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(PARIS) — As the last to go, America’s Suni Lee knew what she needed to make the podium in the uneven bars final. She stepped up, hit her routine and took home her sixth career Olympic medal.

On Sunday, the 21-year-old Lee of Saint Paul, Minnesota, took home the bronze in the uneven bars final. Lee was the only American woman to qualify for the event. She scored a 14.800 to edge out Belgium’s Nina Derwael for the last spot on the podium.

Algeria’s Kaylia Nemour, the favorite, took gold with a 15.700. Qiyuan Qiu, of China, scored 15.500 for silver.

It was always going to be an uphill battle against Nemour and Qiu, who both had 7.2 start values for their routine. Lee’s routine had a start value of 6.4 in comparison. The win was a bit of redemption for Nemour, who was edged out for gold by Qiu at the 2023 world championship in uneven bars.

The French-born Nemour, just 17, received loud ovations throughout the competition. Nemour previously competed for France, but switched to Algeria, her father’s native country, after a disagreement with the French Gymnastics Federation.

This marks the third Olympic medal for Lee in Paris and her sixth Olympic medal overall. She took home the gold as part of the U.S. team in the all-around and bronze in the individual all-around.

She has a chance for one more medal in Paris and she hopes it will be gold. Lee will be competing in the balance beam final on Monday and is one of the favorites — along with teammate Simone Biles.

Lee also won the bronze medal for the uneven bars in 2021 at the delayed 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

Lee, who battled back from a debilitating kidney disease to make the team for Paris, earned a bronze medal in the individual all-around just two days after helping the U.S. earn its fourth gold medal in the team competition.

While Biles has sufficiently cemented her spot in sports history as the greatest of all time with a record-breaking 10 Olympic medals, this was the only individual event in which she did not compete during the Paris Games.

Despite earning the top all-around score in qualifying, Biles didn’t participate on the individual apparatus because she fell just one spot shy of the top eight in the uneven bars qualifying round last week.

Biles scored a 14.433, which was just two-tenths of a point behind Helen Kevric of Germany.
 

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(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Sunday’s sports events:

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

INTERLEAGUE
LA Dodgers 3, Oakland 2
Philadelphia 6, Seattle 0
LA Angels 3, NY. Mets 2

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Kansas City 3, Detroit 2
Tampa Bay 1, Houston 0
Baltimore 9, Cleveland 5
NY Yankees 4, Toronto 3 (10)
Boston 7, Texas 2
Minnesota 13, Chi White Sox 7

NATIONAL LEAGUE
San Francisco 8, Cincinnati 2
Final Washington 4 Milwaukee 3
Miami 7, Atlanta 0
Arizona 6, Pittsburgh 5
San Diego 10, Colorado 2
Chi Cubs 6, St. Louis 2

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(PARIS) — Sha’Carri Richardson took silver in the 100 meters at the Summer Games in Paris on Saturday, not quite reaching the top of the podium in her comeback bid, but clinching her first medal in the Olympics. Fellow American and training partner Melissa Jefferson finished with the bronze.

Julien Alfred, 23, of Saint Lucia, won gold in a time of 10.72 seconds as she led from start to finish on a wet track after dominating in every round leading up to the final. She competed for the University of Texas at Austin.

Saint Lucia, a tiny island in the Caribbean, had never won a medal in the Summer Olympics in any sport.

Richardson finished in a time of 10.87 seconds, well off her time from last year’s world championships, while Jefferson finished in 10.92 seconds.

It was the first time two Americans appeared on the podium since 1996 when Gail Devers won gold and Gwen Torrence took bronze. The event has been now dominated by Jamaicans for decades.

Richardson won the U.S. trials in 2021, but was disqualified after a positive test for marijuana.

With Jamaican legend Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce scratching in the semifinals, the three Jamaican women who swept the podium in Tokyo all missed the final. Elaine Thompson-Herah, who won gold in 2016 and 2021 in both the 100 and 200, dropped out of the Jamaican trials due to injury and Shericka Jackson, who took bronze in Tokyo, surprisingly pulled out of the race the day before it started to focus on the 200.

Richardson won the gold in the world championship last year in a time of 10.65 seconds.

