Beaming Biles bags gymnastics triple as Zheng, Evenepoel make history

Agencies Published August 4, 2024

CHINA’S Zheng Qinwen hits a return to Donna Vekic of Croatia during their women’s singles final on Court Philippe-Chatrier at Roland Garros on Saturday.—AFP

PARIS: US gymnastics legend Simone Biles produced two stunning vaults to soar to her third gold medal of the Paris Olympics on Saturday, as Zheng Qinwen became the first Chinese player to win tennis singles gold.

On a day when Philippines and Ireland picked up their first-ever medals in gymnastics, Belgian cyclist Remco Evenepoel claimed gold in the men’s road race to become the first male rider to achieve the double after also winning the time trial.

Home fans also had something to cheer as Teddy Riner won the decisive bout to give France the judo mixed team title, earning a national record-equalling fifth Olympic gold medal.

He joined biathlete Martin Fourcade, who won his titles at the Sochi and Pyeongchang Winter Games in 2014 and 2018, at the top of the list of most decorated French Olympians.

With golds up for grabs all over Paris, Biles wowed the crowd with her two vaults to notch a resounding victory over Olympic and world champion Rebeca Andrade of Brazil in another step on her road to Olympic redemption after the debilitating “twisties” famously derailed her Tokyo campaign in 2021.

A gravity-defying Yurchenko double pike handed the US superstar her third gold in Paris and seventh in her glittering career as she beamed to an ecstatic crowd.

“I am super excited, I landed my vaults really well, successfully, so I couldn’t be more proud of myself for the work I have put in to get to this point,” Biles told Eurosport.

More history was made at the gymnastics as Carlos Yulo from the Philippines snatched his country’s second-ever gold, triumphing in the men’s floor exercise.

Yulo’s gold medal is also only the second-ever top prize won by the Philippines across both the Summer and Winter Games, and the first in the men’s category. Weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz struck gold in Tokyo three years ago.

“I dont know what to say,” the 24-year-old, who just missed the podium at the Tokyo 2020 Games, said. “We are a really small country… So to be able to get a gold medal for us is big for us, huge. I dedicate this to the Filipino people also who supported me.”

Rhys McClenaghan then earned Ireland their first ever medal in gymnastics when he struck gold on the pommel horse.

CHINESE GOLDRUSH

On the clay courts of Roland Garros, Zheng beat Croatia’s Donna Vekic 6-2, 6-3 in a tense final to win China’s second-ever tennis gold after Li Ting and Sun Tiantian’s women’s doubles triumph at Athens in 2004.

Australian duo Matthew Ebden and John Peers had earlier won the men’s doubles gold medal as they beat American pair Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram 6-7 (6/8), 7-6 (7/1), 10-8.

Zheng’s victory came on the same Court Philippe Chatrier where in 2011 celebrated compatriot Li Na became China’s first Grand Slam champion in a landmark moment for the sport.

“Nothing can describe my emotion, every round was super difficult and I did everything I could to get a medal for my country,” said Zheng.

“I feel my country will be proud of me, I’m proud of myself. My family are at home, I’m sure they are screaming at the TV.

China continue to lead at the top of the medals table and won their second badminton gold of the Games when top seeds Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan beat compatriots Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning 22-20, 21-15 in the women’s doubles final at the Porte de La Chapelle Arena.

China won the mixed doubles final on Friday and has won 20 gold medals in the sport since its inclusion at the Olympics in 1992 in Barcelona.

History repeated itself for China’s defending champion Chen Meng when she beat team-mate Sun Yingsha 4-2 to win the women’s singles table tennis gold medal, just as she had done at the Tokyo Games.

Chen, 30, became the third female table tennis player to win gold medals in singles at two consecutive Olympics.

PARIS: Philippines’ Carlos Edriel Yulo competes in the artistic gymnastics men’s floor exercise final at the Bercy Arena on Saturday.—AFP

CYCLING DOUBLE

A week after taking gold in the time trial, Evenepoel survived a late puncture to win the road race in impressive fashion.

