COVID-Hit Lyles Misses Out on a Double, US Team Breaks 100-Medal Mark

Botswana's Letsile Tebogo (2ndL) crosses the finish line ahead of US' Noah Lyles (R) to win the men's 200m final of the athletics event at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Stade de France in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, on August 8, 2024. (AFP)
Botswana's Letsile Tebogo (2ndL) crosses the finish line ahead of US' Noah Lyles (R) to win the men's 200m final of the athletics event at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Stade de France in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, on August 8, 2024. (AFP)
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COVID-Hit Lyles Misses Out on a Double, US Team Breaks 100-Medal Mark

Botswana's Letsile Tebogo (2ndL) crosses the finish line ahead of US' Noah Lyles (R) to win the men's 200m final of the athletics event at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Stade de France in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, on August 8, 2024. (AFP)
Botswana's Letsile Tebogo (2ndL) crosses the finish line ahead of US' Noah Lyles (R) to win the men's 200m final of the athletics event at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Stade de France in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, on August 8, 2024. (AFP)

Sprinter Noah Lyles revealed he had COVID-19 after missing out on another gold medal for the United States at the Paris Olympics on Thursday.

Elsewhere, French basketball star Victor Wembanyama moved closer to his dream of a first gold after helping Les Bleus beat Germany to set up a dream final against the US team after the Americans edged Serbia 95-91.

On the same Stade de France track where he won the historically close 100 meters by five thousandths of a second, Lyles was third behind gold medalist Letsile Tebogo of Botswana and US teammate Kenneth Bednarek.

Medics tended to a tired-looking Lyles and took him off in a wheelchair. Wearing a mask as he spoke with reporters, Lyles later said he had COVID.

“It definitely affected my performance,” said Lyles, adding that he tested positive early Tuesday morning but was cleared to compete. The US track federation said it and the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee adhered to all Olympic and Centers for Disease Control guidelines.

Over at Bercy Arena, with former NBA stars Dirk Nowitzki and Tony Parker watching their respective countrymen, France held on to win 73-69.

Wembanyama, the NBA rookie of the year, clenched his fists at the buzzer and teammate Evan Fournier jubilantly threw the ball into the crowd.

The 20-year-old star didn't play three years ago in Tokyo, when the French lost the final to the US. They meet again Saturday, when Wembanyama hopes to give France its first Olympic gold in men's or women's basketball.

Highlights of what happened on Day 13 of the Paris Olympics:

Curry leads semifinal fightback against Serbia

LeBron James had a triple double and Steph Curry scored 36 points as the American men rallied from 17 points down.

The US faced an 11-point halftime deficit — the biggest successfully overcome by an American team since NBA players were added to the Olympic mix in 1992 — and again trailed the Serbs by 11 with just over seven minutes left.

Serbian players fell on their backs at the buzzer after coming so close.

It was a far cry from their group opener when the US rolled to a 110-84 win.

US team gets a world record, breaks the 100-medal mark

The United States now has more golds and more overall medals than any other nation.

With three days left of competition, American athletes total 30 golds for 103 medals overall.

The US went 1-2 in the women's 400 hurdles with Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone breaking her own world record in a time of 50.37 seconds, and Anna Cockrell taking the silver.

Grant Holloway followed up with gold in the men's 110 hurdles in 12.99, beating countryman Daniel Roberts.

Also, Long jumper Tara Davis-Woodhall won the women's long jump with Jasmine Moore taking the bronze behind Germany's Malaika Mihambo.

China’s diving double ends with tears

China claimed its sixth gold medal in diving at the Paris Games with defending champion Xie Siyi winning the 3-meter springboard.

The Chinese made it a podium 1-2 as Wang Zongyuan took the silver ahead of Mexico’s Osmar Olvera Ibarra.

Wang was in tears afterward.

He hadn’t lost a major diving competition in the event since finishing behind teammate Xie at the Tokyo Olympics. After that silver, Wang won three straight world championship titles.

