July 31, 2024 - Olympics news and results | CNN

July 31, 2024 - Olympics news and results

TOPSHOT - US' Simone Biles competes in the vault event of the artistic gymnastics women's team final during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Bercy Arena in Paris, on July 30, 2024. (Photo by Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP) (Photo by ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT/AFP via Getty Images)
'The GOAT': Anchor reacts to Simone Biles becoming most decorated US Olympic gymnast
02:28 - Source: CNN

What we covered here

  • American swimmer Katie Ledecky won her first gold of the Games in spectacular fashion with a new Olympic record in the 1500m freestyle. French swimmer Léon Marchand won two golds, setting two Olympic records to the delight of the partisan home crowd.
  • The US women’s soccer team made it three wins in a row as it beat Australia 2-1 and topped Group B ahead of the knockouts.
  • The US men’s basketball team, led by LeBron James, Steph Curry and others, cruised past surprise package South Sudan, 103-86, to win its second game in Paris.
  • Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo declared, “We won our bet,” after the men’s and women’s triathlon took place today in the River Seine with Great Britain’s Alex Yee and France’s Cassandre Beaugrand winning gold. Poor water quality levels had forced the cancellation of training sessions and the postponement of the men’s race.
  • Check out our Olympic medal tracker for the latest results.
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In pictures: What you may have missed on Day 5 of the Paris Olympics

Katie Ledecky has done it again.

The American swimming legend crushed the rest of the field Wednesday in her signature event — the 1,500-meter freestyle — and broke her own Olympic record in the process. She finished in 15:30.02, a full 10 seconds faster than her closest competitor.

Wednesday also saw the completion of the men’s and women’s triathlons in the River Seine, after poor water quality levels had forced the cancellation of training sessions and the postponement of the men’s race.

Spain’s Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz, nicknamed “Nadalcaraz,” fell in straight sets to Americans Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram in their men’s doubles quarterfinal. The loss means Nadal will not continue in Paris, as his future in tennis is uncertain as injuries continue to plague him.

Here are some of the day’s most compelling pictures:

Katie Ledecky, second from top, enjoys a comfortable lead against her competitors in the 1,500 free.
Sinagapore's Zeng Jian focuses during a table tennis match on July 31.
Spain's Rafael Nadal waves goodbye after he and doubles partner Carlos Alcaraz were knocked out in the quarterfinals by the United States' Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram on July 31. Nadal’s future in tennis is uncertain as injuries continue to plague him.
Exhausted triathletes catch their breath at the end of the competition on July 31.
Hungarian fencer Krisztian Rabb, left, faces South Korea's Park Sang-won on July 31. South Korea won gold in the team sabre event. 
Italian canoeist Marta Bertoncelli competes in the C-1 event on July 31.
Brazilian soccer legend Marta leaves the field in tears after receiving a red card during a match against Spain on July 31. She was sent off for a reckless and dangerous challenge on Olga Carmona. Marta, a six-time FIFA World Player of the Year, has said she’s retiring from international play following this tournament, so the red card could mark an ignominious end to her glittering national team career.
French cyclist Anthony Jeanjean competes in front of the Luxor Obelisk in Paris during the BMX freestyle final on July 31. He won the bronze. 

See more of the best photos of the Paris Olympics.

Coming up tomorrow: Simone Biles will compete in the women's all-around final

Simone Biles of Team United States competes on the floor during the artistic gymnastics women's team final on July 30.

Simone Biles won her eighth Olympic medal on Tuesday in the women’s team finals — becoming the most decorated American gymnast of all time. But she’s not done yet.

Tomorrow, Biles will compete in the women’s all-around final, which begins at 6:15 p.m. local time (12:15 p.m. ET). Suni Lee has also qualified to compete in this event.

