PARIS – The U.S. women’s gymnastics team had framed it as a redemption tour. But in the end, it was more of a clinic, a showcase – a dominant show of twisting and acrobatic force.

Led by the incomparable Simone Biles, the Americans coasted to yet another Olympic gold medal Tuesday night at Bercy Arena, finishing atop the podium for the third time in the four most recent trips to the Summer Games. They finished nearly six points ahead of the silver medal winners Italy, with Brazil grabbing bronze. It was never really close.

‘It was super exciting. We had fun. We enjoyed each other’s time out there, and we just did our gymnastics,’ Biles said.

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Less than 48 hours after overcoming calf pain in qualifying, Biles competed – and excelled – in all four events, starting the night with a soaring Cheng vault and ending it with her signature floor routine, set in part to the music of Taylor Swift.

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

‘I think it speaks volumes of her strength,’ said Chellsie Memmel, technical director for the U.S. women. ‘What she was able to come back from with the whole world watching — and a world watching with a magnifying glass again, just waiting to see what she was going to do.

‘We all knew she could do it like. That wasn’t ever a question in my mind that she could do it, and it continues to just solidify her place as the greatest gymnast of all the time.’

Biles’ teammates also more than did their parts. Suni Lee, the reigning Olympic all-around champ, was masterful on balance beam and strong on uneven bars. Jordan Chiles, like Biles, competed in all four events and finished with just one notable mistake, on balance beam. And Jade Carey, who has been nursing an illness, hit a terrific vault in her only event of the night. (Hezly Rivera, who competed in qualifying, did not participate in the three-up, three-count format.)

“Having this opportunity definitely felt really good,” Chiles said. “And being able to be a part of winning this gold medal and everything that I’ve just gone through, it’s just been an amazing experience. So, I’m really just proud of each and every one of us that are up here. This smile is always gonna be smiling because it’s just been an amazing experience.”

After the Fierce Five and the Final Five, this group – led by Biles – had talked about wanting to redeem itself after taking home silver at the 2021 Tokyo Games. ‘The four of them called it their redemption tour — that they certainly did,’ Memmel said.

It was at those same Olympics, and in this team final, where Biles withdrew from competition abruptly with what she later revealed was a case of the ‘twisties,’ which left her feeling disoriented and unsafe while twisting through the air. Perhaps it was fitting then that, in her first event of the final, she was back on vault – and back twisting with confidence in her Cheng vault, which is one of the most difficult in the world.

‘As soon as I landed vault, I was like, ‘Oh yeah we’re gonna do this,” Biles said.

It was clear, from the start, that tonight would be different. All four gymnasts who competed for Team USA were also on the team in Tokyo, where restrictive COVID-19 measures had left the arena mostly and eerily empty. So after the U.S. won gold on Tuesday night, one of Biles’ coaches, Cecile Landi, was asked what it too to get here over the last three years — for Biles and the team.

‘A lot. That’s all I have to say. A lot. It’s been a roller coaster over the past three years, with a lot of good times and very difficult times,’ Landi said. ‘So today’s just amazing.’

On Tuesday, Biles’ parents and husband, Chicago Bears safety Jonathan Owens, were able to watch and cheer for the Americans from the bleachers. The crowd also featured big-name celebrities and sports figures, including Michael Phelps, Serena Williams, Natalie Portman and Nicole Kidman. Chants of ‘U-S-A’ rang out sporadically after almost every rotation, and American flags waved throughout the stands.

They had plenty to cheer for, of course, thanks to Biles and company. With Tuesday’s gold, the 27-year-old passed Shannon Miller for the most Olympic medals won by an American gymnast. She now has eight – and perhaps a few more on the way over the next week, with the all-around and apparatus finals still to come.

‘We know if they do their normal gymnastics, it should be good enough and that’s what we really focused on,’ Landi said.

Simone Biles, USA gymnasts built a bond that led to Olympic gold

Simone Biles and this U.S. women’s gymnastics team has talked about powering through those obstacles, in part, by relying on each another.

Even while they were competing against one another in individual competitions over the course of the year, there were always signs of the genuine relationships that had grown between the returning members of this team. At the national championships earlier this summer, Biles noticed that Lee was struggling and walked across the gym during the competition to talk with her about it. In between rotations, it was normal to see Biles and Carey chatting, with Biles bursting out into laughter.

