The Paris Olympics are entering their final week already, with the closing ceremonies just six days away.
Monday closes a chapter for one of the Games’ faces — Simone Biles. The gymnast competes in her final two events with a chance to leave Paris with five golds — or at least five medals.
Elsewhere, track and field picks up with four medal events, kayak cross holds its final and surfing — if the waves cooperate — finally has its medal day.
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There are also medal events in 3×3 basketball, badminton, cycling and shooting.
Events to watch
Biles, Lee and Chiles compete once more
Time:6:38 a.m. ET, 12:38 p.m. in Paris (women’s balance beam); 8:23 a.m. ET, 2:23 p.m. in Paris (women’s floor)
TV:E! and Peaco*ck
What to watch:It’s the last day of the artistic gymnastics program at the 2024 Olympics, and three American women will compete for medals in the balance beam and floor exercise finals.
First, Simone Biles and Sunisa Lee will contend on the balance beam, where Biles is a two-time bronze medalist. Then, Biles and Jordan Chiles will attempt to medal on floor. Biles won gold on floor in 2016, and Americans have topped the podium in three consecutive Olympics — including Jade Carey in 2021.
Biles already has three gold medals in Paris and seven for her career. The 27-year-old left the door open for a return in Los Angeles in 2028.
“Next Olympics is at home, so you just never know. But I am getting really old,” she said after winning gold on vault Saturday.
Kayak cross awards its first medals
Time: 10:55 a.m. ET, 4:55 p.m. in Paris (women’s final); 11 a.m. ET, 5 p.m. in Paris (men’s final)
TV: USA Network and Peaco*ck
What to watch:Kayak cross is the new discipline on this year’s canoe slalom schedule — and it is well worth the watch. Four competitors race at once, released from a 15-foot platform before racing each other through gates on the whitewater.
Kayak cross in the Olympics for the first time and it is must-watch CHAOS from start to finish! 💥 #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/UY7ISOnD25
See AlsoTV Schedule for CUNY NYC TV HDTV Schedule for NYC Life (WNYE-DT1) New York, NY HDHow to Watch the 2024 NFL Preseason: Schedule, Matchups and ChannelsThe Best New TV Shows and Movies to Stream This Week— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) August 4, 2024
Fields of 32 in the men’s and women’s competitions were trimmed to 16 on Sunday. Quarterfinals and semifinals will be held earlier Monday.
Evy Leibfarth, the lone American competing in kayak cross, advanced out of her first heat Sunday by finishing first.
Four track and field medal events, including women’s 800m
Mondo Duplantis is the favorite in the pole vault. (Photo: Kirill Kudryavtsev / AFP via Getty Images)
Time: Starts at 1 p.m. ET, 7 p.m. in Paris
TV: NBC and Peaco*ck
What to watch:The athletics program is in full swing Monday night with seven events — including four for medals.
The finals: men’s pole vault (1 p.m. ET), women’s discus (2:30 p.m. ET), women’s 5,000-meter (3:15 p.m. ET) and women’s 800-meter (3:47 p.m. ET).
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Swedish pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis is the favorite to capture gold for the second consecutive Olympics. He set the world record (6.24 meters) in April. Sam Kendricks, the bronze medalist in 2016, is among those chasing him.
In the women’s discus, American Valarie Allman enters with the No. 1 ranking in the world and is also defending her gold medal from Tokyo.
GO DEEPERValarie Allman, with a newfound energy, charges into Olympics in women's discusKeep an eye on Dutch runner Sifan Hassan in the women’s 5,000 meters. The reigning gold medalist, Hassan is set to run the 5,000, 10,000 and marathon this week. Kenyan Faith Kipyegon, two-time gold medalist in the 1,500 meters, was the only runner to finish ahead of Hassan in the qualifying round.
Athing Mu, the defending gold medalist in the women’s 800, did not advance out of U.S. Olympic trials, opening the door for a new gold medalist — perhaps Tokyo silver medalist Keely Hodgkinson of Great Britain, Mary Moraa of Kenya or Tsige Duguma of Ethiopia
The women’s 200-meter semifinal, a field that should include 100-meter gold medalist Julien Alfred and U.S. favorite Gabby Thomas, is also on the schedule.
Going for gold in 3×3
Time: 4 p.m. ET, 10 p.m. in Paris (women’s final), 4:30 p.m. ET, 10:30 p.m. in Paris (men’s final)
TV: NBC, Peaco*ck
What to watch: Germany, Canada, Spain and the United States are the teams remaining in the women’s 3×3 basketball tournament.
The American women, led by Dearica Hamby and Rhyne Howard, have bounced back in a big way, winning five in a row after an 0-3 start. They play Spain in the first semifinal at 11:30 a.m. ET.
3×3 basketball was introduced to the Olympics in 2021 in Tokyo, where the U.S. team won the gold medal.
On the men’s side of the bracket, Latvia, which won the gold medal in 2021, is the favorite after going 7-0 in pool play. The U.S. men were eliminated with a loss to the Netherlands on Sunday.
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Surfing gold up for grabs
American Caroline Marks is one of four surfers looking to earn the women’s gold medal. (Photo: Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
Time: 4:46 p.m. ET, 10:46 a.m. in Tahiti (men’s final); 5:27 p.m. ET, 11:27 a.m. in Tahiti (women’s final)
TV: NBC, Peaco*ck
What to watch:Is this finally the day surfing can complete its Olympic program? The semifinals and medal matches have been pushed back due to wave conditions, but are back on track for Monday in Tahiti.
Alonso Corea (Peru), Kauli Vaast (France), Gabriel Medina (Brazil) and Jack Robinson (Australia) are the four men who can win gold, while three of the four will earn medals. Caroline Marks (U.S.), Johanne Defay (France), Tatiana Weston-Webb (Brazil) and Brisa Hennessy (Costa Rica) make up the field for the women.
GO DEEPERCaroline Marks, U.S. prodigy, has reached surfing's peak — is Olympic gold next?None of the medalists from 2020 remain in the competition.
Sunday’s highlight
NOAH LYLES’ OLYMPIC DREAM COMES TRUE!
100M GOLD MEDALIST. #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/qR6bkXLHhE
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 4, 2024
Wow. That was close.
In an all-time great men’s 100-meter final, American Noah Lyles beat Jamaican Kishane Thompson to the line by five-thousandths of a second. Yes, thousandths.
AsThe Athletic’s Marcus Thompson wrote, Lyles’ mouth wrote the check, and his feet just cashed it.
Required reading
- How Novak Djokovic beat Carlos Alcaraz to win Olympic gold
- Can Léon Marchand reach Phelps-like status? Olympics are ‘only the beginning’
- Bobby Finke and the race that extended American Olympic swimming history
- Boxer Cindy Ngamba secures first medal for Olympic refugee team with quarterfinal win
(Photo: Loic Venance / AFP via Getty Images)
Hunter Patterson is a live news editor at The Athletic. A graduate of Loyola Marymount University and USC, Hunter recently worked as a broadcasting assistant for the NBA.
