International sports

PARIS – They played poorly in the first half against Nigeria.

From staff reports

There's nothing brighter for Sonja "Sunny" Greinacher than gold. Greinacher, the former Gonzaga basketball standout who has played overseas in her home country in Germany since her college career ended in 2015, earned a gold medal on Monday after leading the Germans past Spain 17-16 in the women's 3x3 final at the Paris Olympics.

TRACK AND FIELD: Sun beamed down on a pair of bright blue shades across the face of CJ Allen as he rounded the oval down the final stretch of the men’s 400-meter hurdles first round.

SAINT-DENIS, France – In the days before his greatest moment, Noah Lyles carried with him an emblem of his lowest. As he packed for the Paris Olympics, he stuffed the bronze medal he collected three years earlier into his bag. It was a prize he had won, but it did not feel like a victory. It felt like the byproduct of a difficult year and a battle with something inside of him that he had not yet won.

SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France – Scottie Scheffler stood atop the medal podium, located just off the 18th green at Le Golf National, swaying from side to side and mouthing the words to the national anthem. His eyes started welling up and for the first time all day, Scheffler seemed like he wasn’t in control. He drew an arm across his face, wiping away the tears.

SWIMMING: The U.S. women closed out their Olympic Games emphatically with a gold medal and a new world record in the women’s 4×100-meter medley relay on Sunday night.

TRACK AND FIELD: This was supposed to be Sha’Carri Richardson’s moment. This was supposed to be her arrival as the queen of sprint. Only a gold medal seemed worthy of her ability.

VERSAILLES and NANTERRE, France – As dawn reached France and Paris began its daily quest of recycling all the empty wine bottles, one all-time Olympic list began to quake.

PARIS – Simone Biles hasn’t faced a challenger as strong as Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade in years, and in the vault final, they met for their quickest battle of these Paris Olympics.

VILLENEUVE-D’ASCQ, France – The U.S. men’s basketball team looked like it had fallen into a collective slumber when its least-acclaimed member finally shook the group awake.

PARIS – For more than two tense hours, the Olympic women’s soccer quarterfinal between the United States and Japan on Saturday was a match of strategy and resolve rather than skill and speed, a test of patience and a demand for courage as frustration swelled and opportunities failed to materialize.

PARIS – The star players and coaches on the U.S. men’s basketball team are looking to smash Puerto Rico on Saturday, and they’re not shy about it.

PARIS – On the cusp of securing an Olympic bid in the 100-meter dash, Noah Lyles wore a pristine navy blue Gucci suit, covered in the monochrome logo, with three white stripes down the side of the pants – part of a collaboration between Adidas and the luxury Italian brand. He carried a briefcase featuring the legendary Yu-Gi-Oh trading card Blue-Eyes White Dragon. He had Snoop Dogg do the honors of unveiling.

You know Canada has made it in international basketball when we can sit here and nitpick a 3-0 finish in the toughest overall group in the men’s Olympic tournament.

The distinctive purple track of Stade de France will provide a stage for historic pursuits. American sprinter Noah Lyles has taken aim at Usain Bolt, eyeing a triple gold medal in the 100 meters, 200 meters and 4x100 relay, with an outside chance to threaten Bolt’s world record in the 200. Ethiopian distance runner Gudaf Tsegay could attempt an incredible triple and compete in the 1,500, 5,000 and 10,000. What will Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Rai Benjamin and Karsten Warholm do for an encore after astonishing 400 hurdles performances in Tokyo?

The contentious topic of gender in sport has made its way into a debate about how boxing is run at the Olympics, turning a murky administrative fight into the latest stage for combative arguments about how women should be allowed to compete.

PARIS – As Brazilian fans shook their flags and chanted as if they were at a soccer game, chests puffing as the name of their star gymnast, Rebecca Andrade, flashed atop the all-around standing, the public address announcer asked, “Are you enjoying it, Paris?”

If you’ve felt beaten over the head with the phrase “Olympic dream” this past week, strap on a helmet. Because here it comes again.