Jamaica’s Natoya Goule-Toppin and Shafiqua Maloney of St. Vincent and the Grenadines secured their spots in the women’s 800m semi-finals at the Paris Olympic Games after both ran well-paced races to advance from their respective heats at the Stade de France on Friday.
Goule-Toppin comfortably won the sixth and final heat in 1:58.66 in a gate-to-wire performance. She was followed by Australia’s Claudia Hollingsworth (1:58.77) and Kenya’s Lilian Odira (1:58.83).
Prior to that, Maloney clocked a new national record of 1:58.23 for third place in heat five, behind Ethiopia’s Tsige Duguma (1:57.90) and Kenya’s Mary Moraa (1:57.95).
Earlier, Great Britain’s Jemma Reekie comfortably topped heat one in a flat 2:00.00, ahead of fast-finishing Slovakian Gabriela Gajanova (2:00.29) and American Juliette Whittaker (2:00.45).
Cuba’s Daily Cooper Gaspar proved better than the rest in heat two, as she won in 1:58.88. South Africa’s Prudence Sekgodiso (1:59.84) and Switzerland’s Rachel Pellaud (2:00.07) took the other qualifying spots.
In heat three, Ethiopia’s Worknesh Mesele finished tops in a personal best of 1:58.07, ahead of Frenchwoman Renelle Lamote (1:58.59) and Great Britain’s 17-year-old prodigy Phoebe Gill (1:58.83). Cuba’s Rose Mary Almanza placed sixth in 2:00.36 and will contest the Repechage round.
Another Great Britain stalwart, Keely Hodkinson (1:59.31), outclassed rivals in heat four, with American Nia Akins (1:59.67) and Benin’s Noelie Yarigo (1:59.68) also progressing. Jamaica’s Adelle Tracey was eighth in that heat in a season’s best 2:03.47 and will have to contest the Repechage round for another shot at the semi-final.
Jamaica's Shanieka Ricketts and Dominica's Thea LaFond, along with another Jamaican, Ackelia Smith, have secured their spots in the Women's Triple Jump finals at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
Jumpers who met the qualification standard of 14.35m or ranked among the top 12 performers in the preliminary round advance to the finals.
Ricketts, a two-time World Championship silver medalist, qualified on her first jump with a distance of 14.47m in Group B of the preliminary round. Her impressive leap not only ensured her place in the finals but also placed her among the top qualifiers.
Joining her from Group B are Spain’s Ana Peleteiro-Compaore, who jumped 14.36m and Italy’s Dariya Derkach, who achieved a season-best of 14.35m. While Ricketts' 14.47m was a commendable effort, the best mark of the qualifying rounds came from Cuba’s Leyanis Perez Hernandez, who delivered a stunning leap of 14.68m to lead all qualifiers.
Meanwhile, in Group A, World Indoor Champion Thea LaFond of Dominica (14.35m) also demonstrated her elite skills, advancing to the finals alongside Ackelia Smith, the 2024 NCAA champion from Jamaica, who recorded a jump of 14.09m.
Perez- Hernandez’s compatriot Liadamis Povea also advanced with a jump of 14.39m. Other notable qualifiers include Ukraine's Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk (14.30m) and Romania's Elena Andreea Talos (14.23m).
The USA will have strong representation in the finals with Jasmine Moore, who qualified with a mark of 14.43m, and Kenturah Orji, who advanced with a jump of 14.09m. Ilionis Guillaume of France also made it to the finals with a leap of 14.05m.
Jamaica was the only Caribbean team to secure a lane in the final of the 4x400m Mixed Relay as they were dragged in qualifying by United States, which registered the first World Record of the Paris Olympic Games at the Stade de France on Friday.
Running from lane six in heat one, the Americans—Vernon Norwood, Shamier Little, Bryce Deadmon, and Kaylyn Brown—left the field in their wake to stop the clock in 3:07.41, bettering their own previous mark of 3:08.80 set at last year’s World Championships in Budapest. Poland’s Olympic Record of 3:09.87 set in Tokyo, was also erased.
