2024 Olympics Day 13 Results: Team USA Recovers to Beat Serbia, Noah Lyles Wins Bronze Despite COVID Diagnosis

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While several Americans dominated on the track Thursday, Team USA narrowly survived a scare on the basketball court Thursday afternoon that nearly ended what has been a dominant run in the sport.

From multiple medal hauls to a world-record bronze medal and even a COVID-19 scare, here are Thursday’s biggest stories at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Stephen Curry, Team USA rally to beat Serbia

It took a wild night from Stephen Curry and a 17-point comeback, but Team USA will have a chance to win a fifth straight gold medal on Saturday.

The United States beat Nikola Jokić and Serbia 95-91 in the semifinals on Thursday night in Paris. Curry scored an Olympic career-high 36 points with nine three-pointers, while LeBron James added a triple-double to pull the Americans out of a huge hole that nearly left them stunned for the first time since the 2004 Games.

Jokić and Serbia will now face Germany in the bronze medal match on Saturday, while the United States will face Victor Wembanyama and France in a rematch of the Tokyo Olympic gold medal final. The U.S. team also beat France in Tokyo, winning its fourth consecutive gold medal.

Noah Lyles wins bronze, reveals COVID-19 diagnosis

Despite entering the race as the favorite, American Noah Lyles finished third in the 200-meter final on Thursday. He then left the track in a wheelchair.

It turns out Lyles tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this week and has been isolating at a hotel near the Olympic Village.

Lyles, who won the men’s 100 metres final in a wild race earlier in the week, was attempting a rare Olympic sprint double on Thursday in the men’s 200 metres final. Lyles finished third behind Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo and American Kenny Bednarek.

He said he “still wanted to race” in the final after making it through his semi-final on Wednesday. After finishing in a time of 19.70 seconds, Lyles said he felt “light-headed” and had chest pains and shortness of breath. He was eventually taken off the track in a wheelchair, but said hours later he was feeling much better.

“I was able to catch my breath and gather my thoughts,” he said.

On Thursday night, Lyles revealed he would not compete in the men’s 4×100-meter relay final on Friday due to his diagnosis.

McLaughlin-Levrone and Davis-Woodhall win gold

Lyles may have only won a bronze medal, but elsewhere at the Stade de France, some of her American teammates helped boost their country’s gold medal tally with some great victories, including Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s incredible run to gold in the 400-meter hurdles. McLaughlin-Levrone set a new world record of 50.37 seconds, ahead of compatriot Anna Cockrell who took silver and Netherlands’ Femke Bol who took bronze.

In the long jump, Tara Davis-Woodhall won her first Olympic medal – gold – after a leap of 7.10 metres. Germany’s Malaika Mihambo took silver and American Jasmine Moore took bronze, becoming only the second woman in Olympic history to win a medal in both the triple jump and the long jump at the same Games.

In the men’s 110-meter hurdles, Grant Holloway won gold after winning silver in Tokyo. American Daniel Roberts took silver and Jamaican Rasheed Broadbell took bronze.

U.S. women’s volleyball team wins gold, water polo loses

It took five sets and an incredible rally, but the U.S. women’s volleyball team is on its way to the gold medal match.

The United States beat Brazil 3-2 in the semifinals on Thursday in Paris, in a thrilling battle that nearly got away from them in the final points. Brazil even came back to within two in the final set before the United States scored three of the last four points to finally close out the match and secure their spot in the final.

The Americans, who won the gold medal at the Tokyo 2021 Olympics against Brazil, will now face Italy in the final. The Italians swept Turkey 3-0 in their semifinal match.

While the volleyball team qualified, the women’s water polo team lost in the semifinals on Thursday. Australia beat the United States in a penalty shootout to win 14-13 and advance to the gold medal match. It officially ended a dominant streak for the Americans, who have won gold at the last three Games.

Australia and Spain will face off for the gold medal on Saturday, while Team USA and the Netherlands will play for the bronze medal.

Sam Watson’s world record bronze

Sam Watson broke his own world record by scaling a nearly 15-metre wall on Thursday, and fell short of winning the gold medal.

The 18-year-old American broke his own world record in the bronze medal final in speed climbing on Thursday after narrowly missing out on gold. Watson climbed the wall in 4.74 seconds on his final run.

Although Watson set the world record for the first time in the quarter-finals, he finished just 0.08 seconds behind China’s Peng Wu, who finished second to Indonesia’s Veddriq Leonardo in the final.

Even though Watson scaled the wall faster than any human before, it wasn’t enough to win him the gold medal.

Team USA Medals

The highlight of the day

The rhythmic gymnastics competitions began on Thursday, which saw some incredible floor performances, including those by Germany’s Darja Varfolomeev and Ukraine’s Taisiia Onofriichuk, set to classic Michael Jackson songs. Their routines were incredible. Just watch them:

Varfolomeev finished the day in second place in qualifying, just behind Italy’s Sofie Raffaeli. Onofriichuk, 16, also qualified for the final after finishing fourth.

One more thing: Katie Ledecky and Nick Mead will lead the United States at the closing ceremony

Katie Ledecky and Nick Mead will officially close the Olympics for the United States.

The U.S. team announced Thursday that Ledecky and Mead will carry the American flag at the closing ceremony.

Ledecky won four medals at the Games, bringing her total to 14 and making her the most decorated Olympic swimmer of all time.

Mead won gold in the men’s coxless four earlier in Paris, marking the U.S. team’s first gold medal in the event in 64 years.

The closing ceremony will begin at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday.