Paris Olympics live updates: Noah Lyles takes 200m bronze; USA men's hoops rally for win
USA TODAY
Look back at the best from the Paris Olympics on Thursday, including the medal count, results and must-see moments from the day.
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USA TODAY
The United States continued its productive 2024 Paris Olympics on Thursday, extending its lead in the overall medal count and becoming the first country to surpass 100 medals.

Team USA also maintained its lead in gold medals with 30.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone won gold for the second consecutive Olympics in the 400-meter hurdles, banking another world record at 50.37. This makes her the first American woman to win two Olympic gold medals in the event.

On the men's side, Noah Lyles claimed bronze in the men's 200 meters, missing out on the sprint double after winning the 100 in thrilling fashion earlier in the week. Lyles confirmed after the race that he tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday but still opted to take a chance at history. U.S. teammate Kenny Bednarek won silver, while Letsile Tebogo of Botswana won gold.

Elsewhere, the U.S. men’s basketball team staged a furious fourth-quarter rally to beat Serbia and earn a spot in Saturday's gold medal game. Steph Curry scored 36 points, and LeBron James had a triple double to enable the Americans a chance for a fifth consecutive gold medal. But make no mistake: the world is coming for Team USA, writes columnist Dan Wolken.

USA TODAY Sports captured all the action. Check out all the highlights, results and medal count from Thursday:

The U.S. leads the overall medal count with 103 — 30 gold, 38 silver and 35 bronze.

PARIS – Adam Krikorian never felt like a fourth consecutive gold medal was his team’s destiny, not at the start of the Olympics, not before Thursday’s semifinal match against upstart Australia and certainly not when Maddie Musselman grabbed the ball to take the final shot of the sudden-death period.

Australia goalkeeper Gabriella Palm got her right hand on Musselman’s skip shot, deflecting it wide of the net to give Australia a 14-13 win – 6-5 in the shootout – over the U.S. in women’s water polo at La Defense Arena.

Australia will play Spain in the gold-medal match Saturday, while the three-time defending Olympic champion U.S. meets Netherlands for the bronze.

The U.S. has been the dominant force in women’s water polo for more than a decade, winning gold medals in the 2012, 2016 and 2020 Olympics. — Dave Birkett

The U.S. was in trouble against Serbia, and its streak of consecutive Olympic gold medals looked like might at end at four.

Then, the U.S. tightened its defense, found scoring at the right time and overcame a 17-point deficit to beat Serbia 95-91 in the semifinals Thursday.

After beating Serbia twice in the past three weeks – once in a friendly and once in group play at the Summer Games – the U.S. needed a massive fourth-quarter comeback to pull out a victory and advance to the gold-medal game against France. The U.S. is going for its fifth consecutive Olympic gold.

The U.S. trailed Serbia 76-63 to start the fourth quarter and possession by possession wore down Serbia. The U.S. used a 24-8 run to take a 91-86 lead with 1:41 left in the fourth quarter.

Steph Curry was brilliant for the USA, scoring a game-high 36 points on 12-for-19 shooting, the best game of the Olympics in a game where the U.S. desperately needed his scoring. LeBron James continued his stellar Olympic play and recorded a triple-double with 16 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. — Jeff Zillgitt

Team USA's Grant Holloway won a gold medal Thursday night in the 110-meter hurdles at the Paris Games' Stade de France with a time of 12.99 seconds.

Other medal winners were Team USA's Daniel Roberts (silver, 13.09) and Rasheed Broadbell of Jamaica (bronze, 13.09).

Holloway left little wonder why he was ranked No. 1 in the world in the 110-meter hurdles. It was a redemptive moment after he won silver at the Tokyo Games in 2021, missing out on gold by 0.05 seconds, in his first Olympic appearance.

Team USA's Freddie Crittenden, who took an odd path to qualification, recorded a 13.32 and finished sixth. — Chase Goodbread

Noah Lyles said he competed in the 200-meter final – and won a bronze medal – at the Paris Olympics on Thursday while fighting COVID-19.

Lyles confirmed the news to reporters in the mixed zone after he didn’t win the 200 meters, which has long been his signature event. While wearing a mask, Lyles said he tested positive in the early morning hours of Tuesday. He finished third in the race behind Letsile Tebogo of Botswana and Kenny Bednarek, his U.S. teammate.

