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From another incredible outing from Léon Marchand, to historic performances from Americans on the track, and the tennis final we all wanted, Friday was a well-rounded and entertaining day at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Here’s a look at the biggest moments from Day 7 of the Games in France.
Léon Marchand dominates as Caeleb Dressel stumbles
Léon Marchand dominated yet again on Friday in Paris in what was yet another stunning performance from the French star. He won the 200-meter individual medley in an Olympic-record time that was just 0.6 seconds shy of Ryan Lochte’s world record in the event. That gave him his fourth individual gold medal of these Games, and immediately brought on comparisons to swimming legend Michael Phelps.
While Marchand was great once again, American star Caeleb Dressel was the exact opposite. The eight-time Olympic gold medalist missed the podium completely and finished sixth in the men’s 50-meter freestyle, and then he failed to reach the final in the men’s 100-meter butterfly.
While he won gold in the men’s 4×100-meter freestyle relay, Dressel will leave Paris without any individual medals.
“It was very obviously not my best work,” Dressel said, via The Athletic’s Nicole Auerbach. “It hasn’t been my best week. I don’t think I need to shy away from that. But the racing has been really fun here. Walking out for the the 50 and the 100 fly, it was special. I don’t want to ever forget that. I’d like to be quicker, obviously. Not my week.”
Alcaraz, Djokovic set for final
The tennis final everybody has been waiting for is finally here.
Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic will square off in the men’s singles gold medal match on Sunday after both players rolled through their semifinals matches on Friday. Alcaraz, the No. 3-ranked player in the world, dominated Canada’s Félix Auger-Aliassime 6-1, 6-1 in what was his fourth straight win over him. Alcaraz has yet to drop a single set in the tournament.
Alcaraz is the youngest man to reach the Olympic singles semifinals since Djokovic did so in 2008. Djokovic also won his semifinals match in straight sets. He beat Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti 6-4, 6-2 to reach his first ever Olympics final.
This will now mark the seventh time the two tennis stars have squared off. They currently hold an even 3-3 record against each other, though Alcaraz most recently beat Djokovic in straight sets to win the Wimbledon title earlier this year.
Alcaraz, 21, is the youngest to play for an Olympic gold singles medal, while Djokovic is the oldest at 37.
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U.S. mixed 4×400-meter relay sets world record
The United States didn’t waste any time setting a new world record on the track.
In one of the first track and field events of the Games, the U.S. mixed 4×400-meter relay team won its preliminary heat in a time of 3:07.41 on Friday — which smashed the previous world record by more than a full second. The team was made up of Vernon Norwood, Shamier Little, Bryce Deadmon and Kaylyn Brown.
“I didn’t think we were going to do that today,” Deadmon said.
The team will be heavy favorites to win the gold medal in Saturday’s final. They were the only team to break 3 minutes, 10 seconds in qualifying.
U.S. men’s soccer out of Olympics
The U.S. men’s national team is now out of the Olympics.
Morocco rolled over the United States 4-0 on Friday thanks to three second-half goals that led them to the dominant win. Morocco nearly doubled the U.S. in time of possession in the first half, and then Morocco added goals in the 63rd, 70th and 91st minutes on a penalty kick to secure the win. That officially pushed Morocco into the semifinals, where they’ll take on Spain on Monday. France and Egypt will square off on the other side of the bracket.
Though they won’t medal, the USMNT did make it out of the group stage as many expected they would at the Olympics. That’s at least a good sign for the U-23 team, as the organization as a whole will now turn its attention to the North American World Cup in 2026.
Grant Fisher medals for U.S. in men’s 10K
Grant Fisher joined an elite group of American runners on Friday in Paris.
Fisher won bronze in the men’s 10,000-meter race on Friday with a time of 26:43.46 — which was just .02 seconds shy of silver medalist Berihu Aregawi of Ethiopia. Fisher stumbled with less than 10 laps to go and nearly fell, and he rallied back from fifth place in the final lap to make it onto the podium. Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegi won with an Olympic record time of 26:43.14.
Fisher is now just the fourth American man in history to medal in the more than six-mile run. The last American man to medal in the event was Galen Rupp, who took silver at the London Olympics in 2012.
Team USA medals
Highlight of the day
Chinese badminton player Huang Ya Qiong had a great day, winning the gold medal with her mixed doubles partner Zheng Si Wei. Her day was then made even sweeter when her boyfriend, Liu Yuchen — a badminton silver medalist for China in Tokyo — proposed to her after the match. Huang happily accepted.
One more thing: 3×3 finally wins … twice!
Finally, after struggling throughout the entire Games, the men’s 3×3 team finally won a game.
Canyon Berry dropped 15 points and scored the game-winning layup to lead the U.S. past France 21-19 in their matchup on Friday. That snapped a four-game losing skid in France for the Americans, who were without star Jimmer Fredette for a second straight game due to an injury.
“We had to get that one and we did,” Barry said, via The Associated Press. “Huge credit to the whole team to battle in that atmosphere and through all this adversity with three people. It’s a statement win for us.”
The United States then won a second game on Friday with a 21-17 win over China. That pushed them to 2-4 in pool play. The U.S. has one last game scheduled for Sunday against the Netherlands.