies around them Thursday night at Eiffel Tower Stadium. Not the 75-minute delay at the most pivotal point in the match when they had battled back from one set down. And definitely not any of the three teams they played during pool play to open the Games. 

Nuss and Kloth are now off to the Round of 16 unblemished following an eventful three-set victory over China’s Xinyi Xia and Chen Xue – a gritty, come-from-behind victory for the young Americans with LeBron James in the stands. (“King James” did indeed wait out the weather.) 

After dropping the first set 21-15, the U.S. won the last two sets, 21-16, 15-12.

Officials called the match temporarily at 3-2 in the third. The teams traded points to 9-9 when a Chinese error gave the Americans a 10-9 lead. Nuss put it away for the final point of the game to complete the comeback. 

Kloth had 21 attack points and recorded two blocks. Nuss had 11 digs and 14 attack points. 

In the first set, the Americans could not find their footing and trailed 13-8 at the first timeout. China went on another 3-1 run to up the lead. An ace to make it 18-13 sealed the set and China took it 21-15. f

In the second, Nuss started running around like a Tasmanian devil in human form and mostly refused to let the ball hit the ground. She started feeling herself with the celebrations as the U.S. raced out to a 17-12 lead and secured the set, 21-16 – but not before China cut the deficit to two. Nuss drilled an ace to thwart any threat of a Chinese comeback in the frame.

The crowd began reacting with screams of “U” on the first hit, “S” on the second bump and “A” on the knock over the net. 

Then the rain started to fall. Lightning struck in the backdrop of the Eiffel Tower. Play continued. Nuss and Kloth only became stronger with the elements. 

That was until the match was postponed. But it didn’t matter. — Chris Bumbaca

Olympic golf: Tokyo gold medalist Xander Schauffele remains in winning form

SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France – The last time Xander Schauffele teed it up in an Olympics, he won a gold medal for Team USA. But it says something about how special Thursday was that Schauffele walked of the golf course saying, “It feels like I’m here (in the Olympics) for the first time.”

“For me, Tokyo was really special, obviously. But there were no fans,” said Schauffele, referencing the games of three years ago defined by COVID-19 restrictions. “The city was closed. I was stuck in my hotel room. … (This) was an awesome atmosphere.”

Schauffele, fresh off major victories at The PGA Championship and The Open Championship, is enjoying a bit of a moment right now. When those happen, you can shoot a 6-under-par 65 in the opening round of the Paris Olympics – and be 5 under at the turn – and then afterward bemoan your “clanky start.”

You could say that Schauffele stole the show Thursday, along with Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama (8 under), the lone player ahead of him entering Round 2. — Gentry Estes

Olympic beach volleyball: Thunderstorms halt U.S. pair’s match as crowds seek sheleter

PARIS – The USA women’s beach volleyball team of Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth were in the beginning of the third set of their match against China’s Xinyi Xia and Chen Xue when severe weather forced everybody to shelter. 

Leading 3-2 in the decisive game (to 15 points), officials called the match despite the players forging through rain and lightning in the distance – the lightning as the background, the Eiffel Tower being the foreground for the Thursday evening, pro-U.S. crowd. 

But as the storm approached over Eiffel Tower Stadium, heavy, cold rain, along with continued lightning and booms of thunder, sent the masses scattering. 

The match is expected to resume at some point but that might be a while. China took the first set, 21-15, while Nuss and Kloth stormed back in the second to take it 21-16.

The start of the U.S. men’s 3×3 basketball match vs. Latvia was also delayed because of the storm. — Chris Bumbaca

U.S. women’s basketball team wins again, unbeaten in Olympic Games since 1992

The U.S. women’s basketball team continued their road to another Olympic gold medal today against Belgium in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games group stage. The United States won 87-74, backed by Breanna Stewart’s game-high 26 points.

Two-time WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson was a massive factor in Thursday’s win as well, racking up 23 points and 13 rebounds. Wilson could very well be on pace for tournament MVP, should the United States win their eighth straight gold medal.

Belgium entered the Olympics as Team USA’s biggest threat in Group C as FIBA ranks Belgium No. 6 in the world. But they lost the first matchup of group play to Germany 83-69. Emma Meesseman had a game-high 25 points in the loss and Washington Mystics guard Julie Vanloo had 18 points and six assists.

With America’s win, Team USA has clinched a spot in the quarterfinals and continue their journey to another gold. The U.S. women’s team has not lost since the semifinals of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. — Jack McKessy

Read more here from Lindsay Schnell: Why US women’s basketball welcomed close, tough battle with Belgium

Olympic golf: American Wyndham Clark struggles in opening round

SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France – The thing about Wyndham Clark is he’s a streaky golfer.

When he’s right, he’s as good as anybody. You remember, right? He won the 2023 U.S. Open. Earlier this year, he shot a 60 to win a shortened event at Pebble Beach. He was second at Bay Hill, tied for second at The Players.

Clark has demonstrated why he deserved to be one of only four Americans who qualified for these Paris Olympics.

He just hasn’t shown it lately.

And that includes Thursday’s Olympics first round at Le Golf National. While most of the 60-player field took advantage of ideal scoring conditions on Day 1, Clark opened with a 4-over 75. His first three holes: bogey, double bogey, bogey. Though he stabilized from there, he closed with another double on No. 15.

Clark is tied for 56th, one stroke above dead last. He’s one of only 13 players over par. Were there a cut in this tournament, he’d surely miss it. Unless Clark gets real hot, real fast – Pebble Beach-style – the number of Americans golfers in realistic medal contention at these Olympics is already down from four to three. — Gentry Estes

USA women’s 3×3 basketball team finally wins after opening 0-3

Finally, a Team USA 3×3 basketball team won at the Paris Olympics.

In its fourth game in Paris, the U.S. women became the first to snap a streak of six total winless efforts between themselves and the equally floundering men’s team. They defeated Spain, 17-11, on Thursday.

Hailey van Lith and Rhyne Howard each scored five points (and one two-pointer apiece) in the victory. The team has two more games in pool play before the knockout stage begins. And if they don’t figure it out soon, they won’t last long once that begins. 

Howard finally showed some of her shooting capabilities by drilling four two-pointers on  six attempts from deep to keep the U.S. in the game. The Americans pulled away in the final minute to secure the all-important first win with one more game to play before the knockout round begins. — Chris Bumbaca

Katie Ledecky makes history as Team USA 4×200 relay squad secures silver

History in the pool: Australia wins gold in the women’s 4×200 freestyle relay. USA, with Katie Ledecky, gets silver.

That’s Ledecky’s 13th Olympic medal. She has now won the most medals by a female American Olympian, in any sport, ever. China finished out the podium, finishing third. – Christine Brennan

Team USA men’s doubles tennis team ends Andy Murray’s career

PARIS — The great Andy Murray’s tennis career ended on Suzanne Lenglen Court on Thursday evening, as Americans Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul took out Murray and his partner Dan Evans, 6-2, 6-4.

Murray, arguably the greatest British sportsman in history, announced he would be leaving tennis after the Olympics due to the cumulative toll of numerous injuries.

Murray will best be remembered for twice winning Wimbledon, ending a 77-year drought of British men winning the event. But in many ways, his career is uniquely linked with the Olympics. – Dan Wolken

Olympic fencing: Team USA women’s foil team wins gold

PARIS — The United States is fast becoming a world power in women’s team foil, and now it has the hardware to prove it.

The U.S. beat top-seeded Italy for its first-ever gold medal in the event Thursday at the Grand Palais, 45-39, capping a brilliant Olympics that also saw fencers Lee Kiefer and Lauren Scruggs win individual gold and silver.

Three years after losing to the Italians, 45-23, in a lopsided bronze medal match at the Tokyo Olympics, the American women were the early aggressors on their way to their second medal in women’s team foil’s 64-year Olympic history.

The U.S. won silver in the event in 2008, but with less individual success than the team enjoyed this summer. Kiefer beat Scruggs in the individual final, 15-6, marking the first time the country has gone 1-2 in the sport in the Olympics. – Dave Birkett

Kate Douglass wins 200-meter breastsroke final, sets American record

NANTERRE, France — Team USA’s Kate Douglass is officially an Olympic champion, winning the women’s 200-meter breaststroke final Thursday with a time of 2:19. 24 – a new American record. 

It’s the 22-year-old two-time Olympian’s third medal overall and second at the Paris Olympics after winning silver in the women’s 4×100-meter freestyle relay.

Douglass out-touched defending Olympic champion Tatjana Smith of South Africa, who won silver with a time of 2:19.60. Smith won the gold in the women’s 100-meter breaststroke. The Netherlands’ Tes Schouten took bronze in 2:21.05. Team USA three-time Olympian Lilly King finished eighth in 2:25.91. – Michelle R. Martinelli

Team USA women’s basketball tips off against Belgium: Follow live

The U.S. women’s basketball squad looks to stay hot against Belgium in group play. USA TODAY Sports will provide live updates, highlights and more from the matchup.

Kevin Durant gives props to Simone Biles for her ‘bounce’

Whenever Simone Biles decides to leave gymnastics behind, she may have a future career as a stretch-4 in the NBA.

‘I really believe Goat Biles can catch a lob and finish. #bounce,’ Durant posted on Thursday.

Biles can certainly finish: She took home the all-around gold medal, beating out Brazil’s Rebecca Andrade and Team USA partner Suni Lee.

Regan Smith takes home silver medal in 200-meter butterfly

NANTERRE, France — Teenage Canadian star Summer McIntosh added to her already impressive Olympic haul Thursday by winning the women’s 200-meter butterfly final with a time of 2:03.03, edging defending Olympic champ Zhang Yukei and American Regan Smith.

At Paris La Défense Arena, Smith won silver with a time of 2:03.84, and Zhang of China took the bronze and a time of 2:05.09.

Through the first half of the Paris Olympics, 17-year-old McIntosh already won gold in the women’s 400-meter individual medley and silver in the women’s 400-meter freestyle. – Michelle R. Martinelli

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American downed in badminton

American badminton player Beiwen Zhang looked to be cruising early in the round of 16 women’s singles Thursday – especially if you didn’t know her opponent.

Zhang won the first set against Spain’s Carolina Marin – the 2016 Olympic gold medalist, non-badminton enthusiasts! – before succumbing 12-21, 21-9, 21-18.

Born in China, Zhang became a naturalized American citizen in 2021 and made her Olympic debut that same year at the Tokyo Games. She suffered an Achilles injury during her round of 16 match in Tokyo, but was healthy as she took the court Thursday.

Moreover, she entered the Paris Olympics with the hope of becoming the first American to win an Olympic medal in badminton. The dream still was alive with the score in the third set against Marin locked at 15-15.

Alas, Zhang she noted Marin’s experience in high-stakes matches when asked about the final outcome of their badminton battle. – Josh Peter

Novak Djokovic dealing with knee injury in matchup vs. Tsitsipas

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic is aiming to win his second Olympic medal, but he may have to fight through an injury to get there.

During his matchup with Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas, trainers took a look at Djokovic’s surgically repaired knee. Djokovic did not withdraw, and headed to a third set vs. Tsitsipas.

