Paris Olympics Day 11 recap: USWNT, USA men's basketball advance toward gold; big day for USA on track

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On another busy day of Olympic events, it was another good day for Team USA. The USWNT secured a chance to compete for gold, while Team USA had another dominant win in men's basketball to advance to the semifinals; with track and field truly ramping up, Team USA cleaned up with big wins across multiple events, while a young wrestler earned a historic gold. A crucial elimination in beach volleyball, however, leaves only one American pair remaining in play.

Here are the top five stories of the day:

USWNT advances to gold medal match vs. Brazil with 1-0 win over Germany

The USWNT have a chance to play for a gold medal, with a 1-0 win over Germany to advance to the final. Sophia Smith saved the day with a 95th-minute stunner, assisted by Mallory Swanson, that broke the stalemate and gave the U.S. the victory.

Naomi Girma kept things locked up at center back to fend off the German attack, and received high praise from manager Emma Hayes after the match, earning woman of the match for her efforts. A couple of key saves from Alyssa Naeher — including one kept out of the goal by Naeher's left foot — kept the U.S. ahead and prevented the game from moving into penalties.

As for Smith, her goal marks her third of the tournament. The three members of the USWNT's front three — Smith, Mallory Swanson and Trinity Rodman — now have three goals each in the tournament so far, boding well for the United States offense going forward.

The USWNT will now return to Paris for the chance to compete for its first gold medal since 2012. It will play Brazil, which upset Spain, the reigning Women’s World Cup champions, with a dominant 4-2 win.

Brad Smith/ISI via Getty Images

USA basketball steamrolls Brazil in men’s quarterfinals

There was little doubt about this one from the opening tip.

USA men's basketball took early control en route to a dominant 122-87 win over Brazil in the Olympic quarterfinals on Tuesday. The win sets up a matchup with Nikola Jokić and Serbia in the semifinals with a trip to the gold medal game at stake.

Devin Booker paced Team USA with 18 points as six U.S. players scored in double figures. Joel Embiid responded to the French boo-birds in the stands with 14 first-half points before a scoreless second.

Kevin Durant became USA Basketball's all-time leading men's or women's Olympic scorer. With a dunk in the third quarter, he passed Lisa Leslie's previous mark of 488 points. 

He finished with 11 points to raise his career Olympic tally to 494. LeBron James added 12 points and nine assists.

USA will take on Serbia on Thursday. Victor Wembanyama and France will face 2023 FIBA World Cup champion Germany in the other semifinal.

Gabby Thomas, Cole Hocker lead USA to thrilling gold on the track

The United States is cleaning up in track and field, and on Tuesday continued to add to the medal count with podium finishes in the women’s hammer throw, women’s 200-meter and the men’s 1,500-meter.

Annette Echikunwoke was disqualified for the Tokyo Games because of a documentation error when competing for her parents’ native Nigeria. Fast forward three years, and Echikunwoke, who lives in Ohio, is a silver medalist after throwing a season-best 75.48 meters on her third throw, good for second behind Canada’s Camryn Rogers (76.97). China’s Zhao Jie took bronze (74.27).

In the women’s 200, two Americans made it to the podium: Gabby Thomas cruised to the gold medal in 21.38 seconds, and Brittany Brown won bronze in 22.20 seconds. The silver medalist was none other than Julien Alfred, the 100-meter winner who gave Saint Lucia its first ever Olympic medal.

And in a surprise, American Cole Hocker pulled off a stunning upset in the men’s 1,500, crossing the finish line in 3:27.65, an Olympic record time and nearly three full seconds faster than his personal best in the event.

20-year-old Amit Elor wins historic gold medal in wrestling

20-year-old American wrestler Amit Elor made history Tuesday with a gold medal in the women's 68-kg division, becoming the youngest U.S. wrestler, male or female, to win an Olympic gold medal.

Elor, who has not lost a single match in five years as a senior wrestler, defeated Kyrgyzstan’s Meerim Zhumanazarova 3-0 in the final at Arena Champ-de-Mars. Elor scored two points on a takedown in the first period and earned another point when Zhumanazarova was penalized after the activity period expired. She then controlled the second period, giving Zhumanazarova no avenues to score en route to the win.

The 20-year-old, who is a back-to-back world champion, dropped down to the 68-kg weight class to qualify for the Olympics. As a result of the switch, Elor was unseeded and drew the division’s reigning world champ, Buse Tosun Çavuşoğlu from Turkey, in the very first Olympic round; she demolished her, 10-2. Elor swept through to the final with an aggregate score of 28-2. She came to Paris unbeaten in her last 37 international matches by a cumulative score of 322-16.

Now she has officially landed in the history books.

Sara Hughes and Kelly Cheng eliminated from beach volleyball

Sara Hughes and Kelly Cheng, the only American team still remaining on the women’s side, were eliminated Tuesday after losing to Switzerland in straight sets. The reigning World Champion Americans lost to the Swiss pair of Tanja Hueberli and Nina Brunner in the quarterfinals, losing the two sets 18-21 and 19-21, with both sets being extremely tight.

The United States has a history of dominance in women’s beach volleyball, with four of the last five Olympics featuring Americans winning gold. That trend has been broken in Paris, with no American women making it past the quarterfinals. The other pair, Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth, lost to Canada in the Round of 16 on Monday.

Hughes and Cheng’s loss means that only one American pair — Miles Partain and Andrew Benesh — remain in contention for a medal in beach volleyball. Pertain and Benesh will play Qatar on Wednesday in the quarterfinals, in the hopes of becoming the first American men’s pair to win a medal since 2008.

Team USA medals 

Highlight of the day 

Australian Arisa Trew, who is only 14 years old, took home the gold medal in the women’s skateboarding final, posting a stellar 93.18 in the third and final round of the event to take first.

One more thing

Talk about going out on a high note. Legendary Cuban wrestler Mijaín López went down in history on Tuesday by becoming the first person to win five consecutive gold medals in an individual Olympic event. The 41-year-old Lopez beat Chile’s Yasmani Acosta Fernandez 6-0 in his greco-roman wrestling 60kg match, leaving his shoes on the mat to signify his retirement.