Paris Olympics wraps up with closing ceremonies
There are still medal events to go at the Summer Games but the 2024 Paris Olympics will end on Sunday, August 11th, with the closing ceremonies.
Johnny Hooper of Team United States celebrates after victory in the Bronze Medal match between Team United States and Team Hungary on day sixteen of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Paris La Defense Arena on August 11, 2024 in Nanterre, France. (Getty Images)
The United States defeated Hungary to win the bronze medal in men’s water polo on Sunday. The Americans took home the victory at the Paris Olympics, 11-8.
The U.S. needed to win in a penalty shootout.
The team of Tyler Abramson, Alex Bowen, Luca Cupido, Hannes Daube, Chase Dodd, Ryder Dodd, Ben Hallock, Drew Holland, Johnny Hooper, Max Irving, Alex Obert, Marko Vavic, Adrian Weinberg, Dylan Woodhead and Quinn Woodhead will have bronze medals.
Hallock had two goals in the match. Hooper, Daube, Cupido, Bowen, Dodd and Irving had one goal each.
It’s the seventh medal for the U.S. water polo team. They have four bronze medals and three silver medals. The last time the U.S. won a silver was in 2008.
The team has never won gold medals.
The United States and France’s women’s basketball gold medal matchup is coming down to the wire at the Paris Olympics.
The Americans held a 45-43 lead as they went into the fourth quarter. A’ja Wilson was leading the way with 14 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks.
France’s Gabby Williams was leading her team with eight points.
France was seventh in the world in the last women’s FIBA rankings before the start of the Olympics. The United States was ranked No. 1.
July 21, 2024: Soldiers patrol a street in front of the Eiffel Tower ahead of the Olympics. (Reuters)
Authorities in France evacuated the area around the Eiffel Tower on Sunday after a man was seen attempting to climb the landmark hours before the start of the closing ceremony.
The man, who was shirtless, was seen scaling the 1,083-foot-tall building. He was spotted aove the Olympic rings, adorning the second section of the monument.
The closing ceremony is set to start at 9 p.m. local time, beginning at the Stade de France in the Saint-Denis area – away from the Eiffel Tower.The Eiffel Tower played host to the beach volleyball events of the Olympics.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Jennifer Valente of the United States celebrates winning the gold medal of the women's omnium event, at the Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 11, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)
If it wasn’t for China’s Li Wenwen scoring a gold medal in the women’s 81-kilogram weightlifting, the United States and China would be tied for the most golds at the Paris Olympics.
Jennifer Valente was able to keep the U.S. within one as she took home the women’s omnium points race gold medal. Valente finished with 20 lap points and six sprint points to edge out Poland’s Daria Pikulik and New Zealand’s Ally Wollaston for the top of the podium.
It’s the second straight gold in the event for Valente and the second gold medal of the week.
The U.S. now has 39 gold medals and China has 40 with the women’s basketball gold medal game to go.
Yuka Kagami of Japan wins against Kennedy Alexis Blades of United States in the 76kg Women's wrestling Final 3-1 during the Olympic Games on August 11, 2024 in Paris, France. (Getty Images)
Kennedy Blades was nearly at the top of the podium at the Paris Olympics on Sunday but she fell short in the women’s 76-kilogram wrestling freestyle against Japan’s Yuka Kagami.
Kagami won the match 3-1 to earn the gold and the first Olympic medal of her career. She won gold at the World Championships in Belgrade last year.
Blades also has the first Olympic medal of her career – a silver. She got into the Olympics when she defeated Adeline Gray, who was a medalist at the Tokyo Games in 2021.
Blades won gold at the U21 World Championship in 2021 and a silver in the U23 World Championship in 2023.
She helps bolster the Americans’ medal count.
Team United States applaud fans after their defeat during the Women's Gold Medal match between Team United States and Team Italy on day sixteen of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Paris Arena on August 11, 2024 in Paris, France. (Getty Images)
Team USA women’s volleyball settled for a silver medal in a match against Italy on Sunday. The Americans lost in straight sets 3-0 to finish in second place in the tournament at the Paris Olympics.
Italy won the sets 25-18, 25-20 and 25-17.Jordan Thompson led the Americans with eight points as Avery Skinner had seven. Andrea Drews had six points and Jordan Larson had five points.
It’s the fourth Olympic silver medal for the women’s volleyball team. They entered the Summer Games as the defending champions, having won gold at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. It’s the only gold the team has ever won at the Olympics.
For Italy, it was their first Olympic medal. The team had never made it past the quarterfinals in any of the previously Olympics they qualified for.
Detail of the Olympic corner flag during the Men's Bronze Medal match between Egypt and Morocco during the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Stade de la Beaujoire on August 08, 2024 in Nantes, France. (Getty Images)
Could the Olympics come to Africa in 12 or 16 years?
That’s what the African National Olympic Committees Association (ANOCA) are hoping with Cairo, Egypt, in mind for the landing spot. The organization has never organized a Games on the continent and Cairo launched an unsuccessful bid in 2008.
“Egypt will bid for 2036 and 2040,” ANOCA chief Mustapha Berraf said on Sunday, via Reuters.
“Africa has the chance of organizing the Games. It will most likely organize the Games in 2040,” he added. “There is a need to look at infrastructure issues such as roads, airports. Egypt has important infrastructure potential.”
The Olympics will come to Los Angeles in 2028 and Brisbane in 2032.
The United States team of Gabby Thomas, Shamier Little, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Alexis Holmes celebrate their gold medal win in the Women's 4 x 400m Relay during the Athletics Competition at the Stade de France during the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games on August 10th, 2024, in Paris, France. (Getty Images)
Team USA began Sunday – the final day of the Paris Olympics – fighting for the most gold medals with China.
The Americans were one gold medal behind the Chinese, 39-38. The Americans have the most total medals with 123 – well ahead of China’s 90 and Great Britain’s 63.
The U.S. has a chance to get at least two gold medals on Sunday – one in women’s basketball and the other in women’s volleyball, women’s 81-kilogram weightlifting and women’s omnium cycling.
By the time the closing ceremonies start, the U.S. could be leading the total.
Jordan Chiles, of the United States, holds up her medals after the women's artistic gymnastics individual apparatus finals Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP)
The International Olympic Committee determined that American gymnast Jordan Chiles must return the bronze medal she won in the Paris Olympics floor exercise after she scored was improperly judged.
The IOC said the bronze medal was being reallocated to Romanian Ana Barbosu after the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) said it would respect the Center Arbitration for Sport’s (CAS) decision on the issue.
The CAS voided Chiles’ score after it was determined that U.S. coach Cecile Landi’s appeal was made outside the 1-minute window. Chiles’ scored was changed by 0.1, which allowed her to get into third place and win a bronze medal over Barbosu.
The CAS said it would be in contact with the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee over the return of the medal. USA Gymnastics said it was devastated by the CAS ruling.
It would have been Chiles’ first individual medal.
Live Coverage begins here