How high can Simone Biles jump?

Simone Biles, Team USA gymnastics draws record viewership for NBC

Just like Simone Biles flying through the air on vault, NBC’s viewership numbers for the women’s gymnastics team final at the Paris Olympics were through the roof.

NBC’s live daytime broadcast of the women’s gymnastics team final averaged 12.7 million viewers across NBC and Peacock, marking the event as one of the network’s top weekday daytime events in Olympic history.

This meant that more people tuned in live to watch Team USA’s gold medal-winning performance than for any single game of the 2024 NBA Finals or the first round of the 2024 NFL draft.  – Carrie McDonald

Pair of U.S. boxers defeated

American boxers Jennifer Lozano and Morelle McCane both missed out on opportunities to advance for medals on Thursday.

Lozano (50kg) fell to Finnish fighter Pihla Kaivo-Oja, who won the fight on judge’s scorecards in all three rounds.

In the women’s 66kg division, McCane faced Uzbekistan’s Navbakhor Khamidova. Judges awarded the fight to Khamidova on a 3-2 split decision.

Team USA men’s 3×3 basketball loses third straight to open group play

PARIS — The U.S. men’s basketball 3×3 team cannot get off the schneid. 

Without Jimmer Fredette, who is dealing with a right leg injury that prevented him from playing, the U.S. lost its third straight game to open pool play of the Olympics, as Lithuania pulled away late from the U.S. to win 20-18.

Canyon Barry picked up the slack in Fredette’s stead and had nine points. Kareem Maddox finished with five. Barry had a chance to tie it at the buzzer following a defensive stop but his attempt from 2-point land clanked off the front rim.

Fans clapped for Fredette as the in-house emcees noted his absence from the contest.  – Chris Bumbaca

Team USA women’s field hockey squad remains winless

It’s not the trip to Paris that the U.S. women’s field hockey team envisioned.

Through four matches in Pool B, Team USA is still search for its first victory after losing 5-2 to Great Britain on Thursday.

The Americans were tight at the half, trailing a goal to Great Britain, but a dominant second half by the Brits put the game away.

The U.S. is in fifth place in Pool B and close out group play on Saturday, Aug. 3 at 1:15 p.m. vs. South Africa, who is also winless.

Jake Paul rips Olympic boxing match sparking controversy over gender eligibility criteria

Jake Paul, an honorary coach of the U.S. Olympic boxing team, sounded off on Thursday.

Paul, the social media influencer and pro boxer, joined a chorus of objectors following an Olympic women’s boxing match that included an Algerian fighter whose gender eligibility has come under question.

The Algerian, Imane Khelif, won her opening bout Thursday after landing a single punch – on the nose of Italy’s Angela Carini.

Soon after, Carini quit − 46 seconds into the bout. She wept in the ring and during interviews with reporters.

“This is sickening,’’ Paul wrote on his verified X account. ‘This is a travesty. Doesn’t matter what you believe. This is wrong and dangerous.’’ – Josh Peter

Team USA men’s beach volleyball squad makes coaching change

Amidst their quest for a medal, the men’s beach volleyball squad of Miles Partain and Andy Benesh have decided to make a coaching change, dismissing bench boss Mike Plasek on Thursday.

The decision was somewhat surprising.

“There was a team meeting and a team decision to not move forward with their coach,” NBC beach volleyball broadcaster Dain Blanton reported during the opening set of the match. – Mark Giannotto

Simone Biles goes for gold in women’s gymnastics all-around final

Simone Biles is looking to extend her Olympic gymnastics record medal count on Thursday when she competes in the gymnastics all-around final. USA TODAY Sports is providing live updates, highlights and more from the events.

Olympic golf: Play again suspended due to lightning

After a brief restart of play in Round 1, the Olympic golf tournament was again halted due to lightning in the area. Rain has played into the blueprint for Thursday’s Games, with drizzles expected to hit the area until early evening.

Olympic golf: Play resumes after brief weather stoppage

After lightning halted Round 1 of the Olympic golf tourney, play resumed at 11:05 a.m. ET (5:05 p.m. local). Xander Schauffele looks to finish his round strong as the top American on the leaderboard.

Olympic golf: Lightning suspends first round of play

The threat of lightning has suspended the first round of play in the 2024 Olympic golf tournament. At the time of suspension, Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama sat at the top of the heap at 8-under. American Xander Schauffele and Mexican Carlos Ortiz are tied at 2-under.

U.S. men’s doubles tennis to play for gold

Despite the quick turnaround from their men’s doubles win over Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal, the American team of Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek cruised through their semifinal Thursday afternoon and will play for a gold medal. 

Ram/Krajicek defeated Tomas Machac and Adam Pavlasek of the Czech Republic, 6-2, 6-2, needing only 61 minutes to get the job done. 

Ram and Krajicek are two of the most accomplished doubles players in the world, who prepared for the Paris Olympics by playing together in Davis Cup competitions the last two years.

Ram, 40, won a silver medal in Rio eight years ago in the mixed doubles alongside Venus Williams. He has won four Grand Slam titles in men’s doubles. 

Krajicek, 34, was ranked No. 1 for a time last year after winning the French Open doubles, his first major. 

Interestingly, it could be an All-American final if Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul beat Andy Murray and Dan Evans of Great Britain later Thursday afternoon.

This is the last professional tournament for Murray, a two-time gold medalist in singles and three-time Grand Slam champion, who has struggled with injuries for several years. – Dan Wolken

Americans off to strong start in Olympic golf

Americans Xander Schauffele and Scottie Scheffler are off to good starts in the first round of Olympic golf at Golf National in Paris. Schauffle, who won the 2024 PGA Championship and 2024 British Open, trails Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama (-8) by one stroke through 14 holes.

Meanwhile, Scheffler, the World’s No. 1 golfer and 2024 Masters champion, carded a -4 and currently sits tied for 10th place.

The 60 contenders will all play four rounds in a stroke play format, with the medalists taking the fewest number of shots to complete the 72 holes.

Four-time French Open champion stunned in semis

PARIS — The queen of Roland Garros was dethroned Thursday in the Olympic semifinals – by a different kind of queen.

No. 6 Qinwen Zheng – or QUEEN-wen, as she enjoys being called around the WTA Tour – took out No. 1 Iga Swiatek, 6-2, 7-5, in a stunner that will give China a chance to win its first gold medal in tennis on Saturday.

Swiatek, a four-time French Open champion at this venue, hadn’t lost a match at Roland Garros since the 2021 quarterfinals. She came into the Olympics as a massive favorite, but perhaps felt a different kind of pressure trying to win gold for Poland, her home country.

Instead, she’ll have to settle at best for the bronze medal.

Zheng will play either Donna Vekic of Croatia or Anna-Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia for the gold medal. − Dan Wolken

Michael Phelps leading Team U-S-A chants at Olympic golf

Michael Phelps, who is serving as a commentator for NBC during the Games, is taking in the first round of Olympic golf at Golf National in Paris. The a 23-time gold medalist is at the first tee cheering on the Americans in front of a raucous crowd.

Smith, Bacon advance to semis in women’s 200m backstroke

PARIS – American swimmers Regan Smith and Phoebe Bacon advanced to the semifinals of the women’s 200-meter backstroke early Thursday morning at Paris La Defense Arena.

Bacon, in her first race of the Paris 2024 Olympics, finished fourth in a time of 2:09. Smith (2:09.61) was sixth.

The top 16 racers move on to the semis. − Dave Birkett

World No. 1 women’s archer upset

World No. 1 archer Casey Kaufhold of the United States was upset 7-3 by Lei Chien-Ying of Taiwan on Thursday, knocking Kaufhold out of the women’s individual archery competition in the second round.

Kaufhold’s opponent shot three perfect 10s in the final set to slam the door on Kaufhold’s individual medal hopes in the 20-year-old’s second Olympics.

She still has a shot for a medal alongside Team USA’s Brady Ellison in the mixed competition on Friday. − Gentry Estes

3×3 USA women’s hoop team loses third straight

PARIS – So far, not a good start for the reigning champion 3×3 women’s basketball team. Not good at all. 

The Americans dropped their third straight game to open pool play at the tournament, this one a 17-15 loss to Australia on Thursday. The team has two more games in pool play before the knockout stage begins. And if they don’t figure it out soon, they won’t last long once that begins. 

Now it’s back to the drawing board – again – for the USA. Frustrations are mounting. 

“Everybody’s got the same refs,” Cierra Burdick said. “I don’t worry about things that are out of my control. Some people get good calls, some people get bad calls, that’s basketball.” 

After the opening loss to Germany two days ago, Hailey van Lith said the team’s intensity needed to improve. 

“I think the effort was a little bit better,” Burdick said. “But we got to find another gear to tap into. Because we’re not getting it done.” 

The improvement would come during group play, the Americans have been saying. But for Burdick, it hasn’t come quickly enough. 

“I think we’re getting a little bit better, but not at the pace that I’d like,” she said. “But we gotta find our way.” − Chris Bumbaca

Boxer who faced gender questions wins in bizarre fashion

PARIS – Algeria’s Imane Khelif, one of two female Olympic boxers disqualified from the 2023 world championships after failing gender eligibility tests, entered the ring Thursday at the Paris Games.

It ended in abrupt and bizarre fashion.

Khelif prevailed when Italy’s Angela Carini stopped fighting 46 seconds into the bout.  The fight in the welterweight division at 66 kg (146 pounds) was scheduled for three three-minute rounds.

The issue of gender eligibility criteria surfaced at the 2023 world championships when Khelif and Lin Yu-Ting of Taiwan both won medals in the women’s competition before tournament officials announced the boxers had failed gender eligibility tests. They were stripped of their medals. − Josh Peter

Team USA advances to the semis in women’s team foil

PARIS – Lee Kiefer is going for gold again, and this time she’s bringing the rest of the U.S. women’s foil team with her.

Kiefer, who beat teammate Lauren Scruggs for gold in individual foil on Sunday, and Team USA advanced to the semifinals in women’s team foil Thursday with a 45-37 win over China in its table of eight match.

The U.S. women will face the winner of Canada-France in its semifinal match. Italy and Japan meet in the other semifinal.

Kiefer has won gold in individual foil at the past two Olympics, while Scruggs, a 21-year-old student at Harvard, won her first Olympic medal Sunday.

Jacqueline Dubrovich, a two-time Olympian, is the third member of the foil team. −Dave Birkett

Team USA rowers win gold medal

VAIRES-SUR-MARNE, France − Team USA rowers Nick Mead, Justin Best, Michael Grady and Liam Corrigan won a gold medal Thursday at the Paris Olympics in the finals of the men’s four competition. With Mead in the bow position and Corrigan at the stroke, the group recorded a time of 5:49:03.

The gold is the first for the USA in the men’s fours since the Olympic Games Rome 1960. − Chase Goodbread

USA’s Brady Ellison advances to archery round of 16

A five-time Olympian, Ellison has long been considered one of the world’s best. He has three medals in his past − but no gold medals.

