PARIS — The two American men who advanced to the finals of the BMX freestyle competition Wednesday at the Place de Concorde did not make the podium.
Marcus Christopher came agonizingly close. His second run, tactical and clean, left him less than one point – 0.65 points – from besting France’s Anthony Jeanjean for bronze. But the judges determined it wasn’t enough to medal.Justin Dowell, the other USA competitor, took seventh.
Argentina’s Luis Torres Gil’s first run of 94.82 (out of 100) was enough to hang on for gold. Kieran Reilly posted a 93.91 to nearly overtake him but had to settle for silver. – Chris Bumbaca
VAIRES-SUR-MARNE, France — Team USA rowers Michelle Sechser and Molly Reckford finished third in their semifinal heat of the lightweight women’s doubles sculls Wednesday to advance to Friday’s finals at Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.
Sechser and Reckford qualified in a time of 7:05.03, behind rowing power Great Britain (6:59.79) and New Zealand (7:02.86). Sechser and Rexford finished fifth, a second behind the gold-medal winning Italian team, at the 2020 Olympic games. — David Birkett
PARIS — A day that looked to be golden for United States BMX freestyle rider Hannah Roberts ended in disappointment, but American teammate Perris Benegas took silver in the women’s BMX park freestyle competition Wednesday at Place de la Concorde. China’s Yawen Deng took gold with a best score of 92.60. Australia’s Natalya Diehm won bronze.
Roberts’ first run started auspiciously and looked to be cruising into first, the position in which she entered finals. But she could not nail a front flip at the end of her first run.
Then in her second run of two, Roberts could not land her first jump and conceded the attempt in agony. The five-time world champion and Tokyo silver medalist left Paris empty-handed. — Chris Bumbaca
Yuxi Chen and Hongchan Quan came away with the gold medal in the women’s synchronized 10-meter platform event.
Jin Mi Jo and Mi Rae Kim of North Korea placed second to take silver, while Andrea Spendolini Sirieix and Lois Toulson of Great Britain will take home the bronze.
Americans Jessica Parratto and Delaney Schnell, who won silver in Tokyo, placed sixth. Schnell will compete in the 10-meter individual event later in Paris.
Regan Smith, who has already won a silver medal in Paris in the 100-meter backstroke, posted the second-best time in prelims – and best time in her heat – for the 200m butterfly (2:06.99). Smith will move on to the semifinals in the event in which she won the silver medal in Tokyo.
Teammate Alex Shackell, at 2:07.49, also advanced with the fifth-fastest time.
American Ryan Murphy moved on to the 200-meter backstroke semifinals after finishing his heat in second place with a time of 1:57.03. Murphy finished 0.41 seconds behind Roman Mityukov of Switzerland.
Keaton Jones, 19, placed fourth in his heat and qualified for the semifinals with the 11th-fastest time at 1:57.54.
PARIS – After two days of uncertainty about whether the Olympic triathlon would be held as a full event due to unsafe bacteria levels in the River Seine, athletes finally got the go-ahead early Wednesday morning and plunged into the river under a sprinkle of rain.
By the time the women’s event entered the final few kilometers, the skies had parted and a pack of four runners were bunched tightly together, far ahead of the field.
In the end, France’s Cassandre Beaugrand made a late surge to win gold, finishing the circuit in 1 hour, 54 minutes and 55 seconds. Switzerland’s Julie Derron took silver six seconds behind, while Great Britain’s Beth Potter won the bronze.
Defending Olympic champion Flora Duffy finished in fifth place. The top American was Taylor Spivey in eighth place.
After more than 100 years of banning swimming in the Seine, France spent 1.4 billion Euros to clean it up and prevent sewage from spilling into the river in order to hold this competition. It is also a legacy project: After the Olympics, the hope by city leaders is that citizens will be able to swim in it. — Dan Wolken
Team USA’s star-studded team of LeBron James, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant and company are set to play South Sudan, a team making its first Olympic appearance. The Bright Stars are led by guard Carlik Jones, who averaged 26 points while playing for the Chicago Bulls’ G League team in 2022-23. Phoenix Suns center Bol Bol, son of Manute Bol, could also make the South Sudan roster along with Khaman Malauch, who is headed to Duke. Malauch is a 7-foot-1, 250-pound center who honed his game at the NBA Academy in Senegal.
