Olympics day 12 late wrap: Morocco’s El Bakkali retains steeplechase gold, Hall wins 400m

There were gold medals in track and field, artistic swimming, boxing, cycling and wrestling in the late action on day 12 of the Paris Olympics on Wednesday:

Athletics: Morocco's El Bakkali retains steeplechase title after shocking Girma fall

Soufiane El Bakkali retained his Olympic men's 3,000m steeplechase title to deliver Morocco's first medal of the Games on Wednesday, as Ethiopian world record holder Lamecha Girma was taken to hospital after a horrific fall.

El Bakkali clocked a time of eight minutes 6.05 seconds as American Kenneth Rooks took silver in 8:06.41 and Kenya's Abraham Kibiwot claimed bronze.

The win was overshadowed by the injury to Girma who tripped over a barrier on the last lap and fell hard to the track, lying motionless as medical staff rushed to attend to him.

His eyes were open and he was wearing a neck brace as staff members carried him off on a stretcher and a medic told Reuters that he was taken to a hospital. French media reported he was conscious and speaking.

“After his fall in the 3,000m steeplechase, Lamecha Girma received immediate care from the on-site medical teams. Our thoughts are with him and we are sending him our very best wishes for a swift recovery,” Paris 2024 said in a statement.

“Paris 2024 is in close contact with the Ethiopian NOC to stay updated on his condition.”

The race had all the makings of an epic duel as El Bakkali waited in the middle of the pack before making his move with about 300m to go, chasing down Girma who was flying through the field.

Events took a jarring turn, however, when Girma fell, drawing gasps from the crowd.

El Bakkali chased down Rooks over the final bend but the American dug deep to produce a personal best time and claim a surprise silver.

The Moroccan held his arms out wide as he crossed the finish to become the first back-to-back winner of the event since Finland's Volmari Iso-Hollo in 1932 and 1936, while medical staff were still tending to Girma.

The fans at the Stade de France offered a smattering of applause as he was strapped to a stretcher and carried out through a tunnel.

“I actually didn’t know how bad the fall was — I didn’t know who fell until after the race — so I’ll just keep him in my prayers,” said Rooks. 

Athletics: Fast-finishing Hall takes 400m gold for US, Zambia's Samukonga runs to bronze

Quincy Hall produced an incredible late surge to overhaul Briton Matthew Hudson-Smith and take a first Olympic 400m gold for the US since 2008 in another scintillating race on Wednesday.

Hudson-Smith seemed on course to win his country’s first gold over the distance since “Chariots of Fire” Eric Liddell in the Paris Games 100 years ago, but he tied up at the end and Hall swept past to win in a personal best 43.40 seconds and give the US their first triumph since LaShawn Merritt in Beijing.

Hudson-Smith bettered his own European record with 43.44 for silver and Zambia's 21-year-old Muzala Samukonga set his second successive national record with 43.74 to take bronze.

Hall, who took bronze behind Jamaica’s Antonio Watson and Hudson-Smith at last year’s world championship, looked out of contention coming into the final straight a distant fourth as the long-striding Hudson-Smith seemed on course for a first global gold of an injury-plagued career.

He was still well adrift heading into the last 30m but somehow found the energy to drive past everyone and become the fourth-fastest man over the distance, behind world record holder Wayde van Niekerk (43.03), Michael Johnson (43.18) and Butch Reynolds (43.29). Hudson-Smith is now fifth.

“I told you guys I was going to get a gold medal this year and I guess I just showed you I did it,” Hall, who switched from the 400 hurdles to focus on the flat, said.

“I know I can win. I knew it today. That’s what I’ve been doing my whole career. I don’t give up. I just grit, I grind. I’ve got determination. Anything I think will get me to that line, I think of it. A lot of hurt, a lot of pain.”

Fourth-placed Jereem Richards set a Trinidad and Tobago national record of 43.78 and former Olympic champion Kirani James in fifth was also under 44 seconds in 43.87.

“Sometimes the journey is better than the outcome,” said Hudson-Smith, who has world silver and bronze and now Olympic silver to his name. “My time is going to come.”

US athletes have now won 19 gold, 13 silver and 11 bronze for 38 medals in the event. Britain are next with two golds and eight medals in all.

Hudson-Smith, 29, has world silver and bronze and now Olympic silver to his name after a long and often troubled career.

“Sometimes the journey is better than the outcome. My time is going to come,” he said.

“I can’t describe the feelings, they are so mixed. I was so close to getting the gold. I got an area record and PB.