Men’s 50-meter rifle results

Liu Yukun extended China’s gold medal lead by winning the men’s 50-meter rifle 3 positions event, with a total score of 463.6. Serhiy Kulish secured Ukraine’s second medal of these Games, claiming silver with a score of 461.3. India’s Swapnil Kusale took the bronze with a score of 451.4.

Olympic track predictions

Who will be the big winners in track and field at the Paris Olympics? USA TODAY Sports’ Tyler Dragon predicts the podium for every event.

Men’s race walk results

It’s quite early in the United States, but medals are already being awarded in Paris.

Brian Daniel Pintado of Ecuador won the gold medal in the men’s 20K race walk, crossing the line first with a time of 1:18:55. Caio Bonfim of Brazil took second (1:19:09) and Spain’s Alvaro Martin placed third (1:19:11).

Olympics schedule today

Here are some Olympic schedule highlights. Peacock is streaming every sport and event live as it unfolds in Paris.

All times Eastern

The women’s gymnastics all-around final is at 12:15 p.m. NBC is airing.
Swimming heats start at 5 a.m. The finals for the women’s 200m fly and men’s 200m backstroke are back to back (2:30 p.m.) before the women’s 200m breaststroke final (3:03 p.m.) and the women’s 4x200m free relay (3:48 p.m.). Katie Ledecky swims a leg of the 4x200m free relay for the U.S. NBC is airing the finals. USA Network is airing the heats.
Women’s basketball has four group stage games: Japan vs. Germany (5 a.m.), Australia vs. Canada (7:30 a.m.), France vs. Nigeria (11:15 a.m.), U.S. vs. Belgium (3 p.m.).
Men’s golf starts with Round 1 of play starting at 3 a.m.
The 3×3 basketball slate has 16 games starting at 3 a.m. and running through 5:05 p.m.
Other sports in action: Archery, badminton, beach volleyball, BMX racing, boxing, canoe slalom, equestrian, fencing, field hockey, golf, handball, judo, rowing, sailing, shooting, table tennis, tennis, track & field, volleyball, water polo.

How to watch Olympics today

NBC is airing and streaming the Paris Olympics from all angles: Peacock is streaming every sport and event live as it unfolds; NBC, USA Network, CNBC and E! are carrying various live events and replays throughout the day. Here are six tips and tricks for getting the most out of Peacock during the Olympics.

Medal count today

Our 2024 Paris Olympics medal count tracker updates after every single medal event.

What Olympic medals can be won today?

All times Eastern

Gymnastics: women’s all-around final (12:15 p.m., NBC)
Swimming: women’s 200m fly (2:30 p.m.), men’s 200m backstroke (2:37 p.m.), women’s 200m breaststroke (3:03 p.m.), women’s 4x200m relay (4:03 p.m.). NBC is airing the finals.
Track & field: men’s 20km race walk (1:30 a.m.), women’s 20km race walk (3:20 a.m.)
Fencing: women’s foil team bronze (1:10 p.m.), women’s foil team gold (2:30 p.m.). E! is airing the finals.
Shooting: 50m rifle 3 positions men’s final (3:30 a.m.)
Sailing: men’s and women’s skiff medal races (times TBD)
Rowing: women’s double sculls final a (5:18 a.m.), men’s double sculls final a (5:30 a.m.), women’s four final (5:50 a.m.), men’s four final a (6:10 a.m.). E! is airing all the finals.
Judo: Six medal matches (11:18 a.m start)
Canoe slalom: men’s kayak single final (11:30 a.m., E!)

What U.S. teams are playing at the Olympics today?

All times Eastern

The U.S. men’s golf team begins play with Round 1, which starts at 3 a.m. Golf Channel is airing.
The U.S. men’s water polo team plays Greece in group play at 4:30 a.m. E! is airing.
The U.S. is competing in men’s beach volleyball against Brazil at 9 a.m. NBC is airing. 
The U.S. women’s field hockey team plays Great Britain in pool play at 11 a.m. USA Network is airing.
The U.S. men’s 3×3 basketball team plays two games today: The first is against Lithuania at 1:05 p.m. (USA Network), the second is against Latvia at 5:05 p.m. (NBC).
The U.S. women’s basketball team faces Belgium in group play at 3 p.m. USA Network is airing. 
The U.S. women’s 3×3 basketball team plays two games today: The first is against Australia at 7 a.m., the second is against Spain at 3:30 p.m. E! is airing the second game.
The U.S. is competing in women’s beach volleyball against China at 4:05 p.m. NBC is airing.

Olympic golf today: What to watch

Men’s golf tees off in Round 1 at Le Golf National, which hosted the 2018 Ryder Cup. American Xander Schauffele, who won the PGA Championship and British Open this year, is the defending Olympic champion.

Olympic swimming today: What to watch

Katie Ledecky will try for another medal with the 4×200-meter freestyle relay team. Ledecky won silver as part of the relay in Tokyo. In other events, keep an eye on Ryan Murphy in the 200 backstroke and Kate Douglass and Lilly King in the 200 breaststroke.

Olympic swimming schedule today

All times Eastern

Heats for the following events start at 5 a.m.: women’s 200m backstroke and 4x200m free relay; men’s 50m free and 200m IM.
Semifinals for the following events start in the afternoon: men’s 50m free (2:44 p.m.), women’s 200m backstroke (3:10 p.m.), men’s 200m IM (3:34 p.m.).
Today’s finals: women’s 200m fly (2:30 p.m.), men’s 200m backstroke (2:37 p.m.), women’s 200m breaststroke (3:03 p.m.), women’s 4x200m free relay (4:03 p.m.).

Olympic Gymnastics today: What to watch

In the women’s all-around final, Simone Biles will be the heavy favorite for gold. At last year’s world championships in Antwerp, Belgium, Biles won her sixth world all-around title, erasing any doubts about her ability to compete with the world’s best after withdrawing from the Tokyo Olympics. Rebeca Andrade of Brazil and U.S. teammate Shilese Jones shared the podium with Biles at worlds. If she wins the all-around title in Paris, Biles would be only the third female gymnast – and first since 1968 − to win the all-around gold twice.

Olympic fencing today: What to watch

In women’s team foil, the Americans are ranked No. 2 in the world behind Italy. Lee Kiefer is expected to lead the U.S. team, which also includes Lauren Scruggs and Jackie Dubrovich.

A federal judge on Thursday overturned the $4.7 billion jury award in the class action suit for subscribers of the NFL Sunday Ticket programming package.

U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez granted the National Football League’s request to toss out the award. The judge said the jury did not follow his instructions and created an ‘overcharge,’ he wrote in his order.

Gutierrez also said that models presented during the trial about what a media landscape (and subscription fees) would look like without NFL Sunday Ticket were faulty and ‘not the product of sound economic methodology,’ he wrote in the order.

As a result, the damages were more ‘guesswork or speculation’ than figures based on ‘evidence and reasonable inferences,’ Gutierrez wrote.

NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more.

What were the jury instructions?

Jurors were instructed to calculate damages based on ‘the difference between the prices Plaintiffs actually paid for Sunday Ticket and the prices Plaintiffs would have paid had there been no agreement to restrict output.”

DirecTV offered Sunday Ticket from 1994 to 2022, with the cost for residential subscribers typically running between $300 and $400. Last year, Google began offering the programming package via YouTube. This year, NFL Sunday Ticket costs $349 to $449.

On June 27, a federal jury in California awarded NFL Sunday Ticket subscribers more than $4.7 billion in damages and nearly $97 million to bars, restaurants, and other businesses with commercial subscriptions to the package.

The plaintiff’s attorneys argued that the NFL, CBS, Fox and DirecTV created a ‘single, monopolized product’ in packaging out-of-market NFL games in the Sunday Ticket package. Because the Sunday Ticket was the only way to get those NFL games, consumers paid inflated prices over the years, the plaintiffs alleged.

The NFL denied any wrongdoing and defended the programming package’s distribution model as a premium product.

“We are grateful for today’s ruling in the Sunday Ticket class action lawsuit,’ the NFL said in a statement sent to USA TODAY. ‘We believe that the NFL’s media distribution model provides our fans with an array of options to follow the game they love, including local broadcasts of every single game on free over-the-air television. We thank Judge Gutierrez for his time and attention to this case and look forward to an exciting 2024 NFL season.”

So what happens now?

The plaintiffs likely could appeal the latest ruling in the case, which began in 2015 when two businesses and two individual subscribers sued on behalf of NFL Sunday Ticket subscribers from 2011.

An estimated 2.4 million residential subscribers and 48,000 businesses bought the NFL Sunday Ticket package from June 17, 2011, to Feb. 7, 2023. In a January 2024 filing, plaintiffs said they were entitled to damages of up to $7.01 billion.

The judge’s order stems from the NFL’s argument in court on Wednesday that the jury’s award should be overturned.

‘There’s no doubt about what they did,’ Gutierrez said Wednesday ahead of his ruling, according to Courthouse News. ‘They didn’t follow the instructions.’

The subscribers’ attorney, Mark Seltzer, told Gutierrez on Wednesday that the jurors should be able to negotiate a fair damages award provided it falls within an evidence-supported range, Courthouse News reported.

Follow Mike Snider on X and Threads: @mikesnider & mikegsnider.

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PARIS — Simone Biles is the best to ever do it and it’s not even close.

In her sport. And in all others.

Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt, Serena Williams and anyone else you want to throw in the mix — they all take a backseat to Biles. With her second Olympic all-around title Thursday night, Biles surpassed all the other GOATs. She’s now, as teammate Jordan Chiles put it earlier this week, the greatest of the greats.

‘It is crazy I am in the conversation of greatest of all athletes,’ Biles said. ‘Because I just still think I’m Simone Biles from Spring, Texas, that loves to flip.’

Like other transcendent athletes, Biles has has piled up stats that are unmatched. She is the third woman to win two Olympic all-around titles and first to do it in non-consecutive Games. She has nine Olympic medals, six of them gold. A total of 39 medals at the world championships and Olympics, more than any other gymnast, male or female. Six world titles, twice as many as the next woman.

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And a winning streak that’s lasted so long that teammate Hezly Rivera has gone from a kindergartner to a Paris Olympian during the stretch, while Biles has gone from a teenager with braces to a married woman in her late 20s, stunning longevity in a sport that has long chewed gymnasts up and spit them out by their 18th birthday.

What sets Biles apart, however, is both the basic rigors of her sport and how she’s transformed it.

No disrespect to Phelps, Bolt, Williams or any of the others, but the average person can do what they did. Not as well, of course. But you can get in the pool and swim a lap like Phelps did. You can go out to a track, or a sidewalk, and run like Bolt did. You can go to a court and hit a tennis ball, like Williams did.

Ask the average person just to flip on the balance beam or do a simple vault, however, and you better have an ambulance on standby. And Biles does her thing with more ease and grace than most of us can muster walking to the bathroom.

On uneven bars Thursday night, Biles was too far away from the high bar on one skill, and it altered her momentum on the transition to the low bar. She had to bend her legs so she wouldn’t scrape them against the mat, then barely caught the bar. She didn’t fall, but all those deductions in that few second span were almost as costly. Her score of 13.733 dropped her behind both Rebeca Andrade of Brazil and Kaylia Nemour of Algeria. Worse, it was on to balance beam next, and Biles was up first.