The final featured three Americans: Richardson, Jefferson and Twanisha Terry. It was the first time all three American women made a 100-meter final.

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(PARIS) — This year’s U.S. Olympic team has a star-studded cast of LGBTQ athletes headed to Paris.

At least 29 competitors are prepared to take on the international games, according to a database compiled by LGBTQ news outlet OutSports.

These athletes are just a handful of the LGBTQ representation to expect at the Olympic Games. OutSports recorded at least 151 LGBTQ athletes representing countries around the world that are set to take up the competition in Paris.

For the U.S., that representation will shine in sports across the athletic spectrum — from basketball to rowing to rugby — putting a spotlight on a community facing growing anti-LGBTQ sentiment across the globe.

“LGBTQ athletes have likely competed in the Olympics and Paralympics since the very first games in history, ” said LGBTQ advocacy group GLAAD in a statement. “Today, more athletes than ever are comfortable being out as their true, authentic selves and are embraced and supported by fans, fellow competitors, and sponsors.”

On the track — and in the field — you’ll find some newly minted Olympians to watch and some fan favorites aiming for gold.

Here are some U.S. LGBTQ athletes taking on the Athletics program this summer:

Nikki Hiltz, a transgender and nonbinary athlete, will be competing in the 1500-meter race as the U.S. record holder in the mile and 2023 national champion in the 1500-meter.

“I just feel so grateful for all the queer and trans people who have come before me,” Hiltz, 29, told ABC News in an interview. “I want to be that for the next generation. And yeah, it’s — it’s hard to be something that you can’t see. And so I just think representation and visibility is what helped me so much growing up. So, yeah, I just want to do that for even just one kid who watches the Olympics, maybe sees themselves in me, like it’ll be all worth it.”

Hiltz was awarded by the LGBTQ sport advocacy group Athlete Ally this year for their activism promoting inclusivity on the track and fundraising to support the next generation of LGBTQ athletes in the sport, which includes the creation of a Pride 5K to raise money for LGBTQ nonprofits.

“The global athletic community changes for the better when pioneers like Nikki Hiltz pave the way forward by being proudly and authentically who they are,” said Hudson Taylor, Founder and Executive Director of Athlete Ally. “Nikki is a true champion for inclusion on and off the track, and we’re thrilled to honor them at the Action Awards.”

Sha’Carri Richardson, an openly bisexual woman, will be competing in the 100-meter dash at this year’s Paris games.

Richardson, 24, began her rise to stardom in 2019, when she broke two world records in the under-20 athletics age category at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships.

Now, she’s the fastest woman in the world, winning the 100-meter dash at world and U.S. competitions in 2023.

Richardson’s win at this year’s U.S. Olympic trials was recorded as the fastest women’s time in the competition by any woman this year, according to World Athletics.

Nico Young, who is the first out gay man on the U.S. Olympic track team, will be competing in the 10,000-meter run at the age of 21.

Young is a two-time NCAA Indoor Champion, winning the 3,000 meter and the 5,000 meter, according to Team USA. He is also a two-time NCAA Cross-Country Champion.

Raven Saunders, an out lesbian who goes by they/them pronouns, is already a two-time Olympian and one-time Olympic silver medalist in shot put.

Saunders, 28, began throwing shot put and discus in the ninth grade and set the all-time national high school girls record in the shot put, according to Team USA. Looking back, Saunders is an athletic success story as they head to their third Olympic Games.

“Young and old black people you are beautiful you are worthy you are amazing!!!!” read their post on Instagram of the symbol. “LGBTQIA people you are beautiful you are worthy you are amazing!!! If you are mentally struggling no matter who and where you in the are in world I SEE YOU, IM FIGHTING FOR YOU and I NEED, GOD, I NEED YOU TO KEEP FIGHTING FOR YOURSELF!!!”

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(PARIS) — Simone Biles took gold in Paris in the individual all-around on Thursday after the disappointment of Tokyo, while fellow American Suni Lee took bronze. It is the third time the U.S. has had two medallists on the same podium and the sixth straight time Team USA has won gold in the event.

