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Algerian boxer Imane Khelif won a gold medal Friday at the Paris Olympics, emerging as a champion from a tumultuous run at the Games where she endured intense scrutiny in the ring and online abuse from around the world over misconceptions about her womanhood.
Khelif beat Yang Liu of China 5:0 in the final of the women’s welterweight division, wrapping up the best series of fights of her boxing career with a victory at Roland Garros, where crowds chanted her name, waved Algerian flags and roared every time she landed a punch.
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After her unanimous win, Khelif jumped into her coaches’ arms, one of them putting her on his shoulders and carrying her in a victory lap as she pumped her fists and grabbed an Algerian flag from the crowd.
“For eight years, this has been my dream, and I’m now the Olympic champion and gold medalist,” Khelif said through an interpreter. Asked about the scrutiny, she told reporters: “That also gives my success a special taste because of those attacks.”
“We are in the Olympics to perform as athletes, and I hope that we will not see any similar attacks in future Olympics,” she said.
Fans have embraced Khelif in Paris even as she faced an extraordinary amount of scrutiny from world leaders, major celebrities, and others who have questioned her eligibility or falsely claimed she was a man. It has thrust her into a larger divide over changing attitudes toward gender identity and regulations in sports.
It stems from the Russian-dominated International Boxing Association’s decision to disqualify Khelif and fellow two-time Olympian Li Yu-ting of Taiwan from last year’s world championships, claiming both failed an eligibility test for women’s competition that IBA officials have declined to answer basic questions about.
“I’m fully qualified to take part in this competition,” Khelif said Friday. “I’m a woman like any other woman. I was born as a woman, I live as a woman, and I am qualified.”
The International Olympic Committee took the unprecedented step last year of permanently banning the IBA from the Olympics following years of concerns about its governance, competitive fairness, and financial transparency. The IOC has called the arbitrary sex tests that the sport’s governing body imposed on the two boxers irretrievably flawed.
The IOC has repeatedly reaffirmed the two boxers’ right to compete in Paris, with President Thomas Bach personally defending Khelif and Lin while calling the criticism “hate speech.”
Khelif noted that she has boxed in IBA competitions since 2018 but now “they hate me, and I don’t know why.”
“I sent them a single message with this gold medal, and that is that my dignity and honor are above all else,” she said.
The IBA’s reputation hasn’t stopped the international outcry tied to misconceptions around the fighters, which has been amplified by Russian disinformation networks. It also hasn’t slowed two boxers who have performed at the highest levels of their careers while under the spotlight’s glare.
Khelif was dominant in Paris at a level she had never reached before: She won every round on every judge’s scorecard in each of her three fights that went the distance.
Khelif’s gold medal is Algeria’s first in women’s boxing. She is only the nation’s second boxing gold medalist, joining Hocine Soltani (1996) while claiming the seventh gold medal in Algeria’s Olympic history.
While Khelif drew enthusiastic, flag-draped fans in Paris, she also has become a hero in her North African country, where many have seen the world’s dissection of Khelif as criticism of their nation.
Dubbed “The Night of Destiny” in local newspapers, Khelif’s fight was projected on screens set up in public squares throughout Algiers and other cities. In the city of Tiaret in the region where Khelif is from, workers braved the scorching summer heat to paint a mural of Khelif in the gym where she learned to box.
“Imane has managed to turn the criticism and attacks on her femininity into fuel,” said Mustapha Bensaou of the Tiaret gym. “The slander has given her a boost. ... It’s a bit of a blessing in disguise.”
Khelif won the first round over Yang on all five judges’ cards despite showing a bit less aggression than earlier in the tournament. Khelif then knocked Yang back against the ropes with a combination early in the second, although Yang responded with a flurry of shots and fought gamely.
Khelif won the second round and cruised through the third, doing a triumphant boxer’s shuffle in the final seconds of the bout before the boxers hugged. When the verdict was announced, Khelif saluted and pumped her arm with glee.
During the medal ceremony, she grinned and waved to the crowd before kissing her gold medal. The four medalists — boxing gives out two bronze — then posed for a podium selfie, clasped hands, and raised them together.
The gold medal fight was the culmination of Khelif’s nine-day run through an Olympic tournament that began bizarrely. Khelif’s first opponent, Angela Carini of Italy, abandoned their bout after just 46 seconds, saying she was in too much pain from Khelif’s punches.