‘Even (Monday) night, we were all having a little powwow − (Chiles, Lee and I) in the room, just talking about our age, what we’re going through, how hard the Olympics is and all that stuff,’ Biles said. ‘… I think it translates out of the gym, as well. And once we’re good and close and tight knit outside, then you see what you saw tonight. It was pretty good. It was fun. And we supported each other.’ Read Tom Schad’s full story on the bond the U.S. women’s gymnastics team has.

Simone Biles has more Olympic medals than any other American gymnast

Simone Biles and the U.S. women’s gymnastics team winning gold in the team final gives Biles more Olympic medals than any other American gymnast. She has eight Olympics medals in three Games, breaking the tie she had with Shannon Miller. It also gives her 38 combined Olympic and world championships medals, which is more than all other teams combined.

‘Honestly, I would’ve had to Google that, I’m not really sure, I don’t keep count, I don’t keep stats,’ Biles said Tuesday night. ‘I just go out here and do what I love. It’s amazing now that I hear it, but I don’t think I’ll truly understand the depth of it until I walk away from the sport.’

Simone Biles’ floor routine

Simone Biles closed out the entire Olympic women’s gymnatics team final on floor and got a standing ovation from the crowd. She scored a 14.666.

Simone Biles’ beam score

Biles appeared to almost lose her balance on a wolf turn, then did lose her balance on an aerial, clinging to the edge of the beam with her toes. But she didn’t let the wobble turn into a fall, and ultimately, her score of 14.366 was still be one of the higher marks of the night.

Simone Biles‘ uneven bars score

Simone Biles isn’t a big fan of the uneven bars, nor is she quite as dominant on that apparatus as the other three. But she was smooth and steady in her routine, nearly sticking the landing en route to a score of 14.400. And she was grinning wide as soon as her feet hit the ground.

The U.S. gymnasts look almost relaxed as they reach the midway point, while some of their would-be rivals have already suffered mistakes. Both Brazil and China had falls on the balance beam in this rotation, which could only widen the gap between Team USA and the rest of the field.

Simone Biles’ vault score

Simone Biles didn’t do her signature Yurchenko double pike, opting for the second-hardest difficult vault being done these days. Biles scored a 14.9 for her Cheng, which included a small hop on the landing. She smiled and exchanged high fives with coach Laurent Landi and then Cecile Landi, who is both Biles’ co-coach and coach of the U.S. women here in Paris. 

That Biles opted for the ‘easier’ vault isn’t a surprise. First, the U.S. didn’t need it. Though the Yurchenko double pike is worth 0.8 points more than the Cheng, they still posted 44.1 points on the rotation. Second, Biles tweaked her left calf in qualifying. There’s no reason to push it. 

Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles beam scores

The Americans gave themselves enough of a cushion on vault and uneven bars that they could have afforded to make a mistake or two — and still win gold. That meant Jordan Chiles’ fall when mounting the beam wasn’t reason to panic. Chiles recovered from the mistake and was relatively clean for the rest of her routine for a score of 12.733, and Suni Lee then followed with an outstanding performance and a 14.600.

Suni Lee’ bars routine

Suni Lee, who specializes on uneven bars, got a deduction for her feet touching the floor. She still scored a 14.566.

Jordan Chiles’ bars routine

Jordan Chiles killed it on bars, scoring a 14.366, and she let out a huge scream after. We’re verging into the territory when the competition becomes a coronation.

How many rotations in gymnastics final?

There are four. Here was the complete run-of-show for the U.S. women.

Vault: Jordan Chiles (14.400), Jade Carey (14.800) and Simone Biles (14.900)
Uneven bars: Jordan Chiles (14.366), Simone Biles (14.400) and Suni Lee (14.566)
Balance beam: Jordan Chiles, Suni Lee and Simone Biles
Floor exercise: Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles and Simone Biles

Simone Biles’ calf was wrapped, but she was walking normally

Simone Biles was walking normally but had a wrap that covered almost her entire left calf. Remember, she tweaked the left calf on floor exercise warmups during qualifying, and briefly left the floor before returning and getting her ankle heavily taped. She remained in the competition and showed no ill effects, posting the highest individual score. Coach Cecile Landi said afterward it was a flareup of an injury that occurred several weeks earlier, but that it wasn’t a cause for concern.

Who is Simone Biles married to?