Biles, who won the individual all-around in Rio in 2016, and Lee, who won the individual title in Tokyo in 2021, were the first former all-around winners to face off in an Olympic individual all-around event.

Rotation 1: Vault

Lee went first with a Yurchenko double full and had a slight hop on the landing to post a 13.933.

Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade, who bested Biles on the vault at last year’s world championships and will likely be her top competitor in the all-around as well, posted an impressive 15.100.

Biles posted a 15.766 on her Yurchenko double pike, boosted by a massive 6.400 difficulty score, to shoot to the lead after the first rotation.

Algeria’s Kaylia Nemour scored 14.003 on her vault.

Italians Alice D’Amato and Manila Esposito scored 14.000 and 13.866, respectively.

Rotation 2: Uneven Bars

Following Andrade, who scored a 14.666 after a very technically sound routine, Biles dropped behind her Brazilian competitor with a 13.733.

Nemour, who is a favorite for gold in this apparatus, scored a 15.533 to jump ahead of Biles through the second rotation. Lee then put up a 14.866, which as of time of publication put her up to fifth place overall.

Biles has two of her best events to come with beam and floor remaining.

Rotation 3: Balance Beam

Biles kicked off beam with an impressive full twisting double back to score 14.566.

Italy’s D’Amato followed on beam with 14.033 and Esposito then notched a 14.200. Nemour then posted a 13.233.

Lee earned a score of 14.000 for her beam routine and Andrade finished the rotation with a 14.133.

Biles’ 44.065 total with just one event remaining put her back in the lead as she heads into the floor exercise.

Rotation 4: Floor Exercise

Italy’s D’Amato and Esposito began with 13.500 and 12.733, respectively. Nemour stumbled during her last tumbling pass and slightly stepped out of bounds to earn a 13.100.

Lee executed a practically stuck landing in the first pass and left it all on the floor to get a 13.666, guaranteeing a spot on the podium.

Andrade, who stepped out of bounds in her first pass, earned a 14.033 to snag a spot on the podium.

Biles finished with a 15.066 to take the gold.

Biles goes for gold again, Suni Lee defends her title

With the win, Biles became the first gymnast ever, male or female, to win the all-around eight years apart. Biles, a favorite to win in Tokyo, dropped out of the event to focus on her mental health.

In winning gold earlier this week, Biles became the most-decorated American gymnast in history with eight medals. She broke a tie with the great Shannon Miller for most overall medals.

Lee, who was cleared for competition in January after overcoming an unspecified kidney disease, is the reigning all-around Olympic gold medalist from the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Games.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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(PARIS) — Simone Biles and Suni Lee are back on the mat Thursday for the artistic gymnastics women’s individual all-around final.

The veteran Team USA stars, who helped add the team’s fourth Olympics gold medal on Tuesday, will compete in four rotations: vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise.

Biles, who won the individual all-around in Rio in 2016, and Lee, who won the individual title in Tokyo in 2021, are the first former all-around winners to face off in an Olympic individual all-around event.

Rotation 1: Vault

Lee went first with a Yurchenko double full and had a slight hop on the landing to post a 13.933.

Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade, who bested Biles on the vault at last year’s world championships and will likely be her top competitor in the all-around as well, posted an impressive 15.100.

Biles posted a 15.766 on her Yurchenko double pike, boosted by a massive 6.400 difficulty score, to shoot to the lead after the first rotation.

Algeria’s Kaylia Nemour scored 14.003 on her vault.

Italians Alice D’Amato and Manila Esposito scored 14.000 and 13.866, respectively.

Rotation 2: Uneven Bars

Following Andrade, who scored a 14.666 after a very technically sound routine, Biles dropped behind her Brazilian competitor with a 13.733.

Nemour, who is a favorite for gold in this apparatus, scored a 15.533 to jump ahead of Biles through the second rotation. Lee then put up a 14.866, which as of time of publication put her up to fifth place overall.

Biles has two of her best events to come with beam and floor remaining.

Rotation 3: Balance Beam

Biles kicked off beam with an impressive full twisting double back to score 14.566.

Italy’s D’Amato followed on beam with 14.033 and Esposito then notched a 14.200. Nemour then posted a 13.233.

