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PARIS OLYMPICS: What you should know now

Posted to Maritime Reporter on August 10, 2024

The United States won a gold medal in basketball and a silver in table tennis, while China took home a number of golds in diving, weightlifting, and table tennis.

The top two medal tables are still in play for the dominant sports nations on the final day of the Games.

What you need to Know about the Olympics this Saturday

U.S. DOMINATE RELAYS

The United States has won both the women's and men's 4x400-metre relays. This is a great achievement for the Americans in this Olympics.

The women's win was by over four seconds. They clocked the second fastest time in history, extending the country’s winning streak to eight consecutive victories. The men were even more precise, only edging Botswana by 10 hundredths on the finish line.

TAIWAN's LIN Wins BOXING GOLD

Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan, one of the two boxers in the middle of a controversy over gender eligibility, defeated Poland's Julia Szeremeta and won the women's featherweight championship.

Taiwanese 28-year old said that staying off social media, and focusing on sports had helped her deal with almost two weeks of international headlines about her eligibility for Games.

U.S. SPOIL FRENCH DREAMS OF BASKETBALL FAIRYTALE

The United States won the gold medal in basketball with a score of 98-87, denying France a "Miracle on the Seine".

The American showmen, led by Stephen Curry, and an enraged LeBron James, crushed the hearts of the Gallics in the French spotlight.

KIPYEGON GOLDEN HATTRICK

Kenyan Faith Kipyegon, who won her third consecutive 1,500 metre gold at the Olympics on Saturday by surging in the final lap and finishing more than one second ahead of everyone else.

She became the first woman to win three consecutive Olympic 1,500m titles.

Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway bounced back after his shocking defeat in the 1,500 metre race to win the 5,050 metres with a fierce last lap.

U.S. Gymnast Children may lose medal

The Court of Arbitration for Sport has ruled that Romanian Ana Barbosu will take the bronze medal from American Jordan Chiles in the women’s artistic gymnastics competition floor exercise. Barbosu will now move up to the third place.

Barbosu, her team and the CAS had appealed that the inquiry was filed four seconds past the deadline of one minute and that Chiles shouldn't be awarded the reassessed 13.766 score that placed her third behind the winner Rebeca andrade of Brazil as well as the silver medalist Simone Biles.

MACHINATIONS FOR MEDAL TABLES

China regained the top spot in the medal table, based on the number of golds, after winning the diving event and the men's weightlifting event.

On Sunday, the United States will try to regain the top spot by winning the women's volleyball and basketball matches.

After winning the gold medal in the final of the men's Volleyball against Poland, France has moved up to the fifth place in the standings.

Before the Games started, President Emmanuel Macron set a goal of a top-five finish.

CHINA'S GOLDEN SWEEEP

Cao Yuan, who won the 10-metre platform for men, completed a sweep of the diving events in one Games. This was the first time that a nation had won all diving events.

Noah Williams of Britain finished third to win the bronze. Rikuto Tamay, a diver from Japan, won silver and Japan's very first diving medal.

BREAK OUT STARS

On Saturday, Canadian Philip Kim (better known as B Boy Phil Wizard) produced an impressive performance to beat France's Danis civil and win the first ever gold medal for men's breaking.

Kim's smooth transitions, unlimited energy and supernatural power moves defeated hometown favourite B Boy Dany Dann in the final for a 3-0 victory.

Maniza Talash was disqualified from the Olympic refugee team for wearing during her routine a cape that read "Free Afghan Women".

The Product Placement Games

The winning athletes in Paris received their medals and Louis Vuitton trays, before receiving a Samsung flip-phone to take a victory selfie. This marks the beginning of a new product placement era at the Olympics that Los Angeles is set to continue.

(source: Reuters)

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