Lyles, who has a history of asthma, laid on the track almost immediately after crossing the finish line, which is atypical of how he usually acts after a race. He needed medical attention shortly thereafter and, on the broadcast, soon collapsed into a wheelchair. He was talking with medical aides, which had oxygen handy, but Lyles did not appear to take it. He was wheeled off the track. — Tom Schad, Tyler Dragon, Nancy Armour

SAINT-DENIS, France — Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone displayed her dominance once again in the women’s 400-meter hurdles.

McLaughlin-Levrone won her second consecutive Olympic gold medal in the 400-meter hurdles, posting a time of another world record at 50.37. The world-record holder is the first American woman to win two Olympic gold medals in the event.

Anna Cockrell came in second with a personal-best time of 51.87. Netherlands' Femke Bol came in third, running a 52.15. – Tyler Dragon

The U.S. wrestling team can add a third goal medal to its total Friday when Spencer Lee faces Japan’s Rei Higuchi in the final of the freestyle 57 kg division.

It won’t be easy.

Higuchi, a silver medalist at the 2016 Olympics, looked dominant against Puerto Rico’s Darian Cruz in a 12-2 semifinals victory. Lee also looked strong in a 14-4 semifinal victory over Uzbekistan’s Gulomjon Abdullaev.

“I know he doesn’t want silver, but I don’t want silver either,’’ Lee said. “So we’re going to go out there and do our best to put on a show.’’

The Americans can win two other medals but not the preferred colors. That’s because freestyle wrestlers Helen Maroulis and Aaron Brooks both lost in the semifinals Thursday, relegating them to the bronze medal matches Friday. – Josh Peter

PARIS — It took sudden death to make it happen, but the U.S. women’s run of water polo gold medals has come to an end.

Australia beat the U.S. in sudden death in a thrilling semifinal match Thursday at La Defense Arena, 14-13 – 6-5 in a shootout – to advance to Saturday’s championship match against Spain.

The U.S. had won three straight gold medals in the sport.

Australia overcame an 8-6 deficit in the fourth period when Bronte Halligan scored two goals to tie, the last with 2:54 to play.

Both teams made their first five attempts of the penalty-shot period, sending the match to sudden death. Zoe Arancini made her second penalty shot, skipping a shot past goalkeeper Ashleigh Johnson.

Australia goalkeeper Gabriella Palm deflected the next shot by Maddie Musselman for the win.

The U.S. will play the Netherlands for the bronze medal.

Australia is unbeaten in the Olympics. – Dave Birkett

Letsile Tebogo shocked the field on Thursday.

Botswana's Tebogo took home the gold medal in the 200-meter dash final on Thursday, beating out Team USA's Kenny Bednarek and Noah Lyles, who finished second and third, respectively.

Tebogo becomes the first African in history to win the 200m, and he wins Botswana's first-ever Olympic gold medal.

Tara Davis-Woodhall has an opportunity to capture a gold medal in women's long jump. USA TODAY Sports is covering live updates, highlights and more from all of the day's track and field events, including the long jump, 200m final and more.

PARIS — Significant pressure was on France 5x5 men’s basketball team to medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

That pressure subsided with France’s 73-69 victory against Germany in the semifinals Thursday at Bercy Arena, guaranteeing France will medal. Question is, will it be gold or silver? France will play the winner of USA-Serbia in the gold-medal game Saturday.

France held off a late Germany rally, and rising NBA star Victor Wembanyama split two free throws, putting France ahead 71-68 with 10.9 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Dennis Schroder made a free throw to pull Germany within 71-69, Isaia Cordinier’s two free throws with 7.4 seconds left put the game out of reach. – Jeff Zillgitt

The US women’s volleyball team is going for another gold.

Just three years after Team USA won its first gold medal in the event, the Americans will defend their gold on Sunday after stunning 5-set thriller against Brazil Thursday. The US will meet the winner of Italy-Turkey in the final.

After a tight back and forth battle in the fifth set with teams trading points, the US slowly started to pull away when they went up 12-8 on a kill from Annie Drews. Brazil reeled off two quick points but after that the U.S. looked completely in control, winning 15-11.

Drews finished with 18 points, while Kathryn Plummer led the Americans with 26. Avery Skinner recorded 19. – Lindsay Schnell

Here are some Olympic schedule highlights. Peacock is streaming every sport and event live as it unfolds in Paris. All times Eastern.

Track and field prelims and qualifying rounds start at 4:05 a.m. (Follow our live coverage and highlights of track and field events). The evening session opens with the start of the women’s heptathlon before getting into the night’s five finals events, including Noah Lyles in the men’s 200m and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone in the women’s 400m hurdles. NBC is airing the evening session. USA Network is airing the morning session.

