The 2024 Paris Olympics keep barreling on Wednesday with a full track and field slate as well as the men’s skateboarding park final, Round 1 of women’s golf, women’s basketball quarterfinals and artistic swimming’s team acrobatic medal event.
The Olympic track and field schedule features four finals, including the women’s pole vault and men’s 400m, and Noah Lyles running in the men’s 200m semifinal.
Twenty sports in total are in action, and USA TODAY Sports will bring you live results, medal count, highlights, and more throughout the day. Follow along.
American runner shows grit to earn a spot in the 800m final
SAINT-DENIS, France – With a time of 1:46.15, Hobbs Kessler of Team USA finished third in his heat to advance to the semifinals of the men’s 800-meter event at the Paris Olympics’ track and field venue at Stade de France. In a preliminary that required a top-three finish to automatically qualify, Kessler found himself in fourth place and trailing Italy’s Simone Barontini halfway through the race, but overtook Barontini to earn the qualification.
2024 Olympic medals: Who is leading the medal count? Follow along as we track the medals for every sport.
Also qualifying was American Bryce Hoppel, who opened an early lead in the event’s final heat and finished second with a time of 1:45.24. Kessler and Hoppel will compete in semifinals Friday morning, and if they advance, in medal finals Saturday night.
Americans who qualified in other events at the morning session included Shelby McEwen (men’s high jump), Alaysha Johnson, Masai Russell and Grace Stark (women’s 100m hurdles), and Graham Blanks and Grant Fisher (men’s 5,000m). − Charles Goodbread
PARIS — The term GOAT is so often tossed around in sports. Not always carelessly, but frequently enough that it’s diminished the original meaning behind the greatest of all time acronym.
But in some instances, GOAT truly applies, and few would disagree that Michael Phelps deserves the label. GOAT swimmer. GOAT Olympian.
There will never be another — at least not in this lifetime.
Over the years, especially since Phelps retired following the 2016 Rio Games, many have been deemed “the next Michael Phelps.” At one point, it was American Caeleb Dressel. At the Paris Olympics, it’s France’s Léon Marchand.
However, there’s a huge difference between a superstar and “the next Michael Phelps,” and Dressel agreed, calling Phelps “not even a once-in-a-lifetime” swimmer but “maybe once in a, I don’t know, end-of-the-world type guy.” − Michelle Martinelli
American sport climber advances to men’s final
American sport climber Colin Duffy has advanced to the men’s boulder-and-lead finals set for Friday at the Paris Olympics.
Duffy, a 20-year-old from Colorado, entered the competition Wednesday in 11th place after the boulder semifinals on Monday. His strong performance in lead lifted him into seventh place overall, and the top eight climbers qualified for the finals.
“Just very proud,’’ said Duffy, who finished seventh at the Tokyo Games in 2021 in sport climbing’s Olympic debut. “I wanted to go out and give a climb that I could be proud of and I was able to do that.’’
Fellow American Jesse Grupper, a 27-year-older from New York making his first appearance at the Olympics, finished 18th among the 20 climbers in the boulder-and-lead semifinals.
Also, Poland’s Aleksandra Miroslaw won the gold medal in the women’s speed climb while China’s Lijuan Deng took silver and Poland’s Aleksandra Kaluka took bronze Wednesday. American Emma Hunt reached the quarterfinals but slipped during her heat and failed to advance to the semifinals. – Josh Peter
Greek pole vaulter out of Olympics after doping test
Greek pole vaulter Eleni-Klaoudia Polak has been provisionally suspended after testing positive at the Paris Olympics, according to the IOC.
Polak, 27, competed in qualifying, clearing a jump of 13 feet, 9 ¼ inches but didn’t advance to the final. Paris was her second Olympics as she didn’t make it out of qualifying at the Tokyo Games.
At the world championships, Polak’s best result was 22nd at the 2022 worlds held in Eugene, Oregon. According to her bio on the IOC web site, she took up the sport at age 14 after a coach saw her training in gymnastics and encouraged her to try pole vault.
Carson Tyler earns spot in men’s 3m springboard diving finals
Team USA diver Carson Tyler improved significantly from his prelims performance and finished seventh in Wednesday’s men’s 3-meter springboard semifinals, advancing to the final among the top-12 divers.
Tyler, a 20-year-old first-time Olympian, finished with a score of 438.00 – his prelims score was 389.80 – and will try to make the podium in the final set for Thursday. His highest-scoring dive came in the fifth and sixth rounds, the final two – first a reverse 3 ½ somersaults in the tuck position with a 3.5 degree of difficulty, followed by a reverse 1 ½ somersaults with 3 ½ twists in the free position with a 3.5 degree of difficulty – earning him scores of 78.75.
