Monday’s slate for the Paris Olympics includes a blockbuster tennis match, a handful of the world’s biggest basketball stars, a couple of compelling swimming finals and a gymnastics showdown. The Games hit their stride today with 19 gold medals on offer including five in swimming. Follow here for the live updates:
Australia Takes Gold, Silver in Women’s 200-Meter Freestyle
Mollie O’Callaghan of Australia took the gold medal and set an Olympic record in the women’s 200-meter freestyle, timing herself to steal the lead from fellow Australian Ariarne Titmus in the last lap.
Titmus, the current world record holder and previous Olympics record holder in the event, took home silver.
Siobhan Bernadette Haughey of Hong Kong took home the bronze.
USA Takes Bronze in Men’s Foil Fencing
Nick Itkin won 15-12 in the bronze bout against Kazuki Iimura of Japan.
Team USA also won two medals in women’s foil fencing Sunday, after American fencers Lauren Scruggs and Lee Keifer faced off, taking the silver and gold respectively.
USA Takes Bronze in Men’s 100-Meter Backstroke
Thomas Ceccon of Italy won gold in the 100-meter backstroke at 52 seconds. He is the world record holder in the event and was the favorite to win.
Xu Jiayu of China took silver and Team USA’s Ryan Murphy, six-time Olympian, took bronze.
Team USA is still leading in number of medals with 20 total.
USA Takes Bronze in Men’s 200-Meter Freestyle
David Popovici of Romania won the gold in the 200-meter freestyle, the first Romanian to win a gold medal in this event. He was the favorite to win, having set himself apart from the pack with his times leading up to the finals.
Matthew Richards of Great Britain won silver, and Luke Hobson of Team USA won bronze, all within hundredths of a second.
Popovici swam 1:44.72, Richards 1:44.74, and Hobson 1:44.79.
Hobson shot to third only toward the end of the match at incredible speed. Days ago he brought the team a gold medal in the men’s freestyle relay—Team USA’s first gold of the Paris 2024 Games—but missed the podium at fifth place in the individual backstroke event.
USA Takes Silver, Bronze in Women’s 400-Meter Medley
Summer McIntosh of Canada won her first gold medal in the 400-meter medley. She started strong and widened her lead with each lap.
McIntosh had already won a silver medal in the 400-meter freestyle earlier in the games, making this her second medal this Olympics.
Team USA’s Katie Grimes came in second, and Emma Weyant closed in toward the end, finishing third.
This is 18-year-old Grimes’s second Olympics, and Weyant’s as well; Weyant won the silver medal in the same event in their Olympics debut three years ago in Tokyo.
Japan Wins Men’s Gymnastics Team Gold, Americans End Drought With Bronze
Japan surged past its longtime rival China to win gold in the Paris Olympics men’s gymnastics competition Monday, and the Americans earned bronze for their first medal since 2008.
It was Japan’s eighth team gold and first since Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
The Japanese overtook their rivals on the final rotation, after China’s Su Weide fell twice off the horizontal bar. Japan won with a small margin of 0.532 points.
After qualifying in fifth place, the U.S. men ended a 16-year drought to the delight of the dozens of fans waving American flags who chanted “USA, USA” throughout the evening.
The Americans posted a total of 257.793 points to edge Britain for the bronze.
Russia, which won gold at the Tokyo Games, did not compete because of its role in the war against Ukraine.
The Chinese had dominated qualifying ahead of Japan, the reigning world champion.
They faced off in the same group, starting their competition on floor exercise. China looked set for its first gold medal in the competition since 2012 after taking the lead midway through the competition.
But Takaaki Sugino, Shinnosuke Oka, and Tokyo Olympics all-around champion Daiki Hashimoto nailed Japan’s comeback with excellent displays on the horizontal bar while Su faltered.
USA Takes Silver, Bronze in Men’s Street Skateboarding
Team USA’s Jagger Eaton and Nyjah Huston took the silver and bronze medals, respectively, in the men’s street skateboarding event.
Skateboarders did two runs and five tricks, keeping their top run and two best trick scores.
Eaton and Huston started strong. Eaton finished with 281.04 points, and Huston with 279.38 points.
Japan’s Horigome Yuto took gold, finishing with the high score of 281.14 after wiping out on three of his tricks in a row.
Olympic skateboarding will continue with the women’s and men’s park events on Aug. 6 and 7.