She is married to NFL player Jonathan Owens, who is in the arena, sitting with Biles’ parents and wearing a T-shirt with ‘BILES’ on it and a huge photo of his wife in action on it. He landed in Paris on Tuesday morning. In addition to the team final, Owens will be able to watch Biles in the all-around final on Thursday, Aug. 1.

During the first rotation, Owens was seen with a pen in hand, possibly recording scores, as Biles performed her vault routine. Mic’ed up on NBC’s broadcast, Owens let out a healthy “let’s go!” after Biles recorded a 14.900 on the vault, the highest score among the three U.S. gymnasts.

What are the twisties?

Biles missed most of the Tokyo Olympics after developing a case of “the twisties,” which caused her to lose her sense of where she was in the air and jeopardized her physical safety.

How does Olympic gymnastics scoring work?

A gymnastics routine gets two scores: One for difficulty, also known as the D score or start value, and one for execution. Every gymnastics skill has a numerical value, and the D score is the sum total of the skills in a routine. The execution score, or E score, reflects how well the skills were done. A gymnast starts with a 10.0, and deductions for flaws and form errors are taken from there. Add the D and E scores together, and that’s your total for an apparatus. (Vault scores will always be higher because it’s a single skill.)

Simone Biles, U.S. women got huge welcome from crowd

The teams are being introduced to the crowd, Simone Biles and the U.S. women receiving the biggest of all from the crowd. Biles forgot they were supposed to pose and started walking onto the floor before catching herself. Her and Jade Cade were cracking up.

Simone Biles’ moves named after her: What to know

Simone Biles has left her mark on the sport of gymnastics. In addition to her record number of medals — she has 37 at the world championships and Olympics, more than any other gymnast, male or female — Biles has five skills named after her. Skills are named after the first gymnast to do them in a major international competition, like the world championships or Olympics. She has two on vault, two on floor exercise and one on balance beam. Here’s are the Simone Biles moves named after her. — Nancy Armour

Simone Biles’ Yurchenko double pike: What to know

The Biles II is also known as the Yurchenko double pike, one of five moves named after Simone Biles. Vaults are categorized by “families,” which are based on the entry. On Yurchenko vaults, a gymnast does a roundoff onto the takeoff board and a back handspring onto the table. Biles then follows it with a double somersault in the piked position.

Few men even try this vault, which is so difficult because of the power it takes to get two somersaults as well as its lack of a bailout. If something goes awry, more likely to land on her head or neck than her knees.

Biles began doing this vault in 2021 but didn’t do it at a worlds or Olympics until the 2023 world championships. With a 6.4 difficulty value, it is the hardest vault in the women’s code.

When Biles did the vault last year, she took a half-point deduction for having coach Laurent Landi standing on the landing mat, ready to step in and redirect her into a safe position if it looked as if she was headed for a scary landing. But neither Biles nor Landi feel the need for him to do that anymore.

The most difficult vault commonly executed by other gymnasts is valued at 5.6, eight-tenths lower than the Biles II, so doing it gives Biles a huge scoring advantage.

Is Simone Biles the greatest gymnast of all time?

Biles is the greatest gymnast of all time. She has consistently dominated the sport for over a decade, which would have been an unimaginable feat just a few years ago as most gymnasts reach their peak in their late teens. Her ability to win is in a class of its own. With 37 Olympic and world championship medals — 27 of which are gold — Biles has won the most of any gymnast in history. She has also not lost an all-around competition since 2013. 

Biles redefines the possibilities of her sport not just in her record-breaking number of wins and medals, but also in the unmatched difficulty of the skills she completes. Biles has no less than five skills named after her — two on the vault and floor and one on the balance beam — because she was the first, and in most cases, the only athlete to complete them in competition. 

How many Olympic medals does Simone Biles have?

Biles has won eight Olympic medals, five of which are gold. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Biles won three individual golds in the all-around, vault and floor exercise and led Team USA’s “Final Five” to the team gold. She also added a bronze medal on the balance beam. At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Biles added a silver medal in the team event and an additional bronze medal in the balance beam to her hardware collection. 

How many Olympics has Simone Biles been to?

The 2024 Paris Olympics are Simone Biles’ third Olympic Games.

Where Simone Biles trains and what it’s like to train with her

Simone Biles trains at Champions Centre World, which is owned by Biles’ parents Nellie and Ron and is just outside Houston, has become one of the premier gyms in the country. WCC has two gymnasts on the five-woman US team at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Biles and Jordan Chiles, with Joscelyn Roberson a traveling alternate and Tiana Sumanasekera a non-traveling alternate. It also sent the most gymnasts, five, to the Olympic trials, and had three more at the US championships.

