August 8, 2024, Olympics news and results

We’ve wrapped up our live coverage for the day. Follow the latest Olympics updates here.

We were treated to a truly stunning few hours of the Olympic Games on Thursday night in Paris.

From Letsile Tebogo’s historic upset of Noah Lyles in the 200-meter final to the US men’s basketball 17-point comeback against Serbia, here are some of the standout moments from a historic evening in Paris:

Botswana's Letsile Tebogo celebrates after winning the 200 meters on August 8. His time of 19.46 seconds was the fifth-fastest in history.

Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo made history in more ways than one with his gold medal performance tonight in the men’s 200-meter race, and the emotional sprinter dedicated the win to his late mother.

Tebogo’s mother, Elizabeth Seratiwa, passed away last May, according to Olympics.com. On the track tonight, Letsile showed the camera that his racing spikes were marked with her birth date, and had her initials painted on his fingernails.

Tebogo’s victorious dash marks Botswana’s first ever Olympic gold and made him the first African in history to win the Olympic 200-meter sprint.

Tebogo is one of more than 600 International Olympic Committee scholarship holders at Paris 2024, according to Olympic organizers.

Tebogo’s victorious run was in some ways overshadowed tonight by the shocking revelation that American sprinter Noah Lyles, who finished a surprising third in the race, had Covid-19.

But Lyles was quick to turn the spotlight back toward the African sprinter, sharing his congratulations in a message on social media:

Lebron James and Stephen Curry of the United States celebrate after their team's win against Serbia during a the men's basketball semifinals match at Bercy Arena on Thursday.

Team USA has produced a breathtaking comeback to defeat Serbia 95-91 and advance to the men’s basketball gold medal game.

Serbia — led by three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokić — led by 17 points at one stage during the second quarter but saw its lead evaporate against the supercharged offense of the US.

Two of the sport’s biggest names, LeBron James and Steph Curry, led the charge with some clutch buckets down the stretch as the defending Olympic champions avoided what would have been an all-time upset.

Team USA will take on host nation France in the gold medal game.

Serbia's Nikola Jokic and USA's LeBron James fight for the ball.

And just like that, the US has a five-point lead with just over 90 seconds left! What a turn of events here in Paris.

Steph Curry hits a big triple, LeBron James follows up with a powerful drive and lay-up and Curry again comes up big as he takes it to the hole and the US grabs control of the game.

Wow!

USA's LeBron James reacts during the semifinal match against Serbia.

Who else but LeBron James?

The NBA legend just drove to the bucket to level the score at 84 in the final minutes of this thrilling semifinal.

Team USA was down by 17 points at one stage in the second quarter but has battled its way back to eradicate the Serbian lead.

American sprinter Noah Lyles is not at tonight’s news conference for the medalists of the men’s 200-meter race.

Lyles announced after his bronze medal finish that he tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday.

Lyles’ name was on a placard marking where he would sit at the news conference, but it was removed just before it began.

A huge Devin Booker triple has put the US within five points of Serbia.

Steve Kerr’s players were left with a mountain to climb but have battled hard to leave themselves with a fighting chance as the game enters the closing stages.

Serbia’s talisman Nikola Jokić could be in trouble as the matchup winds down – he is on four fouls, one away from fouling out of the game.

USA's Anthony Davis fights for the ball with Serbia's Nikola Jokic.

Team USA has 10 minutes to save its Olympic skin.

Serbia leads by 13 points heading into the fourth quarter and is on track to complete one of the biggest upsets in Olympic basketball history.

The US trimmed the lead to six at one point but couldn’t keep the momentum going. A huge and-one on a three-pointer from guard Marko Gudurić highlighted another strong third period for the Serbs.

Can they hold on to produce an all-time shock?

Noah Lyles was hoping to compete for three gold medals in these Olympics. He’s won one, taken bronze in another and was going to compete in the men’s 4x100-meter relay on Saturday.

It’s not clear now if that’ll happen after his positive Covid-19 test.

Noah Lyles told reporters after his 200-meter race on Thursday that few people were aware of his Covid-19 diagnosis.

“We were trying to keep this close to the chest. The people who knew were the medical staff, coach, my mom,” he said.

Noah Lyles is taken off from the track with a wheelchair.

US sprinter Noah Lyles says he was feeling light-headed, had shortness of breath and experienced chest pain after his race, requiring help from medical personnel.

Lyles could be seen lying down on the track almost immediately after he finished the race and required the use of a wheelchair to get to the locker room area.

Lyles’ surprising loss in the 200-meter sprint was closely followed by revelations that he has Covid-19.

Noah Lyles reacts after competing in the men's 200m final at Stade de France in Saint-Denis.

US sprinting star Noah Lyles’ surprise defeat in tonight’s 200-meter race, his signature event, was quickly bumped from the headlines by revelations he tested positive for Covid-19 earlier this week.

Kate Hartman, the chief external affairs officer for the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee, said in a statement that the group supported Lyles’ decision to compete despite his illness.

Lyles was seen wearing a mask before the race and said he “quarantined off” following his diagnosis, but further details were not immediately available on the measures taken to prevent the spread of his illness to others.

“Our primary commitment is to ensure the safety of Team USA athletes while upholding their right to compete. After a thorough medical evaluation, Noah chose to compete tonight. We respect his decision and will continue to monitor his condition closely.”

Other positive tests: Covid-19 has made its unfortunate presence known at these Paris Games, as Lyles is far from the only athlete to test positive for the virus during the Olympics.