Men’s basketball holds two semifinal games today, at 11:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. Host country France takes on Germany in the first game, while the United States faces Serbia in the late contest. USA Network is airing both games.

Beach volleyball holds four semifinal matches today, two each for the men’s and women’s tournament. The United States is not involved. On the women's side, Switzerland faces Canada at 11 a.m. and Brazil takes on Australia at 3 p.m.; on the men's side Germany faces Norway at noon, and Qatar faces Sweden at 4 p.m.

Women’s water polo gets into the semifinal round today, the first match at 8:35 a.m. (USA Network) and the second at 1:35 p.m. (USA Network). The Netherlands and Spain play the early game, while Australia and the United States square off in the afternoon.

Women’s volleyball is into the semifinals with matches at 10 a.m. (NBC) and 2 p.m. The United States faces Brazil in the early match, while Turkey and Italy play the latter match.

Marathon swimming is in the spotlight today with the women’s 10km. Team USA’s Katie Grimes is set to compete. USA Network is airing.

Other sports in action: Golf, Taekwondo, rhythmic gymnastics, modern pentathlon, handball, diving, sport climbing, table tennis, wrestling, sailing, cycling, field hockey, weightlifting, boxing.

Morocco shot out the gate with goals by Abde Ezzalzouli (23’) and Soufaine Rahimi (26’) to take a 2-0 lead against Egypt for the bronze medal in men’s soccer.

Rahimi, the favorite to win the Golden Boot for goals scored, scored in his sixth straight match at the Paris Games with his seventh goal.

Both Morocco and Egypt are vying for their first men’s soccer Olympic medal in the all-African matchup. — Safid Deen

One African nation will win its first Olympic medal in men’s soccer Thursday afternoon.

Egypt and Morocco will play in the Paris Olympics men’s soccer bronze medal match today at La Beaujoire-Louis-Fonteneau, beginning at 11 a.m. ET.

Host nation France and Spain will meet in the gold medal match on Friday at noon. Follow along live.

Noah Lyle, hours after he lunged past Jamaican sprinter Kishane Thompson to win gold in the 100-meter dash by five one thousandths of a second, saved the day for his girlfriend, Jamaican track and field star Junelle Bromfield.

According to ESPN, Lyles said that Bromfield told him at around 2 a.m. local time in Paris that she had accidentally left her running spikes at her massage therapist's Airbnb, which was close to the Olympic Village. Bromfield, as it turns out, would be running her first heats of the 2024 Paris Olympics later Monday morning, in the 400-meter race, so securing her spikes became imperative.

Enter Lyles, who made the journey to retrieve the shoes and return them to Bromfield. — Lorenzo Reyes

The 2024 Paris Olympics men's basketball tournament semifinals feature two rematches from group play, starting with the first game of the day: France vs. Germany. Team USA is set for the second semifinal match. They're set to take on Serbia starting at 3 p.m. ET at Accor Arena. Follow along live.

PARIS — LeBron James, 39, and Diana Taurasi, 42, know that by basketball standards, they’re old. They’re aware because, well, people won’t stop telling them.

But that won't stop them from chasing gold.

"I’m around a lot of young people all the time," Taurasi joke, "and one thing I tell them, if there’s one thing you can’t escape in this country and this world, it’s agism."

Team USA is into the men’s and women’s semifinals, with the men meeting Serbia Thursday at 3 p.m. ET (9 p.m. local time) and the women scheduled to play Australia on Friday, also at 3 p.m. ET. — Lindsay Schnell

Team USA diver Carson Tyler finished fourth in the men’s 3-meter springboard final Thursday at Olympic Aquatics Center. China’s Xie Siyi won gold (543.60) and Wang Zongyuan won silver (530.20), while Mexico’s Osmar Olvera Ibarra won bronze (500.40).

Xie and Wang also were the defending gold and silver medalists, respectively, from the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

Tyler, a 20-year-old first-time Olympian, finished with a score of 429.25 in the six-round final, which was just shy of his 438.00 semifinals score Wednesday and not quite strong enough to earn a medal. His top-scored dive was his last one — a reverse 1 1/2 somersaults with 3 1/2 twists in the free position with a 3.5 degree of difficulty, earning him 78.75 points. — Michelle Martinelli

Breaking is part of the new wave of sports that the International Olympic Committee has ushered in as part of a broader effort to appeal to younger fans and add an urban flair to the Summer Games. It follows the addition of sports such as skateboarding and surfing, which debuted at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. The competitions begin at 10:30 a.m. ET on Friday and conclude with the finals, which start at 2 p.m. ET. The men's competition will take place at the same times Saturday. — Tom Schad

≻ Are breakers artists or athletes?

