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PARIS: American sprinter Gabrielle Thomas said she “could not believe it” after winning the women’s 200m title at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday, while controversial Algerian boxer Imani Khelif won her latest bout to advance into the gold medal race.
Thomas ran strongly under the lights of the Stade de France to beat newly crowned 100m champion Julian Alfred of Saint Lucia, who took the silver medal, to win the first major title of her career.
Meanwhile, Cuban wrestler Mijain Lopez made Olympic history by becoming the first athlete to win five consecutive individual gold medals in the same event.
Lopez, who will turn 42 in two weeks, defeated Chile’s Yasmani Acosta in the 130kg Greco-Roman wrestling final.
With the win, Lopez broke the previous record of four individual Olympic gold medals shared with Carl Lewis (track and field/long jump), Michael Phelps (swimming/200m medley), Katie Ledecky (swimming/800m freestyle), Al Ott (track and field/discus), Paul Elfstrom (sailing) and Kaoru Icho (wrestling).
In the basketball quarterfinals, LeBron James and his United States teammates easily defeated Brazil, winning 122-87, with Devin Booker leading the way with 18 points and Anthony Edwards scoring 17 points.
They next face Serbia, which rallied from a 24-point deficit to win 95-90 in overtime over Australia, a win that was largely due to a late effort by three-time NBA Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic.
CLOSE TO GOLD
Khalif won her semifinal match to the cheers of the Roland Garros crowd, earning her at least a silver medal.
She defeated 2023 world silver medalist Janjaem Suwannapheng of Thailand by unanimous points decision to advance to Friday’s women’s 66kg final.
The boxing event in the French capital was being staged by the International Olympic Committee due to concerns about the way the International Boxing Association (IBA) governs the sport.
Ireland’s Kellie Harrington successfully defended her 60kg boxing title, winning the first gold medal of this Olympics and leading her fans in wild celebrations.
Cuban gold medalist Mitjan Lopez Nunes holds his medal as he becomes the first athlete to win the same event at five consecutive Olympics. —Reuters
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Thomas became the first American woman to win an Olympic sprint title since her childhood idol, Allyson Felix, won the 200 meters at the 2012 London Olympics.
She won the title in 21.83 seconds, ahead of Alfred, while her American teammate Brittany Brown took the bronze medal.
“I really can’t believe it because it’s my wildest dream to win an Olympic gold medal. But at the same time, I know how hard I’ve worked for this,” said Thomas, who said he drew inspiration from watching teammates Noah Lyles and Shakari Richardson, and even Alfred, compete in the men’s and women’s 100 meters over the weekend.
Alfred had no complaints about missing out on the sprint double.
“I definitely feel like I’m ready for the 200m tonight,” she said, “I feel good and I’m not complaining at all.”
It was the first time since the 1976 Montreal Olympics that a Jamaican sprinter did not finish on the podium in the women’s 100m or 200m events.
In a major upset in track and field, American Cole Hocker won the men’s 1500m title after a strong performance down the home straight to outpace pre-race favorites Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Josh Kerr.
USA vs. Brazil
The United States and Brazil will face off for the gold medal in women’s soccer after defeating Germany and World Cup defending champion Spain, respectively, in Tuesday’s quarterfinals.
The United States, a four-time gold medalist in women’s soccer, remains on course for its first title since 2012 as it beat Germany 1-0 in extra time in Lyon, with Sophia Smith scoring the lone goal.
Brazil reached its first Olympic final since 2008 by defeating the reigning world champions 4-2 in Marseille.
On the other hand, organizers decided on Tuesday to cancel a “familiarization course” for marathon swimmers, raising questions about why triathletes were allowed to swim in the Seine the day before.
Organisers said on Tuesday they were “very confident” the women’s and men’s 10km swims would go ahead as planned at the river this week.
The United States topped the medal table with 24 gold medals, two more than China, while Australia had 13. —AFP
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