An already brewing story suddenly drew comments from the likes of former U.S. President Donald Trump and “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling, weighing in with criticism and false speculation about men competing with women in sports. Carini later said she regretted her actions and wished to apologize to Khelif.
Khelif has never done as well in another international tournament as she did in these Olympics. When she was cast as some sort of unstoppable punching machine last week by pundits and provocateurs who had never seen her fight before, opponents and teammates who knew her were shocked by the characterization.
Then she lived up to the notion of being one of the best Olympic boxers in the world.
Lin fights for a gold medal on Saturday on the final card of the Olympics. She takes on Julia Szeremeta of Poland with a chance to win Taiwan’s first boxing gold.
Breanna Stewart and the U.S. women’s basketball team cruised to a familiar place — the Olympic gold medal game.
Stewart led a balanced offense as the Americans beat Australia 85-64 on Friday in the semifinals to extend their Olympic winning streak to 60 consecutive games dating back to the 1992 Barcelona Games.
“The streak is crazy. I mean, they just told me when I was doing TV that it was, like, before I was born that it kind of started, which is wild,” Stewart said. “It just goes to show those that have really paved the way to create USA Basketball and what it is now. Tons of appreciation for that and knowing that when you represent this jersey and wear USA across your chest the standard is high and there really is nothing higher.”
And the team didn’t disappoint some notable onlookers, including Sue Bird, Dawn Staley, Kevin Durant and Vanessa Bryant and her children.
After the business-like semifinal win in which the U.S. started strong and never took its foot off the gas, the Americans will face France for the title. The U.S. is trying to become the first team — in any sport — to win eight consecutive Olympic gold medals, breaking the tie with the U.S. men’s program that won seven in a row from 1936-68.
The U.S. was able to take control of the game in the first half allowing coach Cheryl Reeve the opportunity to play her starter's limited minutes and give players on the bench more court time, so everyone will be fresh and mentally set for the gold medal game.
“The group that’s going to be out there is going to be a little more ready and rested to be able to give everything they had,” Reeve said.
A win on Sunday would be a record sixth gold medal for Diana Taurasi. A game after not starting for the first time since the 2004 Olympics, the Americans’ most decorated Olympic basketball player didn’t enter the game until 2:08 remained in the third quarter with the U.S. up 63-40. She missed her two shots, playing just a little over 6 minutes.
The U.S. jumped out to an early lead on Australia but only were up 20-16 after the opening quarter. The Americans put the game away in the second quarter, starting the period with a 12-0 run. The U.S. led 45-27 at the half.
Jackie Young added 14 points, Kahleah Copper 11, and A’ja Wilson 10 for the Americans.
Isobel Borlase led Australia with 11, and Tess Madgen and Ezi Magbegor each had 10.
There was no shortage of WNBA players on the court.
But while the American team features 12 WNBA All-Stars who have won multiple MVPs, the Australia roster is full of complementary players in the league. The Opals, who started five current WNBA players, just didn’t have enough offensive firepower to compete with the U.S. juggernaut.
In the end, the U.S. once again denied the Australians a chance at a gold medal in what’s been a one-sided affair between the teams. The Opals have never beaten the U.S. in Olympic competition, losing in the gold medal game in 2000, ’04, and ’08.
“We had to play a perfect game today. I always say you got to believe that you can” beat the U.S., Australia coach Sandy Brondello said. “But nine times out of 10, there’s one game where you maybe can get them on a bad day. And it wasn’t our best day here.”
The Australians also lost to the U.S. in the semifinals of the 1996 and 2012 Olympics.
“America, they’re the goats for a reason, you know?” said Australian Lauren Jackson, who has played in five of those losses. “They are full of superstars and I mean you look at the name on every single jersey out there and they are the best players in the world for a reason. They’re incredible.”
Jackson played 5 minutes after sitting out the last two games and didn’t score. The 43-year-old Jackson hasn’t contributed much in this Olympics, but the fact she’s still playing is a near miracle itself after she retired due to injuries in 2016.
Jackson made a return for the Opals at the 2022 World Cup, helping the team earn bronze there. Now she’ll hope that the team can get one more win Sunday to medal — something the Australians have done in each of the four other Olympics she’s competed in.
The U.S. will be looking for another gold.
