Even before the Olympics began, there were moments that seemed custom-built to fly across the internet (Mayor Hidalgo in the Seine! Lady Gaga in feathers! Céline Dion on the Eiffel Tower!)—but now that the Games are well and truly underway, we can expect slightly more athletic accomplishments to stun and amaze us. Here, a running list of highlights at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
July 28:
France’s Leon Marchand sets a new record in the 400-meter individual medley
Marchand during the men’s 400-meter individual medley final.
Photo: Getty Images
Beating a record set in 2008 by one Michael Phelps, Marchand, 22, finished in 4:02.95, earning him his first Olympic gold medal.
Simone Biles is slightly injured—but advances to the all-around finals anyway
Biles tapes her left ankle during the artistic gymnastics women’s qualifiers.
Photo: Getty Images
After remarking that she felt a twinge in her left calf during warm-ups on Sunday, Biles returned to the competition floor with her ankle heavily taped. All the same, her subsequent scores of 14.600 on floor (the highest of the day), 15.800 on vault, 14.733 on beam, and 14.433 on uneven bars easily secured her spot in the all-around finals next week. (Her teammate Suni Lee will join her.)
Two American fencers make history
Lauren Scruggs and Lee Kiefer compete in the women’s foil individual gold medal bout on July 28.
Photo: Getty Images
In a women’s individual foil final that saw two Americans, Lee Kiefer and Lauren Scruggs, battle for the gold, Kiefer, 30, emerged the victor, becoming the first US woman and only the third woman ever to win two Olympic gold medals in fencing. Scruggs, meanwhile, a 21-year-old Harvard student, became the first Black fencer from Team USA to medal in a women’s individual event at the Olympics.
July 27:
Team USA wins its first gold medal
Caeleb Dressel poses with his medal on the podium of the men’s 4×100-meter freestyle relay swimming event.
Photo: Getty Images
The men’s 4×100-meter freestyle relay team, anchored by Caeleb Dressel, claimed gold for the USA on July 27—marking the nation’s first gold medal at the Paris Games. The team, also made up of Jack Alexy, Chris Guiliano, and Hunter Armstrong , posted a combined time of 3:09.28, beating Australia by more than a second. Italy finished third.
Canada’s women’s soccer team is accused of espionage
Days after the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) suspended Bev Priestman, head coach of Canada’s women’s soccer team, for the remainder of the Games, the team was penalized with a six-point deduction from its group stage total—all but assuring that Canada will not remain in contention for a medal. Why? Because on July 22, it was discovered that a Canadian man with ties to the team “had effectively filmed the closed-door training of the New Zealand women’s team, with the help of a drone,” according to a statement. (Canada would go on to beat New Zealand 2-1 in their match on July 25.)
South Sudan’s basketball team goes viral
A day before South Sudan’s men’s basketball team celebrated its first-ever win at the Olympics—trouncing Puerto Rico 90-79 on July 28—the team went viral on X for their sharp suiting at the opening ceremony, created by Rwandan designer Moses Turahirwa.
An Italian high-jumper loses his wedding band in the Seine and is extremely cute about it
Gianmarco Tamberi, a flag bearer for Team Italy, took to Instagram on July 27 with a confession—and an apology—to his wife: The night before, he had watched his wedding ring bounce into the Seine during the opening ceremony. “I’m sorry, my love, I’m so sorry,” the high-jumper wrote in a caption in Italian. “I felt it slip away, I saw it fly…. I followed it with my gaze until I saw it bounce inside the boat. A tinkle of hope… But unfortunately the bounce was in the wrong direction.”
Yet Tamberi managed to give the whole ordeal a romantic spin. He continued, charmingly: “But if it really had to happen […] I couldn’t imagine a better place. It will remain forever in the riverbed of the city of love, flown away while I was trying to raise the Italian tricolor as high as possible during the opening ceremony of the most important sporting event in the world. If I had to invent an excuse I would never have been so imaginative. […] May it be a good omen to return home with an even bigger gold!!!”
Team USA wins its first medal
Sarah Bacon and Kassidy Cook of Team USA compete in the women’s synchronized 3-meter springboard final on day one of the 2024 Olympic Games.Photo: Getty Images
The first US medals were won by synchronized divers Kassidy Cook and Sarah Bacon—known as Cook’N Bacon—who nabbed silver in the three-meter springboard final on Saturday, July 27.
The Games get off to a starry start
Leave it to Paris to fill its utterly iconic Olympic venues with all manner of celebrity onlookers. Among those in the stands on the Olympics’ first weekend were Dr. Jill Biden, Emma Chamberlain, Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Spike Lee, Mick Jagger, and Tom Cruise.
