Biles ends Paris Olympics on high note despite rare floor slip
U.S.' Simone Biles competes in the artistic gymnastics women's balance beam final during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Bercy Arena, Paris, France, Aug. 5, 2024. (AFP Photo)


Simone Biles concluded her final day at the Paris Olympics with more accolades, further solidifying her legacy as the greatest gymnast of her generation.

The gymnast, who just a few years ago doubted her return to this level, leaves Paris – potentially her last Olympic Games – with three gold medals and a silver. On Monday, she secured the silver in the floor exercise.

This was the first time in her career that Biles did not win the floor exercise at a major competition, finishing second to Brazil's Rebeca Andrade. American gymnast Jordan Chiles claimed third after U.S. coaches reviewed and adjusted her routine’s degree of difficulty.

The review adjusted Chiles' score just enough to place her on the podium, where the three Black women posed together four days after Biles, Andrade and Sunisa Lee, who is Hmong American, stood in the same spot following the all-around. Their collective success symbolizes a sport becoming more diverse and inclusive at the highest level.

Prior to the floor exercise, Biles and Lee did not medal on the balance beam. Both gymnasts made mistakes and questioned whether the Paris organizers' decision not to play music during the events created a distracting eerie silence.

Biles is now an 11-time Olympic medalist and hasn't ruled out competing in Los Angeles in 2028.

Highlights of Day 10 of the Paris Olympics include:

Noah Lyles had no trouble in his opening 200-meter heat. It was a 20.19-second, no-drama romp around the curve, unlike his photo finish .005-second victory in the 100 on Sunday night.

Lyles beat defending Olympic champion Andre De Grasse of Canada in the 200 by .11 seconds.

Lyles is aiming to become the first man to double since Usain Bolt did it for the third time at the Rio Games in 2016. Carl Lewis is the last U.S. man to achieve it in the 100-200, back in 1984 in Los Angeles.

Also advancing in the 200 were Americans Erriyon Knighton (20.00) and Kenny Bednarek, who ran 19.97 and could be Lyles’ biggest challenger for the final on Thursday.

Valarie Allman claimed back-to-back golds in the women’s discus. She also won at the Tokyo Games.

Allman fouled on her first attempt but took the lead on her second throw with a distance of 68.74 meters. She put the competition out of reach with a 69.50-meter throw on her fourth attempt.

Keely Hodgkinson gave Britain its first athletics gold medal of the Paris Olympics by winning the women’s 800-meter final.

The victory made the 22-year-old Hodgkinson the third British woman to win Olympic 800-meter gold, joining Anne Packer at the 1964 Tokyo Games and Kelly Holmes in Athens in 2004.

Two U.S. teams fell on the sand at Eiffel Tower Stadium. Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss lost to Canada in the women’s quarterfinals a few hours after Chase Budinger and Miles Evans lost to Norway in the men’s.

Only Miles Evans and Andy Benesh advanced on the day, joining Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes in the elite eight.

Kloth and Nuss are ranked No. 2 in the world, and Nuss said she was "definitely a little heartbroken."

Brandie Wilkerson and Melissa Humana-Paredes beat Nuss and Kloth 21-19, 21-18, leaving the country that has won four of the last five women’s gold medals with just one team in the bracket.

Budinger, a former NBA player, and Evans lost in straight sets to Norway, the defending Olympic champions. Laura Ludwig of Germany, a five-time Olympian and Rio gold medalist has been eliminated, and the 42-year-old Herrera has announced his retirement.

The Seine River was deemed safe enough for swimming, and Olympic triathletes plunged into the murky water for the mixed relay event after organizers reported bacteria levels in the long-polluted Paris waterway were acceptable.

The plan to hold the swimming portion of the triathlons and the marathon swimming events in the Seine was ambitious, as swimming in the river has, with some exceptions, been off-limits since 1923 due to toxicity.

Water quality tests reviewed Sunday night indicated that the water quality at the triathlon site had improved over the preceding hours and was within World Triathlon limits by Monday morning.

In a very close sprint finish, the team from Germany won the gold medal in the team relay. The United States took silver, and Britain clinched bronze.

The decision to allow the event to proceed in the Seine came after Belgium’s Olympic committee announced Sunday it would withdraw its team from the mixed relay triathlon after one of its competitors, who swam in the river last week, fell ill. Another three triathletes – of more than 100 who competed in the men’s and women’s races last Wednesday – became sick in the following days, though it’s unclear whether the water was to blame.

Juanlu Sanchez came off the bench to lift Spain into a record-equaling fifth Olympic men’s soccer final. Sanchez scored in the 85th minute at Stade de Marseille to secure a 2-1 win over Morocco and set up a final against either France or Egypt.

Morocco led 1-0 at halftime after tournament-leading scorer Soufiane Rahimi converted a penalty in the 37th minute.

Spain equalized in the 65th minute after Fermin Lopez showed quick feet in the box and fired a left-footed shot low into the bottom corner. It was the Barcelona midfielder’s fourth goal of the tournament, and over-exuberant celebrations earned him a yellow card after kicking and breaking the corner flag.

Lopez’s assist set up Sanchez to sweep his winning goal low into the far corner.

Spain, which won gold at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, lost in the final at the Tokyo Games three years ago to Brazil.

The British trio of Katy Marchant, Sophie Capewell, and Emma Finucane shattered the world record in the women’s team sprint while beating New Zealand in a head-to-head showdown for the gold medal to open the track cycling program.

In the three-lap race, the British trio trailed Rebecca Petch, Shaane Fulton, and Ellesse Andrews after the first 250 meters. They quickly pulled ahead after the second lap and blitzed the last lap to finish in 45.196 seconds, earning their nation’s first medal inside the Vélodrome National de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines.

Despite its proud sprinting tradition, Britain had repeatedly missed the podium since the event’s debut in 2008.