France (3:10.60) and Belgium (3:10.74) were second and third with national record times, while Jamaica’s quartet of Raheem Hayles, Junelle Bromfield, Zandrion Barnes, and Stephanie-Ann McPherson also clocked a national record of 3:11.66 for fourth. They progressed as one of the fastest non-automatic qualifiers, along with Poland (3:11.43).
Bahamas struggled throughout and ended at the back of the pack in 3:14.58. The same is true about Dominican Republic (3:18.89) in heat two.
That heat was won by Great Britain in a national record 3:10.61, ahead of Netherlands (3:10.81) and Italy (3:11.59).
Sri Lanka held India to a draw in a thrilling finale to the first ODI of their series on Friday.
Charith Asalanka was the hero for Sri Lanka in Colombo, taking two wickets in the space of two balls to bowl India out for 230.
Pathum Nissanka (56) and Dunith Wellalage (67) led the way for Sri Lanka with the bat, propelling them to 230-8 from their 50 overs, with the pair plundering 18 boundaries between them.
India looked well set for the first 12 overs, until the dismissal of Shubman Gill (16) kick-started a mini-capitulation, with captain Rohit Sharma (58), Washington Sundar (five), Virat Kohli (24) and Shreyas Iyer (23) following in quick succession.
KL Rahul and Axar Patel appeared to have steadied the ship, but Wanindu Hasaranga (3-58) and Asalanka (3-30) struck in the space of seven deliveries to drag Sri Lanka back into it.
And the day ultimately belonged to Asalanka who, after being hit for four by Shivam Dube (25) in the 48th over, hit back with a pair of LBWs to leave the tourists stunned.
Data Debrief: India's dominance ended
India had won each of their last six ODIs against Sri Lanka, their joint-longest winning streak against them in the history of the format (along with a run between July 1998 and May 1999), but for the first time since a loss in Colombo in July 2021, they failed to get the job done.
This match did see the two form teams in ODIs take each other on. India (27) and Sri Lanka (22) have won more 50-over games than any other teams since the start of 2023.
Spain saw off Japan 3-0 to reach the semi-finals of the Paris Olympics thanks to Fermin Lopez's superb double and a harsh VAR call.
Barcelona youngster Fermin, who played a bit-part role as Spain won Euro 2024, slammed in a sublime strike in each half of Friday's quarter-final in Lyon.
Having beat the despairing dive of Leo Kokubo with a long-range left-footed effort in the 11th minute, Fermin took centre stage again midway through the second half as he lashed in with an expertly controlled volley after taking the ball down on his chest.
Matters could have been vastly different had a first-half equaliser for Japan been allowed to stand, however.
Mao Hosoya brilliantly spun Pau Cubarsi to arrow home, only for the goal to be disallowed for the forward's right foot to have been millimetres offside as he tussled with the Spanish centre-back.
Hosoya was denied by Spain goalkeeper Arnau Tenas late on, but La Roja added gloss to an ultimately convincing win when captain Abel Ruiz poked in from close range after Japan failed to clear their lines from a set-piece.
Kota Takai struck the crossbar in one last fruitless attempt for Japan, and Spain will now ready themselves for a last-four tie with Morocco.
Data Debrief: Fabulous Fermin
Spain have one of the strongest squads at the tournament, and Fermin is possibly the standout.
He showed all his quality with his fantastic long-range finishes, which came from a combined expected goals (xG) of just 0.03.
Fermin had five shots in total, and hit the target with four of them, as he moved into joint-second place in the goalscoring charts with three, behind Morocco's Soufiane Rahimi.
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti has suggested he will not join another club once his tenure at the Santiago Bernabeu comes to an end.
Ancelotti is three years into his second stint at Madrid, and he has led Los Blancos to a swathe of success since re-joining the Spanish giants from Everton.