And after that, you have three more opportunities to watch Bile’s compete at the Olympics and possibly add to her medal count:

  • Saturday: Women’s vault final, 4:20 p.m. local time (10:20 a.m. ET). Jade Carey also qualified to compete in this event.
  • August 5: Women’s balance beam final, 12:38 p.m. local time (6:38 a.m. ET). Lee will compete in this event, too.
  • August 5: Women’s floor exercise final, 2:23 a.m. local time (8:23 a.m. ET). Jordan Chiles qualified to compete in this event as well.

Despite six-point deduction for illegal drone use, Canada's women advance to Paris knockout stage

Canada beat Colombia 1-0 to reach the knockout stage of the women’s Olympic soccer tournament despite a six-point deduction over a drone-spying controversy.

Vanessa Gilles scored her second goal of the tournament with a thumping header in the 61st minute to secure the win for the Canucks.

Amidst the drone-spying drama that has embroiled the team and had one staffer being given a suspended prison sentence over the incident, Canada managed to win all three of its matches to secure second place in Group A with three points.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport dismissed Canada’s appeal of the six-point deduction on Wednesday morning, just hours before the final group stage games.

As part of the fallout, the team’s coach, Bev Priestman, and two team officials were also banned by FIFA from any football-related activity for a year.

Canada will now face 2016 Olympic gold medalist Germany in the quarterfinals.

US’ Danielle Collins and Desirae Krawczyk knocked out of women’s doubles

Americans Danielle Collins and Desirae Krawczyk’s doubles run has ended in the second-round, falling to the Ukrainian sibling pair of Lyudmyla and Nadiia Kichenok 3-6 6-4 [10]-[7].

Collins surprisingly competed in the match despite retiring from her singles match against Iga Świątek earlier today. The American had left the court for a medical timeout before returning to the court for two more games.

The 30-year-old Collins is retiring at the end of this season and explained her reasons for withdrawing from her match against the three-time defending French Open champion and world No. 1, noting the brutal “conditions.”

Collins also stated that she told Świątek that “she didn’t have to be insincere about my injury.”

Krawczyk is not competing in the singles competition, so her Olympics run is also over.

The Ukrainian twin sisters will play Spain’s Cristina Bucșa and Sara Sorribes Tormo in the quarterfinals tomorrow at 1 p.m. local time (7 a.m. ET).

Léon Marchand does something even Michael Phelps never did

Leon Marchand of Team France celebrates after winning gold in the Men's 200m Breaststroke Final on July 31.

In addition to his two Olympic record-setting performances, Léon Marchand also made a different type of history Wednesday.

By winning two individual Olympic gold medals in one night, Marchand accomplished a feat not done since the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal.

That’s a history-making result that not even Michael Phelps, the greatest swimmer of all time, ever managed to pull off.

Team USA’s men’s 3x3 basketball is upset by Poland as it remains winless through two games 

First the women and now the men.

Just a short while after the Team USA’s women’s team lost in surprising fashion to Azerbaijan, the men’s team followed in a similar manner, this time being defeated by Poland 19-17.

The US team comprised of Jimmer Fredette, Canyon Barry, Kareem Maddox and Dylan Travis had no answer for Poland’s relentless physicality.

In particular, seven-foot-one Adrian Bogucki dominated inside for Poland, the top scorer in the game with seven points as well as adding five rebounds.

Barry and Travis both led the US in scoring with six points each.

Like their female counterparts, the defeat means the US sits bottom of the men’s pool after two defeats to open its Olympic Games in Paris. 

Team USA's men's basketball squad comfortably defeats South Sudan, 103-86

Lebron James of Team USA goes up for a dunk during the game against South Sudan on July 31.

The US men’s basketball team is 2-0 to start the Olympics and is moving on to the quarterfinals.

LeBron James, Kevin Durant and the rest of the loaded squad put in a much-improved performance from their last clash with South Sudan, keeping their opponents at arm’s length throughout the matchup.

South Sudan – the only African side in men’s basketball competition – battled hard but was ultimately no match for the firepower of Team USA.

