What to look forward to in the final leg of the Paris Olympics

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PARIS — We’ve entered the final countdown of the Paris Olympics, with seven days of competition to go.

Looking ahead, it’s a packed week for track and field. Athletes have already received a handful of medals at Stade de France stadium, following some dramatic twists and turns. Julien Alfred upset U.S. superstar Sha’Carri Richardson in the 100-meter sprint to win her native St. Lucia its first medal in Olympic history. And American Noah Lyles became the fastest man in the world after a nail-biting photo finish.

On Sunday, the closing ceremony draws the curtain on an already historic Summer Games.

Here’s a roundup of some of the highlight athletes and events to catch before then.

Track and field

One of the big moments still to come on the running track will be Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s expected final in the women’s 400-meter hurdles on Thursday. The 24-year-old American keeps getting faster. In national trials a month before the Paris Games, she broke her own world record. She’s favored to add to her two gold medals.

Also on Thursday, the newly-crowned 100m gold medalist Noah Lyles will run the 200 meters, the American's better event of the two, in his quest to land the first Olympic sprint double since Jamaican superstar Usain Bolt.

Pole vaulter Katie Moon of the U.S. is going for a back-to-back gold after topping the competition in her Olympic debut at the Tokyo Games in 2021.

Breaking

Breaking is making its debut on the Olympic stage. Sixteen b-boys and 16 b-girls will soon compete for the gold over two days at the Place de la Concorde, an open-air urban stadium.

While breaking has its roots in the U.S. and was a mainstay of early hip hop culture, many of the world’s best breakers today are from countries around the world.

That brings some added pressure for the four Team USA breakers who will represent their country in Paris, including “B-Boy Victor” Montalvo of Team USA, who is seen as a gold medal favorite, as are former world champion Phil Wizard and Japan’s b-boy Shigekix.

There is also tension — some believe that breaking should not have been included as a part of the Olympic program, arguing that it is an art form rather than a sport.

“Breaking has elevated a lot since the 70s, so a lot of people do have a misperception of what breaking is today, or even like the culture and the community around it” said Sunny Choi, who is competing for the U.S. “But there’s always — if you’re doing something good, there’s always going to be haters.”

Boxing

Two female boxers have advanced to the semifinals amid a storm of political controversy over gender eligibility in women's sports. The International Olympic Committee has vigorously defended the two boxers, Imane Khelif of Algeria and Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan.
 

The two boxers have competed in women's boxing for years, accumulating a typical record of wins and losses against other women. "These two boxers were born as girls, registered as female passports, have fought at the senior level for six years with no issues," said International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams on Sunday. In addition, gender transition is illegal in Khelif's native Algeria. 

The controversy stems from a decision last year by the International Boxing Association to disqualify them from some competitions after claiming that the boxers had failed two unspecified gender eligibility tests. But plenty of questions remain: The Russia-linked federation has refused to release any details about those tests, and the disqualification was announced shortly after Khelif defeated a Russian boxer. The IBA was permanently banned from the Olympics last year after decades of corruption accusations. "The method of the testing, the idea of the testing — which kind of happened overnight — none of it was legitimate," Adams said.

Weightlifting

The U.S. Olympic weightlifting team is riding high expectations heading into competition this week. Many have eyed Olivia Reeves after an outstanding 2023 campaign, who will make her Olympic debut here in Paris as a potential gold medalist. She won a gold medal win in her weight class at this year’s International Weightlifting Federation’s World Cup in which she placed first in the competition’s two stages: the snatch, and the clean and jerk.

The team also includes Hampton Morris, who at 20-years old, will be the youngest American weightlifter to compete at the Olympics since 2000. Earlier this year, he broke the clean and jerk 61 kg record, lifting 388 pounds (176kg in Thailand).

“I think the best thing for me to do is just not let myself overthink anything, try not to put too much pressure on myself,” Morris said. “Just need to stay relaxed, but stay focused. Have a good meet.”

Multiple athletes cited the explosive growth in the sport over the last two decades, and the caliber of athletes who competed for the opportunity to compete in Paris.

“It’s just an honor to be here, and it’s also really cool to see just how much women’s weightlifting has evolved in 24 years, or even I just the last two quads that I have competed in,” said Jourdan Delacruz, who is making her second appearance at the Olympics. “The talent has skyrocketed. It was incredibly hard to get here, and that’s just because the talent pool was so incredible.”

There have been just four female medalists since women’s weightlifting was added to the Olympic program in 2000, at the Sydney Games.

Wrestling

If Martial sports are your thing, Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling are already underway at Champs-de-Mars Arena. American coach Herb House says the U.S. team this year is in a “rebuilding” phase.

“We are considered the underdogs, maybe,” House said, describing America’s Greco-Roman athletes. “I think a lot of people are going to be surprised.”

One twist this year is that top Russian wrestlers — often among the very best at the Olympic Games — aren’t competing this year. Some were rejected by the International Olympic Committee because of their public support for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Others, including Russian star wrestler Shamil Mamedov qualified for Paris but declined to participate.

Taekwondo

On Wednesday, meanwhile, action resumes in the stunning Grand Palais in central Paris. Fencers have wrapped up their competition, so the venue built for the Paris Exhibition of 1900 will be turned over to taekwondo athletes.

Taekwondo originated in traditional Korean martial arts and has gained popularity world-wide. Four American athletes will fight under the palace’s soaring glass dome: Faith Dillon, Jonathan Healy, C.J. Nickolas and Kristina Teachout.

Soccer

The fifth-ranked U.S. women’s national team knows it will play for a medal at the Paris Olympics. The question is what color.

The Americans take on fourth-ranked Germany Tuesday in the semifinals and it’s a rematch between the two teams. Last week the U.S. thumped Germany 4-1 in group play. The U.S. has had a tougher time in the knockout round. It squeaked by Japan 1-0 in the quarterfinal after a dramatic and spectacular extra time goal from Trinity Rodman in the quarterfinal.

No. 9 Brazil and top-ranked Spain play in Tuesday’s other semifinal match.

The U.S. won bronze at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and also had its earliest-ever exit from the Women’s World Cup last year. Since then, the U.S. has brought in a new coach (Emma Hayes), younger roster and a new attitude.

The U.S. has not lost at these Olympics (4-0) and it’s just the second time the USWNT has opened the tournament with four victories.

If the Americans win on Tuesday, they would advance to the gold medal game on Saturday. A loss means the U.S. would play for the bronze on Friday.