Madrid have won LaLiga and the Champions League twice each since 2021, with Ancelotti the first coach to win the latter trophy on five occasions.
The 65-year-old, who had been linked with the Brazil job, signed fresh terms with Madrid to extend his stay until the end of the 2025-26 season.
And he does not foresee himself taking up another club job, while he also hinted international coaching may not be for him either.
Speaking on the Obi One Podcast, as reported by The Athletic, Ancelotti said: "I think it will be my last club, I have to say.
"If there would be an opportunity for a national team, I don't know. I’m not so excited to be in a national team because of the fact that I would lose what I like most, the day-by-day [training].
"The day-by-day I like. To be here, to prepare the training, to talk to the players, to prepare the games.
"This is my 29th season as a coach. It's true that I have won a lot but imagine the number of titles I lost. I lost a lot."
Ancelotti has coached in each of Europe's top five leagues, though he admitted finding it difficult to fully adapt to life in Germany when he was in charge of Bayern Munich.
"I had luck, I went to the best team in England, in Spain, in Germany. But I was able to adapt to the culture," he said.
"I tried to learn the languages. I learned English, Spanish, French; I was not able to learn German, it's impossible — not difficult, impossible!"
Madrid take on rivals Barcelona in a friendly in the United States on Saturday. They start their LaLiga title defence against Real Mallorca on August 18, though before that they face Atalanta in the Super Cup.
The semifinals of the women’s 100m at the Paris Olympics will provide some of the most anticipated battles of the athletics programme.
With all the projected medal contenders successfully making it through the heats on Friday, the fields for Saturday’s semifinals have been set with a monumental clash set to take place in the second semifinal between three of the fastest women on earth.
The second semifinal will see Jamaica’s three-time Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce lining up against American reigning World champion and current world leader Sha’Carri Richardson as well as St. Lucian reigning World Indoor 60m champion and 2023 Bowerman Award winner Julien Alfred.
Fraser-Pryce was the fastest of the three in Friday’s heats with her 10.92 to finish second behind Marie Josee Ta Lou-Smith in the eighth and final heat.
Richardson ran 10.94 to win the first heat while Alfred won the second heat in 10.95.
The rest of the field for semifinal two includes Gina Bass-Bittaye, Rosemary Chukwuma, Bree Masters, Patrizia Van de Weken, Imani Lansiquot and Gladymar Torres.
Jamaica’s Shashalee Forbes will contest the first semifinal against the likes of Ta Lou-Smith, who was fastest in the heats with her 10.87, 2019 World 200m champion Dina Asher-Smith and World Indoor Championships 60m silver medallist Ewa Swoboda. Zaynab Dosso, Rani Rosius, Melissa Jeffferson, Mujinga Kambundji and Boglarka Takacs complete the field in that semifinal.
Jamaica’s Tia Clayton and Trinidad & Tobago’s Leah Bertrand will contest the third semifinal. That field is completed by Daryll Neita, Audrey Leduc, TeeTee Terry, Karolina Manasova, Zoe Hobbs, Gina Lueckenkemper and Delphine Nkansa.
The top two from each semifinal will advance to the final along with the next two fastest times.
The semifinals are set to start at 12:50pm Jamaica Time (1:50pm EST) with the final scheduled for 2:20pm (3:20pm EST).
Hideki Matsuyama maintained his lead from the opening round of the Olympic Games but now shares top spot with Xander Schauffele and Tommy Fleetwood at the halfway stage.
The three are all on 11 under after the first two rounds, with the Brit enjoying a brilliant day on the course as he jumped 11 places up the leaderboard.
He carded a seven-under 64 on Friday and only failed to take an outright lead after finding the sand and failing to get up and down.
Matsuyama similarly missed his chance, hitting the water on the final hole, but he did well to only make a double as he finished with a three-under 68.
Schauffele, who is playing to retain his gold medal, had set the pace by carding a 66, one more than yesterday.