Imagine the pressure of that: The all-around title hangs in the balance and your performance on an apparatus that’s as wide as an iPhone and 4 feet in the air will likely be the difference maker. Many an athlete would have folded in the situation, but Biles nailed her routine, her aerial series landed with such confidence she might as well have been doing it on the flat ground.

She scored a 14.566, putting her back into first place. She brought down the house with her high-flying — literally — floor routine, soaring some 10-plus feet in the air while flipping and twisting. Though she took a few steps on the landings of her Biles II, the first pass in the routine, she stayed in bounds, effectively clinching the gold.

‘I was stressing!’ Biles said. ‘But I knew if I did my work, it’d all be fine.’

Biles also has won with a stunning display of versatility. Williams wasn’t also playing squash. Bolt wasn’t running marathons. Phelps specialized in the butterfly, freestyle and IM — half of which is fly and free.

Each of the gymnastics events requires a very different skill set — power on vault and floor, strength and fluidity on uneven bars, precision and grace on balance beam — yet Biles excels at all of them. In addition to her all-around titles, Biles has world titles on vault, balance beam and floor exercise.

She won a medal on every event at the 2018 world championships, adding a silver on uneven bars to her golds on vault and floor and bronze on beam. Earlier this summer, she swept every event title at the U.S. championships.

The biggest difference, however, is how Biles has changed her sport. Sprinting isn’t different than it was before Bolt came on the scene. Ditto for swimming. Women might be stronger and serve faster, but the game of tennis is otherwise unchanged.

But Biles is pushing the boundaries of her sport, doing tricks no one else will even try. She has five skills named after her, including the Yurchenko double pike vault that is so difficult few men do it. It’s not only that she did these things first. They’re so advanced – so hard – few have been able to match her.

She first did her Biles I on floor exercise – a double layout with a half-twist – way back in 2013. On Sunday, another gymnast did it at the Olympics for the first time.

All this, and we haven’t even gotten to what Biles has done outside gymnastics.

Her nightmare in Tokyo, where ‘the twisties’ caused her to lose her sense of where she was in the air, exposed the mental health struggles that for far too long were the dirty little secret of elite athletics. By withdrawing one event into the Tokyo team final, and then missing four individual event finals, she made it OK for everyone else not to be OK.

‘I was so nervous about getting injured physically that I neglected my mental health,’ Biles said. ‘Then I was injured, except it was a mental injury and I think that was almost harder than physical. Whenever you go to the doctor and you have a physical injury, they tell you three to six weeks, three to six months.

‘This, it was like no time tells,’ said Biles, who prioritizes her weekly therapy sessions and had one at 7 a.m. Thursday. ‘To see where I’ve grown, even from Tokyo, even from the 19-year-old from Rio, is amazing. I’m really proud of the work that she’s put in, because I never thought I’d be on a world stage again.’

Now she’s not only on the world stage, she owns it. The GOAT of all GOATs.

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

Team USA had a huge gold-medal day Thursday at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Simone Biles and American teammate Suni Lee competed in the women’s gymnastics all-around final, and it led to an exhilarating finish that ended with Biles securing the gold medal and Lee earning a bronze.

The Olympic swimming schedule featured four finals, including Katie Ledecky back in the pool for Team USA in the women’s 4×200-meter free relay. While Australia swam to gold, the U.S. women took silver – and Ledecky made Olympic history in the process. But Team USA did not leave the Olympic pool Thursday without gold. Kate Douglass won the women’s 200-meter breaststroke for her first Olympic gold medal.

Fencing continued to be a successful sport at these Olympics for Team USA. After winning gold and silver, respectively, earlier this week in women’s individual foil, Lee Kiefer and Lauren Scruggs led the U.S. squad to gold in women’s team foil. But the day kicked off with a celebration on the water as Team USA rowers earned the first gold medal in men’s four since the 1960 Olympics.

USA TODAY Sports has a recap of all the results from Thursday, as well as the highlights, medal count, and more.

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

U.S. men’s 3×3 basketball team stunned, still seeking first win

The American men’s 3×3 basketball team has hit a new low.

The U.S. team was two points away from victory against 2020 Olympics gold winner Latvia, but the defending gold medalist went on a 6-0 run to win 21-19 and provide another devastating loss to Team USA. The U.S. team was up 19-15 with two minutes left, but Latvia completed the comeback in the next 100 seconds as Team USA missed its final four shot attempts.

It was a golden chance for the team to pick up momentum as it has an uphill battle to make the knockout round. The loss keeps the U.S. as the only winless team at 0-4. In last place out of eight teams, the top six teams advance to knockout play, and Team USA will likely need to win its final three games to advance. Meanwhile, Latvia is the only undefeated team at 4-0. — Jordan Mendoza

Olympic beach volleyball: U.S. women’s team of Nuss and Kloth stay undefeated

PARIS – Nothing has been able to stop the United States women’s beach volleyball tandem of Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth at the 2024 Paris Olympics. 

Not the rain or lightning that filled the skies around them Thursday night at Eiffel Tower Stadium. Not the 75-minute delay at the most pivotal point in the match when they had battled back from one set down. And definitely not any of the three teams they played during pool play to open the Games. 

Nuss and Kloth are now off to the Round of 16 unblemished following an eventful three-set victory over China’s Xinyi Xia and Chen Xue – a gritty, come-from-behind victory for the young Americans with LeBron James in the stands. (“King James” did indeed wait out the weather.) 

After dropping the first set 21-15, the U.S. won the last two sets, 21-16, 15-12.

Officials called the match temporarily at 3-2 in the third. The teams traded points to 9-9 when a Chinese error gave the Americans a 10-9 lead. Nuss put it away for the final point of the game to complete the comeback. 

Kloth had 21 attack points and recorded two blocks. Nuss had 11 digs and 14 attack points. 

In the first set, the Americans could not find their footing and trailed 13-8 at the first timeout. China went on another 3-1 run to up the lead. An ace to make it 18-13 sealed the set and China took it 21-15. f

In the second, Nuss started running around like a Tasmanian devil in human form and mostly refused to let the ball hit the ground. She started feeling herself with the celebrations as the U.S. raced out to a 17-12 lead and secured the set, 21-16 – but not before China cut the deficit to two. Nuss drilled an ace to thwart any threat of a Chinese comeback in the frame.

The crowd began reacting with screams of “U” on the first hit, “S” on the second bump and “A” on the knock over the net. 

Then the rain started to fall. Lightning struck in the backdrop of the Eiffel Tower. Play continued. Nuss and Kloth only became stronger with the elements. 

That was until the match was postponed. But it didn’t matter. — Chris Bumbaca

Olympic golf: Tokyo gold medalist Xander Schauffele remains in winning form

SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France – The last time Xander Schauffele teed it up in an Olympics, he won a gold medal for Team USA. But it says something about how special Thursday was that Schauffele walked of the golf course saying, “It feels like I’m here (in the Olympics) for the first time.”

“For me, Tokyo was really special, obviously. But there were no fans,” said Schauffele, referencing the games of three years ago defined by COVID-19 restrictions. “The city was closed. I was stuck in my hotel room. … (This) was an awesome atmosphere.”

Schauffele, fresh off major victories at The PGA Championship and The Open Championship, is enjoying a bit of a moment right now. When those happen, you can shoot a 6-under-par 65 in the opening round of the Paris Olympics – and be 5 under at the turn – and then afterward bemoan your “clanky start.”

You could say that Schauffele stole the show Thursday, along with Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama (8 under), the lone player ahead of him entering Round 2. — Gentry Estes

Olympic beach volleyball: Thunderstorms halt U.S. pair’s match as crowds seek sheleter

PARIS – The USA women’s beach volleyball team of Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth were in the beginning of the third set of their match against China’s Xinyi Xia and Chen Xue when severe weather forced everybody to shelter. 

Leading 3-2 in the decisive game (to 15 points), officials called the match despite the players forging through rain and lightning in the distance – the lightning as the background, the Eiffel Tower being the foreground for the Thursday evening, pro-U.S. crowd. 

But as the storm approached over Eiffel Tower Stadium, heavy, cold rain, along with continued lightning and booms of thunder, sent the masses scattering. 

The match is expected to resume at some point but that might be a while. China took the first set, 21-15, while Nuss and Kloth stormed back in the second to take it 21-16.

The start of the U.S. men’s 3×3 basketball match vs. Latvia was also delayed because of the storm. — Chris Bumbaca

U.S. women’s basketball team wins again, unbeaten in Olympic Games since 1992

The U.S. women’s basketball team continued their road to another Olympic gold medal today against Belgium in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games group stage. The United States won 87-74, backed by Breanna Stewart’s game-high 26 points.

Two-time WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson was a massive factor in Thursday’s win as well, racking up 23 points and 13 rebounds. Wilson could very well be on pace for tournament MVP, should the United States win their eighth straight gold medal.

Belgium entered the Olympics as Team USA’s biggest threat in Group C as FIBA ranks Belgium No. 6 in the world. But they lost the first matchup of group play to Germany 83-69. Emma Meesseman had a game-high 25 points in the loss and Washington Mystics guard Julie Vanloo had 18 points and six assists.

With America’s win, Team USA has clinched a spot in the quarterfinals and continue their journey to another gold. The U.S. women’s team has not lost since the semifinals of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. — Jack McKessy

Read more here from Lindsay Schnell: Why US women’s basketball welcomed close, tough battle with Belgium

Olympic golf: American Wyndham Clark struggles in opening round

SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France – The thing about Wyndham Clark is he’s a streaky golfer.

When he’s right, he’s as good as anybody. You remember, right? He won the 2023 U.S. Open. Earlier this year, he shot a 60 to win a shortened event at Pebble Beach. He was second at Bay Hill, tied for second at The Players.

Clark has demonstrated why he deserved to be one of only four Americans who qualified for these Paris Olympics.

He just hasn’t shown it lately.

And that includes Thursday’s Olympics first round at Le Golf National. While most of the 60-player field took advantage of ideal scoring conditions on Day 1, Clark opened with a 4-over 75. His first three holes: bogey, double bogey, bogey. Though he stabilized from there, he closed with another double on No. 15.

Clark is tied for 56th, one stroke above dead last. He’s one of only 13 players over par. Were there a cut in this tournament, he’d surely miss it. Unless Clark gets real hot, real fast – Pebble Beach-style – the number of Americans golfers in realistic medal contention at these Olympics is already down from four to three. — Gentry Estes

USA women’s 3×3 basketball team finally wins after opening 0-3

Finally, a Team USA 3×3 basketball team won at the Paris Olympics.

In its fourth game in Paris, the U.S. women became the first to snap a streak of six total winless efforts between themselves and the equally floundering men’s team. They defeated Spain, 17-11, on Thursday.

Hailey van Lith and Rhyne Howard each scored five points (and one two-pointer apiece) in the victory. The team has two more games in pool play before the knockout stage begins. And if they don’t figure it out soon, they won’t last long once that begins. 

