Paris Olympics:
Biles leads U.S. gymnastics team to gold; swimming glory for GB, Australian McKeown
REUTERS – Simone Biles clinched her fifth Olympic gold medal as she made a triumphant return to the women’s gymnastics team final at the Paris Games on Tuesday, reinforcing her status as one of the world’s greatest athletes just three years after abruptly withdrawing from the same event at the Tokyo Games.
Biles, the most decorated gymnast of all-time, earned the United States their fourth Olympic gold in the women’s team event with dazzling performances on all four apparatus.
The American has been on what she described as a “redemption tour” at the Paris Games after she shocked a global TV audience by suddenly withdrawing from the team final in Tokyo suffering from the “twisties”, a condition involving temporary loss of spatial awareness experienced by gymnasts while performing high-difficulty elements.
The United States finished with a total of 171.296, an impressive 5.802 points ahead of second-placed Italy.
Biles said it was too soon to reflect on her legacy and was surprised to hear from a reporter that she has now won a jaw-dropping 38 world and Olympic medals combined.
“I’m doing what I love and enjoying it, that’s all that matters to me,” she said.
“Yes, it’s amazing but I don’t think I’ll truly understand the depth of it until I walk away from the sport.”
Swimming
Australian dominator Kaylee McKeown crushed Regan Smith to extend her reign over the 100 metres backstroke before Irish trailblazer Daniel Wiffen became his nation’s first man to win an Olympic swimming medal with 800m freestyle gold on Tuesday.
Great Britain capped the night session on day four by defending their men’s 4x200 metres freestyle relay crown at a heaving La Defense Arena.
Britain’s late triumph was their first gold medal of the Paris swimming meet and condemned the United States to a second straight day without a title.
Instead, Americans had to settle for minor medals in all three events as Australia extended their lead at the top of the table with four titles to the U.S. team’s two.
Three years after driving Australia to a record haul of nine gold medals at Tokyo, the nation’s brilliant women have again done all the heavy lifting.
Backstroke queen McKeown may well end up the best of the lot, having stared down American rival Regan Smith, the would-be challenger who snatched her world record weeks before the Games.
She joins teammate Titmus and swimming icons, Ian Thorpe and Dawn Fraser, among Australians with three individual gold medals.
Fencing
Top-ranked Italy silenced a partisan crowd as they claimed the women’s epee gold medal by beating arch rivals France 30-29 in a high-octane, sudden-death fencing contest, Juliette Jabkhiro and Julien Pretot report.
Italy’s Alberta Santuccio let out a deafening scream as she touched her opponent’s arm to guarantee the gold medal as France’s Auriane Mallo-Breton, who received raucous backing from the home fans, failed to overturn Italy’s one-point lead going into the final leg.
“It was not easy to play in their home. We worked in practice to be ready to have the fans against us. The girls were good at getting past that,” Italy coach Dario Chiado told reporters.
Triathlon
AP – Cassandre Beaugrand of France won the women’s Olympic triathlon on Wednesday, making her way through a Seine River that was under scrutiny for its water quality and navigating slick roads that turned the cycling portion into a series of spills.
Her time of 1 hour, 54 minutes, 55 seconds edged Julie Derron of Switzerland by six seconds. Beth Potter of Britain captured bronze.
In the men’s race, Alex Yee of Britain held off Hayden Wilde of New Zealand by six seconds to win gold. Leo Bergere earned another medal for France by taking bronze.