“I am so grateful to have everyone that came to watch me. It has been a crazy journey. I am just going to keep building.”

Athletics: All mine this time, Australian Kennedy soars to pole vault title

Australia's Nina Kennedy soared to the gold medal in the Olympic women's pole vault on Wednesday, a year after she shared top spot on the world championship medal podium with American rival Katie Moon.

The 27-year-old Kennedy, the first Australian woman to win the event, cleared a season's best 4.90m, fiercely pumping her fist several times after another epic battle with Moon.

“I wanted that outright gold medal,” Kennedy said. “I didn't want to share it this time. I became really confident in talking to the media, it was really scary, really vulnerable, to lay it all out there. I’m just really happy I got the job done.”

Moon, the Tokyo gold medallist and two-times world champion, cleared 4.85m to claim silver. Canada's Alysha Newman went over the same height but was awarded bronze due to more missed jumps.

Kennedy and Moon decided to share gold at last year's world championships in Budapest after they both vaulted 4.90m. Moon defended the decision after scathing criticism on social media, saying the danger of vaulting increases as fatigue sets in.

Kennedy made sure there was no sharing on Wednesday at Stade de France, failing on her first attempt at 4.70 before flying over the next three heights with ease.

After Kennedy's successful attempt at 4.90, Moon's only chance to steal victory was by clearing 4.95 but they both failed at that height.

Kennedy said she had a sneaking suspicion victory was in the bag after she cleared 4.90.

“I knew first-attempt clearances at those high bars were going to take the gold. I put all my focus into that exact second, and that's how I won,” she said.

Her victory was some redemption for the Tokyo Olympics in which a serious quadriceps injury contributed to her elimination in the preliminary round.

Since winning the 2018 Commonwealth Games title, the 30-year-old Newman had a string of frustrating seasons, punctuated by a serious concussion suffered in 2021.

“It wasn't just my mental health, I had brain problems. I had a brain health issue,” said Newman, adding her neurologist was in the crowd on Wednesday.

“I wasn't happy. I didn't like the sport at that time, and it was a struggle for me. I needed to step away. I learnt to love track again.”

Hockey: China beat Belgium in penalties to advance to women's hockey final

China beat Belgium 3-2 during a penalty shoot-out in women's hockey at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday to advance to the final after a 1-1 draw in regulation, as goalkeeper Ye Jiao stopped Delphine-Daphne Marien's final penalty attempt.

China last made it to medal contention in 2008 when they were the hosts and took silver, their sole Olympic medal. They play a powerhouse Netherlands side that is looking to repeat their gold medal from Tokyo in their sixth consecutive Olympic final.

“We did what we had to do. These games you need to win. It doesn't have to be pretty,” China's head coach Alyson Annan said.

“We've also practised shoot-outs every single training for the last year and a half. Every training. We didn't miss a training. That paid off tonight,” Annan added.

“You cannot leave anything out on the field. You have to give it your all. They did that. We're in the final.”

Belgium, who had never made it to Olympic medal contention, play Argentina in the bronze medal contest.

Chants of “lets go Belgium!” persisted throughout the match as fans supported their side's first semifinal appearance until the final whistle.

China midfielder Zou Meirong scored in the 18th minute on a penalty corner rebound that went past the legs of goalkeeper Aisling D'Hooghe and off the stick of outstretched defender Stephanie Vanden Boore before being redirected into the net.

After the early score, China loaded the circle with all their players for most of the game, stifling a strong Belgian offence.

However, Belgian forward Charlotte Englebert equalised in the 59th minute with a driving volley penalty corner rebound, bringing a roar from the crowd.

At the closing whistle, Chinese midfielder Fan Yunxia smacked the ball out of frustration into forward Delphine-Daphne Marien causing her to drop to the turf in pain. Fan received a yellow card for the hit.

“It's a tough one to take. I think we were very close today,” Belgian midfielder Judith Vandermeiren said.

“The pride of making it this far will definitely come later. At this point, it's a disappointment to be this close to an Olympic final because that's not something that happens a lot in a lifetime,” said Vandermeiren.

“We haven't been to the Olympics for 12 years. If you can play for a medal, you shouldn't hesitate for a second. Even though we wanted to play in the final, we can still get the first medal in the history of Belgium Hockey, so we should go for it.” 

Cycling: Australia beat Britain in men's team pursuit, U.S win women's gold

Australia and the US ended years of hurt in track cycling's iconic Olympic team pursuit to land gold medals on another record-breaking day in the velodrome on Wednesday.