Howard finally showed some of her shooting capabilities by drilling four two-pointers on  six attempts from deep to keep the U.S. in the game. The Americans pulled away in the final minute to secure the all-important first win with one more game to play before the knockout round begins. — Chris Bumbaca

Katie Ledecky makes history as Team USA 4×200 relay squad secures silver

History in the pool: Australia wins gold in the women’s 4×200 freestyle relay. USA, with Katie Ledecky, gets silver.

That’s Ledecky’s 13th Olympic medal. She has now won the most medals by a female American Olympian, in any sport, ever. China finished out the podium, finishing third. – Christine Brennan

Team USA men’s doubles tennis team ends Andy Murray’s career

PARIS — The great Andy Murray’s tennis career ended on Suzanne Lenglen Court on Thursday evening, as Americans Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul took out Murray and his partner Dan Evans, 6-2, 6-4.

Murray, arguably the greatest British sportsman in history, announced he would be leaving tennis after the Olympics due to the cumulative toll of numerous injuries.

Murray will best be remembered for twice winning Wimbledon, ending a 77-year drought of British men winning the event. But in many ways, his career is uniquely linked with the Olympics. – Dan Wolken

Olympic fencing: Team USA women’s foil team wins gold

PARIS — The United States is fast becoming a world power in women’s team foil, and now it has the hardware to prove it.

The U.S. beat top-seeded Italy for its first-ever gold medal in the event Thursday at the Grand Palais, 45-39, capping a brilliant Olympics that also saw fencers Lee Kiefer and Lauren Scruggs win individual gold and silver.

Three years after losing to the Italians, 45-23, in a lopsided bronze medal match at the Tokyo Olympics, the American women were the early aggressors on their way to their second medal in women’s team foil’s 64-year Olympic history.

The U.S. won silver in the event in 2008, but with less individual success than the team enjoyed this summer. Kiefer beat Scruggs in the individual final, 15-6, marking the first time the country has gone 1-2 in the sport in the Olympics. – Dave Birkett

Kate Douglass wins 200-meter breastsroke final, sets American record

NANTERRE, France — Team USA’s Kate Douglass is officially an Olympic champion, winning the women’s 200-meter breaststroke final Thursday with a time of 2:19. 24 – a new American record. 

It’s the 22-year-old two-time Olympian’s third medal overall and second at the Paris Olympics after winning silver in the women’s 4×100-meter freestyle relay.

Douglass out-touched defending Olympic champion Tatjana Smith of South Africa, who won silver with a time of 2:19.60. Smith won the gold in the women’s 100-meter breaststroke. The Netherlands’ Tes Schouten took bronze in 2:21.05. Team USA three-time Olympian Lilly King finished eighth in 2:25.91. – Michelle R. Martinelli

Team USA women’s basketball tips off against Belgium: Follow live

The U.S. women’s basketball squad looks to stay hot against Belgium in group play. USA TODAY Sports will provide live updates, highlights and more from the matchup.

Kevin Durant gives props to Simone Biles for her ‘bounce’

Whenever Simone Biles decides to leave gymnastics behind, she may have a future career as a stretch-4 in the NBA.

‘I really believe Goat Biles can catch a lob and finish. #bounce,’ Durant posted on Thursday.

Biles can certainly finish: She took home the all-around gold medal, beating out Brazil’s Rebecca Andrade and Team USA partner Suni Lee.

Regan Smith takes home silver medal in 200-meter butterfly

NANTERRE, France — Teenage Canadian star Summer McIntosh added to her already impressive Olympic haul Thursday by winning the women’s 200-meter butterfly final with a time of 2:03.03, edging defending Olympic champ Zhang Yukei and American Regan Smith.

At Paris La Défense Arena, Smith won silver with a time of 2:03.84, and Zhang of China took the bronze and a time of 2:05.09.

Through the first half of the Paris Olympics, 17-year-old McIntosh already won gold in the women’s 400-meter individual medley and silver in the women’s 400-meter freestyle. – Michelle R. Martinelli

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American downed in badminton

American badminton player Beiwen Zhang looked to be cruising early in the round of 16 women’s singles Thursday – especially if you didn’t know her opponent.

Zhang won the first set against Spain’s Carolina Marin – the 2016 Olympic gold medalist, non-badminton enthusiasts! – before succumbing 12-21, 21-9, 21-18.

Born in China, Zhang became a naturalized American citizen in 2021 and made her Olympic debut that same year at the Tokyo Games. She suffered an Achilles injury during her round of 16 match in Tokyo, but was healthy as she took the court Thursday.

Moreover, she entered the Paris Olympics with the hope of becoming the first American to win an Olympic medal in badminton. The dream still was alive with the score in the third set against Marin locked at 15-15.

Alas, Zhang she noted Marin’s experience in high-stakes matches when asked about the final outcome of their badminton battle. – Josh Peter

Novak Djokovic dealing with knee injury in matchup vs. Tsitsipas

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic is aiming to win his second Olympic medal, but he may have to fight through an injury to get there.

During his matchup with Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas, trainers took a look at Djokovic’s surgically repaired knee. Djokovic did not withdraw, and headed to a third set vs. Tsitsipas.

How high can Simone Biles jump?

Simone Biles, Team USA gymnastics draws record viewership for NBC

Just like Simone Biles flying through the air on vault, NBC’s viewership numbers for the women’s gymnastics team final at the Paris Olympics were through the roof.

NBC’s live daytime broadcast of the women’s gymnastics team final averaged 12.7 million viewers across NBC and Peacock, marking the event as one of the network’s top weekday daytime events in Olympic history.

This meant that more people tuned in live to watch Team USA’s gold medal-winning performance than for any single game of the 2024 NBA Finals or the first round of the 2024 NFL draft.  – Carrie McDonald

Pair of U.S. boxers defeated

American boxers Jennifer Lozano and Morelle McCane both missed out on opportunities to advance for medals on Thursday.

Lozano (50kg) fell to Finnish fighter Pihla Kaivo-Oja, who won the fight on judge’s scorecards in all three rounds.

In the women’s 66kg division, McCane faced Uzbekistan’s Navbakhor Khamidova. Judges awarded the fight to Khamidova on a 3-2 split decision.

Team USA men’s 3×3 basketball loses third straight to open group play

PARIS — The U.S. men’s basketball 3×3 team cannot get off the schneid. 

Without Jimmer Fredette, who is dealing with a right leg injury that prevented him from playing, the U.S. lost its third straight game to open pool play of the Olympics, as Lithuania pulled away late from the U.S. to win 20-18.

Canyon Barry picked up the slack in Fredette’s stead and had nine points. Kareem Maddox finished with five. Barry had a chance to tie it at the buzzer following a defensive stop but his attempt from 2-point land clanked off the front rim.

Fans clapped for Fredette as the in-house emcees noted his absence from the contest.  – Chris Bumbaca

Team USA women’s field hockey squad remains winless

It’s not the trip to Paris that the U.S. women’s field hockey team envisioned.

Through four matches in Pool B, Team USA is still search for its first victory after losing 5-2 to Great Britain on Thursday.

The Americans were tight at the half, trailing a goal to Great Britain, but a dominant second half by the Brits put the game away.

The U.S. is in fifth place in Pool B and close out group play on Saturday, Aug. 3 at 1:15 p.m. vs. South Africa, who is also winless.

Jake Paul rips Olympic boxing match sparking controversy over gender eligibility criteria

Jake Paul, an honorary coach of the U.S. Olympic boxing team, sounded off on Thursday.

Paul, the social media influencer and pro boxer, joined a chorus of objectors following an Olympic women’s boxing match that included an Algerian fighter whose gender eligibility has come under question.

The Algerian, Imane Khelif, won her opening bout Thursday after landing a single punch – on the nose of Italy’s Angela Carini.

Soon after, Carini quit − 46 seconds into the bout. She wept in the ring and during interviews with reporters.

“This is sickening,’’ Paul wrote on his verified X account. ‘This is a travesty. Doesn’t matter what you believe. This is wrong and dangerous.’’ – Josh Peter

Team USA men’s beach volleyball squad makes coaching change

Amidst their quest for a medal, the men’s beach volleyball squad of Miles Partain and Andy Benesh have decided to make a coaching change, dismissing bench boss Mike Plasek on Thursday.

The decision was somewhat surprising.

“There was a team meeting and a team decision to not move forward with their coach,” NBC beach volleyball broadcaster Dain Blanton reported during the opening set of the match. – Mark Giannotto

Simone Biles goes for gold in women’s gymnastics all-around final

Simone Biles is looking to extend her Olympic gymnastics record medal count on Thursday when she competes in the gymnastics all-around final. USA TODAY Sports is providing live updates, highlights and more from the events.

Olympic golf: Play again suspended due to lightning

After a brief restart of play in Round 1, the Olympic golf tournament was again halted due to lightning in the area. Rain has played into the blueprint for Thursday’s Games, with drizzles expected to hit the area until early evening.

Olympic golf: Play resumes after brief weather stoppage

After lightning halted Round 1 of the Olympic golf tourney, play resumed at 11:05 a.m. ET (5:05 p.m. local). Xander Schauffele looks to finish his round strong as the top American on the leaderboard.

Olympic golf: Lightning suspends first round of play

The threat of lightning has suspended the first round of play in the 2024 Olympic golf tournament. At the time of suspension, Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama sat at the top of the heap at 8-under. American Xander Schauffele and Mexican Carlos Ortiz are tied at 2-under.

U.S. men’s doubles tennis to play for gold

Despite the quick turnaround from their men’s doubles win over Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal, the American team of Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek cruised through their semifinal Thursday afternoon and will play for a gold medal. 

Ram/Krajicek defeated Tomas Machac and Adam Pavlasek of the Czech Republic, 6-2, 6-2, needing only 61 minutes to get the job done. 

Ram and Krajicek are two of the most accomplished doubles players in the world, who prepared for the Paris Olympics by playing together in Davis Cup competitions the last two years.

Ram, 40, won a silver medal in Rio eight years ago in the mixed doubles alongside Venus Williams. He has won four Grand Slam titles in men’s doubles. 

Krajicek, 34, was ranked No. 1 for a time last year after winning the French Open doubles, his first major. 

Interestingly, it could be an All-American final if Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul beat Andy Murray and Dan Evans of Great Britain later Thursday afternoon.

This is the last professional tournament for Murray, a two-time gold medalist in singles and three-time Grand Slam champion, who has struggled with injuries for several years. – Dan Wolken

Americans off to strong start in Olympic golf

Americans Xander Schauffele and Scottie Scheffler are off to good starts in the first round of Olympic golf at Golf National in Paris. Schauffle, who won the 2024 PGA Championship and 2024 British Open, trails Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama (-8) by one stroke through 14 holes.

Meanwhile, Scheffler, the World’s No. 1 golfer and 2024 Masters champion, carded a -4 and currently sits tied for 10th place.

The 60 contenders will all play four rounds in a stroke play format, with the medalists taking the fewest number of shots to complete the 72 holes.

