US Wins First Gold at Paris Olympics in Men’s Freestyle Relay

Nic Fink secures a spot in the men’s 100-meter breaststroke final, coming in second at a time of 59.16, the fourth highest time after the semi-finals.

Charlie Swanson, the other American, failed to advance.

Fink, a five-time world champion in the breaststroke, first competed in the Olympic trials in 2012, narrowly missing out. He finished fifth in the men’s 200-meter breaststroke at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

The United States brings in the gold medal in the men’s 4x100-meter freestyle relay, marking its first Olympic gold on French soil.

Coming in at 3:09.28, American swimmers Jack Alexy, Chris Guiliano, Hunter Armstrong, and Caeleb Dressel finished 1.07 seconds ahead of Australia, who claimed silver. Italy earned the bronze medal. This is Team USA’s third swimming medal on day one in Paris.

The United States has won 11 gold medals in the last 13 Olympic Games in this event. This also marks Dressel’s eighth gold medal.

The men’s relay team took home the gold in the 4x400-meter relay at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

Team USA’s bid to dethrone the Australian juggernaut in the women’s 4x100 meter freestyle relay fell just short. Australia set an Olympic record with 3:28.92 starting off with Mollie O’Callaghan.

The American quartet of Kate Douglass, Gretchen Walsh, Torri Huske, and Simone Manuel clinched the silver as Australia extended its dominance in the event to a fourth consecutive gold.

China took home the bronze.

Team USA’s Gretchen Walsh recently made headlines by setting a world record in the women’s 100-meter butterfly. The University of Virginia alum clocked in at 55.18 seconds during the U.S. Olympic swimming trials, an achievement that earned her a spot at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

During her time at UVA she dominated at the NCAA level, winning seven NCAA titles and helping lead UVA to a fourth consecutive national swimming championship during the 2023–2024 season.

As she competes in Paris, she’ll be aiming for gold in the butterfly, freestyle, and relay events, along with her teammate, seven time Olympic gold medal winner Katie Ledecky.

Pool events will occur at the  Paris La Défense Arena.

The host nation was rewarded as Shirine Boulki and Luka Mkhzeide ascended the podium in their respective extra lightweight judo divisions. Boulki’s bronze medal in the women’s division marked a triumphant beginning, while Mkhzeide's silver medal put France on the scoreboard.

Boulki first represented France at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. This year marks her first Olympic medal and Mkhzeide’s second time at the podium. He previously won the bronze medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

A doubles match featuring two-time gold medalist Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz from Spain is set to be one of the most anticipated games of the opening day. The duo have joined forces for the Spanish tennis team to play at Roland Garros.

This follows Nadal’s role in last night’s Olympic torch ceremony. Nadal’s partnership with the 20-year-old sensation, Alcaraz, is highly anticipated, especially since Alcaraz just clinched his first French Open title at Roland Garros last month, followed by a second win at Wimbledon.

Nadal returns to competitive sport following an injury in 2023. The Spanish duo will compete against the tournament's sixth-seeded pair, Argentines Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni, at 1 p.m. ET.

Three-time Olympic champion Aron Szilagyi of Hungary was denied a four-peat in the men’s individual sabre fencing round of 32. He fell to Canadian Fares Arfa, who secured a remarkable victory. Mr. Szilagy lost the match 8–15. Mr. Szilagy previously took home the gold medal at the Olympics in 2012, 2016, and 2021.

Reigning world champion Eli Dershowitz of the United States suffered a 15–10 defeat to Csanad Gemesi in round 32. Likewise, women’s epee defending Olympic champion Sun Yiwen from China was ousted in the first round by Japan’s Miho Yoshimura.

The national boxing coach of Samoa, Lionel Fatu Elika, died Friday at the 2024 Paris Olympics while in the Olympic village.

The International Boxing Association (IBA) confirmed Mr. Elika's death in a statement on Saturday.