Jon Rahm has also played his way into contention (nine under), while Belgium's Thomas Detry produced the best result of the day, with his round of eight-under 63 improving him to eight under and vaulting him up 36 places into joint fifth.
Meanwhile, world number one Scottie Scheffler is down in joint-10th (six under), with Rory McIlroy one stroke further down after carding a two-under 69.
His Ireland team-mate Shane Lowry finished on an even 71 for the second day running.
Hideki Matsuyama maintained his lead from the opening round of the Olympic Games but now shares top spot with Xander Schauffele and Tommy Fleetwood at the halfway stage.
The three are all on 11 under after the first two rounds, with the Brit enjoying a brilliant day on the course as he jumped 11 places up the leaderboard.
He carded a seven-under 64 on Friday and only failed to take an outright lead after finding the sand and failing to get up and down.
Matsuyama similarly missed his chance, hitting the water on the final hole, but he did well to only make a double as he finished with a three-under 68.
Schauffele, who is playing to retain his gold medal, had set the pace by carding a 66, one more than yesterday.
Jon Rahm has also played his way into contention (nine under), while Belgium's Thomas Detry produced the best result of the day, with his round of eight-under 63 improving him to eight under and vaulting him up 36 places into joint fifth.
Meanwhile, world number one Scottie Scheffler is down in joint-10th (six under), with Rory McIlroy one stroke further down after carding a two-under 69.
His Ireland team-mate Shane Lowry finished on an even 71 for the second day running.
Morocco cruised into the semi-finals of the Olympic Games with a dominant 4-0 win over the United States on Friday.
Achraf Hakimi scored a stunner, with Soufiane Rahimi, Ilias Akhomach and El Mehdi Maouhoub also netting in an emphatic victory as the USA failed to mount a threat.
Nathan Harriel upended Rahimi in the box just before the half-hour mark and the forward made no mistake from 12 yards, stroking the ball just out of Patrick Schulte's reach into the bottom-left corner.
The USA should have equalised in the 59th minute but Walter Zimmermann's nod-down was skewed well wide by Miles Robinson from close range.
Just four minutes later, Morocco doubled their lead – Akhomach darted in behind to rifle Abde Ezzalzouli's drilled cross in at the near post.
Hakimi will take most of the plaudits though, with the Paris Saint-Germain star winning an aerial duel before carrying the ball from the halfway line to the edge of the box and picking out the bottom corner with pinpoint accuracy.
Harriel's sorry day continued as he was penalised harshly for a handball after a VAR check in the 90th minute, and Maouhoub emphatically fired in Morocco's fourth.
Data Debrief: Atlas Lions roar
Tarik Sektioui could not have asked for a better performance from Morocco, as they outplayed the USA at the Parc des Princes.
They created 2.53 expected goals from their 15 shots, hitting the target with eight of those, and converted all three of their big chances.
One thing is for sure, they will feel very confident going into the final four where they will face either Japan or Spain.
Iga Swiatek bounced back from her semi-final disappointment to win the bronze medal at the Olympic Games with a straight-sets victory over Anna Karolina Schmiedlova.
The world number one put Thursday's stunning defeat behind her in ruthless fashion, taking just 61 minutes to dispatch the Slovakian 6-2 6-1 on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
Swiatek made a shaky start to the match, losing her serve on the third game to go 2-1 behind.
She found her fight soon after though, getting three consecutive breaks as she went on a five-game winning run to take the first set.
Swiatek gave barely any openings in the second, asserting her dominance once more as she put together another impressive winning streak by getting two more breaks.
On the court where she has won each of her four French Open titles, she made sure she came away with the prize on offer.
Data Debrief: Swiatek makes history at Roland-Garros
Swiatek may have been tipped by most to win gold at the Olympics, but she made sure she did not leave Paris empty-handed.
She is the first player from Poland to win an Olympic medal in tennis history, and the fourth world number one to medal since the WTA rankings were introduced.