Five players on Australia’s women’s water polo team and Team GB swimmer Adam Peaty tested positive for Covid-19 last week.

Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan celebrates after winning gold and a new olympic record at Stade de France.

Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan stunned the crowd — and the rest of the field — with an Olympic record throw of 92.97 meters in the second round of the javelin final.

It proved to be an unbeatable mark as Nadeem claimed the gold medal and dethroned India’s Neeraj Chopra as Olympic champion.

Nadeem is now Pakistan’s first Olympic medal winner since 1992 and, just to put on even more of a show, he throws a mammoth 91.79 meters with his last throw to own the two biggest throws of the night.

A truly dominant performance.

Chopra’s mark of 89.45 meters, the second best of his career, was good enough for silver, while Grenada’s Anderson Peters threw 88.54 meters for bronze.

It was Grant Holloway’s turn to be crowned Olympic champion this time around.

The Tokyo silver medalist left no room for doubt as he took over the men’s 110m hurdles final from the start, crossing the finish line in 12.99 seconds.

His teammate Daniel Roberts finished second with 13.09, just ahead of Jamaica’s Rasheed Broadbell who ran the same time.

This is the third gold medal for Team USA this evening at Stade de France.

Day one of the women’s heptathlon is over as the fourth and final discipline of the day, the 200m sprint, wraps up.

It’s Britain’s Katerina Johnson-Thompson who steals the show with a thunderous run of 23.44 to win her heat and reclaim the overall lead in the standings.

“It’s been a great day one for me, I can’t complain about day one as a whole,” Johnson-Thompson said. “Some ups and down. I got a PB (personal best) in the shot put, to throw 14 meters has been a long time coming.”

Nafissatou Thiam finishes a strong second place in her heat with a season-best time of 24.66.

Johnson-Thompson has 4055 points — a slender 48 point lead over Thiam, who’s on 4007, with USA’s Anna Hall on 3956 points.

It’s all to play for on Friday with the javelin, long jump and concluding 800m left to decide who will be crowned the heptathlon queen in Paris.

This post has been updated with quotes from Great Britain’s Katerina Johnson-Thompson.

Serbia's Vasilije Micic challenges USA's LeBron James in the men's semifinal basketball at the Bercy Arena.

Who saw this one coming?

In the men’s basketball semifinal, the all-conquering Team USA is being easily handled by Serbia, who are led by three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokić.

The Serbs hold a 54-43 advantage at the half, having made 10 triples across the first two quarters. The US has a mountain to climb in the second half if it is to avoid what would be a stunning upset.

The Americans will be hoping that Steph Curry can rediscover some of his hot three-point shooting from the first quarter and help lead the comeback attempt.

Bronze medallist Noah Lyles of the United States is pictured in a protective face mask after receiving medical attention.

American sprinter Noah Lyles woke up feeling “horrible” on Tuesday and tested positive for Covid-19, but he never considered dropping out of tonight’s highly anticipated 200-meter sprint, he told US Olympic broadcaster NBC.

Lyles — who fell short of his second sprinting win at the Paris Games, earning bronze while Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo took gold — wore a mask during an interview with the network just a short time after he received attention from medical personnel on the track following the race’s conclusion.

Lyles said he woke up “feeling really horrible” early Tuesday morning and “knew it was more than just being sore from the 100-(meter sprint).”

After receiving the positive test, Lyles said he didn’t want to panic, and that he’s been in “worse situations” for races before. He said he “quarantined off” and focused on trying to hydrate and rest.

He told the broadcaster he never considered not running the 200-meter final, but said his status is unclear for participating in future Team USA events at the Olympics.

“At the moment, I don’t know,” Lyles said, of whether he’ll run in the men’s 4x100-meter relay. “I’m feeling more on the side of, you know, letting Team USA do their thing. They’ve proven with great certainty that they can handle it without me.”

This post has been updated with additional quotes from Lyles.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone in the women's 400m hurdles final at Stade de France.

Team USA superstar and defending 400m hurdles champion Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone put on a spectacular show at the Stade de France to defend her crown and retain her gold medal.

The 25-year-old smashed her own world record to take the win in 50.37 seconds.

As if that weren’t enough, McLaughlin-Levrone becomes the first woman to ever win two 400m hurdles Olympic crowns.

She runs around the Stade de France celebrating with a US flag and a crown on her head.

Anna Cockrell from the US took silver running a big personal best of 51.87.

Bronze went to the Netherlands’ Femke Bol, who was tipped as the one athlete who could potentially beat McLaughlin-Levrone, with 52.15.

Bol and McLaughlin-Levrone were going head-to-head for much of the race, but the American pulled away as they entered the final 100 meters.

McLaughlin-Levrone is currently in a league of her own and will have her eyes set on becoming the first woman to go under 50 seconds.

She still has one race left at these Olympics as the USA aims to defend its 4x400m relay title.

Anthony Davis of the United States is seen in action with Filip Petrusev and Nikola Jokic of Serbia.

Is there a massive upset brewing inside the Bercy Arena?

The Serbian offense has caught fire to expand the lead to double digits in the middle of the second quarter to leave LeBron James and Co. reeling.

Team USA’s defense has not exactly been airtight throughout the tournament, but its supercharged offense has been enough to blow every team in its path so far.

However, Steve Kerr’s side is struggling to find clean looks anywhere on the court and incapable of shutting down Serbia inside the paint and from beyond the arc.

This is must-watch stuff.