‘Training with Simone is, like, once in a lifetime,’ said Roberson, who moved to WCC after the US championships in 2022. ‘She’s always so bubbly in the gym. Plus, she can hit. All the time. Like, she never has a bad day, which is insane to me.’

How Simone Biles, US Olympic women’s gymnastics shattered age stereotype

Simone Biles, 27, is seeking to become the oldest all-around Olympic champion in women’s gymnastics in 72 years, and she is one of four athletes on the U.S. team who fit what used to be a rare mold, as repeat Olympians in their 20s. The other three − Jade Carey (24), Jordan Chiles (23) and Suni Lee (21) − all competed in college between their two Olympic appearances, which also used to be uncommon. (Hezly Rivera, 16, rounds out the team.)

With an average age north of 22 years old, it will be the oldest U.S. women’s gymnastics team to compete at the Olympics since 1952, according to USA Gymnastics.

‘The longevity of this sport has been totally changed. Simone has changed that,’ Chiles said. not to control everything that I can’t control anymore,” Biles said.

PARIS — The Chinese doping controversies seem to be coming along as fast as Seine River pollution updates at these Olympic Games. As soon as we are talking about one, here comes another. 

While this sounds laughable, there is absolutely nothing funny about it. Chinese swimmers who are not playing by the rules are potentially taking medals from those swimmers who are. And it’s all happening in real time, right here, right now, in front of all of us. 

As you’ll recall, the last big Chinese doping controversy involved the World Anti-Doping Agency and Chinese officials who did not reveal the positive drug tests of 23 Chinese swimmers who ended up competing several months later at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, winning three gold medals. Eleven of those swimmers are here at the 2024 Paris Games; some have already won medals. 

Now, we have another Chinese doping scandal, dumped right on the pool deck here at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games. The New York Times reported Tuesday that two more swimmers from China tested positive for an anabolic steroid (a different drug than in the other scandal) in late 2022 but were cleared after officials decided to blame contaminated meat from hamburgers the swimmers apparently ate. 

One of the swimmers is Tang Muhan, who is expected to compete in the women’s 4 x 200 freestyle relay against Katie Ledecky and her U.S. teammates, among others, on Thursday. Two other members of that Chinese relay team, Zhang Yufei and Yang Junxuan, were among the 23 who tested positive in 2021. Both of them — Zhang and Yang — won the bronze medal in the women’s 4 x 100 freestyle relay Saturday night in these Olympics, behind Australia and the United States. Zhang has already won another bronze behind Americans Torri Huske and Gretchen Walsh in the 100 butterfly Sunday. 

With Tang, Zhang and Yang all on the Chinese relay team here, that means 75 percent of that team that millions will be watching swim against the Americans and the Australians on Thursday had positive drug tests hidden so they could keep competing. This is absolutely outrageous, but here we are.

In 2021 in the same relay in Tokyo, China defeated the United States by 4/10ths of a second for the gold medal, just holding off the hard-charging Ledecky in the anchor leg. Zhang, Yang and Tang were on that Chinese team. Thursday’s race already was considered one of the biggest of these Games prior to this breaking news. It now is so much more important. 

The other swimmer in this new controversy, He Junyi, is a twofer. He also was among the 23 swimmers in the original doping controversy but he is not competing at the Paris Olympics. 

In both doping scandals, China’s Anti-Doping Agency did not disclose the positive drug tests as required under anti-doping rules, even in cases where contamination is considered a possibility. 

The case of the 23 Chinese swimmers also involves contamination: weirdly, the storyline is that trimetazidine, a heart medication that comes in pill form and can enhance performance in athletes, somehow ended up as a powder spread around a kitchen in a hotel where the swimmers were staying in late December 2020 and the first days of January 2021. 

This also is the same drug that Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva took before the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Her story is that it was her grandfather’s medication that somehow worked its way into a strawberry dessert that he was making for her.  

I mean, whatever. 

China’s coverup is appalling but not necessarily surprising considering how badly it wants to win medals, come what may. But WADA? The world’s sports doping police also failed to publicly disclose either situation. Were it not for journalists, we still might not know about either. 

WADA seems to be keeping a lot of secrets these days. If you want to do something bad and not have anyone learn about it, definitely tell WADA.