British Silver Medalist Tests Positive for COVID
Adam Peaty tested positive for COVID-19 just minutes after narrowly missing the gold in the men’s 100-meter breaststroke on Sunday, according to Team Great Britain on Monday.
Peaty tied with Team USA’s Nic Fink for silver, both finishing .02 seconds behind Italy’s Nicolo Martinenghi.
USA Women’s Water Polo Loses to Spain, Will Play Italy Next
Team USA was defending two gold medals in women’s water polo entering the Paris Games and lost to Spain in the preliminaries.
But the team isn’t out of the running yet, as the top four teams from each preliminary pool will proceed to the quarterfinals. USA will play Italy on Wednesday.
Spain lost to Team USA in the Tokyo 2020 finals and took home the silver.
USA’s Budinger, Evans Net First Beach Volleyball Win
Team USA’s Chase Budinger and Miles Evans beat France’s Youssef Krou and Arnaud Gauthier-Rat in their first beach volleyball game in two sets, 21-14 and 21-11.
Simone Biles to Compete on All Four Events Despite Calf Injury during Olympic Team Finals
A calf injury isn’t going to slow down Simone Biles.
The American gymnastics star is in the lineup for all four events during Tuesday night’s Olympic team finals.
Biles tweaked her left calf while warming up for floor exercise during qualifying on Sunday. She retreated briefly to have the calf taped but then returned and posted the top scores on floor and vault on her way to topping the all-around.
Last week, U.S. team leaders had considered holding Biles out of the uneven bars in team finals to give her a small break during the Games. Instead, Biles will be part of every event during the finals, when three gymnasts compete and all three scores count.
The Americans are heavily favored to win gold after finishing runner-up to Russia in Tokyo three years ago.
USA Women’s Rugby Loses to France, Advances to Quarterfinals
Team USA lost to France 10-7 in women’s rugby, but both will participate in the quarterfinals later today.
Twelve teams will compete in three pools of four, and wins give a team three points, a draw two points, and a loss one point. The top winners in each pool advance to the quarterfinals.
Teams USA and France had won their first two pool matches on Sunday.
Representing Team USA are Ilona Maher, Lauren Doyle, Naya Tapper, Kristi Kirsche, Alev Kelter, Sammy Sullivan, Alena Olsen, Steph Rovetti, Alex Sedrick, and Sarah Levy.
Triathlon Training Canceled for Second Day Over Seine Water Quality
Olympic officials canceled triathlon training in Siene for a second day due to concerns about bacteria.
After much-publicized plans to clean up the Seine, heavy rains during the Paris Games opening ceremony raised bacteria levels in the river.
Despite the canceled training, French sports minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra told French news channel CNEWS on Monday that clean-up efforts have been effective and the games will go on.
“I am confident in the fact that we will be able to be there tomorrow for the men’s triathlon event,” she said.
The men’s triathlon is Tuesday, and the women’s triathlon Wednesday. The Seine is also scheduled for marathon swimming competitions Aug. 8 and Aug. 9.
UK’s Pidcock Wins Gold in Mountain Biking
Tom Pidcock rallied from a punctured tire to win his second straight Olympic mountain bike gold medal on Monday, fighting off Viktor Koretzky on a dramatic final lap to deny a French sweep of the men’s and women’s races at Elancourt Hill.
Pidcock had taken the lead entering the last of eight laps, only to give it back as he traded blows with Koretzky over the final couple of miles. The winning move was made in a wooded section of the course, where the path diverged around a tree. Pidcock went to the left, Koretzky to the right, and the two bumped when they came back together.
Pidcock squeezed ahead, though, and he held on the rest of the way, letting out a roar as he crossed the finish line.
Koretzky finished in second, one day after Pauline Ferrand-Prevot delivered a long-awaited gold for France in the women’s race. Alan Hatherly wound up with the bronze medal in the best finish ever for South Africa.
Novak Djokovic Beats Rival Rafael Nadal 6-1, 6-4 at the Paris Olympics in the Second Round
Novak Djokovic dominated rival Rafael Nadal at the start, then held off a comeback attempt to win 6-1, 6-4 at the Paris Olympics in the second round Monday, the 60th — and likely last — head-to-head matchup between the two tennis greats.
Djokovic claimed 10 of the initial 11 games, with Nadal nowhere near the skilled and ever-hustling version of himself that won a record 14 French Open trophies on the same red clay at Roland Garros that is hosting Summer Games matches. Instead, Nadal was diminished, showing every bit of his 38 years, and looking like someone who might be ready to head into retirement after playing only sparingly the past two seasons because of a series of injuries, including hip surgery.