Australia's men won a thrilling final against Britain to top the podium for the first time since 2004.

The US then beat New Zealand in the women's race to strike gold after two silvers and a bronze in the last three Games.

Team pursuit finals are always the highlight of any track championships and Australia v Britain did not disappoint in an absorbing neck-and-neck tussle played out against a deafening noise around the packed velodrome.

Throughout the 16-lap duel the Australian quartet of Oliver Bleddyn, Sam Welsford, Conor Leahy and Kelland O'Brien were always fractionally ahead.

Gold was still in the balance as the bell rang for the final lap but calamity struck Britain as Ethan Hayter slipped and fell onto the top tube of his bike frame and just avoided crashing.

It was sweet revenge for Australia who lost to Britain in the 2012 and 2016 finals and saw their hopes dashed in Tokyo by a snapped handlebar. But they arrived in Paris with a formidable quartet and broke the world record in Tuesday's first round.

“I'm just so proud of the team I'm a part of,” O'Brien said. “It's an absolute honour to share the track with those guys, and even more so when you come away with gold.

“I have so much respect for that [British] team and those guys, so hats off to them for putting on a good show.”

Italy, the champions from Tokyo, beat Denmark to bronze.

Britain were left to rue Hayter's hair-raising late moment that may have cost them gold.

“We were so close and I could see it,” Hayter said. “It was nearly five laps at the end and I just really gave too much, and my whole body went weak and I really struggled to hold myself on the bike in the end.”

Charlie Tanfield defended his team mate: “He just kind of slid a bit. That was that. He did an amazing job. He did so much for the team.”

The US women's team of Jennifer Valente, Lily Williams, Chloe Dygert and Kristen Faulkner were bidding to upgrade to gold after missing out on the title since the discipline was added to the programme in 2012.

After building a decent lead they struggled to stay together late on but had enough in the tank to remain ahead.

For Faulkner it was a second gold of the Games after she won the women's road race — making her the first American woman to win two titles at the same Olympics in two different disciplines.

“When I came into the programme in 2016 this was the medal that US Cycling was aiming for more than any other discipline,” Dygert, who has completed the set of medals, said.

“Now we've finally pulled it off.”

World records continued to tumble earlier on day three of track action with Dutchman Harrie Lavreysen blasting around the men's 200m flying lap in 9.088, averaging 79kph.

Australian Matthew Richardson initially broke the world record set by Trinidad & Tobago's Paul Nicholas in 2019 with 9.091 but the 27-year-old Lavreysen, fresh from his team sprint gold on Tuesday, went even quicker.

The start of the women's keirin saw New Zealand's world champion Ellesse Andrews make it safely through to the quarterfinals, as did Britain's Emma Finucane and Canada's Olympic sprint champion Kelsey Mitchell. 

Boxing: Ukraine's Khyzhniak makes up for Tokyo miss with gold

Ukraine's Oleksandr Khyzhniak won the middleweight boxing gold by split decision against Kazakh Nurbek Oralbay at the Olympics on Wednesday to make up for his near miss at the Tokyo Games.

Oralbay took the men's silver medal, while Cuba's twice Olympic champion Arlen Lopez Cardona and Cristian Pinales of the Dominican Republic won bronze.

Khyzhniak, Tokyo silver medallist and former world champion, has been in incredible form in Paris, dispatching Pylyp Akilov and Wanderley Pereira with ease in the earlier rounds before claiming a close win over Lopez Cardona.

Three years ago in Tokyo, the Ukrainian was seconds away from winning the final before being caught with a powerful left that sent him crashing to the canvas and handed the gold medal to Brazilian Hebert Sousa instead.

This time around, there was no late slip-up.

In his trademark style, Khyzhniak pressed forward with urgency from the first bell and overwhelmed Oralbay with the sheer volume of his punches to edge the first round despite the Kazakh landing a few good shots.

The bout became an all-out slugfest in the second round as Oralbay upped his intensity in a desperate attempt to keep up with the Ukrainian, with the scores tied at 2-2 heading into the decider.

With blood gushing from his nose, Oralbay bravely kept going forward in the final round and was dealt serious punishment, just about managing to stay on his feet until the end.

When the final bell rang, Khyzhniak knew he had done enough and sprinted around the ring in celebration, before he was announced as the winner by a 3-2 decision.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky congratulated Khyzhniak, writing on Telegram: “Thank you for having the strength, the confidence and for this important victory.