Lee earned a score of 14.000 for her beam routine and Andrade finished the rotation with a 14.133.

Biles’ 44.065 total with just one event remaining put her back in the lead as she heads into the floor exercise.

Biles goes for gold — again

If she wins today, Biles would become the first gymnast ever, male or female, to win the all-around eight years apart. Biles, a favorite to win in Tokyo, dropped out of the event to focus on her mental health.

Brazil’s Andrade and Algeria’s Nemour will be among the top gymnasts competing for a sport on the podium as well.

In winning gold earlier this week, Biles became the most-decorated American gymnast in history with eight medals. She broke a tie with the great Shannon Miller for most overall medals.

Lee, who was cleared for competition in January after overcoming an unspecified kidney disease, is the reigning all-around Olympic gold medalist from the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Games.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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(PARIS) — Simone Biles and Suni Lee are back on the mat Thursday for the artistic gymnastics women’s individual all-around final.

The veteran Team USA stars, who helped add the team’s fourth Olympics gold medal on Tuesday, will compete in four rotations: vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise.

Biles, who won the individual all-around in Rio in 2016, and Lee, who won the individual title in Tokyo in 2021, are the first former all-around winners to face off in an Olympic individual all-around event.

Rotation 1: Vault

Lee went first with a Yurchenko double full and had a slight hop on the landing to post a 13.933.

Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade, who bested Biles on the vault at last year’s world championships and will likely be her top competitor in the all-around as well, posted an impressive 15.100.

Biles posted a 15.766 on her Yurchenko double pike, boosted by a massive 6.400 difficulty score, to shoot to the lead after the first rotation.

Algeria’s Kaylia Nemour scored 14.003 on her vault.

Italians Alice D’Amato and Manila Esposito scored 14.000 and 13.866, respectively.

Rotation 2: Uneven Bars

Following Andrade, who scored a 14.666 after a very technically sound routine, Biles dropped behind her Brazilian competitor with a 13.733.

Nemour, who is a favorite for gold in this apparatus, scored a 15.533 to jump ahead of Biles through the second rotation. Lee then put up a 14.866, which as of time of publication put her up to fifth place overall.

Biles has two of her best events to come with beam and floor remaining.

Biles goes for gold — again

If she wins today, Biles would become the first gymnast ever, male or female, to win the all-around eight years apart. Biles, a favorite to win in Tokyo, dropped out of the event to focus on her mental health.

Brazil’s Andrade and Algeria’s Nemour will be among the top gymnasts competing for a sport on the podium as well.

In winning gold earlier this week, Biles became the most-decorated American gymnast in history with eight medals. She broke a tie with the great Shannon Miller for most overall medals.

Lee, who was cleared for competition in January after overcoming an unspecified kidney disease, is the reigning all-around Olympic gold medalist from the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Games.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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(NEW YORK) — Three former world record holders, Australia’s Ariarne Titmus, USA’s Katie Ledecky, and Canada’s Summer McIntosh fell well short of their best times in the women’s 400 freestyle event at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Saturday.

In contrast, none of the eight swimmers in the men’s competition on Sunday would have finished better than eighth at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

World-class swimmers rarely get slower in their prime and technology constantly improves, so why aren’t we seeing records drop like usual? Can a pool really be responsible for slowing down the swimmers?

Jud Ready, a professor at Georgia Tech’s School of Material Science and Engineering, teaches a class on engineering in sports and says a pool can be slow. He spoke with ABC News’ “Start Here” about the difference in this 2024 Olympics pool compared to others.

Ready and his alma mater, Georgia Tech, know about pools. The school hosted swimming competitions in the Atlanta 1996 Games and still boasts the so-called “fastest pool in the country.”

So what makes a pool fast? According to Ready, pool engineers obsess over keeping the water calm.

“You want to not have the other swimmers impact each other,” Ready said. “So any sort of waves or wake or splashing or anything like that, you want that to not impact the body next to you.”

When you’re dog paddling, a few splashes might not make a big difference. However, elite swimmers create waves when they thrash. Some swimmers describe riding the wake of others around them. Some of those waves travel downward, and as they bounce back up, it’s like swimming through ever-so-choppy water.