“It is regrettable I lost,” Wang said through an interpreter. “I must learn to accept any failure and my response is to make a greater effort to improve myself.”

Another world record but no gold

American Sam Watson left the Games with another world record to his name but didn't get the gold medal.

The 18-year-old Watson broke sport climbing's speed world record on Thursday for the second time at the Paris Games, but that came in the fight for bronze.

Veddriq Leonardo of Indonesia won gold in 4.75 seconds in the final.

Charron lifts for another medal Maude Charron raised Canada's flag at the opening ceremony for the Paris Games and lifted up another medal in weightlifting.

Charron took the silver medal in the 59-kilogram category to add to her gold in the 64-kilogram competition at the Tokyo Games.

Rahimi stars as Morocco gets bronze

Football-mad Morocco fans finally have an Olympic medal to celebrate after routing African rival Egypt 6-0 for the bronze.

Soufiane Rahimi scored twice and the Casablanca-born striker will surely become a household name back home after netting an impressive eight goals in the tournament.

He was comfortably the leading scorer ahead of Friday's final between Spain and 1984 Olympic champion France.

Morocco won the African Cup of Nations title in 1976.

Dutch end long wait for gold in men's field hockey

Duco Telgenkamp scored the golden goal in the shootout to give the Netherlands a 2-1 victory over Germany.

It was the Netherlands’ first gold in men’s hockey at the Olympics since 2000 and third in the country’s history.

Captain Harmanpreet Singh scored both goals as India beat Spain 2-1 for a second straight bronze, after beating Germany at the Tokyo Games.

French get gold, Portugal a rare medal

Track cyclist Benjamin Thomas overcame a crash in the men's omnium race to give France its 14th gold medal of the Paris Games.

Thomas held off Iúri Leitão, whose silver medal was only Portugal's second medal so far — compared to 54 for the French.

Also, world champion Ellesse Andrews of New Zealand won the Olympic title in the women’s keirin.

Nadeem gets Pakistan's first medal with an Olympic record

Arshad Nadeem got Pakistan's first medal of the Paris Games in style by setting an Olympic record in javelin.

Nadeem's throw of 92.97 meters beat Norwegian Andreas Thorkildsen's mark of 90.57 from the 2008 Games in Beijing.



US Men's Basketball Team Will Face France for Olympics Gold Medal

United States' Kevin Durant (7), LeBron James (6) and Steph Curry (4) celebrate after beating Serbia during a men's semifinals basketball game at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
United States' Kevin Durant (7), LeBron James (6) and Steph Curry (4) celebrate after beating Serbia during a men's semifinals basketball game at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
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US Men's Basketball Team Will Face France for Olympics Gold Medal