“I’m so proud of us,” Reeve said. “You know, the evolution that we’ve made as a team. And I’m excited that we’ve got ... to the last stand, if you will, in this campaign. (Now) see if we can get the gold.”
Japan’s b-girl Ami won gold at the Olympics ' first breaking event by spinning, flipping, and top rocking past a field of 16 dancers Friday in a high-energy competition that may not return for future Games.
Ami, legally named Ami Yuasa, won all three rounds in a battle against b-girl Nicka (Dominika Banevič) from Lithuania to clinch the gold, wrapping up a long day of breakers putting hip-hop culture on the Olympic stage with their flow, rhythm, and skill at Place de la Concorde stadium.
“Breaking is my expression,” Yuasa said. It’s an “expression, an art, but I want to say that breaking also could be part of sports.”
B-girls stunned the crowd with power moves like headspins, windmills, and backflips. Fans remained energetic throughout the competition, which began in the afternoon and ended just before 10 p.m.
Beginning in the quarterfinals phase, eight b-girls from the original 17 squared off in knockout battles of three rounds each to narrow down to the finals. Banevič won the silver medal, and China’s b-girl 671 (Liu Qingyi) took the bronze after battling with b-girl India (India Sardjo) from the Netherlands to “Boom!” by The Roots. Liu is a relative newcomer to the breaking scene.
“Olympics needed breaking because it’s like a breath of fresh air,” Banevič said. “Such a large amount of people saw breaking for the first time like it’s huge. And I’m happy that I was able to represent at the highest level of the art form for breaking.”
American disappointment at Olympic breaking
Both American b-girls were eliminated in the first round, a blow to the country representing the birthplace of hip-hop and breaking culture. B-girl Logistx (legal name Logan Edra) and B-girl Sunny (Sunny Choi) both ranked in the top 12 internationally but came up short of the quarterfinals.
“I feel like I still shined and I feel like I still represented the dance and had some moments,” Logistx said. “It was such a big opportunity, it’s such a big platform, and I’m really happy that we’re here.”
Breaking makes its Olympic debut
A panel of nine judges, all b-boys and b-girls in their own right from around the world, scored the breakers based on the Trivium judging system: on technique, vocabulary, execution, musicality, and originality — each accounts for 20% of the final score.
Each of the b-girls began by catching the beat as they danced while on their feet — a series called “top rocking” — before launching into their footwork moves on the floor. The soundtrack to their routines was a surprise for each of them, as two DJs spun records on a turntable set up behind the judges.
The judges sat between the circular floor, modeled after a record, and a massive replica of a boombox, in a nod to the musical root of breaking — the breakbeat itself — which is the moment when a song’s vocals drop and the DJ loops the beat over and over. That allows b-boys and b-girls to make their mark on the dance floor.
Breaking is judged qualitatively because of its roots as an art form, and judges use a sliding scale to score each round and battle, adjusting the scale towards the breaker who is winning in each of the above criteria. Throughout, two emcees respond to the personalities and signature moves of each of the breakers to hype up the crowd.
The challenge for organizers was to bring breaking hip-hop culture to a mass audience, including many viewers who were skeptical about the dance form’s addition to the Olympic roster. But after Friday’s marathon of battles, there’s no doubting the athletic ability and physicality.
Beyond their physical ability, breakers had to make sure to showcase their style and individuality — essential to the culture of hip-hop and breaking.
In all, 33 breakers representing 15 countries and the Refugee Olympic Team made Olympic history on Friday. On Saturday, the b-boys take the stage in what might be their only shot to battle it out for god at the Olympics in the foreseeable future. Breaking was added as an Olympic sport for Paris, but it is not on the slate for Los Angeles in 2028.
Before the battle began, American rapper Snoop Dogg made a grand entrance into the stadium to the soundtrack of “Drop It Like It’s Hot,” prompting cheers and dancing in the stands. The emcees introduced the 17 b-girls competing on Friday, with the b-girls from France and the U.S. receiving the loudest applause from the crowd.
Sha’Carri Richardson made her first Olympic gold-medal moment memorable — giving the sprinters behind her the side-eye, then stomping her foot to the track on her final step across the finish line.
Afterward, she moved aside to watch the U.S. men do what they do best in the 4x100 relay — find a way to lose.
Richardson, who won silver in the 100 last weekend, powered from third to first in the anchor leg to lift the United States to victory Friday, then had a front-row seat to watch the U.S. men extend their streak to 20 years without a medal at the Games.