Having made the decisive move 15km from the finish, Evenepoel suffered a puncture less than four kilometres from the finish, on the Carousel du Louvre, and once his team delivered a new bike, he dashed over the remainder of the course to seal victory in front of the Eiffel Tower.

“It was a pretty hard day out there and so proud to win this and to be the first ever to take the double. It’s history,” said Evenepoel. “What a day.”

At the Stade de France, US sprint king Noah Lyles launched his campaign for men’s 100m glory, recovering from a slow start to come through his heat.

The 27-year-old was one of the last out of the blocks in his heat but powered through the field, finishing second to Britain’s Louie Hinchliffe in a time of 10.04sec.

Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson looked in ominous form, running 10 flat but easing down significantly in the final stages.

Italy’s Marcell Jacobs, who won a surprise gold in Tokyo, also laboured through his heat and just scraped through in a time of 10.05 sec.

In the Palace of Versailles, German rider Isabell Werth became her country’s most decorated Olympian with eight golds and five silver as she led her team to victory over Denmark and Britain in a closely fought dressage team final.

SKEET KING

At the Chateauroux Shooting Centre, Vincent Hancock cemented his status as a skeet shooting great after winning his fourth Olympic gold medal, beating protege and fellow American Conner Prince.

The 35-year-old qualified behind Prince but dug deep into his vast experience to prevail 58-57 to secure his fourth gold in five Olympic appearances.

Earlier, South Korea’s Yang Ji-in won the women’s 25 metres pistol event.

Yang’s compatriot Lim Sihyeon won gold in the women’s individual archery event, her third title in her first Games after having also prevailed in the women’s team and mixed team events.

At the Vaires-sur-Marnes Nautical Stadium, Britain’s men’s eight confirmed the nation’s return as a rowing superpower by winning the regatta’s blue riband event with a tremendous performance from start to finish but the Netherlands topped the medals table.

The Dutch ended with four golds, one clear of traditional powerhouse Britain, who came back strongly after failing to win a single event at the Tokyo Games.

Romania dominated the women’s eight final to win their first gold in the event since the 2004 Athens Games.

Dutch rower Karolien Florijn powered to victory in the women’s single sculls final with world champion Oliver Zeidler of Germany winning the delayed men’s race.

Over in Marseille, Israel’s Tom Reuveny claimed gold in the men’s windsurfing with Italian Marta Maggetti winning the women’s event.

SOUTH KOREA’S Lim Sihyeon takes aim during the women’s archery competition at the Invalides on Saturday.—Reuters

FOURTH GOLD

In Friday’s late action, French breakout swimming star Leon Marchand won his fourth gold of the Games and a fired-up Novak Djokovic brushed off injury fears to set up dream tennis final against Carlos Alcaraz.

All eyes, including those of French President Emmanuel Macron, were on France’s poster boy Marchand on Friday evening and he did not disappoint, roaring to victory in the 200m individual medley.

Marchand, who had already pocketed golds in the 200m butterfly and 200m breaststroke, along with the 400m individual medley, swam the second-fastest time ever to win in 1min 54.06sec.

Australia’s Kaylee McKeown completed the Olympic backstroke golden double, adding the 200m title to her 100m crown, while compatriot Cameron McEvoy won the men’s 50m freestyle.

At Roland Garros, top seed Djokovic stayed on course for an elusive Olympic title to add to his 24 Grand Slams, defeated Lorenzo Musetti 6-4, 6-2 in a nail-biting semi-final, during which he was handed a code violation for swearing at the chair umpire.

Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei won the first track gold of the Games, taking the 10,000m gold in an Olympic record time of 26min 43.14sec.

Ivan Litvinovich from Belarus became the first athlete competing as a neutral at the Paris Olympics to win gold, retaining his title in the men’s trampoline final.

Medals table

(Tabulated under country, gold, silver, bronze and total)

China 16 11 9 36

France 12 14 15 41

Australia 12 7 5 24

USA 11 20 20 51

Great Britain 10 10 12 32

South Korea 9 6 5 20

Japan 8 5 8 21

Italy 6 8 4 18

Netherlands 5 4 4 13

Germany 4 3 2 9