The fourth quarter was highlighted by two monster dunks from Los Angeles Lakers teammates Anthony Davis and James, putting the exclamation point on another convincing victory.

It was not all smooth sailing for the US, with superstar point guard Steph Curry going 1-for-9 from the field and scoring only 3 points in the game.

Bam Adebayo led Team USA in scoring with 18 points on 80% shooting. Five other American players scored in double figures in a display that was underscored by offensive efficiency and effective ball movement.

South Sudan’s Nuni Omot led all scorers with 24.

The US moves to the top of Group C with four points and has already booked its place in the next round. It will play Puerto Rico in its last group game on Saturday.

South Sudan will take on Serbia in its final group game on Saturday, with the winner going on to book its place in the quarterfinals. The loser will have to hope that it finishes as one of the two highest-ranked third-placed teams of the group phase to make it to the knockouts.

Check out who took home gold today

A total of 18 gold medals were awarded on Wednesday, across several different sports.

Here’s a look at who took home the gold:

Artistic Gymnastics

  • Men’s All-Around: Shinnosuke Oka, Japan

Canoe Slalom

  • Women’s Canoe Single: Jessica Fox, Australia

Cycling BMX Freestyle

  • Women’s Park: Deng Yawen, China
  • Men’s Park: José Torres Gil, Argentina

Diving

  • Women’s Synchronized 10m Platform: China

Fencing

  • Men’s Sabre Team: South Korea

Judo

  • Women’s -70kg: Barbara Matić, Croatia
  • Men’s -90kg: Lasha Bekauri, Georgia

Rowing

  • Men’s Quadruple Sculls: Netherlands
  • Women’s Quadruple Sculls: Great Britain

Shooting

  • Women’s Trap: Adriana Ruano Oliva, Guatemala

Swimming

  • Women’s 100m Freestyle: Sarah Sjöström, Sweden
  • Men’s 200m Butterfly: Léon Marchand, France
  • Women’s 1500m Freestyle: Katie Ledecky, United States
  • Men’s 200m Breaststroke: Léon Marchand, France
  • Men’s 100m Freestyle: Pan Zhanle, China

Triathlon

  • Women’s Individual: Cassandre Beaugrand, France
  • Men’s Individual: Alex Yee, Great Britain

Pan Zhanle of China breaks his own world record in the 100-meter freestyle to win gold

Zhanle Pan of Team China celebrates after winning the Men's 100m Freestyle Final and setting a new world record on July 31.

Pan Zhanle of China just set the first world record in swimming in these Olympic Games, shattering his own world record in the 100-meter freestyle as he took home the gold in one of the fastest races in swimming.

Pan took .4 seconds off his world record time, which he set earlier this year, to set a new all-time best mark in a pool that has been derided as slow by competitors throughout these Games.

Gold: Pan Zhanle of China —46.40

Silver: Kyle Chalmers of Australia — 47.48

Bronze: David Popovici of Romania — 47.49

Léon Marchand sets another Olympic record in dominant 200-meter breaststroke victory

Léon Marchand of Team France competes in the Men's 200m Breaststroke Final on July 31.

Another race, another gold medal, another Olympic record for Léon Marchand of France.

The Frenchman is now the biggest star of this Olympics for his home nation, capturing his third gold medal of the Games, this time in the 200-meter breaststroke.

It was an electric race with cries of “Allez!” coming from the French fans in line with every stroke, shouting every time Marchand surfaced. He led the entire race and never looked to be in trouble.

The Frenchman took the Olympic record away from Zac Stubblety-Cook of Australia, who claimed silver. The Australian set the previous record three years ago in Tokyo.

Gold: Léon Marchand of France – 2:05.85

Silver: Zac Stubblety-Cook of Australia – 2:06.79

Bronze: Caspar Corbeau of the Netherlands – 2:07.90

Team USA resisting South Sudan comeback

Team USA may have briefly gotten flashbacks to its all-too-close warmup game against South Sudan, but it has managed to hold off a rally from the African nation.