Throughout it all, who is thinking about the athletes who are playing by the rules?

“It’s crushing news to wake up to for all athletes and fans of the Olympic movement that the failures of the global anti-doping system have overshadowed what should be a moment to bring the world together,” U.S. Anti-Doping Agency CEO Travis Tygart said in a statement Tuesday. ‘China seemingly has the playbook to compete under a different set of rules tilting the field in their favor. The failed leadership of the anti-doping system has allowed one country special treatment at the very time we should all be united behind the Olympic values of fair play and respect for all fellow competitors.’

Tygart added: ‘Not only will the upcoming swimming relay event be tarnished given that China swept this positive test for a hard-core steroid under the rug, but with it coming on the heels of WADA also allowing China to bury 23 positive tests of swimmers, clean athletes’ hopes and dreams have been stolen by these failures.”

For generations, elite international swimmers have been cheated out of medals by the doping regimes of East Germany, Russia, China and others. Often, the athletes suspected as much, but didn’t receive confirmation until later. 

If there is anything positive about these twin Chinese doping scandals, it’s that at least now they know as it’s happening.

Seven teams have already advanced to the Olympic men’s soccer knockout stage, and one more country will join them as the group stage concludes Tuesday.

The U.S., competing in its first Olympics since Beijing 2008, has reached the knockout stage for the first time since Sydney 2000. They will face a tough test against Group B winner Morocco in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Host France won Group A, Morocco and Argentina are moving on from Group B, Egypt and Spain have advanced from Group C, and Japan is in the knockout round from Group D.

Here’s everything you need to know about the final Group Stage day in Olympic men’s soccer with live updates brought to you by USA TODAY Sports:

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

Olympic men’s soccer games today

Group A – United States 3, Guinea 0

Group A – France 3, New Zealand 0

Group B – Argentina 2, Ukraine 0

Group B – Morocco 3, Iraq 0

Group C – Egypt 2, Spain 1

Group C – Dominican Republic 1, Uzbekistan, 1

Group D – Paraguay 1, Mali 0 in first half (Telemundo)

Group D – Israel 0, Japan 0 in first half (Peacock)

How to watch Olympic men’s soccer: TV channel, streaming

TV channel: USA Network | NBC Universo | Telemundo

Streaming options: NBCOlympics.com | NBC app | NBC Olympics app | Peacock | Fubo (free trial)

USA Soccer advances to Paris Olympics men’s soccer quarterfinals, highlights

USA Soccer is in the knockout stage at the Paris Olympics.

Kevin Paredes earned a brace with goals in each half, Djordje Mihailovic scored in the opening minutes, and the U.S. beat Guinea 3-0 on Tuesday.

The U.S. men’s national under-23 team finished second place in Group A behind host France, and will face a tough test against Group B winner Morocco in the quarterfinals.

France advanced after a 3-0 win against New Zealand, and will face Group B runner-up Argentina in the quarterfinals – a juicy matchup after Lionel Messi’s Argentina beat Kylian Mbappé’s France at the Qatar 2022 World Cup.

Paris Olympics men’s soccer quarterfinals games on Friday

Here are Olympics men’s soccer quarterfinal games for Friday, Aug. 2

∎Morocco vs. United States (9 a.m. ET)

∎Group D winner vs. Spain (11 a.m. ET)

∎Egypt vs. Group D runner-up (1 p.m. ET)

∎France vs. Argentina (3 p.m. ET)

How does Paraguay or Mali advance in Olympics?

With Japan leading, here are the possible scenarios in Group D:

∎Paraguay: A win vs. Mali; tie vs. Mali and Israel lose/tie; tie vs. Mali and better goal differential if Israel wins.

∎Mali: A victory vs. Paraguay.

Morocco, Argentina advance to men’s soccer quarterfinal

Morocco seized Group B with a 3-0 win over Iraq, while Argentina advanced with a 2-0 win against Ukraine as both winners reached the Paris Olympics men’s soccer quarterfinal.

Amir Richardson (19’), Soufiane Rahimi (28’) and Abde Ezzalzouli (36’) scored first-half goals for Morocco.

Thiago Almada (47’) and Claudio Echeverri (90+1’) scored for Argentina, which finished second in Group B despite controversially losing 2-1 to Morocco in the opening match.