≻ How do breakers train for the Olympics?

≻ From the Bronx to the Paris Olympics stage

SAINT-DENIS, France — Quincy Wilson, 16, is set to make his Paris Olympics debut.

Wilson received word that he will take part in Team USA’s 4x400 relay team, a person familiar with the situation told USA TODAY Sports. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they aren’t authorized to discuss the relay team.

The men’s 4x400 relay begins Friday at 5:05 a.m. ET.

Team USA will be in the first-round heat of the 4x400 relay. Wilson is expected to run in the opening round. Wilson will become the youngest American male to have ever participated in an Olympic track and field event.

Wilson was originally selected on Team USA’s 4x400-relay pool after he finished sixth in the open 400 at the U.S. Olympic track and field trial.

The 16-year-old wonderkid broke the under-18 world record in the opening round of the 400, blazing one lap around the track in 44.66 seconds at the trials. Then Wilson bested the time in the semifinals, running a 44.59 to qualify for the finals. The high school record had stood for 42 years before Wilson shattered it twice within a matter of days. — Tyler Dragon

Nelly Korda continues her pursuit of a second gold medal in Olympic golf. After an even-par finish in Wednesday's opening round at Le Golf National in Guyancourt, France, the No. 1 golfer in the world entered Thursday's round in a 13-way tie for 13th place on the leaderboard. She's moved up the leaderboard and is now in a tie for third place (-4), four strokes off the lead. Swiss golfer Morgane Metraux has the lead (-8) after shooting a 66 in round 2. France's Celine Boutier, round 1 leader, has struggled today shooting a +4 through 17 holes.

Team USA's Anna Hall sits in third place after the first two events of the women’s heptathlon, the 100m hurdles and high jump. Hall’s time of 13.36 seconds ranked seventh in the hurdles, while her high jump effort of 1.89m was third in the field.

Kyrgyzstan's Bekzat Almaz Uulu got a fast takedown to lead 2-0, but that's about all he would get.

Spencer Lee flashed a variety of offense to lock up a 12-2 technical fall, first with a double-leg takedown and leg lace, then a single-leg takedown and leg lace, followed by a go-around takedown and gut wrench. His par terre offense was really on display here after he was unable to have many opportunities in his first match. That, and a determined, fierce look following being taken down that even was noticeable for a guy like Lee that normally has that demeanor on the mat.

Lee advances to the semifinals. He'll face Uzbekistan's Gulomjon Abdullaev, a former Tokyo Olympian who finished seventh that cycle. Abdullaev's only world or Olympic medal comes at the junior level in 2016 with a bronze. — Eli McKown

Swimmer Katie Ledecky, a four-time Olympian and 14-time medalist, and rower Nick Mead, who earned his first medal as part of Team USA’s gold medal-winning men’s four, will lead Team USA as flag bearers at the Closing Ceremony on Aug. 11.

American climber Sam Watson set a world record of 4.74 seconds in the small final of speed climbing to earn a bronze medal.Watson lost his head-to-head heat in the semifinals when a slight slip against China’s Peng Wu cost him a spot in the finals.However, Watson earned a spot in the small final against Iranian speed climber Reza Alipour Shenazandifard and bested his own world record by 1/100th of a second. — Sandy Hooper

SAINT-DENIS, France — U.S. middle-distance runner Brandon Miller qualified to the semifinals in the men’s 800, via the repechage round.

Miller ran a 1:44.21 to win the fourth and final heat of the 800. He had the best time of all runners in the repechage round.

The semifinals in the 800 are on Friday. — Tyler Dragon

LE BOURGET, France — American sport climber Brooke Raboutou advanced to the boulder and lead finals set for Saturday, Aug. 10. Raboutou, a two-time Olympian, finished semifinals in third."I'm really happy I was able to stay calm and I just wanted to climb with my normal pace and rhythm," said Raboutou. "Sometimes, in these rounds, it can be stressful to feel like you're climbing not to fall. I didn't want to do that. I wanted to feel good on the wall."American teammate Natalia Grossman, a first-time Olympian, came into the lead portion of qualification needing a strong performance, but she fell early on the route to put her in seventh with four climbers to go.Only the top eight climbers qualified for finals, and Grossman ended the competition in 11th out of 20 climbers, missing finals. — Sandy Hooper

SAINT-DENIS, France — The U.S. men’s 4x100-relay team made a statement in the opening round of the relay.