And the depth of the pool plays a critical role, Ready says.

Well, it turns out that the pool in Paris isn’t very deep. The tiles on the bottom are about 2.2 meters underwater, which is about 7 feet deep. Which is not very deep, according to Ready.

According to World Aquatics, the minimum depth for long swimming must be 2 meters (6.5 feet), but a recommended depth of three meters (9.8 feet) is advised to provide the best environment.

While some experts say 3 meters is the best, others say 2.5 is ideal. But none suggest 2.2 meters.

“And if the pool is deep enough, it’s two and a half,” Ready said. “Somebody has done some calculations to determine that two and a half seems to be a magic number where that energy [of thrashing] has dissipated.”

The differences are slight, but they could explain the slightly slower times in the Paris pool. Other factors at play in pool design include gutters to keep water from ricocheting off the sides, lane dividers to dampen the effect from your neighbors, and jets that affect water movement.

“If we were to do that in an Olympic-sized pool, the current to recirculate many hundreds of thousands of gallons of water per hour would create either a current favoring you in one direction or opposing you in another direction,” Ready said.

Ready says modern pools recirculate water from the bottom, pushing swimmers upward. He also mentions that world records were once influenced by full-body swimsuits that made swimmers more buoyant and streamlined, but these swimsuits are now banned at the Olympics, much to his disappointment.

“I want materials to make everything better,” Ready said. “We’ve got technology to make better swimsuits. But some (have) there’s opposition to that. And I’m like, well, let’s go back to swimming in wool swimsuits then, if you’re worried about that.”

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has not yet responded to ABC News’ request for comment.

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(NEW YORK) — Nearly one week into the 2024 Olympics in Paris, Team USA has a breakout star.

Stephen Nedoroscik, a 25-year-old pommel horse “specialist” on the U.S. men’s gymnastics team, was crucial in helping his team bring home a bronze medal in Paris, the men’s team’s first Olympic medal in 16 years.

In the final rotation of the team competition on July 29, Nedoroscik scored high enough, 14.866, in his only rotation for the team event to put the U.S. men in third place in the final standings.

“I just stayed in the moment for the whole routine, hearing [my teammates] just cheer me on the whole time,” Nedoroscik told ABC News Tuesday of his medal-winning routine. “By the time I got to the dismount, I thought to myself …, ‘If I put this dismount up and stick the landing, we get a team medal.’ So, literally, as I’m in the air, falling to my feet, you can see the smile already coming to my face, and, man, was that a moment I’ll never forget.”

Here are four things to know about Nedoroscik:

1. He has become known as ‘Mr. Pommel Horse’

Nedoroscik’s skill on the pommel horse, a difficult event that requires extraordinary strength and coordination, has earned him nicknames including “Mr. Pommel Horse,” and “pommel horse guy.”

After completing his 40-second pommel horse routine twice in the team competition, Nedoroscik will perform it again on Saturday, where he’ll have a chance to win an individual gold medal in the pommel horse final.

Nedoroscik told the Washington Post he knew there would be criticism of him only competing in pommel horse, and not the other five apparatuses, and he was prepared.

“I was completely aware of it,” Nedoroscik said. “I really wanted to make the Olympic team, and I knew that there was going to be backlash to it. I do one event compared to these guys that are phenomenal all-arounders. And I am a phenomenal horse guy. But it’s hard to fit on a five-guy team.”

According to his USA Gymnastics biography, Nedoroscik, the current U.S. pommel horse champion, is tied for the most U.S. pommel horse titles in history, at four.

He is also a past world pommel horse champion.

2. He competes with limited vision

Nedoroscik has also gained the nickname “Clark Kent” for the way he takes his glasses off when he competes, a la Superman.

The 25-year-old has shared on TiKTok that he has an eye condition called strabismus, or crossed eyes, which is a misalignment of the eyes that can lead to vision problems, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.

He has also said previously that he has coloboma, an eye condition that people are born with in which a part of the tissue that composes the eye is missing, according to the National Eye Institute.

While Nedoroscik used to wear prescription goggles when he competed, he now competes without goggles or glasses.