"We at the International Boxing Association (IBA) extend our heartfelt condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of Lionel Elika Fatupaito, the national boxing coach of Samoa, who tragically passed away during the Paris 2024," the statement read.

"Lionel’s dedication and passion for the sport have left an indelible mark on the boxing community. His legacy will continue to inspire future generations. Our thoughts and prayers are with Team Samoa and all those affected by this profound loss," it continued.

Mr. Elika, 60, was treated by emergency services at the Olympic village. His cause of death has been listed as natural causes.

Team USA's former world record holder and 2016 gold medalist finished at the top of the preliminary heat in the Women’s 400 meter freestyle with a time of 4:02.19 on Saturday morning at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics. Ms. Ledecky overtook Australia’s Ariarne Titmus, the current world record holder and Tokyo gold medalist, in the last 100 meters of the third and final heat, setting up what is sure to be an exciting showdown when the two compete in the event later Saturday afternoon.

The top four swimmers in the heat were separated by only 0.46 and were well shy of their personal bests in the preliminaries.

Pouring rain in Paris on Saturday forced the postponement of the men's Olympics street skateboarding competition, and tennis matches were also delayed, while athletes had mixed feelings about how to cope with the unexpectedly wet weather.

On Friday, a dazzling but soaked opening ceremony for the Summer Games saw thousands of athletes parade on a flotilla of barges on the Seine, at the heart of the French capital, waving to the crowd despite the downpour.

The rain continued on Saturday, forcing some events to be rescheduled and umbrellas were more in evidence than sunglasses at the beach volleyball at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.

"The risk factor becomes too high when skateboarding in the rain," a spokesperson for World Skate said after Saturday's competition was rescheduled to Monday because La Concorde, the outdoor venue where it was supposed to take place, was drenched.

"The water creates a lack of traction that is extremely dangerous, especially in consideration of the cement and metal obstacles they're skating," the spokesperson said.

The opening day of the tennis event was also disrupted, with thousands of spectators without tickets for the two main show courts left frustrated after negotiating lengthy queues to get in.

Play began on time under the Court Philippe Chatrier roof and across the complex on Court Suzanne Lenglen. But play on the uncovered courts was delayed.

However, Paris 2024 organizers said they are confident the triathlon events will take place as scheduled on Tuesday even though the rain might lead to Sunday's training session being cancelled due to concerns over the water quality in the Seine.

And outside the Arena Champ-de-Mars, where the judo dojo is located, hundreds of fans braved the weather to queue to get in ahead of busy evening that could see France win its first medals, including a possible gold for Luka Mkheidze in the under 60 kg category.

Men's top seed Novak Djokovic began his fifth Olympic Games with an emphatic victory over Australia's Matthew Ebden after women's favourite Iga Swiatek launched her bid for gold with a straight sets win at a rain-drenched Roland Garros on Saturday.

Serbia's Djokovic, chasing the Olympic title that has proved so elusive during a career that has earned him 24 Grand Slam titles, sauntered to a 6–0, 6–1 win against a player only handed a spot in the draw as a late alternate.

Spain's Carlos Alcaraz was also presented with a comfortable first-round draw against Lebanese alternate Hady Habib, but was at least given a workout in a 6–3 6–1 win.

Poland's Swiatek opened proceedings under the closed Court Philippe Chatrier 50 days after winning her fourth French Open on the same arena and had to battle back in the second set against Romania's Irina-Camelia Begu to win 6–2 7–5.

"I'm happy that I'm through because first rounds are never easy, especially at the Olympics," top seed Swiatek told reporters after matching her run to the second round in Tokyo.

"The atmosphere was a little bit different and I was a little bit more nervous as well."

France's capital city is set to rock to a sporting beat on Saturday as the Olympic Games get underway in earnest on the back of an opening ceremony as dazzling as it was rainswept.

No fewer than 14 gold medals are up for grabs as day one promises action across multiple sports: four golds in swimming, two each in cycling, fencing, and judo, and one each in diving, skateboarding, shooting, and rugby sevens.