Simone Biles on Wednesday created a stir when an Instagram post seemingly reacted to critical comments made by a former Team USA gymnastics teammate.
Biles, Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey and Hezly Rivera took home the gold in the team final on Tuesday. Biles posted a collage of photos showing their jubilant celebration wit the caption, “lack of talent, lazy, Olympic champions.”
Biles then revealed she was blocked on Instagram afterward and Jordan Chiles came with the proof. Lee, in the comments section, wrote, “Put a finger down if Simone Biles just ended you,”
MyKayla Skinner’s comments from earlier in the month ruffled feathers.
"Besides Simone, I feel like the talent and the depth just isn’t like what it used to be. Just notice like, I mean, obviously a lot of girls don’t work as hard. The girls just don’t have the work ethic," Skinner said in a since-deleted YouTube video, according to the New York Post.
She issued an apology but the words still stung.Biles and Lee compete in the all-around final later today.
Simone Biles is looking to make even more history when she competes in the women’s gymnastics all-around final at Bercy Arena on Thursday.
Biles, 27, will compete against fellow Team USA Olympian and defending Olympic champion Suni Lee for the chance to win her second gold medal at these Summer Games. A place at the top of the podium would make Biles the oldest women’s all-around champion since 1952 when Maria Gorokhovskaya did so at age 30.
Competition begins at 12:15 p.m. ET. She will begin with the vault in her first rotation, followed by the uneven bars, the balance beam, and finally the floor exercise.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
For the first time since 1960, the Americans are Olympic gold medalists in the rowing men’s four final.
On Thursday, Nick Mead, Justin Best, Michael Grady, and Liam Corrigan captured the top spot on the podium after outpacing New Zealand and Great Britain for most of the 2,000-meter race, finishing with an official time of 5:49:03.
Thursday’s victory also marks Team USA’s first medal in the event since earning a bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Games in London.
{{#rendered}}American tennis star Danielle Collins ripped her opponent, Iga Swiatek, after their intense Paris Olympics quarterfinals match on Wednesday.
Collins retired from the match in a close battle. Swiatek was leading 6-2, 1-6, 4-1 when Collins needed a medical timeout over an injured stomach muscle. After the match, Collins said she accused Swiatek of being "insincere" about her injury.
"There’s a lot that happens on camera. And there are a lot of people with a ton of charisma ... (who) are one way on camera and another way in the locker room," Collins said after the match.
"I don’t need the fakeness."Collins, who is set to retire after the 2024 season, also took issue with Olympic organizers for not having insulated bottles of water in the high Paris heat."
This is an excerpt from a report by Ryan Gaydos.
An Algerian boxer in the middle of a gender eligibility controversy at the Paris Olympics won her first matchup against an Italian fighter in 46 seconds on Thursday.
Imane Khelif was given the win after Angela Carini abandoned the match. Carini was struck twice in the face and walked over to her corner twice, once to get her headgear readjusted and the second to have her coaches call off the bout.
Carini was in tears after Khelif’s hand was raised in the middle of the ring. The Italian boxer was clearly upset and was seen yelling at her coaches after the fight was over.Khelif will move on to the next round of the women’s 66-kilogram division. However, the win comes amid a week of controversy.
The boxer received support from the Algerian Olympic Committee (COA) before the fight."
COA strongly condemns the unethical targeting and maligning of our esteemed athlete, Imane Khelif, with baseless propaganda from certain foreign media outlets," the organization said, via Reuters.
"Such attacks on her personality and dignity are deeply unfair, especially as she prepares for the pinnacle of her career at the Olympics. The COA has taken all necessary measures to protect our champion."
USA women’s rugby sevens star Ilona Maher has been the talk of the Pairs Olympics on social media and she’s helped promote at least one thing consistently – body positivity.
Maher is one of the toughest players on the American rugby team. She went viral when she fired back at a troll who claimed she had a body mass index of 30.
“I think you were trying to roast me, but this actually is a fact. I do have a BMI of 30 — well, 29.3 to be more exact,” she said on a TikTok video. “I’ve been considered overweight my whole life.”
Maher told the Associated Press she’s been considered obese her whole life even at 200 pounds and at 5-foot-10. But she’s felt like her message has been important – you can be feminine even while playing an extremely masculine sport.
“I think the stereotype around a rugby player is this idea that you need to drop your femininity and play a very masculine, brutal sport,” she said. “Myself and my team and some others on the circuit like Australia and Ireland, are showing that femininity. We are doing our makeup before games, wearing makeup, wanting to feel pretty out there.
“But that doesn't take away from how amazing we tackle and hit and run. You can be those things, and the stereotypes around women's sports just should be thrown out the window now.”
Maher now has a distinct advantage over the trolls on social media. Not only is she bigger, stronger and tougher, she’s also an Olympic medalist.
The rugby team won the bronze in dramatic fashion earlier this week.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
{{#rendered}}The United States leads the pack with the most medals entering Thursday. The Americans have tallied 30 medals thanks to solid performances on Wednesday.
Katie Ledecky won gold in the women’s swimming 1,500-meter freestyle in dominant fashion. She set an Olympic record in the event on her way to her 12th overall medal and eighth gold.
Two silvers were awarded to Americans as well. Torri Huske picked up the third medal of her Paris Olympics with a second-place finish in the 100-meter freestyle. Perris Benegas accomplished a silver in women’s BMX freestyle.
Evy Leibfarth secured a bronze medal in women’s canoe slalom.France and China are right below the United States in total medal count but both countries have more gold medals than the United States.
The Americans have only won five over the last week. With Simone Biles and Suni Lee back in gymnastics competition on Thursday, the expectation of more gold will rise.
Medals were already given out at the Paris Olympics on Thursday in race walking, shooting and rowing as the Western Hemisphere began to wake up and tune into the Games.
Ecuador’s Brian Daniel Pintado won the 20-kilometer men’s race walk with Brazil’s Caio Bonfim and Spain’s Alvaro Martin behind him. China’s Yang Jiayu won gold on the women’s side with Spain’s Maria Perez and Australia’s Jemima Montag behind her.
China’s Liu Yukun won gold in the 50-meter rifle 3 positions men’s final with Ukraine’s Serhiy Kulish and India’s Swapnil Kusale behind him.
In women’s rowing double sculls, New Zealand took home the bronze medal with Romania and Great Britain behind. Romania won the men’s portion with the Netherlands and Ireland behind.But there’s still a lot to be determined over the course of Thursday.
Men’s and women’s rowing four finals, men’s and women’s skiff sailing, men’s and women’s judo, men’s canoe slalom, women’s gymnastics all-around final, women’s fencing foil team finals, men’s swimming 200-meter backstroke and women’s swimming 200-meter butterfly, 20-meter breaststroke and 4x200-meter freestyle relay will all have medalists.
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