“I don’t think I actually use my eyes on pommel horse,” he told the Washington Post. “It’s all feeling. I see with my hands.”

3. He is a Rubik’s Cube pro

The pommel horse is not Nedoroscik’s only talent.

Nedoroscik is also a pro at completing the Rubik’s Cube.

Just before competing in the team all-around competition, Nedoroscik posted on social media that he finished a Rubik’s Cube in just over nine seconds.

After the competition, Nedoroscik showed his skill was not a fluke, completing a Rubik’s Cube again in record speed for ABC News’ Good Morning America.

“Where I go the cube go,” he commented beneath a video of the moment on Instagram.

4. Nedoroscik and his girlfriend were both gymnasts at Penn State

Nedoroscik, who originally hails from Massachusetts, graduated from Penn State University in 2020.

He graduated with a degree in electrical engineering, according to his USA Gymnastics bio.

Nedoroscik’s girlfriend, Tess McCracken, was also a gymnast at Penn State, according to her Instagram account.

The couple now live in Florida.

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(LONDON) — Giorgia Villa might be the most “grateful” athlete on the face of the planet.

And no, it isn’t just because the newly minted Italian silver medalist helped Team Italy score their first Olympic team medal in gymnastics since 1928. Villa is sponsored by cheese.

Having also won the bronze at the 2019 World Championships as well as being on gold-winning teams at the 2022 Mediterranean Games and the 2022 European Championships, she has actually been sponsored by Parmagiano Reggiano since 2021, a three-year period where she has matured as an athlete to become one of the best gymnasts in the world.

“A new face is added, as a testimonial, to the prestigious team of Parmigiano Reggiano: The young gymnast Giorgia Villa, 2018 champion of the Youth Games and one of the most promising athletes in her specialty at an international level,” Impresa e Sport, an Italian marketing agency said in 2021 when they first announced the sponsorship deal.

“The very young athlete, spearhead of the national rhythmic gymnastics team, has in fact become the brand’s new ambassador, with all the enthusiasm and freshness of her splendid age. Tenacious, determined, smiling, Giorgia proudly underlined this new role as well as once again confirming how the combination of Parmigiano Reggiano and the world of sport is indissoluble in terms of authenticity, quality and energetic value, both in sporting activity and in correct nutrition,” the statement read.

Villa first started in gymnastics at the age of 3 when her mother signed her up for gymnastics lessons due to her high energy and activity level.

“I had just started nursery school, but I immediately understood that I would love that sport with all my being,” said Villa. “I left school and, still wearing my pink apron, I couldn’t wait to enter that gym and jump and run feeling free and happy.”

Now 21, Villa has been training at the Italian Gymnastics Federation’s International Academy of Brescia, Italy, since she was just 11 years old.

“Every single day has been a personal achievement. There have been many sacrifices that I have had to face, but I have received a lot of satisfaction which time after time has given me the energy needed to face future challenges that lay ahead of me,” said Villa during an interview in 2022. “I am a person who loves to show what she can do, and then achieving important results is incomparable to any sacrifice.”

“I love gymnastics so much because it allows me to always be in motion,” Villa continued. “It is also a wonderful method to let off steam and release all the energy I have in my body, to always be in a group and in company even if gymnastics is fundamentally still an individual sport. I also love the fact that it pushes me to try to overcome my limits by improving every single skill.”

Fast forward to 2024 and Villa can be seen across social media taking pictures with the massive wheels of cheese that are produced exclusively in the provinces of Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena, Bologna to the west of the Reno river, and Mantua to the east of the Po river, according to the cheesemaker.

“Since I was a child I have always loved this fantastic product, a symbol of Italian excellence and culture, and from today being able to collaborate with them makes me extremely proud and charged to face future challenges,” Villa said at the time of her sponsorship announcement.

While the cheese sponsorship might be a bonus, Villa has always been honest about her goals within the sport of gymnastics and, when asked whether the Olympic Games were always her goal and if she considered quitting during difficult moments in her career, Villa was firm in her opinion and didn’t crumble.

“The biggest objective is the Olympics, for me and I think all of us. This (medal) paid (us) back for the injuries and hard moments that we lived over the years,” she said.

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