Egypt beats Spain 2-1, both advance to men’s soccer knockout stage

Ibrahim Adel had a brace, scoring a goal in each half, to fuel Egypt’s 2-1 win against Spain and first-place finish in Group C. Both teams will advance to the quarterfinals.

Samu Omorodion scored in the 90th minute for Spain, which entered the day with a spot in the knockout round already clinched, but enter the knockout stage as the Group C runner-up.

Dominican Republic and Uzbekistan are both eliminated from the Paris Olympics after their 1-1 draw.

Kevin Paredes’ second goal gives US Soccer 3-0 lead vs. Guinea

Kevin Paredes has a brace after his second goal in the 75th minute to give U.S. Soccer a 3-0 lead against Guinea.

The U.S. will face a stiff challenge against Morocco in the quarterfinal Friday if the result holds.

Arnaud Kalimuendo goal helps France take 3-0 lead vs. New Zealand

France adds another as Arnaud Kalimuendo scores in the 74th minute to take a 3-0 lead against New Zealand.

France will go on to punch its ticket to the quarterfinal, where Argentina awaits Friday. The countries met at the 2022 World Cup.

Désiré Doué goal: France goes up 2-0 vs. New Zealand

Désiré Doué scored in the 71st minute, and France has doubled its lead against New Zealand.

With France and the U.S. both up 2-0, they will advance to the knockout stage in the Paris Olympics.

Kevin Paredes goal: USA Soccer has 2-0 lead vs. Guinea

Kevin Paredes scored in the 31st minute, and USA Soccer has a 2-0 lead against Guinea with hopes to reach the knockout stage at the Paris Olympics.

Djordje Mihailovic scored a goal on a free kick in the 14th minute to spark the lead.

France, up 1-0 against New Zealand early, and USA Soccer will advance from Group A if the results hold.

Jean-Philippe Mateta goal gives France 1-0 lead vs. New Zealand

France is on the board early after a goal by Jean-Philippe Mateta in the 19th minute to take a 1-0 lead against New Zealand.

France and USA Soccer would advance from Group A if the results from both matches hold.

Djordje Mihailovic’s free kick goal gives USA Soccer 1-0 lead vs. Guinea

USA Soccer is off to a fast start after Djordje Mihailovic’s goal from a free kick in the 14th minute to take a 1-0 lead against Guinea.

Claudio Echeverri goal: Argentina takes 2-0 lead late vs. Ukraine

Argentina has punched its ticket to the knockout stage after Claudio Echeverri’s goal in stoppage time secured a 2-0 lead against Ukraine in the closing minutes.

USA men’s soccer Olympic team starting lineup vs. Guinea

Here’s the starting lineup for USA Soccer’s match today vs. Guinea at 1 p.m. ET on USA in English, Telemundo in Spanish.

Thiago Almada goal: Argentina leads 1-0 vs. Ukraine in second half

Thiago Almada has scored in the 47th minute for Argentina’s 1-0 lead to begin the second half against Ukraine. A win puts Argentina into the knockout stage at the Paris Olympics, but it still trails 3-2 in goal differential to Morocco.

Halftime: Morocco up 3-0 vs. Iraq, while Argentina vs. Ukraine is scoreless

Morocco is on its way to punching a ticket to the Olympic men’s soccer quarterfinal with its 3-0 start against Iraq.

Amir Richardson (19’), Soufiane Rahimi (28’) and Abde Ezzalzouli (36’) have scored in the first half for Morocco, which has taken the lead in Group B with a 3-1 edge in goal differential over Argentina.

Argentina and Ukraine are scoreless at halftime, with either team needing a win to join Morocco in the knockout stage.

Morocco on fire with 3-0 start in first half vs. Iraq

Abde Ezzalzouli has scored in the 36th minute to help Morocco’s 3-0 start against Iraq. Morocco has taken a 3-1 goal differential lead over Argentina in Group B.

Amir Richardson has scored in the 19th minute, and Soufiane Rahimi scored a header in the 28th minute earlier in the first half.

Morocco needs a win or draw to advance to the knockout stage out of Group B.

Samu Omorodion’s goal gets Spain on the board vs. Egypt

Samu Omorodion scored in the 90th minute for Spain, which entered the day with a spot in the knockout round. If the result holds, they’ll enter the quarterfinals as the Group C runner-up behind Egypt.

