Olympics day 8 late wrap: Biles golden again in vault, Evenepoel gets cycling double

There was more drama and plenty more medals in the late action on Saturday's day 8 of the Paris Olympics: 

Swimming: Simone Biles golden again after vault triumph

Simone Biles' appetite to collect gold medals showed no sign of waning as she soared above her rivals in the vault final on Saturday to scoop a third top prize at the Paris Olympics, while Ireland and the Philippines enjoyed a historic day in gymnastics.

Three years after it looked like Biles' gymnastics career was all but over after she was forced to withdraw from the Tokyo Games to protect her mental health, she has now won all three women's titles that have been up for grabs in the City of Love.

After her success in the team and all around finals earlier on the week, the American was again the standout performer on the vault as she beat Brazilian rival Rebeca Andrade with an average score of 15.300 points from her two vaults. Fellow American Jade Carey took bronze.

While Biles Olympic stockpile now features 10 medals, including seven golds, Carlos Edriel Yulo of the Philippines and Ireland's Rhys McClenaghan earned their countries their first ever gymnastics medals, with both men striking gold.

Yulo punched the air with both fists after he finished his virtuoso floor exercise routine to score 15.000 points, edging out Tokyo champion Artem Dolgopyat of Israel by just 0.034 of a point. Britain's Jake Jarman claimed the bronze. McClenaghan closed his eyes tight and smiled after gliding through his challenging pommel horse routine to hold off a talented field that included silver medallist Nariman Kurbanov of Kazakhstan and bronze finisher Stephen Nedoroscik of the US The Irishman was awarded 15.533.

But as has been the case during these Olympics, all eyes and cameras were focused on a 4-ft-8 American gymnast.

Biles took a deep breath before powering down the runway to launch into her signature Biles II vault, one that no other women has ever landed in competition.

As soon as she touched down standing on both feet, albeit with a slight hop backwards, her coach Laurent Landi could be seen leaping up and punching the air in delight. His reaction said it all — it was effectively game over.

Biles said Landi helped steady her nerves before her explosive Yurchenko double pike vault that earned her a monster score of 15.700.

“Laurent was signalling like, calm down, take your time, just so that I don't overpower it,” Biles said.

“Because obviously once you get up there, your adrenaline is pumping. So he wanted to make sure that I was staying calm and going on my own time, even though everybody started cheering, he's just like, calm down, wait. You're good.”

Wearing a radiant red leotard, the American also impressed with her second effort.

Biles' brilliance left Andrade once again looking up to her on the podium with another silver medal after they also finished 1-2 in Thursday's all-around final.

“Simone is from another world but we always try to get better and evolve in the best way possible,” Andrade said.

“To be able to watch her incredible gymnastics, it encourages everyone.”

Carey delivered two confident vaults on Saturday to make amends for her last-place finish in the Tokyo vault final.

“This medal means everything to me,” Carey said.

“I have been anticipating this day for a really long time... So to be able to just prove to myself that I can do two vaults... and walk away with a medal is really special for me.”

Biles' affect is not only confined to gymnastics as she also sparked a conversation about mental health after pulling out of the Tokyo Games.

Suffering with the “twisties” — a type of mental block where gymnasts get disoriented during their gravity-defying sequences — Biles took a two-year break from the sport.

Now that she is back, she is once again the dominant force in gymnastics.

Biles arrived in Paris as the world's most decorated gymnast and she has reached new heights as she now owns an incredible 40 world and Olympic medals.

Biles can add to her medal tally further when she competes in the balance beam and women's floor finals on Monday.

The 27-year-old did not rule out the possibility of competing at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

“Never say never,” Biles said.

“The next Olympics is at home, so you just never know. But I am getting really old.”

Yulo collapsed to the ground in tears when he realised he had secured the gold, a feat that also earned him a new home. Filipino gold medallists at the Paris Games have been promised a fully furnished, two-bedroom condominium in Taguig City.

“I don't know what to say,” said an emotional Yulo, who just missed the podium at the Tokyo 2020 Games.

“We are a really small country... So to be able to get a gold medal for us is big for us, huge. I dedicate this to the Filipino people who supported me.”

McClenaghan, 25, shed tears of joy standing on the podium as the Irish flag was raised at Bercy Arena.

“I knew that I'd done my job,” he said of the moment he hit his dismount.

“I knew I went through my most difficult routine that I could do on this day and that's where the tears and the emotions came from.

“Any one of those eight finalists could have taken that gold today.”

Kurbanov's silver was also the first gymnastics medal for Kazakhstan. 

Swimming: Ledecky takes record ninth gold as Summer sparkles

Katie Ledecky tore up the record books again at the Paris Games by claiming a ninth career gold medal, while teenager Summer McIntosh put her name among the greats as Canada's first triple champion at a single Olympics.

