Month: August 2024

In the most dramatic and competitive Olympic marathon maybe ever, Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands officially became an athlete for the ages. With a surge in the final 250 meters, Hassan withstood a shove from Tigst Assefa of Ethiopia and pulled off one of the most remarkable trebles in distance running history. In the span […]

SAINT-DENIS, France — Like just about everyone who has spent even the slightest bit of time at Stade de France during the Olympic track meet, Sebastian Coe has basically been blown away by the power, depth and white-hot speed of the American track and field team. Men and women, distance and sprints, jumps, throws, combined […]

PARIS — When the final whistle came, mercifully, Crystal Dunn collapsed forward onto her knees and pounded her fists into the grass. The bench emptied onto the field, the stadium — fans long eager, and waiting, for a fifth Olympic gold medal — erupted. But in that moment, Dunn was alone and thinking of her […]

Through the torrential downpour and thunder rolling in the sky above MetLife Stadium, 82,154 fans bore the brunt of a mid-summer storm to watch Barcelona beat Real Madrid 2-1 in a thrilling preseason friendly between two rivals that has become somewhat of a tradition in the United States. It did not matter that some of […]

PARIS — America’s recurring dream continues. As James Brown’s “Living in America” played over the Bercy Arena loudspeakers, several of the greatest NBA players ever from the U.S. draped themselves in their country’s flag and celebrated a 98-87 win over France on Saturday. Two of them were born in the same hospital in Akron, Ohio, […]

The U.S. women’s national team are Olympic gold medalists again. The USWNT made a habit of threatening teams early on at this Olympics, but that was not the case against Brazil in the final. Despite four corner kicks, the Americans looked flat at the Parc des Princes in Paris, with just two shots on goal […]

SAINT-DENIS, France — With about 200 meters left in the women’s 4×400 relay race, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Gabby Thomas started walking on the track. Naturally, perhaps even subconsciously, they started drifting to the conclusion. One their legs rendered inevitable. “They had to be escorted, like pull us back,” Shamier Little said with a laugh. “We […]

SAINT-DENIS, France — Everything that makes Rai Benjamin such an effective anchor leg was on display. Required by the task. Officially, he had a quarter-of-a-second lead when he got the baton from Bryce Deadmon. It took a monster 43.54-second run from Deadmon to drag the U.S. from third place to a small lead. The anchor […]

We ask a lot of our Olympic athletes — to perform with grace and humility, to carry the Olympic spirit even as they pursue their own individual goals; to abide by the rules, and to accept their fates, however they may go, with dignity. Jordan Chiles has exemplified all of that in these Paris Olympic […]

CHICAGO — Early in the first dugout news conference of his interim managing career, Grady Sizemore was asked lightheartedly whether he ever envisioned being the Chicago White Sox manager back when he was an All-Star outfielder for a division rival. Now that certainly would be an oddly specific career goal for a guy from Seattle […]