PARIS– Simone Biles stole the show in Paris Olympics with a captivating return that had everyone watching everything she did it in and out of the gym.
All eyes were on Biles as she won four medals, but the spotlight was bright enough to highlight new names, new faces and some unlikely new stars. The Paris Games will be remembered breathtaking places, unprecedented accessibility and Snoop Dogg taking on a protagonist role Record coverage from NBC.
Paris presented to the world “The guy with the pommel horse” and “The real John Wick” and one meme creation performance by an Australian teacher at breaking’s Olympic debut.
French swimmer Leon Marchand delivered to your home Olympiad with a Michael Phelps-like performancewinning five medals, four of which were gold. Ilona Maher longed for a chance on the reality show “Love Island” after leading the United States to a heart-stopping final victory that gave the U.S. its first medal, a bronze, in rugby sevens.
Noah Lyles was crowned the fastest man in the world for winning the 100 metersbut after finishing third in the 200 meters – his first defeat in his favorite event since the Tokyo Olympics three years ago – he revealed he had tested positive for COVID-19. Sha’Carri Richardson chased two contestants in the rain finish your first Olympics with a golden relay after settling for silver in the 100.
The United States won the medal count – 121 of them reached the final day of competition on Sunday, 37 of them gold – and the Americans once again prevailed in the dispute. men’s basketball and women’s football.
Here’s a look at some of the best moments of the Paris Olympics:
Biles returned to the Olympics three years after withdrawing from several events at the Tokyo Games for mental health reasons and winning four medals, three of them gold.
She was the most popular attraction in Paris and competed against celebrity-filled crowds. Those who couldn’t sit in the stands with Tom Cruise, Spike Lee, Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga watched from afar as NBC said 34.7 million viewers on its platforms watched Biles lead the United States to team gold.
Next up for the greatest gymnast in Olympic history is a 30-stop “Gold Over America Tour” for the GOAT.
Nine days of competition wrapped with the Americans barely holding on to the lead in the swimming gold medal standings, needing a victory in the final race of the Olympics to do so.
The USA ended with just eight goldsthe lowest number since the 1988 Seoul Games and one ahead of its biggest rival, Australia.
“It’s one of the worst performances in history by a U.S. team,” said Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time.
The rest of the world They totaled more victories (20) than the United States and Australia combined, the first time this has happened since the 1996 Atlanta Games.
The Americans’ 34 medals and 14 golds were the best track and field performance at a non-boycotted Games since the early 20th century, when there were more events and fewer countries.
And this happened despite the disappointment of Richardson not winning gold in the 100 meters, Lyles missing the 200 meters after his COVID-19 diagnosis and the men’s 4×100 meter relay fumbling towards disqualification.
The relay’s performance was so poor that nine-time gold medalist Carl Lewis called for changes from top to bottom within the American track and field program.
But the US closed hard: Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone set another world record in winning the 400 meter hurdles again, and she was then part of the 4×400 relay team that she and Gabby Thomas led to a runaway victory last night at the Stade de France.
The Americans won gold in the same race, with a much closer finish, about 15 minutes earlier.
The U.S.’s 14 gold medals are the most at a non-boycotted Olympics since 1968.
Stephen Curry added more hardware to his legacy by finally won an Olympic gold medal.
Curry scored 24 points and led the USA to a 98-87 victory over France in the men’s basketball final. It was the fifth consecutive gold medal for the USA – and the 17th in the Americans’ 20 appearances at the Games.
Kevin Durant, the first four-time men’s gold medalist in Olympic basketball history, scored 15 for the Americans, as did Devin Booker. And LeBron James, wearing metallic gold sneakers, scored 14 points for the USA as he won his fourth Olympic medal and third gold.
Victor Wembanyama, in his first Olympic final, scored 26 points for France and cried after the game.
The US women’s soccer team won fifth Olympic gold medal by beating Brazil 1-0 in the final. The Americans haven’t won gold since the 2012 London Olympics.
Gold ended an undefeated run to the title in their first international campaign under new coach Emma Hayes.
At the final whistle, the North American players celebrated while Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” played in the stadium.
Women’s boxing has been drawn into the culture wars over gender misperceptions involving two of the competitors.
Imane Khelif from Algeria and Li Yu-ting from Taiwan were heavily scrutinized because of a Russian-dominated International Boxing Association decision to disqualify them from last year’s world championship on the grounds that they both failed an eligibility test for women’s competitions, about which IBA officials refused to answer basic questions.
Khelif endured intense in-ring scrutiny and online abuse from around the world because of misconceptions about her femininity and still won gold in the women’s welterweight division.
Lin won a gold medal in the women’s featherweight division a night later to cap her four-fight unbeaten run in Paris by winning Taiwan’s first Olympic boxing gold medal.
“I am a woman like any other woman. I was born a woman, I live as a woman and I am qualified,” said Khelif after the victory.
The International Olympic Committee took the unprecedented step last year of permanently banning the IBA from the Olympics after years of concerns about its governance, competitive fairness and financial transparency. The IOC classified sexual tests that sport governing body imposed on the two boxers hopelessly flawed.
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