The 2024 Summer Olympics continues. The United States will compete in men’s basketball, women’s soccer, and water polo as part of a full day of games scheduled for Wednesday.
Follow here for the live updates:
Ledecky Retains 1,500-meter Freestyle Title, Rewrites Record Books
Katie Ledecky blitzed the field to retain her 1,500 meters freestyle title at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday, the American iron-woman securing a record-equalling eighth gold medal in the sport.
World record holder Ledecky blew away the field in the gruelling, 30-lap race at La Defense Arena, touching the wall in an Olympic record 15.30.02, more than 10 seconds ahead of France’s silver medallist Anastasiia Kirpichnikova.
Germany’s Isabel Gose took bronze.
Ledecky now shares the record for most Olympic gold medals in women’s swimming with American Jenny Thompson, who won eight relay titles over three Olympics from 1992-2000.
Her collection of Olympic medals now equals the all-time record of 12 in women’s swimming shared by Thompson, Americans Dara Torres and Natalie Coughlin, and Australian Emma McKeon.
Japan’s Oka Wins Men’s All-Around Gymnastics Gold
Japan’s Shinnosuke Oka capitalized on errors by the top contenders and held his nerve to fend off a late challenge by China’s Zhang Boheng to win the men’s all-around gold medal at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday.
Zhang trailed by just 0.233 of a point to take silver and his countryman Xiao Ruoteng claimed bronze.
The tense final came down to the last apparatus — the horizontal bar — and 20-year-old Oka maintained his poise under intense pressure to finish with a total of 86.832.
First-time Olympian Oka strode into Bercy Arena in the shadow of his more celebrated teammate, Tokyo all around champion Daiki Hashimoto. .
But with Hashimoto and Xiao both faltering during the earlier rotations, Oka kept his wits about him as he produced spectacular routines on all six apparatus to put everyone else in his shade as he picked up his second gold in Paris after helping Japan to victory in the team final two days ago.
Fritz and Paul Advance, Set for USA-Great Britain Showdown
American tennis duo Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul advanced to the quarterfinals of the men’s doubles tournament with a straight-set victory over Dutch pair Robin Haas and Jean-Julien Rojer, 6-3, 6-4.
Fritz and Paul will face off against Great Britain’s Andy Murray and Dan Evans.
This will be Murray’s final Olympic appearance as he has announced his retirement following the games.
The quarterfinal match is scheduled for Aug. 1.
USA’s Danielle Collins Out at Quarterfinals After Injury
American tennis player Danielle Collins lost in the women’s tennis singles quarterfinals to Iga Swiatek of Poland, who is ranked No. 1 in the world.
At 4-1 in the third set, Collins, who had returned to the court after receiving medical treatment, was seen speaking to the umpire and heard saying “yeah, I can’t play” before the match was called. Collins was the last of the Team USA women tennis players still in the running for a medal.
Swiatek took the first set and Collins the second. Swiatek took an extended break after the second set, and then took a fall early in the third set. At 3-0 in the third set, Collins took a medical timeout for treatment.
This is Collins’s first and last Olympics. Collins, 30, said she wants to start a family and plans to retire at the end of the year.
“It’s even more special when you’re an American getting the opportunity to do this because you don’t get to be on the Olympic team unless you’re like in the top 15 in the world,” she said ahead of the games. “That really says a lot about the level that we have.”
Australia’s Jessica Fox Claims Double Gold in Canoe Slolem
Australian Jessica Fox has cemented her status as one of the greatest canoe slalom athletes by winning the gold in both the K-1 and C-1 events at the Paris Olympics.
Just days after securing the K-1 title in Vaires-sur-Marne, Fox delivered another performance to defend her C-1 crown.
Despite incurring two penalty seconds, her time of 101.06 was enough to secure victory, finishing 2.48 seconds ahead of Germany’s Elena Lilik. USA’s Evy Leibfarth took the bronze.
Fox previously won the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, bronze in 2016 in Rio de Jeneiro, and silver in 2012 in London.
USA’s Jahmal Harvey Advances to Boxing Quarterfinals
Featherweight Jahmal Harvey defeated Luiz Gabriel Oliveira of Brazil in the preliminaries 3-2 and will advance to the quarterfinals on Aug. 3.
Harvey, 21, is Team USA’s best chance at a boxing medal.
USA’s Gauff, Pegula Lose to Czech Republic
Team USA’s Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula lost to Karolina Muchova and Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic in a tiebreaker third set and their second match in women’s tennis doubles.
Muchova and Noskova will advance to the quarterfinals. Both Gauff and Pegula are out in women’s singles, but Gauff is still playing in the mixed doubles matches with Taylor Fritz.
Alcaraz Advances to Quarterfinals
Carlos Alcaraz of Spain beat Roman Safiullin, a Russian playing as an Independent Neutral Athlete, and will advance to the quarterfinals.
Alcaraz won this year’s French Open and will next play Lorenzo Musetti of Italy in Saturday’s quarterfinals.
USA’s Sara Hughes, Kelly Cheng Defeat France in Beach Volleyball Pool
Team USA’s Sara Hughes and Kelly Cheng won against Clemence Viera and Aline Chamereau of France in two sets, remaining undefeated in the pool beach volleyball matches.
The second set was close, but a block by Cheng won Team USA a match point and ended the game before a third set.