Caeleb Dressel joined compatriot Ledecky with a ninth gold without diving into the La Defense Arena pool when his US teammates swept to the mixed medley relay title in world record time.

But home hero Leon Marchand tasted defeat for the first time despite the ear-splitting support of another packed house when France finished fourth in the relay.

With four golds, Marchand has been the meet's pre-eminent champion — but Saturday night belonged to Ledecky as she won an unprecedented fourth 800 metres freestyle title to match former Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina's record of nine gold medals for a female Olympian.

Ledecky also joined fellow American great Phelps as the only swimmer to win four or more Olympic golds in the same event.

She won the 800 in 8:11.04, a second clear of Australia's silver medallist Ariarne Titmus in a repeat of their Tokyo 2020 tussle.

Ledecky's teammate Paige Madden took bronze.

Ledecky's victory was exactly 12 years on from her first 800 title at the 2012 London Games at the age of 15.

“I knew that August 3 is the day I won in 2012, and I didn't want August 3 to be a day that I didn't move forward, so I kind of felt like I put a lot of pressure on myself,” Ledecky told reporters.

“But I'm just really happy that I could get the job done.”

At the tender age of 17, McIntosh knows all about getting it done. She became Canada's first triple gold-medallist at the same Games when she won the 200m individual medley (IM), having already won the 400 IM and 200m butterfly.

“I'm always wanting more,” said McIntosh, who will swim in the women's 4x100m medley relay on the final day on Sunday.

“I'm never satisfied, and I think that's one of my strengths.”

American Kate Douglass took the 200 IM silver and Australian Kaylee McKeown was awarded the bronze after US swimmer Alex Walsh, the 2021 silver medallist, was disqualified for an illegal turn.

McIntosh finished her individual events at Paris with three golds and a silver, joining Michelle Smith, Katinka Hosszu and Kristin Otto with four individual medals from a single Games.

Only Australia's Shane Gould, who took five at Munich 1972, has more among women swimmers.

Deployed as a heat swimmer on Friday, Dressel was benched for the mixed medley final but will celebrate the gold anyway.

His ninth puts him level with Mark Spitz, second on the all-time list for men's swimming, with only Michael Phelps above them.

The US final quartet of Ryan Murphy, Nic Fink, Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske won the medley in three minutes 37.43 seconds, smashing the previous world record of 3:37.58 set by Britain during their gold-winning swim at Tokyo.

Hungary earlier celebrated a second gold of the meet as Kristof Milak took the men's 100m butterfly title in 49.90, 0.09 seconds ahead of Canadian runner-up Josh Liendo.

Ilya Kharun grabbed a second bronze for Canada, having also taken one in the 200m butterfly in Paris.

The Paris pool has been the throwback Olympics in many ways, with evergreen Swede Sarah Sjostrom claiming a stunning 100m freestyle gold after deciding very late to enter the event.

She will be strong favourite to add the 50m title on the final night on Sunday after resetting the Olympic record and falling only 0.05 of a second short of her world record (23.61) in a stunning semifinal swim.

Ireland's first Olympic champion Daniel Wiffen, the men's 800m freestyle gold medallist, will bid for the 1,500m crown to complete the distance double.

The meet will close with finals for the men's and women's 4x100m medley relays.

Cycling: Evenepoel survives puncture to claim brilliant road double

Belgium's Remco Evenepoel had a heart-in-mouth moment as he claimed gold in the Olympic men's road race in impressive fashion on Saturday to become the first male rider to achieve the double after also winning the time trial.

Evenepoel suffered a puncture less than four kilometres from the finish, on the Carousel du Louvre, raising his arm for assistance before clapping and waving at his team to deliver a new bike in a scene of sheer panic.

With race radio communication banned at the Games, the 24-year-old, who was cruising to victory, had no idea about the advantage he had over his rivals.

The change was made swiftly, however, and he powered to the line after he had made the decisive move 15km from the finish, in the run-in to the second of three punishing ascents of the Butte Montmartre.

Evenepoel's brutal attack left Valentin Madouas, who was hovering 1:15 behind when Evenepoel's incident occurred, gasping for air but the Frenchman hung on to take silver after 273km, one minute and 11 seconds off the pace.

Christophe Laporte won a small group sprint five seconds behind to take the bronze as France grabbed their first medals in the Olympic road race since 1956.

Evenepoel raised his arm again in the final kilometre but this time it was a pre-celebration before stepping off his bike as he crossed the line for a photo with the Eiffel Tower in the background.

“What a place to win this. Honestly I feel sick. So proud to win this and to be the first ever to double it, history, no ?,” a beaming Evenepoel, who finished third overall in the Tour de France last month, told reporters.