United States' Kevin Durant (7), LeBron James (6) and Steph Curry (4) celebrate after beating Serbia during a men's semifinals basketball game at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
United States' Kevin Durant (7), LeBron James (6) and Steph Curry (4) celebrate after beating Serbia during a men's semifinals basketball game at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Down by 11 in the fourth quarter, against what looked like overwhelming odds, the US Olympic men's basketball team got a spark.
Six points in two seconds.
Kevin Durant and Devin Booker provided that wild sequence to start the comeback, Stephen Curry had a scoring night like almost none other in US Olympic history, and the Americans will play for gold at the Paris Games. Curry scored 36 points, including a go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:16 left, and the US beat Serbia 95-91 in a semifinal classic on Thursday night, The Associated Press reported.
LeBron James had the fourth triple-double in Olympic history for the US, which trailed by 17 points in the first half and faced an 11-point halftime deficit — the biggest one successfully overcome by an American team since NBA players were added to the Olympic mix in 1992.
“I've seen a lot of Team USA basketball,” Curry said. “And that was a special one.”
Serbia led by 11 with 7:19 left. The rest of the way, it was all US. The Americans won a game where they led for 3 minutes, 25 seconds. Serbia led for 35:12 — nearly 90% of the game.
But it’ll be the US against host France for gold in a dream matchup for the host nation on Saturday, while Serbia will face Germany earlier Saturday for bronze. The gold-medal game is a rematch from the Tokyo Games three years ago, where the Americans prevailed 87-82.
“I’m really humbled to have been a part of this game," US coach Steve Kerr said, tipping his hat multiple times to Serbia. “It’s one of the greatest basketball games I’ve ever been a part of. They were perfect. They played a perfect game. Our coaches were saying Villanova-Georgetown, for all of our older readers and viewers out there.
"But they played the perfect game, and they forced us to reach the highest level of competition that we could find. And our guys were incredible in that fourth quarter, and they got it done.”
Joel Embiid scored 19 points on 8 for 11 shooting and James added 16 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists for the US, which is now assured of its 20th medal in 20 Olympic appearances.
“Joel was everything," said James, who has two of the four triple-doubles in Olympic men's history; he also had one in 2012, while the Soviet Union's Aleksander Belov in 1976 and Slovenia's Luka Doncic in 2021 had the others. “Made every big shot.”
Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 20 points for Serbia, which got 17 from Nikola Jokic and 15 from Aleksa Avramovic. The Serbians were 0-3 against the US this summer, getting blown out in the first two meetings and then looking poised for a win of their own on Thursday.
The whole game changed in the fourth after a wild sequence saw the US score six points in two seconds. Durant made a 3-pointer while Anthony Davis was getting fouled. The US got another possession because of the foul, and Booker immediately made another 3-pointer.
Just like that, a 78-67 lead for Serbia was down to 78-73. The comeback was on, and Curry's 3 put the US up for good. He added a pair of free throws with 8.2 seconds left to make it a two-possession game and the Americans escaped.
Curry's 36 points were the second-most in a game by a US men's player in Olympic history, one shy of Carmelo Anthony's record 37 against Nigeria in 2012. And Anthony, sitting courtside, was Curry's biggest cheerleader. When the Americans tied it with about 3:35 left, Curry gave Anthony a big smile. When the go-ahead 3 rattled home, Anthony leaped from his seat. And when it was over, the two shared a long embrace.
“That was a godlike performance," Durant said of Curry.
Serbia coach Svetislav Petic kept saying the same thing all summer, that the team the US put together for the Paris Games was better than any in Olympic history. Even the Dream Team, he insisted. His mind wasn't changed after this one.
“They're that good,” he said.
A barrage of Serbian 3-pointers had the Americans squarely on the ropes, until the game changed in the fourth. But in the end, the US improved to 144-6 all-time in Olympic play, 63-4 since NBA players were added to the Olympics in 1992.
“Perseverance, hard work dedication, Chef Curry and Joel ‘Process’ Embiid,” James said. “Big-time win for us. We knew we were going to be challenged. We knew it was going to be the toughest game to date. Total effort.”
Gold is the goal, but that didn't keep the US from celebrating upon returning to the team hotel. Down 42-25 at one point, down 11 in the fourth, the Americans outscored the Serbians 32-15 in the final quarter.
“I know we want to win the gold, but you've got to celebrate the small moments, too,” Durant said in a video distributed by USA Basketball well after midnight as he grabbed a postgame meal next to his mother, Wanda. “Guarantee you, everybody in here, they'll never forget this night. Everybody in here will remember this night for the rest of their lives. That's how special this is.”
The comeback kept Durant’s hopes of becoming the first four-time Olympic men’s gold medalist very much alive and gave the US a chance to return to the international basketball mountaintop. The Americans were fourth at the World Cup last summer, a result that spurred some NBA stars like James and Curry to be part of this team.
And of all the US semifinal moments, this was like few others. The four-point final margin was the second closest in American history in the Olympic semifinals; the US beat Lithuania by two in the 2000 semifinals in Sydney, on the way to gold there.
They're one win away from another.
“I'm 39 years old, going into my 22nd season, I don't know how many opportunities and moments I'm going to get like this to compete for something, compete for something big and play in big games,” James said. “And tonight was a big game.”