A’ja Wilson and the United States women’s basketball team can extend their Olympic winning streak to 59 games with a quarterfinal win Wednesday at the 2024 Paris Games.
But before that, several American athletes will compete on their sport’s biggest global stage.
Team USA’s Nelly Korda will begin her gold medal defense as women’s golf tees off. Fellow Americans Lilia Vu and Rose Zhang, ranked No. 2 and No. 9 on the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, respectively, will also play in the first round.
Several track and field events continue throughout the day. Defending women’s pole vault champion Katie Moon looks to return to the top of the Olympic podium. Three Americans will race in the 400-meter women’s semifinals for a chance to contend for a medal in the final. Meanwhile, top-ranked Quincy Jones and Christopher Bailey hope to add to Team USA’s medal count after the final of the men’s 400.
Here are some of Wednesday’s marquee events.
8:04 a.m. ET — Women’s singles competition gets underway in golf
Nelly Korda is the reigning gold medalist in women’s singles golf, but it has been her American teammate, Lilia Vu, who is off to one of the hottest starts in Round 1. Vu currently sits in first place at a score of 4-under through seven holes, just outpacing France’s Celine Boutier. The two other U.S. players in the field — Korda and rising star Rose Zhang — are currently even par for the day and tied for tenth.
Lilia Vu moves to 2-under and tied for the lead. 🇺🇸🫡
📺 Golf Channel and Peacock | #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/mgvjYiMJYp
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) August 7, 2024
6:52 a.m. ET — Tom Daley’s mid-event crocheting steals the show again
Daley, who earned a silver medal in synchronised diving earlier in the Games, is a star in the pool — but his habit while in the stands has drawn attention of its own. At the 2020 Tokyo Games Daley picked up crocheting as a way to get his mind off the competition in the heat of an event. And while Daley may be finished competing in Paris, his distinctive in-the-stands tradition has continued.
Yes, Tom Daley is still watching diving and crocheting at the #ParisOlympics. 🧶 pic.twitter.com/OpbjwXMlBx
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 7, 2024
6:32 a.m. ET — A dramatic first finish for Masai Russell
There were no debut nerves to be had from Russell in her first Olympic race — and she needed every ounce of focus she could muster to eek out a razor-thin victory. Russell’s finish line lean just barely inched her ahead of Nadine Visser, of the Netherlands, as well as France’s Cyréna Samba-Mayela, for first place in her heat.
A photo finish win for Masai Russell in her first race as an Olympian. 🔥 #ParisOlympics
(📺 USA Network and Peacock) pic.twitter.com/CjYxnDGB90
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 7, 2024