Two-time Olympic diver Andrew Capobianco, 24, placed 15th with a final score of 407.65, missing the cut for the final. The 24-year-old American struggled through the semifinals, but he earned his best score of 83.60 on his sixth-round dive: a forward 4 ½ somersaults in the tuck position with a degree of difficulty of 3.8.
At the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, Capobianco finished 10th in the men’s 3-meter springboard, but he earned a silver medal in the men’s synchronized 3-meter springboard competition.
The divers to beat in the men’s 3-meter springboard are the three defending Olympic medalists from the 2021 Tokyo Games: Xie Siyi, who won gold, Wang Zongyuan with silver and Jack Laugher with bronze.
Wang and Xie, representing China, enter finals ranked first (537.85) and second (505.85), respectively, while Great Britain’s Laugher is ranked third (467.05).
The men’s 3-meter springboard final is set for Thursday at 9 a.m. ET. — Michelle Martinelli
American duo move on to men’s 5000m finals
SAINT-DENIS, France — Americans Graham Blanks and Grant Fisher advanced to the medal finals of the men’s 5,000-meter race at the Stade de France track and field venue of the Paris Games on Wednesday. Blanks made up some critical ground over the last 1,000 meters to finish sixth in a time of 14:09.06 in Heat 1. He made his move just early enough to avoid a calamitous tumble that occurred right behind him, as one racer tripped, fell, and triggered falls for three others.
The top eight in each of two heats qualified for the finals, and Blanks was running 10th after 4,000 meters. In Heat 2, Fisher finished fourth with a time of 13:52.44 to give Team USA two runners in a medal-finals field of 16. American Abdihamid Nur was in fourth place after 4,000 meters, but a late fall cost him a last-place finish of 14:15.00. — Chase Goodbread
Three Americans advance to semis for women’s 100m hurdles
There will be a heavy Team USA presence Friday in the semifinals of the women’s 100 hurdles event at the Paris Games’ Stade de France venue for track and field. Three of four Americans competing earned automatic qualifications in the preliminaries on Wednesday, including Alaysha Johnson, Masai Russell and Grace Stark.
Johnson placed second in Heat 1 with a 12.61 clocking, while Russell tied for the win in Heat 3 (12.53, same as the Netherlands’ Nadine Visser). Stark ran in the final heat and posted a 12.72 time to finish third.
Team USA’s Ebony Morrison ran a 12.93 to finish sixth in Heat 2.
Medal finals in the event are scheduled for Saturday. — Chase Goodbread
Olympics schedule today
Here are some Olympic schedule highlights. Peacock is streaming every sport and event live as it unfolds in Paris.
(All times Eastern)
- Track and field prelims and qualifying rounds start at 4:05 a.m. The evening session opens with the women’s pole vault final and ends with the men’s 3,000m steeplechase. In addition, the marathon race walk relay starts at 1;30 a.m. NBC is airing the evening session. USA Network is airing the morning session.
- Women’s basketball holds four quarterfinal games today, Australia vs. Serbia at 5 a.m. (E!), Belgium vs. Spain at 8:30 a.m. (USA Network), France vs. Germany at noon and the U.S. vs. Nigeria at 3:30 p.m. (USA Network).
- Volleyball is in the semifinals, where the U.S. men will play Poland at 10 a.m.
- Skateboarding holds prelims (6:30 a.m., USA Network) and finals for men’s park (11:30 a.m., USA Network).
- Beach volleyball wraps up the quarterfinal round today. The U.S. men’s team of Andrew Benesh and Miles Partain plays Qatar at 4 p.m.
- Men’s water polo gets into the quarterfinal round today. The U.S. men’s team plays Australia at 1 p.m.
- Other sports in action: Taekwondo, golf, canoe sprint, handball, diving, sport climbing, table tennis, wrestling, sailing, track cycling, field hockey, artistic swimming, weightlifting and boxing.
How to watch Olympics today
NBC is airing and streaming the Paris Olympics from all angles: Peacock is streaming every sport and event live as it unfolds; NBC, USA Network, CNBC and E! are carrying various live events and replays throughout the day. Here are 6 tips and tricks for getting the most out of Peacock during the Olympics.
Medal count today
Our 2024 Paris Olympics medal count tracker updates after every single medal event.
Which U.S. teams are playing at the Olympics today?
- The U.S. women’s golf team opens play with Round 1, which starts at 3 a.m. Team USA tee times: Rose Zhang, 3:44 a.m.; Nelly Korda, 3:55 a.m.; Lilia Vu, 5:55 a.m.
- The U.S. men’s volleyball team plays Poland in a semifinal at 10 a.m.
- The U.S. men’s water polo team plays Australia in the quarterfinals at 1 p.m.
- The U.S. women’s basketball team plays Nigeria in a quarterfinal at 3:30 p.m.