“You are never sure enough. I felt that his legs were getting empty and I knew the kicker where I dropped him was a kicker that really suited me. It was just pushing, pushing, pushing to the line.

“I really feel sick from the effort especially with the stressy moment with 4km to go, I got a straight puncture. I had to change bike, bit of stress but I had time enough.”

Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel, one of the pre-race favourites, made a move on the steepest part of the Rue Lepic but could not open a decisive gap and ended up a disappointing 12th. 

Golf: American Schauffele, Spain's Rahm share lead before final round at Paris Games

Defending champion Xander Schauffele of the US remained top of the men's Olympic golf leader board at 14-under par after the penultimate round on Saturday, sharing first place with Spain's Jon Rahm.

Britain's Tommy Fleetwood, who held the overnight lead with Schauffele and Japan's Hideki Matsuyama, stayed in the medal hunt one shot behind the leaders in third place before Sunday's final round at Le Golf National near the French capital.

The 60-strong field in the Olympic golf competition will be reduced by one on Sunday after Britain's Matt Fitzpatrick retired injured.

Rahm improved from his overnight fourth position by hitting his second straight five-under par round of 66.

The 2023 Masters champion, who plays on the Saudi-backed LIV tour, referenced a good performance at the British Open followed by a win at LIV's British event in July.

“For this last month, to be playing as good as I have ... and give myself an opportunity this week as well, is very, very gratifying,” he said after his round.

Like earlier in the week, Schauffele credited himself with steadying his game when needed to make up for some loose shots, notably with an eagle on the par-five 14th.

Fleetwood called Saturday the hardest round so far, citing the wind and the layout of the pins on the greens.

The 18th hole again proved a tough test with its narrow fairway and water obstacle, with Schauffele and Fleetwood relieved to save par there, raising the prospect of a tense finale on Sunday.

Matsuyama, who narrowly missing bronze on home soil three years ago, fell slightly off the lead to end the day 11 under.

He shared fourth place with Denmark's Nicolai Hojgaard, who sprang the surprise of the day by equalling the course record with a nine-under-par round of 62.

US world number one Scottie Scheffler was a further stroke back at 10 under, tied-sixth in a group also including world number three Rory McIlroy of Ireland.

“It's like a leader board that you'd expect at the Olympics and probably what the sport deserves, if you like, and happy to be a part of it,” Fleetwood said.

For France, Matthieu Pavon endured more misery, culminating in a triple bogey on the 18th that left him in last position at 10 over. But Victor Perez kept home hopes alive in joint-13th place at eight under. 

Judo: Riner leads France to team title for fifth gold medal

Teddy Riner won the decisive bout against Japan's Tatsuru Saito in a moment of great drama to give France the judo mixed team title at the Paris Games on Saturday, earning him a national record-equalling fifth Olympic gold medal.

Three years after leading France to victory over Japan at the Budokan in Tokyo, Riner again led the way as France fought back from 3-1 down to retain the title 4-3 in front of a frenetic partisan crowd at the Champ-de-Mars Arena.

More than 6,000 fans packed into the arena belted out “La Marseillaise” and waved tricolour flags as their judokas battled their way back to tie up the scores at 3-3 after the regulation six bouts.

The crowd and the 12 judoka on the tatami turned to the big screens as a lottery was held to determine which gender and weight class would face off in the golden point tiebreaker.

A huge roar went up as the screens displayed "+90kg”, meaning Riner, the home favourite, was to take on his rival Saito again to decide the title.

The French team immediately gathered around Riner to encourage the 2.03 meter titan, with Joan-Benjamin Gaba hitting his teammate's chest with his forehead.

Riner had earlier beaten Saito by ippon to give France their first point of the final and the exhausted fighters battled again for six minutes and 26 seconds before Riner managed to take down the Japanese heavyweight.

Gaba, the surprise silver medallist in the under 73kg class, had earlier taken out Hifumi Abe, the double Olympic champion in under 66kg, in an intense bout to get France back to only 3-2 down.

Brazil and South Korea both won bronze medals.

Riner joined biathlete Martin Fourcade, who won his titles at the Sochi and Pyeongchang Winter Games in 2014 and 2018, at the top of the list of most decorated French Olympians.

Fencers Philippe Cattiau and Roger Ducret won fewer golds but had eight podium finishes in the 1920 and 30s. Riner and Fourcade have won seven medals each.

Riner has now competed at five Olympics and on Friday hinted at the possibility he might take part in a sixth at the Los Angeles Games in 2028.

On Friday, after Riner won the over 100kg category title, Fourcade referred to the judoka as “Le grand monsieur” of French sport and Riner proved him right on Saturday.