Almost a full week into the 2024 Paris Olympics, the medal leaderboard is starting to take shape in France. The battle for the most Olympic Medals table primarily involves the Team USA, France, and the People’s Republic of China. The three nations are also in hot pursuit to obtain the most gold medals at the Olympic Games in 2024.
Let’s take a trip across the pond to check in on the day’s action for the first day of August featuring the women’s all-around gymnastics final, an American swimmer looking to cement her elite status in the sport, and a shocking men’s rowing victory for the first time in 50 years.
American Gymnasts Bookend Podium in All-Around Finals
The main event Thursday night occurred at Bercy Arena in front of a packed house as Simone Biles and Sunisa Lee chased Olympic glory in the Women’s All-Around Artistic Gymnastics Final to close out the team competitions at the Summer Games in Paris. It was an incredible capstone for both American athletes who have battled through significant medical issues to battle their way back to the top of the global gymnastics scene. In front of a pro-American crowd, Simone Biles captured the gold medal while Suni Lee secured bronze at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Simone Biles was the odds-on favorite to strike gold with her main competition being the Silver medalist from Brazil Rebeca Andrade. The two Olympic athletes went score-for-score in each rotation with Biles taking round one on vault before Andrade responded with an excellent second rotation on the uneven bars. The two athletes traded solid performances on the balance beam setting the stage for the G.O.A.T female gymnast (Biles) to claim the gold medal with a flawless performance in the floor routine. Biles is still in awe about the greatest-of-all-time conversation stating, “I just think I’m still Simone Biles from Spring, Texas, who loves to flip.”
Suni Lee, the reigning all-around Gold medalist from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, struggled in the early rotations before crushing a final floor routine that earned her a spot on the medal stand in third place. Lee entered the final rotation tied for fourth place while needing some help from Italy’s Alice D’Amato and Algeria’s Kaylia Nemour to reach medal contention. Both athletes stepped out of bounds creating the opportunity for Lee to claim her second All-Around Olympic medal of her career in France.
Katie Ledecky’s Historic 13th Olympic Medal
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Katie Ledecky once again recorded history in the 4 x 200-meter freestyle race on Thursday evening at the pool in Nanterre, France. Ledecky swam the third leg of the medley setting up the U.S. in second place for the final 200 meters of the race for Erin Gemmell to finish the race. Australia finished with the gold medal in the event by setting a new Olympic record at 7:38:08, which was two seconds faster than the American team. China took home the bronze medal with a time of 7:42.34.
Paul Newberry from the Associated Press reported that Ledecky has not yet let her place in the swimming history books enter her mind:
“I’ve tried not to really think about it, just taking it one event at a time and know I have challenges in each of my events,” Ledecky said after returning to the pool Friday for the preliminaries of the 800 freestyle, her final event. “When all of a sudden it’s done, I’ll enjoy it.”
Ledeceky, 27, becomes the most decorated American female swimmer with an astounding 13 medals to date with eight golds, four silvers, and a single bronze medal over four Olympic appearances. It is not out of the question for Katie Ledecky to appear at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.
Team USA Maintains Lead in Total Medals at 2024 Paris Olympics
Team USA had a successful day by adding eight medals to bring the 2024 Paris Olympics total to 38 total. Team USA rowing claimed their first gold medal in men’s four since the 1960 Olympic Games. Otherwise, the American women took centerstage with top medals in women’s team foil in Fencing, All-Around artistic gymnastics, and swimming (200-meter breaststroke). The remaining two medals were Team Ledecky’s silver in the swimming relay and Suni Lee’s bronze in the gymnastics all-around competition.
Host nation France sits second with 27 medals while the People’s Republic of China checks in at third with 26 on the overall leaderboard. For those that only care about golden ribbons, the People’s Republic of China holds those top honors with twelve victories. The United States needs three more golds to catch up currently sitting at nine at the close of day six. Australia, Japan, and Great Britain are tied at eight golden performances through the opening days at the Summer Games. Team USA has another big day ahead of them on Friday at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
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