A team of Christian Coleman, Fred Kerley, Kyree King and Courtney Lindsey got the baton around clean and it was over from there.

The men led from start to finish as they crossed the line in 37.47 for the easy victory.

Noah Lyles and Kenny Bednarek will likely run in the final for Team USA. — Tyler Dragon

SAINT-DENIS, France — American Chase Jackson failed to get out of the opening round of the women’s shot put.

Jackson scratched on her first two attempts and needed a third and final throw to advance to the final. Unfortunately for Jackson, her third throw didn’t come off her hand clean and landed at 57 feet, 9 inches – just short of a qualifying spot.

Jackson was visibly upset after her disappointing opening round. She came into Paris as a gold-medal contender in the shot put. She’s won two straight world championships in the event.

Americans Jaida Ross and Raven Saunders both advanced. — Tyler Dragon

SAINT-DENIS, France — The U.S. 4x100-relay team had a shaky exchange on the second and third leg between Twanisha Terry and Gabby Thomas that slowed them down a little. However, Sha’Carri Richardson received the baton on the anchor leg and sprinted past Germany to secure the first-round victory for Team USA in 41.94.

Germany took second, running a 42.15 and Switzerland got the last qualifying spot with a time of 42.38.

The U.S. women will have to clean up their handoffs, but they are the gold-medal favorite in the relay, especially with Jamaica’s stars not competing in the event. — Tyler Dragon

How to watch Olympics today

NBC is airing and streaming the Paris Olympics from all angles: Peacock is streaming every sport and event live as it unfolds; NBC, USA Network, CNBC and E! are carrying various live events and replays throughout the day. Here are six tips and tricks for getting the most out of Peacock during the Olympics.

Medal count today

Our 2024 Paris Olympics medal count tracker updates after every single medal event.

The U.S. women’s golf team opens play with Round 2, which starts at 3 a.m. 3.55 a.m.: Celine Boutier (France), Lilia Vu (USA), Amy Yang (Korea). 5.44 a.m.: Hannah Green (Australia), Charley Hull (Great Britain and Northern Ireland), Rose Zhang (USA). 5.55 a.m.: Nelly Korda (USA), Jin Young Ko (Korea), Ruoning Yin (China). Golf Channel is airing.

CHECK SCHEDULE FOR ANY U.S. TEAMS PLAYING IN KNOCKOUT ROUNDS

Track & field: women’s long jump (2 p.m.), men’s javelin (2:25 p.m.), men’s 200m final (2:30 p.m.), women’s 400m hurdles (3:25 p.m.), men’s 110m hurdles (3:45 p.m.). NBC is airing.

Men’s soccer: bronze match (11 a.m.) Egypt vs. Morocco. Telemundo is airing.

Boxing: Four semifinals (3:30, 3:46, 4:02, 4:18 p.m.), two finals (4:36, 4:51 p.m.)

Diving: men’s 3m springboard final (9 a.m., E!)

Wrestling: Six medal matches (1:30 p.m. start)

Weightlifting: women’s 59kg (9 a.m.), men’s 73kg (1:30 p.m.)

Taekwondo: Six medal matches (2:19 p.m. start)

Sport climbing: men’s speed final (6:55 a.m., E!)

Sailing: men’s and women’s kite races (all day, times TBD)

Marathon swimming: women’s 10km (1:30 a.m., USA Network)

Field hockey: men’s bronze (8 a.m.), men’s gold (1 p.m.)

Cycling: women’s keirin final (1:11 p.m.), men’s omnium points race 4/4 (1:27 p.m.)

Canoe sprint: men’s canoe double 500m final A (7:30 a.m.), women’s kayak four 500m final A (7:40 a.m.), men’s kayak four 500m final A (7:50 a.m.) E! is airing.

Women’s heptathlon events: 100m hurdles (4:05 a.m.), high jump (5:05 a.m.), shot put (1:35 p.m.), 200m (2:55 p.m.)

Qualifications: women’s shot put (4:25 a.m.)

Repechage rounds: women’s 100m hurdles (4:35 a.m.), men’s 800m (6 a.m.)

Round 1s: women’s 4x100m relay (5:10 a.m.), men’s 4x100m relay (5:35 a.m.)

Semifinals: women’s 1,500m (1:35 p.m.)