Four-time French Open champion stunned in semis

PARIS — The queen of Roland Garros was dethroned Thursday in the Olympic semifinals – by a different kind of queen.

No. 6 Qinwen Zheng – or QUEEN-wen, as she enjoys being called around the WTA Tour – took out No. 1 Iga Swiatek, 6-2, 7-5, in a stunner that will give China a chance to win its first gold medal in tennis on Saturday.

Swiatek, a four-time French Open champion at this venue, hadn’t lost a match at Roland Garros since the 2021 quarterfinals. She came into the Olympics as a massive favorite, but perhaps felt a different kind of pressure trying to win gold for Poland, her home country.

Instead, she’ll have to settle at best for the bronze medal.

Zheng will play either Donna Vekic of Croatia or Anna-Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia for the gold medal. − Dan Wolken

Michael Phelps leading Team U-S-A chants at Olympic golf

Michael Phelps, who is serving as a commentator for NBC during the Games, is taking in the first round of Olympic golf at Golf National in Paris. The a 23-time gold medalist is at the first tee cheering on the Americans in front of a raucous crowd.

Smith, Bacon advance to semis in women’s 200m backstroke

PARIS – American swimmers Regan Smith and Phoebe Bacon advanced to the semifinals of the women’s 200-meter backstroke early Thursday morning at Paris La Defense Arena.

Bacon, in her first race of the Paris 2024 Olympics, finished fourth in a time of 2:09. Smith (2:09.61) was sixth.

The top 16 racers move on to the semis. − Dave Birkett

World No. 1 women’s archer upset

World No. 1 archer Casey Kaufhold of the United States was upset 7-3 by Lei Chien-Ying of Taiwan on Thursday, knocking Kaufhold out of the women’s individual archery competition in the second round.

Kaufhold’s opponent shot three perfect 10s in the final set to slam the door on Kaufhold’s individual medal hopes in the 20-year-old’s second Olympics.

She still has a shot for a medal alongside Team USA’s Brady Ellison in the mixed competition on Friday. − Gentry Estes

3×3 USA women’s hoop team loses third straight

PARIS – So far, not a good start for the reigning champion 3×3 women’s basketball team. Not good at all. 

The Americans dropped their third straight game to open pool play at the tournament, this one a 17-15 loss to Australia on Thursday. The team has two more games in pool play before the knockout stage begins. And if they don’t figure it out soon, they won’t last long once that begins. 

Now it’s back to the drawing board – again – for the USA. Frustrations are mounting. 

“Everybody’s got the same refs,” Cierra Burdick said. “I don’t worry about things that are out of my control. Some people get good calls, some people get bad calls, that’s basketball.” 

After the opening loss to Germany two days ago, Hailey van Lith said the team’s intensity needed to improve. 

“I think the effort was a little bit better,” Burdick said. “But we got to find another gear to tap into. Because we’re not getting it done.” 

The improvement would come during group play, the Americans have been saying. But for Burdick, it hasn’t come quickly enough. 

“I think we’re getting a little bit better, but not at the pace that I’d like,” she said. “But we gotta find our way.” − Chris Bumbaca

Boxer who faced gender questions wins in bizarre fashion

PARIS – Algeria’s Imane Khelif, one of two female Olympic boxers disqualified from the 2023 world championships after failing gender eligibility tests, entered the ring Thursday at the Paris Games.

It ended in abrupt and bizarre fashion.

Khelif prevailed when Italy’s Angela Carini stopped fighting 46 seconds into the bout.  The fight in the welterweight division at 66 kg (146 pounds) was scheduled for three three-minute rounds.

The issue of gender eligibility criteria surfaced at the 2023 world championships when Khelif and Lin Yu-Ting of Taiwan both won medals in the women’s competition before tournament officials announced the boxers had failed gender eligibility tests. They were stripped of their medals. − Josh Peter

Team USA advances to the semis in women’s team foil

PARIS – Lee Kiefer is going for gold again, and this time she’s bringing the rest of the U.S. women’s foil team with her.

Kiefer, who beat teammate Lauren Scruggs for gold in individual foil on Sunday, and Team USA advanced to the semifinals in women’s team foil Thursday with a 45-37 win over China in its table of eight match.

The U.S. women will face the winner of Canada-France in its semifinal match. Italy and Japan meet in the other semifinal.

Kiefer has won gold in individual foil at the past two Olympics, while Scruggs, a 21-year-old student at Harvard, won her first Olympic medal Sunday.

Jacqueline Dubrovich, a two-time Olympian, is the third member of the foil team. −Dave Birkett

Team USA rowers win gold medal

VAIRES-SUR-MARNE, France − Team USA rowers Nick Mead, Justin Best, Michael Grady and Liam Corrigan won a gold medal Thursday at the Paris Olympics in the finals of the men’s four competition. With Mead in the bow position and Corrigan at the stroke, the group recorded a time of 5:49:03.

The gold is the first for the USA in the men’s fours since the Olympic Games Rome 1960. − Chase Goodbread

USA’s Brady Ellison advances to archery round of 16

A five-time Olympian, Ellison has long been considered one of the world’s best. He has three medals in his past − but no gold medals.

Men’s 50-meter rifle results

Liu Yukun extended China’s gold medal lead by winning the men’s 50-meter rifle 3 positions event, with a total score of 463.6. Serhiy Kulish secured Ukraine’s second medal of these Games, claiming silver with a score of 461.3. India’s Swapnil Kusale took the bronze with a score of 451.4.

Olympic track predictions

Who will be the big winners in track and field at the Paris Olympics? USA TODAY Sports’ Tyler Dragon predicts the podium for every event.

Men’s race walk results

It’s quite early in the United States, but medals are already being awarded in Paris.

Brian Daniel Pintado of Ecuador won the gold medal in the men’s 20K race walk, crossing the line first with a time of 1:18:55. Caio Bonfim of Brazil took second (1:19:09) and Spain’s Alvaro Martin placed third (1:19:11).

Olympics schedule today

Here are some Olympic schedule highlights. Peacock is streaming every sport and event live as it unfolds in Paris.

All times Eastern

The women’s gymnastics all-around final is at 12:15 p.m. NBC is airing.
Swimming heats start at 5 a.m. The finals for the women’s 200m fly and men’s 200m backstroke are back to back (2:30 p.m.) before the women’s 200m breaststroke final (3:03 p.m.) and the women’s 4x200m free relay (3:48 p.m.). Katie Ledecky swims a leg of the 4x200m free relay for the U.S. NBC is airing the finals. USA Network is airing the heats.
Women’s basketball has four group stage games: Japan vs. Germany (5 a.m.), Australia vs. Canada (7:30 a.m.), France vs. Nigeria (11:15 a.m.), U.S. vs. Belgium (3 p.m.).
Men’s golf starts with Round 1 of play starting at 3 a.m.
The 3×3 basketball slate has 16 games starting at 3 a.m. and running through 5:05 p.m.
Other sports in action: Archery, badminton, beach volleyball, BMX racing, boxing, canoe slalom, equestrian, fencing, field hockey, golf, handball, judo, rowing, sailing, shooting, table tennis, tennis, track & field, volleyball, water polo.

How to watch Olympics today

NBC is airing and streaming the Paris Olympics from all angles: Peacock is streaming every sport and event live as it unfolds; NBC, USA Network, CNBC and E! are carrying various live events and replays throughout the day. Here are six tips and tricks for getting the most out of Peacock during the Olympics.

Medal count today

Our 2024 Paris Olympics medal count tracker updates after every single medal event.

What Olympic medals can be won today?

All times Eastern

Gymnastics: women’s all-around final (12:15 p.m., NBC)
Swimming: women’s 200m fly (2:30 p.m.), men’s 200m backstroke (2:37 p.m.), women’s 200m breaststroke (3:03 p.m.), women’s 4x200m relay (4:03 p.m.). NBC is airing the finals.
Track & field: men’s 20km race walk (1:30 a.m.), women’s 20km race walk (3:20 a.m.)
Fencing: women’s foil team bronze (1:10 p.m.), women’s foil team gold (2:30 p.m.). E! is airing the finals.
Shooting: 50m rifle 3 positions men’s final (3:30 a.m.)
Sailing: men’s and women’s skiff medal races (times TBD)
Rowing: women’s double sculls final a (5:18 a.m.), men’s double sculls final a (5:30 a.m.), women’s four final (5:50 a.m.), men’s four final a (6:10 a.m.). E! is airing all the finals.
Judo: Six medal matches (11:18 a.m start)
Canoe slalom: men’s kayak single final (11:30 a.m., E!)

What U.S. teams are playing at the Olympics today?

All times Eastern

The U.S. men’s golf team begins play with Round 1, which starts at 3 a.m. Golf Channel is airing.
The U.S. men’s water polo team plays Greece in group play at 4:30 a.m. E! is airing.
The U.S. is competing in men’s beach volleyball against Brazil at 9 a.m. NBC is airing. 
The U.S. women’s field hockey team plays Great Britain in pool play at 11 a.m. USA Network is airing.
The U.S. men’s 3×3 basketball team plays two games today: The first is against Lithuania at 1:05 p.m. (USA Network), the second is against Latvia at 5:05 p.m. (NBC).
The U.S. women’s basketball team faces Belgium in group play at 3 p.m. USA Network is airing. 
The U.S. women’s 3×3 basketball team plays two games today: The first is against Australia at 7 a.m., the second is against Spain at 3:30 p.m. E! is airing the second game.
The U.S. is competing in women’s beach volleyball against China at 4:05 p.m. NBC is airing.

Olympic golf today: What to watch

Men’s golf tees off in Round 1 at Le Golf National, which hosted the 2018 Ryder Cup. American Xander Schauffele, who won the PGA Championship and British Open this year, is the defending Olympic champion.

Olympic swimming today: What to watch

Katie Ledecky will try for another medal with the 4×200-meter freestyle relay team. Ledecky won silver as part of the relay in Tokyo. In other events, keep an eye on Ryan Murphy in the 200 backstroke and Kate Douglass and Lilly King in the 200 breaststroke.

Olympic swimming schedule today

All times Eastern

Heats for the following events start at 5 a.m.: women’s 200m backstroke and 4x200m free relay; men’s 50m free and 200m IM.
Semifinals for the following events start in the afternoon: men’s 50m free (2:44 p.m.), women’s 200m backstroke (3:10 p.m.), men’s 200m IM (3:34 p.m.).
Today’s finals: women’s 200m fly (2:30 p.m.), men’s 200m backstroke (2:37 p.m.), women’s 200m breaststroke (3:03 p.m.), women’s 4x200m free relay (4:03 p.m.).

Olympic Gymnastics today: What to watch

In the women’s all-around final, Simone Biles will be the heavy favorite for gold. At last year’s world championships in Antwerp, Belgium, Biles won her sixth world all-around title, erasing any doubts about her ability to compete with the world’s best after withdrawing from the Tokyo Olympics. Rebeca Andrade of Brazil and U.S. teammate Shilese Jones shared the podium with Biles at worlds. If she wins the all-around title in Paris, Biles would be only the third female gymnast – and first since 1968 − to win the all-around gold twice.

Olympic fencing today: What to watch

In women’s team foil, the Americans are ranked No. 2 in the world behind Italy. Lee Kiefer is expected to lead the U.S. team, which also includes Lauren Scruggs and Jackie Dubrovich.

PARIS – Let’s make one thing very clear off the top. There isn’t a sane human being on Planet Earth who believes that a man should be boxing women in the Olympics.

Not a single one.

That said, let’s also say something equally as important: Slow down.

Of course, it’s already too late to contain the mania that is exploding around the Internet right now after Algerian boxer Imane Khelif’s gender was questioned Thursday following a welterweight match that ended after 46 seconds when Italy’s Angela Carini took one punch and called it quits.

The video of the punch is out, and it’s vicious. The International Boxing Association (IBA) claims that Khelif and Lin Yu-Ting of Taiwan failed “gender eligibility tests” at the 2023 world championships. The IOC says they’re eligible to compete. The Italian coach serves up suspicions and hearsay. There’s no transparency around any of the actual facts.

And, of course, all the same grifters who dine out on “men in women’s sports” controversies are waking up to this news back in America and salivating over their next conquest.

So the horse is out of the barn now. It’s an issue. It’s a thing.

And with Khelif set to box again Saturday and Lin on Friday, it cannot be ignored.

But again – and this may be screaming into the void – everyone needs to take a breath, slow down and let the actual facts unfold.

Because here’s the thing: There aren’t a whole lot of facts right now. There are, however, plenty of reasons to be skeptical about the explosive narrative that a man was boxing women at the Olympics when you consider the underlying issues with that claim.

Let’s talk about some things we know, and some things we don’t know.

We know that on Wednesday, the IBA issued a statement saying that Khelif and Lin did not undergo a testosterone examination but failed “a separate and recognized test, whereby the specifics remain confidential” during the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in India in March of 2023.

We don’t know what kind of tests those were, what they were testing for or which organization oversaw the lab work. If you aren’t aware, those details are kind of a big deal in the Olympic world: Just look at the war going on between the World Anti-Doping Agency and the U.S Anti-Doping Agency over the 23 Chinese swimmers who tested positive before the Tokyo Olympics three years ago but were allowed to compete in deference to Chinese anti-doping officials who claimed food contamination was at fault.

This stuff isn’t always black-and-white.

We don’t know exactly what Khelif and Lin are being accused of, by the IBA or anyone else. Is the idea that they’re men pretending to be women? Intersex issues that affect chromosomes or reproductive organs? There’s no indication – at all – that this has anything to do with transgenderism.

So what’s the actual theory here? Being clear about that matters not just on a human analytical level, but on a specific scientific level relative to what kind of testing the IOC would do that would allow them to compete. The IOC is adamant that it will not release any of that information. The IBA, to this point, has been vague about any testing specifics.

A 2023 story in the Taiwan News at the time of Lin’s disqualification said no explanation was given other than “an abnormality” and that she had never failed a gender test in the past. Some contemporaneous news reports around Lin’s disqualification speculated about women boxers having to take certain medications to adjust their menstrual cycles to match the competition schedule.

Here’s something else we also know: The IBA has been in a long-running dispute with the IOC, and as a result, boxing’s future in the Olympics beyond the Paris Games is up in the air.

What’s the dispute about? In a word: Russia.

When Umar Kremlev became the IBA president in 2020, he made his mark by signing a significant sponsorship deal with Gazprom, Russia’s state energy supplier. It is understood that Gazprom essentially funded the IBA’s entire operation.

Early in 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine. As a result, the IOC wanted the IBA to drop Gazprom and make other reforms to its governance and financial structures and to clean up a bevy of ethical issues.

Unsatisfied with the IBA’s response – including a claim that Gazprom’s sponsorship expired at the end of 2022 – the IOC stripped its sanction of the Olympic boxing tournament. The IBA appealed the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but was turned down on April 2 of this year for a variety of reasons, including the IBA’s continued lack of financial transparency, continuing issues with its referees and judges and failure to fully implement the government reform measures demanded by the IOC.

So here’s this long-running dispute between the IOC and a fully Russian-backed boxing organization, coming to a head at an Olympics where the Russians are truly personae non gratae. In fact, there are just 15 Russians competing under a neutral flag at these Olympics, nearly half of them playing tennis. The rest of them either opted out or did not pass the IOC’s neutrality standards, which primarily weeded out anyone who actively supported the war in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, after the controversial opening ceremony, Kremlev, the IBA president, posted a video to X, formerly known as Twitter, in which he called IOC president Thomas Bach the “chief sodomite” and his team “society’s outcasts.”

What does all of this mean? It’s hard to say for sure, but if you think the IBA throwing gas on this story is entirely about chromosomes and testosterone, I have a dacha in Volvograd to sell you.

What else do we know? We know that Khelif and Lin have been competing in this sport for years,  including the Olympics three years ago, and were not exactly dominating the competition. Khelif lost in the quarterfinals in Tokyo and Lin lost in the round of 16 of a different weight class. They were also being tested without any issue coming up, until this sudden 2023 test that nobody can really explain.

Amy Broadhurst, an Irish world champion boxer who has been in the ring with Khelif and beaten her, posted on X that, ‘Personally I don’t think she has done anything to ‘cheat’. I thinks (sic) it’s the way she was born & that’s out of her control. The fact that she has been (beaten) by 9 females before says it all.’

She followed: ‘If this is a man and it becomes 100% fact, I’ll be disgusted that I was in the ring and so was many others. A man vs a woman is far from ok. But right now nobody knows what the true facts are.’

We also know – or can at least safely speculate – that in Khelif’s case, Algeria would be a strange place to incubate a star women’s boxer who was actually a man or began life as a man. This is a Muslim country where same-sex acts are illegal and the LGBT community is subject to significant discrimination. Algeria’s Olympic committee has issued a statement strongly denying what it called ‘baseless propaganda’ and ‘unethical targeting and maligning of our esteemed athlete.’

So when you put all this entire fact pattern together, there are far too many unanswered questions and obvious agendas here for the American political right-wing to send this train down the tracks in good faith. And yet that didn’t stop Sen. Tommy Tuberville, for one, to post the Khelif punch video on social media with the comment “If @KamalaHarris has her way, this will be happening in elementary schools all over the U.S. soon.”

The Olympics are not halfway over. Khelif is going to fight again, and there will be lots of eyeballs on her, more questions asked and hopefully some actual answers uncovered.

In the meantime, though, we can all agree that men should not be fighting women in the boxing ring at an Olympics. But we don’t know that’s what this is.

So let’s just slow down.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have lost four of their last five games, including walk-off losses to the Houston Astros on July 27 and the San Diego Padres on July 30. One notable absence from the Dodgers’ starting lineup is All-Star first baseman Freddie Freeman.

Freeman’s been out since July 25, when he went 1-for-4 from the plate in the Dodgers’ 6-4 win over San Francisco. Today, Freeman’s wife Chelsea explained his absence in a post on her Instagram page. He’s been out of the lineup due to health issues for their three-year-old son, Maximus.

Why is Freddie Freeman not playing?

Chelsea confirmed on Instagram that their son is ‘battling a severe case of Guillain-Barré syndrome.’ She explained that he went into full body paralysis last Friday and Freeman, who was in Houston for the Dodgers’ series against the Astros, flew back to the hospital where Maximus and Chelsea were.

He hasn’t been back in the lineup since then.

Follow every MLB game: Latest MLB scores, stats, schedules and standings.

‘We have been blown away by his improvements in the last 48 hours,’ Chelsea said in her Instagram post. ‘Maximus was excavated from his breathing tube and taken off of the ventilator yesterday, which is a huge win for us. We believe in the power of prayer and we have been witnessing a miracle in his recovery. Please continue to cover Maximus and our family in your prayers. We really appreciate and have felt all of your support.’

What is Guillain-Barré syndrome?

Guillain-Barré syndrome is a condition in which the body’s immune system attacks nerves, according to the Mayo Clinic. The first symptoms are usually weakness and a tingling feeling in the hands and feet.

It can quickly progress to paralysis, which is what happened to Freeman’s son. There is no specific cure for the syndrome but treatments can help speed up recovery and reduce symptoms. Former Dallas Cowboys All-Pro center Travis Frederick missed the 2018 NFL season due to Guillain–Barré syndrome but returned in 2019 and made the Pro Bowl.

Freddie Freeman’s missed games

There’s no timetable for Freeman’s return. Cavan Biggio has started at first base in his absence and has gone 4-for-17 with two home runs and five RBI over the last five games.

Los Angeles heads north this weekend for a three-game series against the Oakland Athletics.

Trout tore the meniscus in his knee again after just one game of a rehabilitation assignment, Los Angeles Angels general manager Perry Minasian told reporters Thursday, ending Trout’s season after he played in just 29 games. 

Trout, the three-time American League MVP who turns 33 on Wednesday, has not played more than 119 games in a season since 2019, when he won his third MVP award. He was limited to 82 games last year and in 2021 played in just 36 games, none after May 17 as a calf injury lingered for the remainder of that year. 

Trout played his last game this season on April 29 and on May 3 underwent surgery to repair torn meniscus in his left knee. He opted for surgery rather than playing through the pain of the injury, thinking it would safeguard him from further damage. Yet he was shipped back to Anaheim after just one rehab game in Salt Lake City last month.

Trout has hit 378 career home runs and has a lifetime .991 OPS. His 86.1 career WAR ranks 32nd all time, between Chipper Jones and George Brett. 

All things Angels: Latest Los Angeles Angels news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.

Trout’s 12-year, $426.5 million contract runs through 2030. 

VILLENEUVE-D’ASCQ, France — What happened to the cakewalk everyone expected? 

The U.S. women’s basketball team might have won by double-digits at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Thursday, beating Belgium 87-75, but make no mistake: This was a tight contest. And it’s exactly what the Americans needed. 

A banged up Belgium squad — the Belgians are missing one of their best players in guard Julie Allemand — pushed the U.S. in every way imaginable at State Pierre Mauroy in their second pool play game, hitting big shots, muscling away rebounds and generally just disrupting the Americans’ flow. 

But each time Belgium cut it close, pulling within four or six or even leading briefly in the first half, the depth of Team USA proved to be the difference. 

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

A long two-pointer from Napheesa Collier. A perfectly placed pass from Sabrina Ionescu. A timely block from Breanna Stewart. A bucket inside from A’ja Wilson. A tough offensive board and putback from Alyssa Thomas. And so on and so forth. 

Team USA was led again by Stewart (26 points, seven rebounds, three blocks) and Wilson (23 points, 13 rebounds, three steals) as it continues it quest for a record eighth consecutive gold medal. Stewart was tremendous for the the Americans early, scoring 11 of their first 15 points.

“Obviously Stewie was really special, she carried us early until A’ja found her footing,” said USA coach Cheryl Reeve, adding that she is regularly “wowed” by ‘the two best players in the world’ every day. 

That the win didn’t come easy was OK with Reeve.  

“We like when it’s close and there’s 24,000 people against you,” Reeve deadpanned after the game, a reference to the raucous crowd that showed up to root (loudly) for Belgium. “Who doesn’t want a great growing experience?”