Erik ten Hag hinted that Casemiro could stay at Manchester United this season if he is prepared to be a team player.
There was speculation at the start of the transfer window that the Brazilian could be on his way out of Old Trafford, with some Saudi Pro League clubs interested in his signature.
However, those offers look to have dried up after he struggled in his second Premier League campaign, at times having to be deployed as an emergency centre-back due to injuries.
He was also dropped for the FA Cup final win; he was initially named on the bench but was later taken off the team sheet with United saying he was injured.
Though Ten Hag seems to have contradicted that notion of the club, he praised Casemiro's leadership qualities, hinting that he could be set for a third year in Manchester.
"You have to make choices – what was needed for that particular game [the FA Cup final]," he said in an interview with The Guardian. "But he is a very important player.
"He is a leader, and he can make a difference for our team. No one can play every game. It's impossible.
"All the players who are here, if they want to play for us, want to play for the bench, and they have the quality, then I hope they keep contributing to our team. We have seen that Casemiro in his career is so successful."
Casemiro has played in all of United's pre-season friendlies so far, managing 61 minutes against Real Betis in San Diego on Wednesday.
He scored the Red Devils' third goal in that game, but also had the most touches (67) and completed the most accurate passes (48/78) of anyone on the team.
Grenada's Lindon Victor and Ken Mullings of the Bahamas both had credible starts to their Paris Olympic Games campaign, as they are well positioned after three events in the men’s decathlon at the Stade de France.
After the 100m, long jump and shot put, Victor occupies sixth overall with a total of 2724 points, while Mullings is six positions lower in 12th with 2592 points.
Germany’s Leo Neugebauer (2876), Canada’s Damian Warner (2798) and Ayden Owens-Delerme (2786) of Puerto Rico occupy the medal positions so far.
Victor finished sixth in heat three of the 100m in 10.56 seconds, which earned him 961 points, while Mullings seventh-place finish in 10.60 seconds earned him 952 points.
For the long jump event, Victor ended eighth in group B with a leap of 7.48m, adding 930 points to his total, while Mullings cut the sand at 7.36m and secured 900 points for his 10th place finish.
In the shot-put event, Victor demonstrated his athleticism by throwing 15.71m. He tallied 833 points for his fourth-place finish, while Mullings received 740 points for his 14.19m-throw which was good enough for 11th.
The gruelling two-day 10-discipline event continues in the evening session, scheduled to begin at 11:00am Jamaica time, with the high jump next in the athletes’ sight as they seek to improve up the standings.
Carlos Alcaraz stormed into the Olympic Games final with a dominant straight-sets win over Felix Auger-Aliassime on Friday.
The Spaniard wasted no time booking his place in the gold-medal match, cruising through 6-1 6-1 in just 76 minutes on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
Auger-Aliassime won the first game on his serve, but it was all one-way traffic after that, as Alcaraz won the next six in a row to take the first set in just 40 minutes.
Like in the first, the Canadian won his opening service game in the second set, but he had no answers as Alcaraz produced one of his best performances of the season.
He did not face a single break point, winning the last five games in a row as he successfully earned two breaks of his own, dragging Auger-Aliassime from corner to corner with dynamic play.
Alcaraz, who has already won the French Open and Wimbledon this year, is now guaranteed a medal, and he will face either Novak Djokovic or Lorenzo Musetti in the showpiece.
Data Debrief: Is there any stopping Alcaraz?
It has already been a banner year for the 21-year-old, with two grand slams under his belt, and if he clinches gold, he will become just the second player alongside Rafael Nadal (2008) to win the French Open, Wimbledon and the Olympics in the same year.
He is also the second-youngest men's singles finalist at the Olympic Games in tennis history, older only than Robert LeRoy in St. Louis 1904, and the youngest since tennis returned to the Olympics schedule in 1988.
Alcaraz has won each of his last 12 matches and is now just one match away from writing even more history.
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