Steve Kerr’s squad leads 73-57 heading into the final quarter.

After the USA’s advantage ballooned to 21 in the third quarter off a Steph Curry lob to Jayson Tatum, the Bright Stars began to eat into the lead, cutting it to 10 at one point with some accurate three-point shooting.

Nuni Omot made three triples on back-to-back-back possessions for South Sudan, and it appeared that the comeback was on. But the Americans managed to maintain the daylight between the two teams as their opponents’ flurry fizzled out in the latter stages of the quarter.

South Sudan have a mountain to climb in the fourth.

Huge cheers for Ledecky as gold medal draped around her neck

Gold Medalist Katie Ledecky of Team USA poses on the podium during the Swimming medal ceremony after the Women's 1500m Freestyle Final on July 31.

The “Star-Spangled Banner” is ringing out through the arena as Katie Ledecky smiles, her eighth career gold medal around her neck.

It’s Ledecky’s second podium appearance of the Games and her first gold of Paris 2024.

The partisan home crowd also had huge cheers for Anastasiia Kirpichnikova, the French silver medalist.

South Korea defeats Hungary to take men's team sabre fencing gold

South Korea has won its sixth gold medal of the Games with a 45-41 victory over Hungary in the men’s team sabre final at the Grand Palais.

Hungary had threatened to come back into the contest before Korea held on for the win. Prior to that, France claimed bronze in the third-place match with a comfortable 45-25 win over Iran.

Korean team member Oh Sang-uk, who also won gold in individual competition, reflected on the win with reporters after the final.

“I realize this is the first time for anyone to win two medals like this and it’s a very historic moment for me and it’s a historic moment for the Republic of Korea. I’m very proud of this.”

This post has been updated with quotes from South Korea’s Oh Sang-uk.

#Results##

Team USA stunned by Azerbaijan in the women’s 3x3 basketball, remains winless after two games 

Hailey van Lith #9 of Team USA shoots the ball against Tiffany Hayes #15 of Team Azerbaijan during a Women’s Pool Round match on July 31.

We’ve already seen plenty of shocks at the Paris Games, but we might’ve just seen one of the biggest so far.

Team USA was stunned by Azerbaijan 20-17 in the women’s 3x3 basketball at Place de la Concorde.

Tiffany Hayes scored the victory-sealing basket after a breakdown in communication between US defenders allowed the Las Vegas Aces player to easily score.

Hayes led the way for Azerbaijan with 11 points, while Dina Ulyanova added a further six points in the upset.

The US was led in scoring by Los Angeles Sparks forward Dearica Hamby with seven points, while Cierra Burdick and Hailey van Lith added four and five points respectively.

It means the US sits bottom of the women’s pool after two fixtures, having lost its opening game against Germany on Tuesday. Azerbaijan has won one and lost one so far.

Team USA running away with things against South Sudan

It appears that Team USA have not made sure not to underestimate South Sudan this time around.

The star-studded side leads by 19 points at halftime, keeping the world’s youngest country at bay with stifling defense and unstoppable scoring.

Despite the array of offensive superstars on the US roster, it is perennial NBA defensive player of the year candidate Bam Adebayo that leads the team in scoring. The Miami Heat big man has 14 points, followed by LeBron James with 10 and Kevin Durant with 9.

The Re-Dream Team has managed to build a sizeable lead despite struggles from one of its biggest names – Steph Curry is scoreless and 0-for-4 from the field.

Nuni Omot scored 14 to lead the Bright Stars, who have been plagued by turnover issues, giving the ball away nine times to the USA’s five.

South Sudan made a late comeback in London against the USA – can it produce an even bigger one in Paris?

Katie Ledecky has now won a remarkable 8 gold medals

Katie Ledecky of Team USA celebrates victory after winning the Women's 1500m Freestyle Swimming Final on July 31.

With her Olympic record-setting performance in the 1,500 meter freestyle, Ledecky has now racked up eight gold medals in one of the most storied careers in US swimming.