Then, suddenly, the indefatigable Nadal got going, making a push to turn this contest competitive, which surely no one — least of all Djokovic — found too surprising. Nadal captured four consecutive games in the second set, including a forehand winner to break to make it 4-all. He raised his left fist, drawing roars from a packed Court Philippe Chatrier crowd that repeatedly tried to encourage him with chants of “Ra-fa! Ra-fa!”
And that’s when Djokovic regained control. He broke right back, pointing to his left ear while walking to the sideline as if to taunt Nadal’s supporters and ask, “Where are your cheers now?” Djokovic then served out the victory.
Britain Wins First Gold Medal at Paris Olympics with Victory in Equestrian Team Eventing
Laura Collet, Tom McEwen and Rosalind Canter sealed the win in the jumping section — the third part of the eventing competition — following Saturday’s rain-soaked dressage and Sunday’s cross country. Collet and McEwen also won gold in the event at the Tokyo Games three years ago with a different teammate.
Collet, who was riding on London 52, was the last of the British trio to ride and picked up a small penalty for going over the course time limit, but it made no difference.
“I’m on top of the world. I have never, ever ridden into an atmosphere like that,” the 34-year-old Collett said. “Luckily, London is one trusty partner, so are my team.”
France got the silver medal and Japan took bronze.
China Wins the First Gold Medal in Mixed Team Air Rifle Shooting
China’s Huang Yuting and Sheng Lihao opened up an early four-point lead against South Korea’s Keum Jihyeon and Park Hajun in the head-to-head for the gold medal and stayed ahead from there to win 16-12.
China Win Gold in Synchronized 10 Meter Platform Event – Tom Daley and Noah Williams of Britain Take Silver
Yang Hao and Lian Junjie of China won the men’s synchronised 10 metre platform event.
The pair led the event from the first round and finished on 490.35 points – becoming the second Chinese diving pair to top the podium so far at the Paris Olympics.
Tom Daley and Noah Williams of Britain took silver with 463.44 points, followed by Canada’s Ryan Wiens and Nathan Zsombor-Murray who won bronze.
What to Watch for the Paris Olympics: Monday, July 29
Nadal Faces Djokovic at Roland Garros
The biggest highlight of the Roland Garros schedule is Rafael Nadal taking on Novak Djokovic in the second match of the day on Court Philippe Chatrier. It is the 60th meeting of the longtime tennis rivals, more than any other two men have played against each other in the sport’s Open era, which began in 1968.
Djokovic, a 37-year-old from Serbia, has 24 Grand Slam titles, making him the only man in tennis history with more than Nadal’s 22.
Cheered on by an adoring crowd, Nadal beat Marton Fucsovics of Hungary 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 in the first round Sunday. Nadal made a last-minute decision to remain in the singles bracket, a day after he won in doubles and said he wasn’t sure if he would participate in both events.
Team USA Women’s Basketball Begins Quest for 8th Straight Gold
The U.S. women’s basketball team opens its pursuit of a record eighth straight gold medal. Team USA will face Japan at 9 p.m. CEST (3 p.m. EST) at Pierre Mauroy Stadium. The U.S. women are on a 55-game Olympic winning streak; they haven’t lost since 1992 in Barcelona. Japan took silver in Tokyo after losing to the U.S. 90-75.
The U.S. team is led by two-time WNBA MVPs A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart. Five-time Olympic gold medalist Diana Taurasi returns for her sixth Games.
Also, host France will take on Canada at 5:15 p.m. CEST (11:15 a.m. EST).
Swimming Heats Up
The women’s 400-meter individual medley final begins at 8:30 p.m. CEST (2:30 p.m. EST) at Paris La Defense Arena. Canada’s Summer McIntosh is a favorite after lowering her own world record (4:24.38) at the Canadian Olympic trials in May. Qualifying heats start at 11 a.m. CEST (5 a.m. EST).
McIntosh also will compete in the women’s 200 freestyle at 9:41 p.m. CEST (3:41 p.m. EST), the last swimming final of the night. McIntosh won her country’s first medal of the Paris Olympics when she beat out the U.S.’s Katie Ledecky for silver in the 400 freestyle Saturday night.
For the men, the 200-freestyle final starts at 8:40 p.m. CEST (2:40 p.m. EST), followed by the men’s 100 backstroke final at 9:19 p.m. CEST (3:19 p.m. EST).
Catherine Yang, Reuters, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.