PARIS: Simone Biles recaptured the Olympic all-around cro­wn on Thursday, seeing off Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade for her sixth Olympic gold and second in Paris.

Biles, who famously withdrew from multiple events at the Tokyo Games three years ago with the disorientating “twisties”, followed up her team gold with the United States earlier this week. Defending Olympic champion Sunisa Lee took bronze.

In a tense final at the Bercy Arena, Biles edged Andrade with her total of 59.131, just over a point ahead of the Brazilian at 57.932, one of the closest calls the gymnastics star has ever endured at a major international event.

At 27, Biles is the oldest Olympic women’s gymnastics champion since 1952 as the US extended their record streak to six straight women’s all-around gold medals.

Earlier on Thursday, the men’s and women’s 20km walk races brought up the curtain on the athletics programme.

Italy’s Massimo Stano was bidding to become the first man to win back-to-back gold in Olympics but he was beaten into an agonising fourth, with Brian Pintado from Ecuador taking gold.

Pintado clutched a family photograph as he crossed the line before being connected to loved ones via a live link.

“I want my country to give me a house for my children and I don’t want anything more,” said Pintado.

In the women’s race, China’s Yang Jiayu produced a dominant performance to take gold and fulfil a promise made to her late father, becoming the fourth Chinese winner in the seven times the event has featured at the Olympics.

“I never mentioned this before but I promised him [her father] I would win gold,” Yang said. “Now I have finally done it.”

On the iconic red clay of Roland Garros, Iga Swiatek, the overwhelming favourite for gold, was left in tears after her stunning 6-2, 7-5 loss to China’s Zheng Qinwen in the women’s tennis semi-finals.

Carlos Alcaraz marched closer to a showdown with Novak Djokovic as battled past American Tommy Paul, winning 6-3, 7-6 (9/7) but defending champion Alexander Zverev crashed out, losing his quarter-final to a fired-up Lorenzo Musetti of Italy.

Morning races

On a thrilling morning of racing at the Vaires-sur-Marnes Nautical Stadium, New Zealand, Romania, Netherlands and the United States all won gold as the double sculls and fours competitions reached their climax.

Kicking off a period of just over an hour in which a barrage of medals were awarded, the Kiwi crew of Brooke Francis and Lucy Spoors held their nerve in a tight finish to edge Romania in a time of 6:50.45, hanging on to grab gold by 0.24 seconds.

Romania, though, were not to be denied in the men’s double sculls final despite having been reined in by the Dutch, who then prevailed in a furious battle for second place with Ireland.

The Dutch were on the top step of the podium in the women’s four final after a thrilling showdown with the British crew that saw them finish 0.18 seconds in front to grab gold.

The United States dominated almost from the start in the men’s four final, brushing off a late challenge from New Zealand to finish in 5:49.03 for gold.

Later at the same venue, Italian canoer Giovanni De Gennaro pul­led out a sensational run to win gold in the men’s single kayak slalom event in a time of 88.22 seconds.

On the judo mat, Zelym Kotsoiev of Azerbaijan won the men’s under 100kg gold while Italy’s Alice Bellandi was the winner in the women’s under 78kg.

Over in Chateauroux, China’s Liu Yukun won gold in the men’s 50-metre rifle three positions as he racked up a winning total of 463.6 with Ukraine’s Serhiy Kulish (461.3) settling for silver.

Marvellous Marchand

On a pulsating night in the Paris pool Wednesday, Leon Marchand won an unprecedented two finals, delighting a rapturous home crowd and securing his status as France’s face of the Games so far.

A raucous crowd at La Defense Arena wildly cheered every stroke as Marchand, rapidly becoming an Olympic superstar, staged a remarkable late surge to tap home in the 200m butterfly.

Trailing world record holder and defending champion Kristof Milak of Hungary until the final strokes, Marchand dug deep to secure gold in a new Olympic record time.

He followed up less than two hours later with victory in the 200m breaststroke, tricolore flags waving around the stadium as the crowd cried out every time he bobbed his head up to breathe.

The double gold added to his dazzling victory in the 400m medley on Sunday.

“I think it will take a while for me to realise. I’m just trying to keep going. I really enjoyed every moment of those two finals,” said the 22-year-old. “I’m really proud of everything.”

China’s Pan Zhanle swam the first world record of the Paris Games, winning the 100m freestyle in 46.40sec.

Sweden’s Sarah Sjoestroem turned in the performance of a lifetime to pip Torri Huske from the United States to the wall in the women’s 100m freestyle.

Katie Ledecky won her 12th Olympic medal after blitzing the rest of the field in the 1,500 metres freestyle.

The American great now shares the record for most Olympic medals in women’s swimming with Americans Jenny Thompson, Dara Torres and Natalie Coughlin, and Australian Emma McKeon.

‘Nadalcaraz’ bow out

Also on Wedesday, Spain’s dream team met its match as Rafa Nadal and Alcaraz’s hopes of an Olympic doubles gold medal were ended by Americans Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek.

Their progress had captivated the crowds at Roland Garros where Nadal won a mind-boggling 14 French Open singles crowns but their journey ended in a 6-2, 6-4 quarter-final defeat.

At the age of 38 and beset with injuries, Nadal is unlikely to grace the Roland Garros clay again but his record there will probably never be beaten.

The US men’s basketball team, four-time reigning champions, sailed into the quarter-finals with a 103-86 win over South Sudan powered by Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo.

And in women’s football, title-holders Canada beat Colombia 1-0 to advance to the quarter-finals following a six-point deduction over a spying scandal.

Medals table

(Tabulated under country, gold, silver, bronze and total)
China 11 7 5 23
France 8 11 8 27
Japan 8 3 5 16
USA 7 14 13 34
Australia 7 6 4 17
Great Britain 6 7 7 20
South Korea 6 3 3 12
Italy 5 6 4 15
Canada 3 2 3 8
Germany 2 2 2 6
Netherlands 2 2 1 5
New Zealand 2 2 1 5
Romania 2 1 1 4
Hong Kong 2 0 2 4
Azerbaijan 2 0 0 2
Kazakhstan 1 0 2 3
South Africa 1 0 2 3
Croatia 1 0 1 2
Guatemala 1 0 1 2
Uzbekistan 1 0 1 2
Argentina 1 0 0 1
Ecuador 1 0 0 1
Slovenia 1 0 0 1
Serbia 1 0 0 1
Brazil 0 3 3 6
Hungary 0 2 1 3
Kosovo 0 1 1 2
Mexico 0 1 1 2
Switzerland 0 1 1 2
Turkey 0 1 1 2
Ukraine 0 1 1 2
Fiji 0 1 0 1
Mongolia 0 1 0 1
Tunisia 0 1 0 1
India 0 0 3 3
Moldova 0 0 2 2
Austria 0 0 1 1
Egypt 0 0 1 1
Greece 0 0 1 1
Portugal 0 0 1 1
Slovakia 0 0 1 1
Tajikistan 0 0 1 1

Updated to 11:42pm (PST)

Published in Dawn, August 2nd, 2024