AP Sports

Simone Biles caps Paris Olympics ‘Redemption Tour’ with one last medal — silver in floor routine

PARIS (AP) — American gymnast Simone Biles didn’t get the golden sendoff she hoped. Biles earned silver in the floor exercise finals on Monday after a routine that included a couple of costly steps out of bounds. Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade became the first gymnast to beat Biles in a floor final in a major international competition, posting a score of 14.166 that finished just ahead of Biles at 14.133. It was Biles’ 11th Olympic medal. Jordan Chiles, a longtime friend of Biles, earned the bronze.

Olympic boxer Imane Khelif calls for end to bullying after backlash over gender misconceptions

PARIS (AP) — Olympic boxer Imane Khelif says the wave of hateful scrutiny she has faced over misconceptions about her gender “harms human dignity.” She called for an end to bullying athletes after being greatly affected by the international backlash against her. The Algerian athlete spoke about her tumultuous Olympic experience on Sunday night in an interview with SNTV, a sports video partner of The Associated Press. Khelif also expressed gratitude to the International Olympic Committee and its president, Thomas Bach, for standing resolutely behind her while the banned former governing body of Olympic boxing stoked a furor around her participation in Paris.

After water quality concerns canceled test runs, Olympic triathletes plunge into the Seine for relay

PARIS (AP) — Olympic triathletes plunged into the Seine River when the mixed relay event got underway after organizers said the bacteria levels in the long-polluted Paris waterway were at acceptable levels. Organizers on Sunday night made the decision to hold the event Monday morning with swimming legs in the Seine. The plan to hold the swimming portion of the triathlons and the marathon swimming events in the Seine was an ambitious one. Swimming in the river has, with some exceptions, been off-limits since 1923 because it has been too toxic.

Damar Hamlin says his ‘mind is free,’ a year after resuming football after a near-death experience

PITTSFORD, N.Y. (AP) — The passage of time has allowed Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin to gain perspective and grow in confidence a year after he resumed playing football after having a near-death experience. Hamlin tells The Associated Press that his mind, spirit and soul are free in no longer feeling hindered by fears of going into cardiac arrest and having to be resuscitated on the field, as happened to him during a game at Cincinnati on Jan. 2, 2023. The 26-year-old’s focus is now on making the Bills’ roster for a fourth season since being selected by Buffalo in the sixth round of the 2021 draft.

Referee injured in Morocco-Spain semifinal soccer game at Paris Olympics

MARSEILLE, France (AP) — The first substitution made in the Olympics men’s soccer semifinal match between Morocco and Spain was the referee. The ref, Ilgiz Tantashev of Uzbekistan, limped off the field 15 minutes into the match shortly after he was inadvertently knocked down by Spain defender Marc Pubill near midfield. Pubill appeared to be pushed by a Moroccan player. He tumbled forward and into Tantashev’s right leg. Play was stopped for a few minutes while Tantashev received treatment. But the referee couldn’t continue and was replaced by fourth official Glenn Nyberg of Sweden.

One and done: Michael Phelps calls for a lifetime ban for anyone who’s caught doping

PARIS (AP) — In the wake of a Chinese doping scandal, Michael Phelps doubled down on his support for tougher sanctions — including a lifetime ban for anyone who tests positive. He called it “one and done.” The World Anti-Doping Agency and World Aquatics have acknowledged that 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for a banned substance ahead of the Tokyo Olympics and allowed to compete. The results were not made public until media reports surfaced this year. Several of those swimmers won medals in Paris, leading British star Adam Peaty to gripe that the playing field was not level. Phelps reiterated those sentiments, saying the Chinese swimmers who tested positive should not have been allowed to compete in either Tokyo or Paris.

Americans have more depth than anyone at the pool, but gold medals harder and harder to come by

NANTERRE, France (AP) — No one can match America’s depth at the pool. That’s not about to change anytime soon. Then again, claiming the top step of the Olympic medal podium is no longer a given for U.S. swimmers. Nine days of thrilling competition at La Defense Arena wrapped up with the Americans barely pulling out the lead in the gold medal standings thanks to a victory in the final race The U.S. finished with just eight golds, its fewest since the 1988 Seoul Games and one ahead of its biggest rival, Australia. More notably, the rest of the world totaled more victories with 20 than the United States and Australia combined, the first time that’s happened since the 1996 Atlanta Games.

What did Summer McIntosh do over school vacation? The Canadian teen won 3 golds and a silver

NANTERRE, France (AP) — Summer McIntosh is going back to school. The Canadian teen sensation departs Paris with three swimming gold medals and a silver and will take some time to catch her breath and decompress back home in Ontario during a short break from the pool — and then she has a couple of courses left to complete her high school requirements this fall. After earning her diploma, McIntosh will begin thinking about what’s next, such as where to attend university. It won’t be in the United States’ NCAA system.

Olympic track’s best rivalry: 1,500-meter runners Kerr, Ingebrigtsen really do not like each other

SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — Maybe it was the time Jakob Ingebrigtsen started playing to the crowd before he crossed the finish line, and beat Josh Kerr anyway. Or maybe it when Kerr beat him two nights later with a gold medal on the line, then Ingebrigtsen blamed the loss on being sick. Like any long-simmering feud, it’s hard to determine the exact point when the world’s best two 1,500-meter runners started disliking each other. At times, they’ve insisted they don’t know each other well enough to dislike the other. You don’t need to be a track junkie to enjoy the fireworks Tuesday in the the showdown between the Norwegian defending Olympic champion and the Scottish reigning world champion at the Paris Games.

After winning Olympic thriller by a whisker, Noah Lyles looks for an encore in his favorite event

SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — All the overhead shots and race replays tell the same story. Noah Lyles only led one time during his Olympic 100-meter sprint for the ages: at the finish line. There’s a good argument that the rest of his stay at these Paris Games won’t be anywhere near as nip-and-tuck. With the Olympics still abuzz over his five-thousandths-of-a-second victory in the 100, Lyles didn’t have much time to rest before moving to his next event. He is a heavy favorite in the 200 meters, a race he has not lost since the Olympic final in Tokyo three years ago, where he finished third. Opening heats were set for Monday night.