Memorable moments from the Paris Olympics: Simone Biles was the star but the spotlight came in many forms
PARIS: Simone Biles stole the show at the Paris Olympics with a captivating comeback that had everyone watching everything she did in and out of the gym.
All eyes were on Biles after she won four medals, but the lights were dimmed to highlight a new name, a new face and a new, lesser-known star. The Paris Games will be remembered for the spectacular location, unprecedented access and Snoop Dogg playing a major role in NBC's coverage.
Paris introduced the world to “The Pommel Horse Guy” and “The Real John Wick” and an Australian professor's show at the first segregation Olympics.
French swimmer Leon Marchand delivered at his home Olympics with a Michael Phelps-like performance, winning five medals, four of them gold. Ilona Maher shoots on the TV show “Love Island” after leading the USA to a victory in the sunshine that gave the USA its first medal, a bronze , in rugby sevens.
Noah Lyles was crowned the fastest man in the world to win the 100 meters, but only after finishing third in the 200 – his first loss in his favorite event since the Tokyo Olympics three years ago – he announced that he tested positive for COVID-19. . Sha'Carri Richardson chased down two rivals in the rain to end her first Olympics with a gold medal after winning silver in the 100.
The U.S. won the medal count — 121 of them heading into Sunday's final day of competition, 37 of them gold — and the Americans won again in women's basketball and soccer. .
Here are some of the best moments from the Paris Olympics:
The bile rose to gold
Biles returned to the Olympics three years after sitting out multiple events at the Tokyo Games for health reasons and won four medals, three of them gold.
He was the most famous attraction in Paris and competed in front of a crowd full of celebrities. Those who couldn't sit in the seats with Tom Cruise, Spike Lee, Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga cheered from afar as NBC said 34.7 million viewers across the stage watched Biles lead the USA as the gold team.
Following the greatest gymnast in Olympic history is a 30-stop “Gold Over America Tour” for the GOAT.
Swimming fight
Nine days of competition ended with the Americans barely out of the lead in the gold medal standings, needing a win in the final race of the Olympics to do so.
The United States finished with just eight golds, the fewest since the 1988 Seoul Games and one ahead of their biggest rival, Australia.
“It was one of the worst performances in Team USA history,” said Phelps, the most decorated Olympian.
The rest of the world has won more (20) than the United States and Australia combined, the first time this has happened since the 1996 Atlanta Games.
Follow the problem
The Americans' 34 medals and 14 golds were their best performance in track and field in a non-boycotted Games since the turn of the 20th century, when there were more events and fewer countries. more.
And it came despite the disappointment of Richardson not winning gold in the 100, Lyles losing the 200 after testing positive for COVID-19 and the men's 4×100-meter relay that cruised to the its exclusion.
The relay's performance was so poor that nine-time gold medalist Carl Lewis called for top-to-bottom changes in the American track and field program.
But the U.S. closed strong: Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone set another world record by winning the 400 hurdles again, and then she was part of the 4×400 team that led her and Gabby Thomas to a runaway victory in the last night at the Stade de France.
The American men won gold in the same race in a much closer final about 15 minutes earlier.
The United States' 14 golds are the most in an Olympic Games without a boycott since 1968.
USA hoops won another gold
Stephen Curry added more gear to his legacy when he finally won an Olympic gold medal.
Curry scored 24 points to lead the United States to a 98-87 win over France in the men's basketball final. It was the fifth consecutive gold medal for the United States — and the 17th in 20 games for Americans at the Games.
Kevin Durant scored 15 points for the Americans, the first four-time gold medalist in men's Olympic basketball history, as Devin Booker did. And LeBron James, wearing metallic gold sneakers, scored 14 points for the United States as he won his fourth Olympic medal and third gold.
Victor Wembanyama scored 26 points for France in his Olympic debut and broke down in tears after the game.
The US women's soccer team is back on top
The US women's soccer team won its fifth Olympic gold medal with a 1-0 victory over Brazil in the final. The Americans have not won gold since the 2012 Olympics in London.
Gold closed out an unbeaten run at the title in new coach Emma Hayes' first international campaign.
In the last tweet, the American players celebrated Bruce Springsteen's “Born in the USA”. played in the stadium.
Boxing fight
Women's boxing has been dragged into a culture war over gender stereotypes involving two of the competitors.
Algeria's Imane Khelif and Taiwan's Li Yu-ting have come under fire for a decision by Russia's International Boxing Association to disqualify them from last year's world championships. who said they both failed the test for the women's tournament which was rejected by the IBA officials. questions about.
Khelif endured intense in-ring scrutiny and online abuse from around the world for misogyny and still won gold in the women's welterweight division.
Lin won gold in the featherweight category a night later to end his four-match unbeaten run through Paris by winning Taiwan's first Olympic boxing gold medal.
“I am a woman like any other woman. I was born as a woman, I live as a woman and I'm qualified,” said Khelif after his victory.
The International Olympic Committee took the unprecedented step last year of banning the IBA outright from the Olympic Games after years of concern about its governance, integrity competition and financial transparency. The IOC called for the genetic test that the governing body of the sport put in place for the two boxers.
