Aitana Bonmatí Helps Lead Spain to Women’s Soccer Semifinals at 2024 Paris Games

2024 Paris GamesAitana Bonmatí has helped reigning world champions Spain advance at the 2024 Paris Games.

The 26-year-old Spanish professional footballer and Ballon d’Or winner scored the decisive spot kick in a penalty shootout against Colombia to advance to the women’s Olympic soccer semifinals.

Spain Women's Olympic Soccer TeamSpain had to fight back from 2-0 down on Saturday to get to the penalty shootout.

Spain won 4-2 in the shootout at Stade de Lyon.

Catalina Usme and Liana Salazar failed to score from the spot for Colombia, which had looked set to advance to the last four after taking a 2-0 lead through Mayra Ramírez and Leicy Santos.

Jenni Hermoso had sparked Spain’s second-half fightback and Irene Paredes forced the game to extra time with an equalizer in the seventh minute minute stoppage time.

Juan Celaya & Osmar Olvera Win Silver to Give Mexico Its First-Ever Men’s Synchronized 3M Springboard Medal

2024 Paris GamesJuan Celaya and Osmar Olvera have made a splash at the 2024 Paris Games.

The 25-year-old Mexican diver and his 20-year-old compatriot have claimed the silver medal in the men’s synchronized 3M springboard to give Mexico their first-ever medal in the event and third medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Juan Celaya & Osmar Olvera In a close and frenetic competition for Olympic glory, Mexico, China and Great Britain took their spirits and emotions to the limit.

After five dives, China’s Long Daoyi and Wang Zongyuan took the gold with a score of 446.10.

 

But Olvera and Celaya, who finished with a score of 444.03 points, didn’t make it easy for them and with a “heart-stopping” finish and dives that bordered on perfection, they were 2.07 points away from first place.

Juan Celaya & Osmar OlveraIn the process, the Mexican diving duo gave Mexico its 16th medal in Olympic diving history (eighth silver). While it’s the first in the synchronized springboard event, it’s the 12th in men’s diving.

Although diving is a very fruitful discipline for the Mexican delegation, they hadn’t won a medal in men’s synchronized diving since the silver won by Germán Sánchez and Iván García at the  2012 London Games.

Celaya and Olvera will now compete individually in the 3-meter springboard diving event.

Beatriz Souza Wins Women’s Judo +78kg Event to Give Brazil Its First Gold of 2024 Paris Games

2024 Paris GamesEverything’s coming up golden for Beatriz Souza.

The 26-year-old Brazilian judoka captured gold in women’s judo +78kg at the 2024 Paris Games by a final score of 1-0, defeating Israel’s Raz Hershko, who took home silver.

Beatriz Souza Souza gave a technical, intelligent, professional performance, one worthy of a position on top of the world.

In the final, Souza was faster to the attack than Hershko and she registered a waza-ari from a well-timed o-soto-gari. Hershko came back with a seoi-otoshi, which was close to scoring but didn’t have enough drive to meet the criteria.

Beatriz Souza Both continued to look for scores but that first o-soto was enough to carry Souza to the Olympic gold.

She was overcome with emotion, as was her coach, an Olympic champion herself, Sarah Menezes.

Souza’s victory secured the first gold medal of the 2024 Summer Olympics for the Brazil delegation.

Prior to the Paris Olympics, Souza won bronze in this weight class at the 2023 World Championships and the 2023 Pan American Games.

Diego Botin le Chever & Florian Trittel Paul Master Men’s Skiff to Claim Gold at 2024 Paris Games

2024 Paris GamesDiego Botin le Chever and Florian Trittel Paul have fulfilled a lifelong dream…

The 30-year-old Spanish sailor and his 30-year-old compatriot mastered the Men’s Skiff event at the 2024 Paris Games on Friday to become Olympic champions and give Spain the country’s first gold of the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Diego Botin le Chever & Florian Trittel PaulThe Spanish pair sailed impressively throughout the regatta, finishing top of the Opening Series by a narrow five-point margin.

Botin and Trittel hadn’t won an individual race heading into the decisive Medal Race, but they saved their best for last, dominating the fleet in an exceptional show on the water to cross the line first and claim the gold medal.