Alyssa Thomas said the U.S. knew it was going to be pushed. It’s what the Americans wanted. 

Thomas was particularly good off the bench (eight points, six rebounds, four assists). Reeve described it as a “really, really nice stretch” in the first half when Thomas helped the Americans create separation in the first half.

“Her ability to change the game is exactly what we envisioned in bringing her off the bench,” Reeve said. “She really got us going in the second quarter.”

It was a quiet night for Brittney Griner (seven points, three rebounds), playing abroad for the first time these Olympics since she was released from a Russian prison in December 2022. Griner said Thursday was emotional for her after learning that a major prisoner swap had taken place, bringing American journalist Evan Gershkovich and former Marine Paul Whelan home to the U.S. The men had been wrongfully detained in Russia since March 2023 and December 2018, respectively. 

Once again the Americans again shot just OK from 3 (5-of-14, 36%) and were uncharacteristically sloppy for stretches (17 turnovers) but dominated the boards 49-27. A string of steals midway through the fourth quarter helped the Americans stretch their lead to 14 and they held on from there. 

“For us, to be in hard games is valuable — versus maybe some pool play (games) we’ve had in the past that don’t ready you for what lies ahead in medal rounds,” Reeve said. “This was a terrific for us. No doubt we’re gonna be in this situation again and hopefully we can handle it just as well.”

Team USA meets Germany and WNBA star Satou Sabally in their final pool play game Sunday. 

Remaining on the mountaintop is more difficult than the journey there. It’s easier to be the hunter than the hunted. “Hungry dogs run faster.”

Pick your cliché – and let’s hope your favorite motivational phrase actually becomes one, Jason Kelce. But it’s wise to mind them in the NFL, where going from champion or, at minimum, a contender to also-ran status is a commonplace, annual occurrence.

Since 1990, an average of nearly six new teams reach the playoffs, compared to the previous season, every year. The variance has been especially pronounced since 2020, when the postseason field expanded from 12 teams to 14 – clubs qualifying during this period enjoying only 52% odds of returning year over year.

Perhaps there was no bigger surprise entry into last season’s playoffs than the Texans, who are now charged with fulfilling the newfound hype surrounding the reigning AFC South champions going into the 2024 campaign.

“It’s not going to be easy. It’s going to be harder. We have a target on our back this year. That’s how you should want it,” said Houston QB C.J. Stroud at the start of training camp, his team set to open the preseason in Thursday night’s Pro Football Hall of Fame Game against the Chicago Bears in Canton, Ohio.

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“I definitely do think that (with) all the expectations, (if) we just work, everything will take care of itself. The story is already written.”

Maybe Stroud has early access to the proverbial NFL script. Or maybe USA TODAY Sports does, projecting the Texans, despite their notable offseason acquisitions, to fall one win short of reaching the Super Bowl 59 tournament – one of six teams from the 2023 postseason we predict won’t make it back.

Here’s a ranking of the teams that made the playoffs last season – from least likely to most – based on how probable we think they are to miss them this time around:

14. Kansas City Chiefs

In their case, just chuck the percentages further than a downfield strike from (underpaid?) QB Patrick Mahomes. Sure, the numbers might not be in their favor as it pertains to becoming the first team to ever pull off a Super Bowl three-peat. Otherwise? Expect K.C., which is riding a streak of eight consecutive division crowns and has missed the playoffs once (2014) in HC Andy Reid’s 11 seasons, to at least get close to making history. The postseason path seems especially favorable given what seems the generally weakened state of the AFC West.

13. San Francisco 49ers

Once again a Super Bowl victim of the Chiefs, the Niners also appear to be virtual playoff locks – assuming they avoid the catastrophic injuries that have proven the only consistent mechanism for derailing HC Kyle Shanahan’s teams. They’ve advanced at least as far as the NFC title game in four of the past five seasons, 2020 – when San Francisco had to employ three starting quarterbacks – the lone exception. Though they may not enjoy the relative divisional cakewalk Kansas City seems to be facing, the 49ers are armed with what’s arguably the league’s strongest top-to-bottom roster … presuming contractual resolutions with the likes of WR Brandon Aiyuk and All-Pro LT Trent Williams.

12. Green Bay Packers

It’s an ambitious assessment for a very young club that went 9-8 in 2023 and barely got to the playoffs – before doing significant damage once there. But the Pack are also our NFC Super Bowl pick this year, especially if a talent-laden defense realizes achievable gains after ranking 17th overall last season. And, not for nothing, but HC Matt LaFleur has overseen a playoff outfit in four of his five seasons at the helm to date.

11. Detroit Lions

They’ve most definitely arrived as a bona fide title threat and might be a safer bet to reach the Super Bowl, which they barely missed last season, for the first time in franchise history than miss the playoffs entirely. Yet the NFC North projects as a much tougher obstacle course moving forward, and the Lions certainly aren’t going to sneak up on anyone in 2024. Still, given their copious and ascending talent, they seem a solid bet to make consecutive postseason trips for the first time in nearly three decades.

10. Philadelphia Eagles

Smooth sailing has hardly been the typical routine under HC Nick Sirianni. Nevertheless, he’s successfully guided Philly into a playoff port in each of his three seasons, and the franchise has only failed to get that far once (2020) since winning Super Bowl 52. Despite Kelce’s departure, the arrival of RB Saquon Barkley and two seasoned coordinators (Vic Fangio and Kellen Moore) should provide needed stability in the wake of 2023’s late-season collapse. It also seems like the other teams in the NFC East are facing much broader systemic issues.

9. Los Angeles Rams

The retirement of their best player, DL Aaron Donald, will likely define this squad in high-definition … until it doesn’t. But what seem like a bountiful draft and free agency expenditure suggest this organization remains in win-now mode under the leadership of HC Sean McVay, still only 38, and QB Matthew Stafford, now 36. And the Donald-less defense’s margin for error could grow significantly if RB Kyren Williams and WR Cooper Kupp aren’t as limited by injuries as they were in 2023.

8. Buffalo Bills

Though we’ve forecast them to clinch a sixth straight playoff berth, it’s only by virtue of a favorable tiebreaker verdict in what’s shaping up as an airtight conference. However the Bills will likely have to be much better at hitting their marks after sleepwalking though the middle of last season – and while adapting to the absences of several veteran mainstays beyond WR Stefon Diggs. The second and third levels of the defense, notably at safety, could be especially vulnerable and might force QB Josh Allen back into the hero-ball mode that’s gotten him into trouble.

T6. Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns

Like the Bills, both are projected to win 10 games – the Browns barely returning to postseason ahead of the Ravens by virtue of the strength-of-victory tiebreaker in USA TODAY Sports’ 2024 outlook. Said another way, very little seems to separate these teams at present, though near-inevitable injuries will likely create daylight at some point – and in a division, almost inarguably the NFL’s best, where very little currently exists.

Baltimore, a No. 1 playoff seed last season, is dealing with significant turnover on the field and, to a lesser extent, on the coaching staff – though former DC Mike Macdonald’s headset will be tough to fill. And though reigning league MVP Lamar Jackson made it through last season virtually intact, having failed to do so in 2021 and ’22, will he manage it again behind an offensive line breaking in three new starters? Also, it might not be a foregone conclusion that such deeply established players as Jackson and new RB1 Derrick Henry are necessarily able to mesh their signature styles.

In Cleveland, the Browns relied heavily on their top-ranked defense in 2023. But, ironically, they didn’t really catch fire until QB Deshaun Watson joined a lengthy list of injuries with a season-ending shoulder ailment in mid-November. The arrival of WR Jerry Jeudy and return of RB Nick Chubb should help, but Watson still must prove he can pilot this offense at the caliber veteran retread Joe Flacco did almost immediately during the Browns’ torrid regular-season flourish. The mélange of unknowns here make Cleveland an especially hard team to read.

5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Let’s say it again: They last fell short of postseason in 2019. Let’s say it again: The Bucs are 18-19 over the past two seasons – and actually holistically improved with QB Baker Mayfield in 2023 as compared to Tom Brady’s swan song in 2022. Still, the NFC South again presents as an underwhelming crapshoot – the Carolina Panthers notwithstanding – and likely to produce just one, likely fourth-seeded, playoff qualifier.

4. Houston Texans

Maybe the arrivals of Diggs, RB Joe Mixon and DE Danielle Hunter, among others, propels them to the AFC championship game, and perhaps beyond, for the first time in their 22-year history in the wake of an unexpectedly bountiful 2023 emergence. Yet it’s also wise to remember that a Week 18 win over a damaged Indianapolis squad was the difference between winning the division and being a quaint, and likely much less-vaunted, 9-8 team. The Colts and Jacksonville Jaguars, who both finished a game back of Houston in 2023 despite significant personnel issues, could do far more than lurk this time around.

3. Dallas Cowboys

Their talent is readily apparent. And, perhaps, All-Pro WR CeeDee Lamb’s lingering holdout and the even more uncertain futures faced by lame-duck HC Mike McCarthy and QB Dak Prescott are unfairly skewing perception of the reigning NFC East titlists before they’ve even played a down … the first since their unsightly playoff ouster at the hands of the Packers at Jerry World in January. But there’s no spinning the loss of DC Dan Quinn or free agent exodus by several of Dallas’ less-heralded starters, nor the fact that the breach has yet to be filled by noteworthy on-field replacements (aside from the name recognition of prodigal RB Ezekiel Elliott). Doesn’t seem like the formula to end the division’s two-decade stretch without a repeat champion … nor the one to provide the deep postseason run McCarthy – and maybe even Prescott – almost certainly requires to remain rooted in North Texas.

2. Pittsburgh Steelers

Like the Browns, Ravens and presumably resurgent Cincinnati Bengals, the Steelers are also tasked with navigating a gauntlet of a division where a winning record, even by the last-place finisher, hardly guarantees an 18th game. After barely securing the AFC’s No. 7 seed in 2023, Pittsburgh actually appears improved on paper – QBs Russell Wilson and/or Justin Fields, LB Patrick Queen and a widely hailed draft class all seeming to fortify perceived weak spots. But the roster upgrades may not necessarily translate to more wins, playoff or otherwise, for a team saddled with the league’s third-toughest scheduled (based on opponents’ winning percentages in 2023) and unlikely to enjoy another sweep of Joe Burrow-less Bengals.

1. Miami Dolphins

Others may have fewer concerns about the Fins, playoff participants in both of HC Mike McDaniel’s seasons, and maybe aren’t discouraged by their weakness in the trenches or a schedule that lends itself to an even steeper late-season nosedive than those that materialized in 2022 and ’23. Yet the Dolphins’ seemingly disrespectful spot in this ranking is more a function of having to slot what is, by definition, some capable club here as well as an overall testament to the depth and quality that seem endemic to the AFC given its lineup of star quarterbacks. The difference between Miami and Buffalo, which snatched the division crown in last season’s regular-season finale – and the teams listed between them here – is quite marginal in actuality.

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Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Nate Davis on X, formerly Twitter, @ByNateDavis.