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Wednesday was packed with historic action, stunning upsets and more dominant performances from Team USA. From another medal from Katie Ledecky to a blowout win by Team USA and a historic double from Léon Marchand, here’s everything you need to know from Wednesday at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Katie Ledecky is dominant again
Ledecky won the 1,500-meter freestyle with an Olympic record time of 15:30.02, 10.33 seconds ahead of silver medalist Anastasiia Kirpichnikova of France (15:40.35). Germany’s Isabel Gose took bronze (15:41.16).
The image of his arrival was impressive.
Ledecky has now won eight career gold medals and 12 overall, tying her with fellow Americans Jenny Thompson, Dara Torres and Natalie Coughlin as the most decorated swimmers in Olympic history. She has two more races remaining in Paris.
Team USA defeats South Sudan
LeBron James and Team USA had no trouble getting past South Sudan this time around.
The United States cruised to a 103-86 victory over South Sudan in its second group-stage game on Wednesday, improving its record to 2-0. Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo led the way with 18 points. He was one of six Americans to reach double figures. James, who finished with 12 points and seven rebounds, also made history in the win. He became just the third American player to reach 300 points in his career at the Olympics, joining only Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony.
The United States team will finish the group stage against Puerto Rico on Saturday.
Women’s football closes Group B
The U.S. women’s soccer team wrapped up Group B with a 2-1 win over Australia on Wednesday. The goals were scored by Trinity Rodman in the 43rd minute and Korbin Albert in the 77th minute.
The U.S. women’s team easily controlled the ball for most of the match, challenging Australian goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold on numerous occasions while her teammates struggled to control the ball for extended periods of time. The first half was free of offense until the final minutes, when Rodman broke through and tipped in a header from Sophia Smith. Albert’s shot late in the second half was touched by Arnold, but the ball bounced off her fingers and into the net.
The U.S. women’s national team now has a perfect 3-0 record at the Olympics with a combined score of 9-2.
Nadal and Gauff out of the Olympics
Several big names were eliminated from their tennis competitions on Wednesday.
Rafael Nadal and partner Carlos Alcaraz were eliminated in the quarter-finals of the doubles tournament by Americans Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek in straight sets. The match could easily have been Nadal’s last at Roland Garros, where he has won 14 French Open titles in his career.
Coco Gauff was also completely eliminated from the Games. Gauff, after being eliminated in the singles competition on Tuesday, fell alongside teammate Jessica Pegula to the Czech duo of Karolina Muchova and Linda Noskova. Gauff then lost to mixed doubles teammate Taylor Fritz later on Wednesday in what was her last chance to medal this summer.
Léon Marchand’s historic double
Léon Marchand is enjoying a historic race in Paris this summer.
The French star became the first person to win medals in both the butterfly and breaststroke at the same Games, doing so in a span of about 116 minutes on Wednesday. Marchand won gold in the 200-meter butterfly and then outlasted the field in the 200-meter breaststroke to complete the rare double.
Naturally, the French public went wild for the 22-year-old star.
Team USA Medals
Highlights of the day
One more thing: Massive surprise in table tennis
Sweden’s Truls Möregårdh may have pulled off the biggest upset of the entire Games on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, Möregårdh stunned China’s Wang Chuqin, the world’s top-ranked table tennis player, in a five-game thriller. The victory means that for the first time since the 2004 Athens Olympics, China will not win both gold and silver in the men’s singles event. Möregårdh is the world’s 26th-ranked player.