Diego Botin le Chever & Florian Trittel PaulNew Zealand’s Isaac McHardie and William McKenzie wrapped up the silver medal with an important third place finish in the Medal Race, which saw them overtake Ireland’s Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove.

The Irish crew began the day in second, but dropped to fourth overall after an early crossing of the start line meant they had to restart the Medal Race.

USA’s Ian Barrows and Hans Henken benefitted from the shift in positions, managing to secure bronze after a brilliant fourth in the final sail.

“It’s a dream come true. After years of putting the work in with the best team, with our families here, it doesn’t get any better,” said Botin.

Trittel added: “Staying focused has been one of the key factors for these two days of trying to get the Medal Race in.

“We knew what we wanted, which was to do the best Medal Race we could, to win that gold medal. That made us stay very focused, we had a clear game plan and I think we managed to execute it almost perfectly.”

Carlos Alcaraz ThisClose to Becoming Youngest Olympic Tennis Singles Champion

2024 Paris GamesCarlos Alcaraz is one win away from Olympic tennis history…

The 21-year-old Spanish tennis star beat Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime soundly, 6-1, 6-1, in the semifinals of the 2024 Paris Games on Friday to come within one win of becoming the youngest man to win an Olympic tennis singles gold medal.

Carlos AlcarazAlcaraz owns four Grand Slam titles, including a French Open title he won in June at Roland Garros, the clay-court facility being used for tennis at the 2024 Summer Olympics.

He’s about a month younger than Vincent Richards of the U.S. was when he claimed the gold in the 1924 Paris Games.

With dozens of spectators waving red-and-yellow Spanish flags at Court Philippe Chatrier or yelling “Vamos, Carlos!” on a cloudy afternoon — and a soundtrack provided during breaks in the action by a brass band in the stands — Alcaraz was dominant and never faced a break point.

He won the point on 10 of 11 trips to the net. He made just 13 unforced errors, 10 fewer than Auger-Aliassime, who also lost to Alcaraz at this year’s French Open.

“I just couldn’t find a way to be comfortable in any pattern, any position. Whether it was trying to dominate the forehand cross-court or change of direction, the forehand inside-out, the backhand side,” Auger-Aliassime said. “Every aspect. The movement. The defense. I was dominated.”

Auger-Aliassime is a 23-year-old Canadian whose best showing at a major tournament was a semifinal appearance at the 2021 US Open. Auger-Aliassime made it to that round back then when Alcaraz, just 18 at the time, stopped playing in the second set of their quarterfinal because of an injured leg muscle.

“He’s improved a lot, every time we’ve played,” said Auger-Aliassime, who beat Alcaraz in each of their first three head-to-head contests but now has lost the four since, all in straight sets. “I don’t have the solutions right now.”

The Alcaraz on display during his Olympics debut is a much more finished product, someone who has won 12 consecutive matches at Roland Garros and collected a second consecutive title at Wimbledon last month, too.

Alcaraz defeated 24-time Slam champion Novak Djokovic in both of those finals at the All England Club, and they’ll have a rematch for the men’s gold on Sunday after Djokovic, a 37-year-old from Serbia, defeated Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti in the second Olympic semifinal.

Pau Echaniz Earns Men’s Single Kayak Slalom Event Bronze in Olympic Debut

2024 Paris GamesPau Echaniz is on cloud…

In his Olympic debut, the 23-year-old Spanish slalom canoeist crossed the finish line with an 88.87 in the men’s single kayak slalom event at the 2024 Paris Games to claim the bronze medal.

Pau Echaniz“I am very tired, I am exhausted, but that’s the price of winning a medal and I would pay it a thousand times over. I am very happy,” Echaniz said following his medal-winning performance.

Echaniz came in behind Italy’s Giovanni De Gennaro, who pulled out a sensational run in a time of 88.22 to win gold; France’s Titouan Castryck finished two-tenths of a second behind to take silver in his first Olympics,

Pau Echaniz Echaniz looked good as he opened proceedings, setting a time of 88.87 seconds that forced the rest of the field to dig deep, and despite a slew of Olympic medal winners coming in his wake, only two men proved able to beat his time.

