The Paris Olympics are in full swing with the world’s best athletes competing daily for the ultimate prize. Here is the latest news and highlights from the Summer Games so far.
Djokovic Completes Career ‘Golden Slam’
24-time grand slam champion Novak Djokovic completed his career ‘golden slam,’ beating Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz in the men’s singles final on Sunday. After four previous attempts to win the gold, Djokovic finally broke through, winning 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2) in a hard fought contest.
Djokovic is the fifth player to win all four singles grand slams and the Olympic title, joining Steffi Graff, Andre Agassi, Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams.
Meanwhile in the women’s draw, Chinese tennis player Zheng Qinwen beat Croatia’s Donna Vekic 6-2, 6-3 to win the gold. Zheng has become the first Asian-born tennis player to win a gold at the Summer Games in singles.
Noah Lyles Wins Men’s 100m Final
American sprinter Noah Lyles won the gold in the 100 meters at the Summer Games in a photo finish, just edging out Jamaican Kishane Thompson. Lyles finished in 9.784 seconds, beating Thompson by a razor thin margin of .005 seconds. Fellow American Fred Kerley took the bronze medal with a time of 9.81 seconds.
Lyles’ win was the first time an American had won the 100 meters since 2004 when Justin Gatlin took home the gold in Athens. It was also the first time since Athens that two Americans finished on the podium.
Lyles will be looking to add another gold medal in the 200m for which he is a favourite for. The 200-meter heats begin Monday with the final on Aug. 8.
Simone Biles Wins Third Gold Medal
American gymnast Simone Biles won her third gold medal at the Paris Games by winning on the vault. The 27-year-old scored an average of 15.300, with a difficulty level which was harder than most other gymnasts best vault.
Brazilian Rebeca Andrade was the only other gymnast who had skills that were comparable to Biles, winning the turtles in Tokyo 3 years ago. She took silver with a score of 14.966 and American Jade Carey won bronze with 14.466.
Biles is now the third most decorated female gymnast with 10 medals in total at the Summer Games. She has the chance to add to her total on Monday, with the floor and beam events. If she can place in both, she will overtake Vera Caslavska who won 11 for Czechoslovakia between 1960 and 1968. The all-time record of 18 is held by Soviet Union gymnast Larisa Latynina.
Egypt Qualify For Semifinals For The First Time
For the first time in 12 attempts, Egypt have reached the semi-finals of the men’s football tournament. They have managed to make it to the last 8 on four other occasions but have never made it through to the final four.
They had to beat Paraguay in a tight game which they required penalties for after a 1-1 tie in regulation. They will face France in the semi-final on Monday, August 5 after overcoming World Champions Argentina in the quarterfinals by the score of 1-0.
The other semi-final will be contested between Morocco and Spain, who both cruised to victory in their quarterfinal matchups. Morocco destroyed Team USA in their quarterfinal, 4-0 and look to be in fine form heading into the back end of the tournament. Spain also have been dominating their opponents, winning their quarterfinal easily 3-0 over Japan.
Quarter-Finals Matchups Set In Men’s Basketball Tournament
After a thrilling group stage, the knockout part of the men’s basketball tournament will begin tomorrow in Paris. Each group had an undefeated team, Canada from Group A, Germany from Group B and USA from Group C.
Hosts France will take on Canada in their quarter-final matchups which should be one of the closer matchups of the round. Germany will face fellow Europeans Greece in their quarter-final, while Serbia will have to go through Australia to make the semis.
Team USA will be favourites to reach the final, needing to beat Brazil and the winner of the Serbia/Australia match to qualify.
