In a thrilling semi-final round on Sunday, Shafiqua Maloney of St. Vincent and the Grenadines fought her way into the 800m final at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Maloney set a new national record, clocking in at 1:57.59 to secure second place in her heat and a spot in the final.
Maloney's remarkable performance places her among the elite contenders, where she will once again face heat winner Tsige Duguma of Ethiopia. Duguma, who ran a personal best of 1:57.47, will be a formidable opponent in the final. The USA's Juliette Whittaker, with a personal best of 1:57.76, and Frenchwoman Renelle Lamote, who finished in 1:57.78, also advanced from the highly competitive heat.
Medal favorite Mary Moraa of Kenya demonstrated her prowess by winning the first of the three semi-finals with a time of 1:57.86. She will be joined in the final by Worknesh Mesele of Ethiopia, who posted a time of 1:58.06.
In contrast, Jamaica's Natoya Goule once again fell short of expectations. Despite being among the front runners, Goule faded down the home stretch and finished sixth in her semi-final with a time of 1:59.14, thus ending her Olympic campaign.
The final semi-final heat saw gold-medal favorite Keely Hodgkinson of Great Britain taking no chances. Hodgkinson stormed to victory in 1:56.86, leaving South Africa's Prudence Sekgodiso behind. Sekgodiso also secured her spot in the final with a time of 1:57.57.
As the stage is set for the 800m final, Shafiqua Maloney’s impressive journey and record-setting performance have not only elevated her status but also brought pride to St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The final promises to be a spectacular showdown as the world's best middle-distance runners vie for Olympic glory.
Pinnock jumps 8.36m to take silver in Men’s long jump; Tentoglu defends Olympic title with 8.48m
In a repeat of the final at the World Championships last year in Budapest, Jamaica’s Wayne Pinnock was narrowly beaten by Greece’s Miltiadis Tentoglu in the final of the Men’s long jump at the Paris Olympic Games at the Stade de France on Tuesday.
Jamaica’s Pinnock had a consistent series with a best jump of 8.36m but it wasn’t enough to prevent the Greek from adding to his extensive list of global gold medals.
Tentoglu’s winning jump of 8.48m also came in the second round.
Italian 19-year-old Mattia Furlani produced 8.34m to take Italy’s first medal in the event in 40 years.
The other Jamaican in the final, Carey McLeod, didn’t have his best day with 7.82m to finish 12th.
France topple Canada to reach second consecutive Olympics semi-final
France are through to their second consecutive Olympic semi-final after brushing aside Canada 82-73 in the quarter-finals on Tuesday.
Canada were unbeaten coming into this game after a strong showing in the competition so far, but had no answers against the hosts and their raucous home support.
Canada's game plan limited Victor Wembanyama to a supporting role as he scored just seven points, but that allowed Guerschon Yabusele and Isaia Cordinier to shine as they scored 22 and 20 points respectively.
France made a strong start, storming into a 19-point lead at the start of the second half, though Canada clawed themselves back to within five points with only four minutes remaining - Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led them with 27 points.
The comeback soon stalled though, as Evan Fournier put together seven quick points to send France cruising into the next round as they aim to better their silver medal from the Tokyo Olympics.
They will face Germany for a chance to play in the gold-medal match, while Canada have now failed to make it to the final four at the Olympics since 1984.
United States 1-0 Germany (aet): Smith sends Stars and Stripes to Olympics final
Sophia Smith's extra-time strike booked the United States a place in the Olympic Games final with a 1-0 win over Germany on Tuesday.
Mallory Swanson was denied a winner in normal time, and though Germany pushed for a late equaliser, Emma Hayes will take charge of a final in her first tournament as the USA's head coach.
Unlike in the group-stage meeting between these sides, which finished 4-1 to the dominant Stars and Stripes, it was Germany who almost took a first-half lead, with Alyssa Naeher reacting quickly to get down and push Jule Brand's low shot wide.
In the 86th minute, Mallory Swanson thought she had snatched a late winner – she latched onto Trinity Rodman's throughball and drilled her low shot across goal into the bottom corner, but the offside flag denied her.
Swanson turned provider five minutes into extra time, as Smith timed her run to perfection, darting in behind to beat Berger for power with a wonderful effort.
There was late drama though, as Naeher brilliantly smothered Laura Freigang's close-range header before Smith was denied a second goal at the other end by Berger's quick thinking.
Data Debrief: Smith's touch of gold
Smith has been in top form during the Olympics and netted her third goal in the competition as she carried her team into their 11th major tournament final.
She is also the second USA player to score in at least three consecutive appearances against Germany, after Abby Wambach - five straight from 2009-12.
Meanwhile, it was familiar heartache for Germany as they were eliminated in the knockout rounds of a major tournament (Olympics and World Cup) for the 10th time, with half of those coming at the USA's hands.
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