Simone Biles of Team United States warms up prior to the Artistic Gymnastics Women’s Balance Beam Final on day ten of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on August 05, 2024 in Paris, France. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
(PARIS) — Team USA women’s gymnastics stars Simone Biles and Sunisa Lee came up empty in the balance beam final on Monday.
After Simone Biles secured her third gold medal of the Paris Olympics on Saturday, she and Lee both notched identical scores of 13.1000, which wasn’t enough to make the podium.
Italy’s Alice D’Amato secured gold with a 14.366, Yaqin Zhou of China scored 14.100 for silver, edging out Manila Esposito by just .1, who took bronze.
Lee, who earned her sixth career Olympic medal on Sunday with bronze in the uneven bars final, went third in the rotation and scored a 13.100.
Biles, who scored a 14.733 in qualifying, tied her teammate with the exact same score — 13.100 — due to a .3 point penalty.
The 10-time Olympic medalist will compete in the women’s floor exercise final back in Bercy Arena later on Monday, along with teammate Jordan Chiles.
(NEW YORK) — A woman who lost a leg in a shark attack is now heading to Paris to compete in the 2024 Paralympics.
“The 1st time I got back in [the water] was in July, a year ago,” Ali Truwit told ABC News’ Good Morning America. “I got back in with a floaty around my stomach because we weren’t sure how I was going to respond in the water again, and now I’m headed to the Paralympics.”
She added, “To represent my country is just an incredible kind of journey that makes me feel proud and also really grateful.”
Truwit said she was on a post-college graduation vacation with her best friend in Turks and Caicos in May 2023 when the attack occurred.
The two were out in the ocean snorkeling when a shark appeared “seemingly out of nowhere” and started to attack them, Truwit recalled.
“We fought back, but pretty quickly the shark had my leg in its mouth, and the next thing I knew, it had bitten off my foot and part of my leg,” she said.
Truwit said she and her friend had to swim roughly 75 yards back to the snorkeling boat.
Once on the boat, Truwit said her friend tied a tourniquet on her leg to stop the bleeding. Truwit was eventually airlifted to a hospital in Miami, where she underwent two lifesaving surgeries.
She was later transported to a hospital in New York to be closer to her family and friends at home, where she underwent a trans-tibial amputation on her left leg.
The surgery took place on May 31, 2023, Truwit’s 23rd birthday.
“Very dark days,” she recounted of that time in her life. “But I am alive, and that’s what I try to focus on and kind of just live the life that I’ve been given again to the fullest.”
Adapting to a new normal
After her amputation, a prosthetic leg helped provide Truwit with better mobility, although she said she still faced challenges adapting to her new normal.
“I’m relearning life without an ankle,” she explained. “I have to learn how to sit again and stand again, and walk again, and run, and how to do stairs and the everyday challenges.”
Truwit said she also faced pain in her leg as well as the risk of infection, and struggled emotionally in addition to the physical limitations.
“There are a lot of challenges for me with body image … learning to love my new body and accept it and learn that it’s beautiful in its own right,” she said. “And I think that’s been something that’s been so huge for me.”
Truwit described her recovery process as a “very long and bumpy road of ups and downs.”
She said she was able to pull through it with the help of family and friends and a shift in her own mindset.
“I think I really, early on, wanted to send myself the message that [what] would happen to me was not going to stop me from doing things I love and doing things I think I’m capable of,” she said.
Reclaiming her passion by fighting back her fear
The incident also affected Truwit’s love for water, which she said she had considered a place of comfort and peace her whole life.
In order to confront her fear, Truwit said she waded into her backyard pool just six weeks after having her leg amputated.
“Mentally and physically, it was really hard, [but] with the help of my physical therapists and my family, we worked to just get me back in, little by little,” she recalled.
From there, she began reaching out to her longtime coach Jamie Barone, who she said has been coaching her since she was 12. She said she asked him to help her run sets for exercise again.
After regaining her love of water, Truwit said she decided to test out her ability to make it to Paris for the Paralympics, which she said became “the most healing decision I could have made for my recovery.”
She expressed her intention to compete in the Paralympics to her mom, who she said is a former captain for the Yale University swimming team.
Through one of her mom’s former teammates, Truwit said she was connected to the U.S. Paralympic swim program, where she began to train and compete less than four months after her amputation surgery.