- The U.S. men’s beach volleyball team of Andrew Benesh and Miles Partain plays Qatar in a quarterfinal at 4 p.m.
What Olympic medals can be won today?
- Track & field: women’s pole vault (1 p.m.), men’s discus (2:25 p.m.), men’s 400m (3:20 p.m.), men’s 3,000m steeplechase (3:40 p.m.). NBC is airing the finals.
- Skateboarding: men’s park final (11:30 a.m., USA Network)
- Boxing: Four semifinal bouts (3:30 p.m., 3:46 p.m., 4:02 p.m., 4:18 p.m.), two final bouts (4:34 p.m., 4:51 p.m.)
- Marathon: Race walk mixed relay (1:30 a.m., USA Network)
- Artistic swimming: team acrobatic routine (1:30 p.m., E!)
- Taekwondo: Four bronze medal contests (2:19 p.m. start), two gold medal contests (3:23 p.m. and 3:39 p.m.)
- Cycling track: men’s team pursuit bronze (12:25 p.m.), men’s team pursuit gold (12:33 p.m.), women’s team pursuit gold (12:57 p.m., E!)
- Sport climbing: women’s speed final (6:55 a.m., E!)
- Wrestling: six medal events (1:30 p.m. start, runs through about 4 p.m.)
- Weightlifting: men’s 61kg (9 a.m.), women’s 49kg (1:30 p.m.)
Olympic track and field schedule today
- Qualifications: men’s high jump (4:05 a.m.), women’s javelin throw group a (4:25 a.m.), women’s javelin throw group b (5:50 a.m.), men’s triple jump (1:15 p.m.)
- Repechage rounds: women’s 1,500m (6:45 a.m.)
- Round 1s: women’s 100m hurdles (4:15 a.m.), men’s 5,000m (5:10 a.m.), men’s 800m (5:55 a.m.)
- Semifinals: men’s 110m hurdles (1:05 a.m.), men’s 400m hurdles (1:35 p.m.), men’s 200m (2:02 p.m.), women’s 400m (2:45 p.m.)
- Finals: marathon race walk mixed relay (1:30 a.m.), women’s pole vault final (1 p.m.), men’s discus final (2:25 p.m.), men’s 400m (3:20 p.m.), men’s 3,000m steeplechase (3:40 p.m.)
Olympic track today: What to watch
Quincy Hall could be one to watch in the men’s 400. Hall ran hurdles at the University of South Carolina but had a breakout performance at last year’s world championships. In Budapest last August, Hall ran a personal-best 44.37 in the men’s 400 final, taking the bronze. He went on to run the opening leg of the men’s 4×400 relay that won gold.
Olympic golf today: What to watch
The women’s tournament gets under way with Nelly Korda, the Tokyo Olympic champion, expected to play in Paris. Korda recovered from a double bogey in the final round in Tokyo, finishing two-under 69 and one shot ahead of Japan’s Mone Inami and New Zealand’s Lydia Ko.
Olympic skateboard today: What to watch
Jagger Eaton is ranked No. 2 in men’s park leading up to the Paris Olympics. The skater from Mesa, Arizona, is expected to compete in both street and park events. The park competition, with the prelims and final on Aug. 7, is held on a course of ramps, bumps and jumps designed to what athletes would see at a skatepark.
India’s Vinesh Phogat out of gold medal bout vs. American after failing to make weight
Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat was disqualified before the women’s 50kg freestyle final at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday after failing to make weight, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) said.
Phogat had been set to lock horns with Sarah Hildebrandt of the United States for the gold medal.
“It is with regret that the Indian contingent shares news of the disqualification of Vinesh Phogat from the women’s wrestling 50kg class,” the IOA said in a statement.
“Despite the best efforts by the team through the night, she weighed in a few grams over 50kg this morning.”
The disqualification means Phogat will not receive a medal.
United World Wrestling, the international governing body of the sport, has yet to issue a statement. — Reuters
PARIS — If the United States is about to relinquish its stranglehold on Olympic men’s basketball this week, they’ve nicely hidden the plot twist.
Watching this U.S. team at full force inspires nostalgia for simpler NBA times, back in the days you knew before the season started that Golden State and Cleveland were going to be in the Finals. It also keeps a thought in the back of your mind: This is an end more than a beginning. — Gentry Estes
LYON, France — Exactly one year ago, the U.S. women’s national team was at the lowest point in its illustrious history, knocked out of the World Cup in the quarterfinals in what was the team’s earliest exit ever at a major international tournament.
On Tuesday, they reached the gold medal match at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where they will face Brazil, which beat Spain 4-2 to advance.
In exactly 366 days — 2024 is a leap year, you know — the Americans have gone from the despair of that shocking exit to playing for another major title. What a difference a year makes. — Nancy Armour
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