“I knew I could be in the fight,” said Echaniz. “I was prepared, calm and knew what to do at every moment, with all my energy focused on achieving this goal.

Hailing from San Sebastian, the Spaniard won the gold in the Slalom K-1 team event at the 2023 European Games.

Maria Perez Claims Silver in the Women’s 20KM Walk at 2024 Paris Games

Maria Perez has earned her first-ever Olympic hardware.

The 28-year-old Spanish race walker improved on her 2020 Tokyo Games performance to claim a silver in the women’s 20KM walk at the 2024 Paris Games.

Maria Perez, Perez, the 2023 world champion in the event, finished the race on Thursday with a time of 1:26:19, behind only China’s Yang Jiayu, who finished the race slightly ahead of Perez at 1:25:54.

Australia’s Jemima Montag earned the bronze with a time of 1:26:25.

Maria Perez,Perez previously placed fourth in the women’s 20KM walk at the 2020 Tokyo Games.

In addition to her world championship in the women’s 20KM walk last year, Perez also won the title in the women’s 35KM race walk at the same event.

Rebeca Andrade Claims Second Consecutive Silver in Women’s Gymnastics Individual All-Around at 2024 Paris Games

2024 Paris GamesIt’s a case of silver déjà vu for Rebeca Andrade.

The 25-year-old Brazilian artistic gymnast, the most decorated Brazilian and Latin American gymnast of all time, has claimed the silver medal in the women’s gymnastics individual all-around competition at the 2024 Paris Games.

Rebeca AndradeAndrade had previously won the silver medal in the same category at the 2020 Tokyo Games, becoming the first Brazilian female gymnast to medal at an Olympic Games.

Andrade, who led the Brazilian team to its first team Olympic medal ever at earlier in the week, finished the competition with a 57.932 after the four rotations, 1.199 points behind Team USA’s Simone Biles. Suni Lee claimed the bronze with a 56.465.

Rebeca AndradeAndrade surged past Biles midway through the all-around finals at raucous Bercy Arena and had the opportunity to produce the biggest upset of the Games so far after Biles botched a transition on uneven bars.

But Biles fought back. She turned in a great beam routine and was amazing on the floor exercise to turn things around as she claimed a second gold in the competition, eight years after her triumph in Rio de Janeiro.

“Simone is the best, and she brings out the best of me,” Andrade said.

In the end, Andrade scored a 15.100 on the vault, a 14.666 on the uneven bars, a 14.133 on the balance beam and a 14.033 in the floor exercise.

Despite the silver finish, Andrade was all smiles.

“I’ve worked so hard to achieve this,” Andrade said. “It’s just unbelievable. I had so much fun, every single moment has been sensational.”

Alvaro Martin Claims Bronze in Men’s 20KM Walk at 2024 Paris Games

2024 Paris GamesAlvaro Martin is celebrating a medal-earning performance…

The 30-year-old Spanish race walker has claimed his first Olympic medal, taking home the bronze in the Men’s 20KM Walk at the 2024 Paris Games on Thursday.

Alvaro MartinMartin just barely missed the podium in the same event at the 2020 Tokyo Games, coming in a heartbreaking fourth place.

Martin finished the race with a time of 1:19:11. Ecuador’s Brian Daniel Pintado claimed the gold with a time of 1:18;55, followed by Caio Bonfim with a time of 1:19:09.

At the 2016 Rio Games, Martin finished the race in the same event in 22nd place.

Caio Bonfim Claims Silver in Men’s 20KM Walk at 2024 Paris Games

2024 Paris Games

Caio Bonfim has proven his medal….

The 33-year-old Brazilian race walker finished second in the Men’s 20KM Walk at the 2024 Paris Games on Thursday to claim the silver, his first-ever Olympic medal.

Caio BonfimIt’s the first-ever Olympic medal is the event for Brazil.

Bonfim finished the race with a time of 1:19:09, .54 seconds behind Ecuador’s Brian Daniel Pintado. Spain’s Alvaro Martin followed closely behind at 1:19:11 to take bronze.

Caio BonfimBonfim improved on his performance at the 2023 World Championships, where he won bronze.