Alisher Odilov goal: Uzbekistan ties it up vs. Dominican Republic

Alisher Odilov has scored in the 58th minute to help Uzbekistan draw even against Dominican Republic. With Uzbekistan already eliminated, DR needs to go on a major scoring run to have the goals needed to touch Egypt and Spain.

Ibrahim Adel’s brace gives Egypt 2-0 lead vs. Spain

Egypt standout Ibrahim Adel has a brace, scoring his second goal of the match against Spain. A reminder, Egypt and Spain will advance out of Group C if this result holds, but Spain would enter as the group runner-up.

Rafael Núñez scores penalty goal, Dominican Republic takes 1-0 lead vs. Uzbekistan

Rafael Núñez converted a penalty kick in the 51st minute to help the Dominican Republic take a 1-0 lead to begin the second half.

Ibrahim Adel goal: Egypt takes 1-0 vs. Spain

Ibrahim Adel has given Egypt a 1-0 lead with his right boot in the 40th minute. Egypt needs a win or draw to advance with Spain to the knockout stage out of Group C.

Men’s soccer Olympic groups for Paris, updated standings

Group A

France | 9 points 
United States | 6 points 
New Zealand | 3 points (eliminated)
Guinea | 0 points (eliminated)

Group B

Morocco | 6 points
Argentina | 6 points
Ukraine | 3 points (eliminated)
Iraq | 3 points (eliminated)

Group C

Egypt | 7 points
Spain | 6 points  
Dominican Republic | 2 points (eliminated)
Uzbekistan | 1 point (eliminated)

Group D

Japan | 6 points 
Paraguay | 3 points 
Mali | 1 points 
Israel | 1 points 

Olympics 2024: Men’s soccer knockout rounds schedule

∎Friday: Quarterfinals

∎Monday: Semifinals

∎August 8: Men’s bronze medal match, 11 a.m.

∎August 9: Men’s gold medal match, Noon

NANTERRE, France — Team USA raced to silver in the men’s 4×200-meter freestyle relay final Tuesday night, coming up just short of Great Britain, which won gold.

The U.S. relay of Luke Hobson, Carson Foster, Drew Kibler and Kieran Smith finished in 7:00.78, which was 1.35 seconds behind Britain. Australia won the bronze in 7:01.98.

Team USA has now won three Olympic medals for relays after the men’s 4×100 freestyle relay won gold and the women’s 4×100 freestyle relay won silver on Saturday at Paris La Défense Arena. 

Tuesday afternoon, the men’s 4×200 free relay team qualified second with a time of 7:05.57, behind Great Britain and ahead of France, Australia and Germany. The American prelims lineup featured Kibler, Brooks Curry, Blake Pieroni and Chris Guiliano, but only Kibler swam in both prelims and the final.

Hobson won bronze in the individual 200 freestyle Monday night. The relay medal was the United States’ fourth of the night.

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

The women’s 4×200-meter freestyle relay is set for August 1.

NANTERRE, France — The women’s 100-meter backstroke was one of the most anticipated showdowns at the Paris Olympics, and it didn’t disappoint, as Australian Kaylee McKeown out-touched American Regan Smith to win gold.

McKeown finished with an Olympic record time of 57.33, ahead of silver medalist Smith with a time of 57.66 and bronze medalist Katharine Berkoff of the USA in 57.98 at Paris La Défense Arena.

Smith is at her second Olympics and entered the Paris Games with three Olympic medals — but is still racing for her first gold.

It was always going to be a close race in the latest chapter of the storied USA-Australian swimming rivalry with the two Americans and two Australians qualifying for the final within .66 seconds of each other. 

Plus, the race featured the current and the former world record holders. Since 2019, both Smith and McKeown have broken the 100 back world record twice: Smith broke it in 2019, McKeown took it in 2021 before lowering it again in 2023, and Smith won it back in June at U.S. Olympic trials. 

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

Despite the close final, Smith’s 57.13 world record remained intact.

A two-time Olympian, McKeown was the 2021 Tokyo Olympics 100 backstroke gold medalist, while Canada’s Kylie Masse won silver and Smith won bronze. McKeown also won the 200 backstroke gold in Tokyo.

NANTERRE, France — American distance swimmer and two-time Olympian Bobby Finke didn’t defend his 2021 Olympic championship in the men’s 800-meter freestyle, but he still came away from Tuesday’s final with some hardware. 

Finke, the American record holder, finished second with a time of 7:38.75, behind Ireland’s Daniel Wiffen with the gold-medal win in 7:38.19, an Olympic record. Gregorio Paltrinieri of Italy won bronze in 7:39.38.