It’s not just that Ledecky wins the 1,500m freestyle, as she has done now at three straight Olympic Games, it’s that they’re not close. She won tonight’s race by more than 10 seconds and, with her impressive swim, she now owns the 20 fastest times ever in the distance.

Ledecky has one more opportunity to win individual gold in Paris, swimming again in the 800-meter freestyle later on this week. She also swims Thursday in the 4x200m freestyle relay.

This post has been updated with more information about the win and Ledecky’s further medal opportunities.

Why Team USA’s Ilona Maher is a viral sensation

Ilona Maher of Team USA celebrates following victory during the Women's Rugby Sevens Bronze medal match against Australia on July 30.

Though she’d never medaled at the Olympics until this year, rugby star Ilona Maher was already a Team USA favorite coming into Paris for her TikTok presence. Now though, she has been recognized for her efforts on the field after helping her US side to its first ever rugby sevens medal.

“It definitely took me a minute,” she said to CNN Sport’s Coy Wire, explaining what was going through her mind at the end of the bronze medal game. “I think I didn’t realize it, even after the final whistle blew.

“I think it was seeing my family as I was answering that question it really hit me. You know, it was three years of hard work and it paid off.

“It just shows our value, our worth that we are worthy of funding, money and of attention.”

Maher told CNN that “a couple” of glasses of wine are in order when she finally gets the chance to celebrate with her family.

Away from the rugby pitch, Maher frequently appears on TikTok to make use of her platform. She’s reliably candid and silly on the app, and though she’s clearly having the time of her life with her women’s rugby teammates, she also routinely uses TikTok to refute cruel comments about her body.

“It’s hard to be confident,” she explained. “It’s hard to be that. But if you can see somebody else do it, maybe it will help you.”

The 27-year-old wonders why it was her that was given this opportunity.

“I was just thinking about that today. It was like, ‘Why me? Why me?’” she told CNN. “It’s kind of a scary burden at times, but I’m excited to get to carry it, but just trying to stay grounded. I think ‘why me’ is because I feel comfortable sharing myself and I hope that other people resonate with it.”

Read more about some the viral stars of the Games here.

"La Marseillaise" rings out for Marchand

Hearing “La Marseillaise” at a French sporting event is really just an incredible thing to behold.

One of the greatest — if not the greatest — national anthems in the world just rang out as Léon Marchand received his gold medal for the 200m butterfly. The French crowd was in full voice as spirits are soaring after their hero took gold and French swimmer Anastasiia Kirpichnikova took silver in the women’s 1,500m freestyle, which occurred just before the medal ceremony.

There’s one more chance to hear the famous call to arms from the French Revolution. Marchand races again later tonight in the 200m breaststroke, looking for his third gold of the Games.

What a night in Paris!

Katie Ledecky breaks her Olympic record in the 1,500m freestyle to get her first gold of the Games

Katie Ledecky of Team USA competes in the final of the women's 1500m freestyle swimming event on July 31.

American Katie Ledecky is going to be back in a place she’s gotten very used to: the top of the Olympics podium and she’s got a new record to come home with.

Ledecky again crushed the field in her signature race, finishing with a new Olympic record in a contest she has simply crushed over the years. Her emotion was evident as she raised her hands in victory, screaming as she finished the race.

Katie Ledecky of Team USA finishes Wednesday's race, putting an incredible distance between herself and her competitors to set a new Olympic record, on July 31.

The American superstar now owns the top 20 times ever swum in the distance: a truly remarkable feat.

The French crowd was going nuts in the final laps of the race as France’s Anastasiia Kirpichnikova took the silver. German Isabel Gose took third.

Gold: Katie Ledecky of USA — 15:30.02

Silver: Anastasiia Kirpichnikova of France — 15:40.35

Bronze: Isabel Gose of Germany — 15:41.16

This post has been updated with quotes from USA’s Katie Ledecky.