Riding a wave of emotion, Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo became the first African man to win Olympic gold in the men’s 200m final.
Tebogo, 21, was too good for American Kenneth Bednarek in the home straight and got the job done in 19.45 seconds.
In doing so, he also thwarted Noah Lyles’ hopes of claiming a memorable double, after the US track star claimed the men’s 100m final earlier this week.
Post-race, Lyles revealed publicly he had tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, however had decided to still compete.
He briefly received medical attention post-race and pictures emerged of him leaving the Stade de France track in a wheelchair.
For Tebogo, this victory was unlike any other.
In May, the 21-year-old’s mother – and his biggest supporter Seratiwa – died following a short illness.
A short time after he crossed the line, Tebogo took off one of his shoes and flashed it at the camera, revealing his mother’s name and birthday on them, as a tribute to her memory and legacy.
Meanwhile at the Bercy Arena, Team USA came from 13 points down at three-quarter time to break Serbian hearts in the men’s basketball semifinal.
Steph Curry dropped a game-high 36 points as the Americans poured on a brutal 32-15 final quarter, saluting 95-91.
Having shot 15/30 from beyond the arc during the opening three quarters, falling in love with the three-point shot came back to bite Serbia, which went 0/9 from deep during the final term.
For three quarters, Team USA was outhustled, outshot and outgained.
However, when the game needed to be won and collective effort was needed, LeBron James, Curry, Kevin Durrant and Joel Embiid all lead by example and lifted their compatriots to glory.
Team USA now takes on host nation France in the gold medal match on Sunday morning at 3.30am WST, after the French defeated Germany 73-69 in their semifinal.
Overall Medal tally (Friday, 6am WST)
The US (30 gold, 38 silver and 35 bronze) leads the medal tally, with China (29 gold, 25 silver and 19 bronze) in second. Australia (18 gold, 14 silver and 13 bronze) is in third.
Athletics – Already the reigning Olympic and world recorder holder, 25-year-old Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone of the US added another remarkable chapter to her incredible athletic career in the women’s 400m hurdles final, defending her Olympic title in the process.
Sprinting away in the home straight from the field with ease, McLaughlin-Levrone finished in 50.37 seconds, breaking her previous world record mark of 50.65 seconds, which was set in April this year.
Fellow pre-race fancy, Femke Bol of the Netherlands, took home bronze. Once in congestion at the top of the straight, she appeared under pressure and was overtaken by eventual silver medalist Anna Cockrell of the US.
Arshad Nadeem will likely be the toast of Pakistan following his gold-winning throw of 92.97m in the men’s javelin final, which is a new Olympic record. He edged out India’s Neeraj Chopra, who finished in second place following his 89.45m throw.
US showman Grant Holloway also backed up his pre-race confidence, winning gold in the men’s 110m hurdles in 13 seconds flat ahead of fellow American Daniel Roberts.
Boxing – It’s been a big morning for WAIS, with two of its athletes winning bronze medals.
Caitlin Parker started positively in her women’s 75kg semifinal against Chinese counterpart Qian Li, leading all scorecards following the first round, however eventually lost on points overall via unanimous decision.
Senior was defeated by Uzbekistan’s Abdumalik Khalokov in their men’s 57kg semifinal.
Diving – Australia’s Kurtis Matthews finished 10th in the men’s 3m springboard final.
Football – Morocco made the most of its appearance in the bronze medal game, thrashing Egypt 6-0 in Nantes.
Leading 2-0 at half-time, Tarik Sektioui’s side ran riot in the second half, to ensure their country returned home with its inaugural medal in men’s football at Olympic level.
Hockey – The Netherlands prevailed 3-1 in a shoot out over Germany in the men’s gold medal game at the Yves Du Manoir Stadium on Thursday night, after the match ended in a 1-all draw at full-time.
While Duco Telgenkamp’s penalty shuffle past Jean-Paul Danneberg will be remembered as the moment where the Dutch won gold in the event for the first time in 24 years, the 22-year-old will also be remembered for his post-match behaviour.
Seconds after the shootout had ended, Telgenkamp ran up to Danneberg, who was on his knees, and got in his face.
Telgenkamp’s ‘shush’ gesture to the German ‘keeper wasn’t well received, with a melee involving both sets of players developing.
In the bronze medal match, India edged out Spain 2-1.
Marathon swimming – Moesha Johnson won silver in the women’s 10km marathon swim, which will held in the River Seine.
Johnson, who finished in 2hours:3minutes:39.7, is now the second Australian to have won a medal in the event. Johnson’s compatriot, Chelsea Gubeca, came home in 14th.
Water polo – It was a shootout which had everything – and for everyone wearing green and gold, it ended with so much more.
Australia now has its sights on gold medal bliss in the women’s water polo, following a tense 14-13 win over the US at the Paris La Defense Arena.
The Americans arrived in Paris aiming for a fourth consecutive gold medal. They also had won seven on the trot against the Aussies.
Tied 8-all at full-time, Australia pulled out all stops in a bid to garner a winning edge.
Both Genevieve Longman and Gabriella Palm spent time in goal for the ‘Stingers’, with Palm eventually swatting away a penalty shot from American captain Maddie Musselman to end the shootout.
The gold medal match between Australia and Spain will be held at 9.35pm WST on Saturday night.
