PARIS (Reuters) – The United States had a great evening on the track and broke French hearts in the basketball, while China picked up a string of gold medals in diving, table tennis and weightlifting.
That means the two dominant sporting nations go into the last day of the Games with the top of the medal table still very much in play.
Here is what you need to know about the Olympics on Saturday.
U.S. DOMINATE THE RELAYS
The United States won the men’s and women’s 4×400 metre relays, cementing a dominant performance on the track by the Americans this Olympics.
The women won by more than four seconds, clocking the second-quickest time in history and stretching the country’s victory streak in the event to eight in a row. The men cut it a finer, just holding off Botswana on the finish line to win by 10 hundredths of a second.
TAIWAN’S LIN WINS BOXING GOLD
Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, one of two boxers at the centre of a gender eligibility row, beat Poland’s Julia Szeremeta to claim the women’s featherweight title.
The 28-year-old Taiwanese said staying off social media and focusing on her sport had helped her cope with nearly two weeks of international headlines over her eligibility for the Games.
U.S. SPOIL FRENCH DREAMS OF BASKETBALL FAIRYTALE
There was no “Miracle on the Seine” for France in the basketball as the United States ground out a 98-87 win to claim a fifth consecutive gold medal.
With the French sporting spotlight locked on the Bercy Arena, the American showmen crushed Gallic hearts led by Stephen Curry and a fired up LeBron James.
KIPYEGON’S GOLDEN HAT-TRICK
Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon won her third straight Olympic 1,500 metres gold on Saturday, surging through the final lap to finish more than a second ahead of the field.
She cemented her status as one of the all-time great middle-distance runners, becoming the first athlete to claim three successive Olympic 1,500m titles.
Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen bounced back from his shock defeat in the 1,500 metres to win the 5,000 with a fierce final lap.
U.S. GYMNAST CHILES MAY LOSE MEDAL
American gymnast Jordan Chiles is set to lose her bronze medal in the women’s artistic gymnastics floor exercise competition after the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled in favour of an appeal by Romania’s Ana Barbosu, who will move up to third place, it said on Saturday.
Barbosu and her team had appealed to CAS that an inquiry filed over the results in that event was done so four seconds after the one-minute deadline and that Chiles should not be awarded the reassessed score of 13.766 that lifted her to third place behind winner Rebeca Andrade of Brazil and silver medallist Simone Biles.
MEDAL TABLE MACHINATIONS
Golds in the diving, the men’s 102kg weightlifting and table tennis helped get China back on top of the medals table based on number of golds.
The United States trail by just one gold and will be looking for wins in the women’s basketball and volleyball matches on Sunday to take the number one slot back.
France have gone up to fifth in the standings after winning gold in the men’s volleyball final against Poland.
President Emmanuel Macron had set a target of a top five finish before the Games began.
CHINA’S GOLDEN SWEEP
Cao Yuan won the men’s 10-metre platform event to complete a golden sweep for China, the first time a country has won all the diving events at one Games.
Rikuto Tamai of Japan took silver to land Japan’s first ever Olympic diving medal, and Britain’s Noah Williams finished in third place to claim the bronze.
BREAK OUT STARS
Canadian Philip Kim, better known as B-Boy Phil Wizard, produced a spellbinding performance to defeat France’s Danis Civil and capture the first Olympic gold medal ever awarded for men’s breaking on Saturday.
Kim’s supernatural power moves, smooth transitions and unlimited energy overwhelmed hometown favourite B-Boy Dany Dann for a 3-0 win in the final.
Afghan B-Girl Maniza Talash, a member of the refugee Olympic team who competed on Friday, was disqualified for wearing a cape with the words “Free Afghan Women” on during her routine.
THE PRODUCT PLACEMENT GAMES
Winning athletes in Paris have received their medals on Louis Vuitton trays before being handed a Samsung flip phone to take a “victory selfie”, heralding a new era of product placement at the Olympics which Los Angeles looks set to build upon.
(Reporting by Hugh Lawson)
Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibilty for its content.