Paris 2024 Olympic Games Recap, Day 6: Simone Biles Wins All-Around Gold, Katie Ledecky Makes History

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Day 6 of the 2024 Paris Olympics brought history for Katie Ledecky and the U.S. women’s fencing team. Thursday also saw the farewell of a tennis great, the rise of a future star, a show of Olympic spirit for a competitor in need, and both continued greatness and humbling disappointment for America’s basketball players.

Simone Biles wins gold in all-around, Suni Lee takes bronze

It was another big day for the U.S. gymnastics team. Simone Biles continued her dominance with a gold medal in the women’s all-around, while her teammate Sunisa Lee took bronze.

The Gymnastics GOAT continued her historic run, dominating the field on vault with a competition-high score of 15.766. Biles struggled a bit on bars, costing her a few points with a mistake during her routine, but recovered with a killer routine on beam. Biles closed with her signature event, floor exercise, delivering an explosive routine to win gold.

Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade, who posted stellar scores in all four events, finished with her second straight silver medal in the all-around. Lee, meanwhile, took bronze after a slow start on vault gave way to excellent scores on beam and floor and a particularly strong score on bars.

Biles’ return to the top of the podium eight years after her all-around gold in Rio marks the first time a gymnast has won two gold medals at non-consecutive Olympics. She is also only the third gymnast to win two all-around gold medals, and the first since 1968.

Biles won her sixth Olympic gold medal on Thursday, wearing a goat necklace, making her the most decorated gymnast in U.S. Olympic history. She has a chance to win three more medals this weekend in the individual apparatus finals.

Katie Ledecky wins historic 13th medal on another busy day of swimming

On Thursday, Katie Ledecky won her 13th Olympic medal in the 4x200m freestyle relay, making her the most decorated female Olympic swimmer and the most decorated American female Olympian ever. Ledecky and the other members of the relay, Claire Weinstein, Paige Madden and Erin Gemmell, won a silver medal in the race, losing to — who else — Australia and Ariarne Titmus.

Another American, Reagan Smith, also won silver after being defeated by Canadian teenage phenom Summer McIntosh. While the U.S. struggled to win as many gold medals in swimming as it would have liked in Paris, Kate Douglass gave Team USA a gold medal in the 200m breaststroke.

Overall, the first two-thirds of the competition have not lived up to American expectations. They have produced many medals—20 in all. But most of the gold medal contenders have not finished on the top step of the podium. A few—like Torri Huske in the men’s 100-meter freestyle, or Nic Fink in the men’s 100-meter breaststroke, or Luke Hobson in the men’s 200-meter freestyle—have exceeded expectations, but their medals have been silver or bronze.

US women’s basketball team wins 57th consecutive Olympic Games

The U.S. women’s basketball team improved to 2-0 in the Olympic group stage with an 87-74 win over Belgium on Thursday. Breanna Stewart scored 26 points with seven rebounds, followed by A’ja Wilson’s 23 points, 13 rebounds and three steals to lead the U.S.

The bench, however, may have been the difference in the game, as Team USA defeated the Belgian reserves 31-11. Alyssa Thomas and Jewell Loyd each scored eight points off the bench.

Belgium gave the U.S. a tough game despite being a 23.5-point underdog, with Emma Meesseman leading Belgium with 24 points. The U.S. will play Germany in the final group stage game. Tip-off is Saturday at 11:15 a.m. ET.

The futility of the US in 3×3 basketball

The U.S. 3×3 women’s basketball team won one of two games on Thursday, losing to Australia before beating Spain. Unfortunately, that victory went to either the U.S. women’s or men’s team in Paris.

The men’s team lost to Lithuania, which brought its record to 0-4. And the outlook is unlikely to improve, as Jimmer Fredette suffered a leg injury in the USA’s previous match against Poland, potentially ending his Olympics.

Team USA’s futility in 3×3 basketball is one of the great mysteries of the Paris Olympics. How can a country that dominates traditional 5×5 play be so bad at a half-court game that resembles the kind of playground ball nearly every basketball player has ever played? Whether it’s a lack of familiarity and talent or injuries, the poor results are surprising.

Andy Murray says goodbye as tennis court shrinks

The career of legendary English tennis player Andy Murray has officially come to an end after he lost the doubles to Americans Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul.

Murray, a three-time Grand Slam winner who was the world No. 1 singles player in 2016, was expected to retire after his Olympic run was over. He and his doubles partner, Daniel Evans, made it further than expected but ultimately lost to the American duo, who advanced to the semifinals.

After the loss, Murray humorously walked away from his career. “I never liked tennis anyway,” the 37-year-old tennis player wrote in a post on X that has 370,000 likes and counting. (Murray also changed the bio on his X profile from “I play tennis.” to “I used to play tennis.”)

Murray’s exit came on another busy day of tennis, with world No. 1 Iga Światek losing to China’s Zheng Qinwen in the semifinals of Roland-Garros. Meanwhile, Paul, who was the only American left in the singles competition, was defeated by men’s No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz — hours before Paul joined Fritz to defeat Murray.

Team USA Medals

Highlight of the day

It has been said during these Paris Games that Canada’s Summer McIntosh is the future of Olympic swimming. But the future is already here, judging by McIntosh’s gold in the women’s 200m butterfly on Thursday.

It was a thrill to watch the 17-year-old phenom overtake American Regan Smith and China’s Zhang Yufei.

One more thing…

Rapper and reality star Flavor Flav’s endorsement of the U.S. women’s water polo team is one of the curiosities of the 2024 Olympics. But he’s also part of perhaps the most heartwarming story to come out of Paris.

American discus thrower Veronica Fraley shared a harsh reality for many Olympic athletes. Despite competing on a world stage and being among the best in their chosen sport, many participants do not receive nearly enough financial support. Fraley, who also competes at Vanderbilt, revealed that the compensation she receives as an NCAA athlete does not even cover her rent.

A fan brought Fraley’s story to the attention of Flav and Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian, and the two promised to help her.

Thanks to that fan’s outreach, millions of people have been made aware of Fraley’s story and will be sure to tune in when she performs in Paris next week. More importantly, several benefactors have ensured that she won’t have to worry about her rent for at least a year.

While Fraley’s story may not reflect the Olympic dream, it certainly exemplifies the Olympic spirit: people coming together for a common goal and supporting the world’s best athletes.