The 24-year-old Finke is also entered in the men’s 1,500-meter freestyle in Paris — heats are set for August 3 with the final on August 4 — and will again look to repeat as the Olympic gold medalist. 

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

PARIS – Apparently, booing and whistling during the Israeli national anthem at the Olympic Games wasn’t enough for the antisemites who would prefer that the only democracy in the Middle East with a free press, freedom of religion, LGBTQ rights and other Western values was wiped from the face of the earth.

Now they’ve moved directly to invoking the Holocaust when the Israeli soccer team takes the pitch.

According to multiple news reports, some protestors chanted “Heil Hitler” and unfurled a banner that read “Genocide Olympics,” prompting a local police investigation. There were also, according to the French publication Le Parisien, gestures to Israeli supporters referencing Jewish stereotypes like hooked noses that have been part of antisemitic propaganda going back centuries.

It’s a predictable mess.

France, which has the largest Jewish population in Europe, has been an epicenter of antisemitism in recent years. Since Hamas’ surprise attack and subsequent killing spree last Oct. 7, the war in Gaza has inflamed the worst elements of Jewish hatred around the world under the pretext of protesting Israel’s military campaign.

Even in the U.S., out-of-control protests have paralyzed college presidents and impacted American politics. There was no chance the Olympics were going to be held in France without death threats and antisemitic rhetoric following the Israeli delegation wherever they go.

The first priority here, of course, must the safety of Israeli athletes. The 1972 Munich Olympics, where Palestinian terrorists broke into the Olympic Village – a massive security failure that resulted in 11 dead – can never be repeated.

“Saturday’s grotesque displays of crowds chanting ‘Heil Hitler’ while making the Nazi salute during Saturday’s Israel-Paraguay soccer game – the second act of intimidation aimed at Israeli’s soccer players in as many games during the Paris Olympics – betrays the sad truth that anti-Jewish hatred has thrived and grown in the months since October 7,” Dr. Robert J. Williams, executive director of the USC Shoah Foundation and UNESCO Chair on Antisemitism and Holocaust Research, said in a statement. “Few can imagine the extraordinary amount of hatred felt by Israeli and non-Israel Jewish athletes, their supporters, and Jewish communities across the world.”

Every Jewish person with an understanding of history knew that these Games would be the most antisemitic Olympics since 1936, when Adolf Hitler tried to clean up Berlin from the antisemitic rhetoric that was rampant across the city and present a more tolerant face to his regime as the world came for the Olympics.

That tacit acknowledgement of Hitler as a legitimate international leader instead of the murderous dictator he was – including the United States sending its delegation – contributed in some ways to the West falling asleep at the wheel while he began a campaign to exterminate 6 million Jews.

Germany didn’t allow its Jewish athletes to compete at those Olympics, but those from other countries were met with constant but socially acceptable antisemitism.

It’s chilling to think about the ways in which history repeats itself.

Israelis are tough. They can take the insults and the jeers. But without the highest level of protection for them as they move through Paris, there is no more point to holding any more Olympics. Despite some far-left yahoos in the French government egging on these protests, it seems the French security services are taking security very seriously and working with their counterparts in Israel to deal with threats and potential attacks.

Still, it’s an ugly scene. Having fans chant “Heil Hitler” at an Olympic event should enrage anyone associated with the Olympic Movement, especially given how complicit 1936 was in legitimizing Hitler. There should be a zero-tolerance policy for any fans who cross that line.

People around the world have every right to protest a war.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is complicated and nuanced, and each side has its own version of what happened in 1947 and 1948, when the Palestinians refused a negotiated partition of the land that had been under British control into a Jewish and an Arab state.

But the end result is that Israel gained its statehood, kept it by fighting off attacks from its neighbors and built a prosperous, democratic and free society that endures to this day.

Yes, there are legitimate criticisms to be made of how the current Israeli government has approached its relationship with the West Bank and Gaza, its refusal to meaningfully make progress on a two-state solution and the unacceptably high civilian toll of this war.

But for too many people – including the protestors at these Games – these offenses are being used as a thin veil for a brand of antisemitic speech we haven’t seen at an Olympics in nearly 90 years.  

It’s sad. It’s sick. And for the next two weeks, stamping it out needs to be a priority for the IOC and Paris Games organizers, along with French police.