In June, Truwit competed in the Paralympic trials in Minneapolis and made the U.S. team in the Women’s 400-meter freestyle race.
In the weeks leading up to the Paralympic Games, which start on Aug. 28, Truwit said she has trained for as much as six hours per day, six days a week at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Center in Colorado and with her coach in Stamford at Chelsea Piers in Connecticut.
“It’s so fun to be with my teammates and the coaches and to learn more about what’s to come, so I’m really excited for it all,” she said. “I’m in a race with the American flag on my cap. That, to me, is not only a huge honor in itself, but also a way for me to thank the everyday American heroes who have helped save my life and help me rebuild my life.”
Swimming at the Paralympic Games will take place from Aug. 29 to Sept. 7.
Inspiring others through her journey
Prior to the shark attack, Truwit said she had always been a private person, but she later learned that sharing her story has helped others as well as herself.
“The exposure is new for me, and every time someone tells me that hearing my story helps them through their trauma, or watching my outlook or my mindset or the way that I bounce back has encouraged them, that they can do it too, that heals me,” she said. “That helps me. That gives meaning to me of an otherwise random trauma.”
Looking back at her journey, from the start of her recovery process to where she is today, Truwit said she has witnessed her own strength firsthand.
“We are so much stronger than we think,” she said. “We have so much more in us than we think we’re capable of contributing and achieving and aiming for … and that is such an exciting thought to me.”
Noah Lyles of the U.S celebrates winning the gold medal in the men’s 100m final at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, Aug. 4, 2024. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
(PARIS) — American sprinter Noah Lyles won the gold in the 100 meters at the Paris Olympics in a photo finish, edging out Jamaican Kishane Thompson for gold and taking the title of the world’s fastest man.
Lyles finished in 9.79 seconds — officially 9.784 — edging out Thompson by just .005 seconds for the gold. Thompson, after cruising through the qualifying rounds, was the favorite in the race.
Fellow American Fred Kerley took the bronze medal in 9.81 seconds.
Lyles set a personal best time of 9.79 seconds in the win. Thompson has a personal best of 9.77 seconds, but couldn’t match that in Paris.
Historically a slow starter, Lyles again had to run down the fastest starters. He had a reaction time of 0.178, tied for worst in the field. Kerley, however, had a race-best 0.108 reaction time, the fastest in the field and a big reason he was able to race onto the podium.
It was the first time an American had won the 100 meters since 2004 when Justin Gatlin took the title in Athens. It’s also the first time since 2004 that two Americans finished on the podium. Jamaica, led by world record holder Usain Bolt, had dominated the sprints for the last two decades.
Kerley, 29, had taken silver at the Tokyo Games and was looking to move up one spot on the podium. Instead, he settled for bronze with a season’s best time.
Lyles may have been the favorite going into Paris, but he’d looked like anything but a sure thing in the heats. He finished second in his opening race and said afterward he’d misjudged the speed of the field. He finished second again in the semifinal to Jamaican Oblique Seville, who cruised to a 9.81, while Lyles had to make up for a slow start as he qualified for the final with a 9.83.
Thompson had run a 9.80 in the semifinals — the fastest time of any of the qualifiers for the final — without even showing max effort.
The defending champion from Tokyo, Italy’s Lamont Marcell Jacobs, finished fifth with a time of 9.85. The time was a season’s best for Jacobs, who was a surprise winner in 2021 and hasn’t reached those heights in the three years since Tokyo.
Lyles was the defending world champion in the 100 meters from last year. He ran a 9.83 in the final in Budapest as he won gold.
It also took a run of just 9.83 seconds to win the U.S. trials earlier this summer.
Lyles, 27, has surged into the best in the world in the 100 meters after already establishing himself as the best at the 200 meters. Lyles has said his goal was to win double gold and the 100 meters was the hardest of those two. He won both 100 and 200 at the world championships in 2023.
The 200-meter heats begin Monday with the final on Aug. 8.
Lyles is also likely to compete in the 4×100 meter relay on Aug. 9 as he tries to complete a sweep of three golds like he did in Budapest at the world championships.
Sunisa Lee of Team United States competes during the Artistic Gymnastics Women’s Uneven Bars Final on day nine of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on Aug. 4, 2024, in Paris. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
(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.
(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
(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.
(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!!!”
(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.
(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.
(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.