Top Jamaican Sprinter Withdraws From 100-Meter
In a press event, Shericka Jackson of Jamaica confirmed that she has withdrawn from the 100-meter race and is only running the 200-meter, in which she is a two-time gold medalist.
Teammate Shashalee Forbes will be running the 100-meter sprint.
“The decision is just to protect my body,” she told reporters. “As I’ve said for the last three years, I’ve been competing in both events. It’s a combination of both just focusing on one event and what happened in Hungary.”
USA Loses Saber Team Event
Team USA’s men’s saber team narrowly lost to Iran 45-44. and have been eliminated early from the event.
Two-time gold medalists Team South Korea is still in the running for the gold, and have advanced to semifinals.
Tommy Paul Advances in Men’s Singles
Team USA’s Tommy Paul won his men’s tennis singles match against Corentin Moutet of France, securing a spot in the quarterfinals.
He is also competing in men’s doubles with Taylor Fritz.
USA’s Perris Benegas Takes Silver in BMX Freestyle
Team USA’s Perris Benegas won silver in the BMX freestyle event after two smooth runs and a final score of 90.70. Three years ago, Benegas took fourth in Tokyo, just missing the podium.
In a surprising turn of events, Team USA’s Hannah Roberts, the favorite for the gold, did not win a medal. She crashed out of both runs, failing to finish her second. Roberts had won silver in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and is a five-time world champion in a sport that has only held seven such events.
Eighteen-year-old Deng Yawen of China took the gold with a score of 92.60 in her Olympics debut. Natalya Diehm of Australia took bronze with 88.80.
Tennis: Djokovic Reaches Quarterfinals
Serbia’s Novak Djokovic reached the Olympic singles quarter-finals for a record fourth time by beating Germany’s Dominic Koepfer 7-5, 6-3 on Wednesday.
For all his 24 Grand Slam titles and countless other accolades, the Olympics has never been especially kind to the 37-year-old for whom a bronze medal remains his only souvenir.
Next up for Djokovic is Greek eighth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas who made the last eight by beating Argentina’s Sebastian Baez.
Britain Wins Gold in Men’s Triathlon
Briton Alex Yee ran a perfectly-paced 10km to snatch a dramatic Olympic triathlon gold on Wednesday, overhauling a fading Hayden Wilde of New Zealand in brutal conditions in Paris.
Yee and Wilde immediately forged clear, but the New Zealander, bronze medallist in Tokyo, surprisingly made an early move with Yee, widely regarded as the fastest runner in the field and silver medallist three years ago, declining to respond.
It looked to be Wilde’s race, but the hard pace and heat sapped his energy, and Yee, who won gold in the mixed relay in Tokyo, flew past with 400 meters to go and finished clear.
France’s Beaugrand Wins Women’s Triathlon Gold
France’s Cassandre Beaugrand won gold in the women’s triathlon on Wednesday, delighting home fans and clinching the country’s first-ever Olympic medal in the individual triathlon.
Switzerland’s Julie Derron won silver and Britain’s Beth Potter won bronze.
Beaugrand, ranked number one in the world, broke away in the last lap of the run and was fueled to the finish line by ecstatic cheers from crowds lining the streets.
Derron had led for most of the run stage but could not keep up with Beaugrand’s pace, while Potter, considered a top contender for gold, had to settle for bronze.
Races Underway as Seine Passes Water Tests
Athletes dived into the Seine on Wednesday for the Olympic women’s triathlon after water tests showed lower levels of bacteria, ending days of uncertainty over whether the central Paris swim was viable after heavy rains.
The triathlon, conceived as a central showpiece of the Paris Olympics, starts and finishes at the Alexandre III bridge in the heart of the French capital and takes athletes along a section of the Champs-Elysees, passing monuments including the Musee d’Orsay.
Fifty-five women representing 34 countries kicked off the contest at 8 a.m. CET (2 a.m. ET), with France’s Cassandre Beaugrand and Britain’s Beth Potter, two of the top contenders for gold, diving into the river side by side from a floating pontoon next to the bridge.
“The results of the latest water analyses … have been assessed as compliant by World Triathlon, allowing for the triathlon competitions to take place,” Paris 2024 and World Triathlon said in a statement.
Katie Ledecky Looking to Defend Gold in 1,500 Freestyle
When the women’s 1,500-meter freestyle made its debut on the Olympic program in Tokyo three years ago, Katie Ledecky won by more than four seconds.
This time, it could be an even bigger margin.
Ledecky won her heat on Tuesday by more than half a lap ahead of Simona Quadarella of Italy. The 1,500-meter final is scheduled for 9:13 p.m. CET (3:13 p.m. ET).
Ledecky’s only medal so far in Paris is a bronze in the 400 free.
The other swimming finals on Wednesday will be held between 8:30 p.m. CET (2:30 p.m. ET) and approximately 10:45 p.m. CET (4:45 p.m. ET). They include the women’s 100 free, the men’s 200 butterfly, the men’s 200 breaststroke, and the men’s 100 free.
Djokovic and Alcaraz Back on the Red Clay
Still chasing the only major title he lacks after surpassing longtime rival Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic faces Dominik Koepfer of Germany in the third round at Roland Garros.
Carlos Alcaraz, who won the French Open at the same venue last month, plays Roman Safiullin of Russia.
Catherine Yang and The Associated Press contributed to this report.