“We continue to support all our athletes. We are cheering for Ukraine, we are cheering for Ukrainians.”

To make his win even sweeter, Khyzhniak is set to receive a payout from former undisputed heavyweight champion and compatriot Oleksandr Usyk, who pledged to give Ukrainians prize money out of his own pocket if they made it on to the podium.

Artistic swimming: China win first gold in acrobatic team event with big lead over US

China won their first gold medal in artistic swimming at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday with a lively acrobatic team routine that wowed the judges and produced a total score well ahead of the US, who took silver.

Russia, long the dominant force in artistic swimming, have been excluded from the Games and in their absence China pulled through to win gold, with the US taking silver and Spain claiming the bronze medal.

Wearing red, sequinned swimsuits, the Chinese team tossed one swimmer high into the air, drawing applause from the crowd as she performed flips into the water.

The theme of China's acrobatic routine was “Light of Life,” and the music served as a fierce backdrop to the performance as the singer chanted during portions of the song.

“I feel like this gold medal for me is not only a personal achievement and reaching my personal dream, it's also the dream for the entire artistic swimming team for China,” said China's Feng Yu. “We have a lot of responsibility on our shoulders.”

The swimmers formed a shape that represented a mountain, symbolising the work the team had put in to reach the gold medal, said Zhang Xiaohuan, one of the coaches for China.

“We wanted to show that this is overcoming difficulties and the peak of the mountain,” she said.

Paris marks the first time the acrobatic routine, which involves complex jumps, flips and tosses, has been introduced in Olympic artistic swimming.

The US delivered an ethereal routine with the theme “the sorceresses,” earning them their first medal in the team event since the Athens Games in 2004.

China scored a total of 996.1389 points with the US on 914.3421 and Spain getting 900.7319.

China, who were favourites to win the acrobatic team title in the lead-up to Paris, have an opportunity to win another gold when the duet artistic swimming event begins on Friday.

Teams from Russia and Belarus have been banned from taking part in the Games over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with Belarus having been used as a staging ground. 

Wrestling: Hildebrandt wins freestyle event, Kusaka and Saravi grab Greco-Roman golds

Sarah Hildebrandt of the US put a chaotic morning behind her to win the women's 50kg freestyle event, while Japan's Nao Kusaka and Iran's Mohammadhadi Saravi won men's Greco-Roman gold at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday.

Hildebrandt was originally scheduled to meet Vinesh Phogat in the gold medal match but the Indian was disqualified for being overweight.

Cuba's Yusneylys Guzman, who lost to Phogat in Tuesday's semifinals, was promoted instead and Hildebrandt prevailed 3-0 to win the gold after claiming bronze in Tokyo three years ago.

“My mind and body are not computing everything, especially with the chaotic morning I had with the change of opponent,” Hildebrandt said at the mixed zone while nibbling a muffin.

“It was very strange, like 'Oh my god, I just won the Olympics'” she said of the assumption she had prevailed by forfeit. “So there had to be a reset. I took a nap, woke up, and it was like a fever dream.”

Tokyo champion Yui Susaki of Japan and Feng Ziqi of China won bronze.

In the men's Greco-Roman style, in which holds below the waist are prohibited, Kusaka beat Demeu Zhadrayev of Kazakhstan 5-2 to claim the 77kg gold.

“Since I was told about the design of this medal, I thought that it was so cool and that I'd like to have it so bad,” he said.

“Now, looking at it in my hand, I'm feeling so happy about this achievement, because it's mine.”

Beer was on Kusaka's mind when asked about his celebration.

“Champagne is not something I'm familiar with. I'm more of a beer guy. So I'd like to enjoy my beer first and then maybe champagne.”

Armenia's Malkhas Amoyan and Kyrgyzstan's Akzhol Makhmudov took bronze in the event.

In the 97kg, Saravi turned the form book upside down with a 4-1 win against Artur Aleksanyan of Aremina, who claimed the silver.

Aleksanyan already had Olympic medals of every hue in his possession heading into the contest against an opponent he had beaten in each of their three previous encounters.

Saravi caught him by surprise though to improve on his bronze medal in Tokyo.

“This gold is specially sweet because I could not beat him in my last three attempts,” the 26-year-old said.

“I have great respect for him and so I'm happy to have finally beaten him.”

Cuba's Gabriel Rosillo and Uzur Dzhuzupbetook of Kyrgyzstan took bronze. 

All the latest Paris Games coverage on TimesLIVE’s Olympics 2024 page.

All the Team SA results here.