“I was very comfortable with these ladies,” Richardson said of a foursome that includes her training partners, 100-meter bronze medalist Melissa Jefferson and Twanisha Terry, and 200-meter champion Gabby Thomas.
The men were racing without Noah Lyles, who called it quits for the Olympics after winning the bronze medal in the 200 while fighting COVID. Hard to think that even he could’ve saved them.
This race unraveled on the first exchange, when Christian Coleman crashed into Kenny Bednarek, then actually ran by him as they were awkwardly passing the baton.
By the time Fred Kerley took the stick for the anchor lap, the U.S. was in seventh place. They ended up being disqualified for the illegal pass. Not even Lyles could’ve overcome that.
“It just didn’t happen,” Coleman said. “Maybe we could have put in some more work. I just think in the moment it didn’t happen.”
US loss opens it up for Canada and De Grasse to get a win
With the U.S. out, Andre De Grasse put a bright mark on his otherwise disappointing Olympics by anchoring Canada to gold in a time of 37.50 seconds.
It was the first medal in Paris for De Grasse and the first for the Canadians in the one-lap relay since Donovan Bailey anchored them in 1996. South Africa finished second and Britain third.
The secret?
“We’ve been together since 2021, or 2019, even,” De Grasse said. “We all train in Florida. We always practice for this moment. We know what we’re capable of.”
America’s Rai Benjamin pulls off hurdles victory
In the evening’s final race, American Rai Benjamin finally pulled out of the shadow of world record holder Karsten Warholm, getting his first individual major title by blowing past the defending champion in 46.46 seconds.
Alison dos Santos of Brazil finished third for the second straight Olympics, giving these Games the same three men on the podium as Tokyo.
This race was no repeat of that one — the fastest hurdles race ever — but Benjamin still ran a time that would’ve been a world record 37 months ago, before Warholm took it below 46 seconds.
Carl Lewis sounds off (again) after (another) relay debacle
Looking in on the relays in disgust, but not surprising, was Carl Lewis, a two-time winner in this race who is never shy about calling out what he sees.
“It is time to blow up the system,” he said on social media. “This continues to be completely unacceptable. EVERYONE in the USA (Track and Field) is more concerned with relationships (than) winning. No athlete should step on the track and run another relay until this program is changed from top to bottom.”
In an interview last week with The Associated Press, Lewis suggested experts in the U.S. develop a relay manual and send it to every high school coach in the country.
“The issue has always been politics, has always been drama, has always been deception,” Lewis said. “If they can eliminate those things, there’s no question they have the fastest team in the world.”
Did the late removal of Noah Lyles make a difference?
Some might blame the latest loss on the impact of the lineup shuffle. Lyles, who ran anchor in the U.S. victory last year at world championships, probably would have done so again at Stade de France.
But that task went to Kerley, and Bednarek ran second. It set him up to receive the pass from Coleman.
Most of the problems over the years — and all this week — have been toward the front. On Thursday, in qualifying, Coleman handed to Kerley with his right hand while grabbing Kerley’s arm with his left — an awkward exchange that didn’t cost anything.
This one did. The only U.S. podium finish during its dry spell was a silver in 2012 that was later stripped due to doping.
“At the end of the day, we knew what we could do,” said Kyree King, who ran the third leg. “We came out here and we had the mindset of no risk, no reward, so we went out there and went big. It didn’t happen.”
Sha’Carri and company had no such problems
The run by Richardson and her teammates was everything the men’s race was not — filled with smooth safe passes of a rain-slickened baton, then capped off by America’s fastest 100-meter runner.
Richardson received the baton from Thomas in third place.
By the halfway point of her leg, Richardson had overcome runners from Britain and Germany. She glanced to her right — and backward — and gave a look of “you’re not catching me,” then took eight more steps.
On the ninth one, Richardson slammed her left foot on the ground over the finish line and let out a yell.
The Americans won in 41.78 seconds, good for a .07-second win over Britain, which struggled with two baton changes in the rain.
The bad pass between Thomas and Terry in qualifying that could’ve ruined the Olympics was nothing but a distant memory. And Richardson, a few days later than some expected, is an Olympic champion.
“I just remember trusting Gabby and knowing that she’s going to put this thing in my hand no matter what,” Richardson said, “and to leave my best on the track.”
Raven Saunders in the shot put and a threepeat in the heptathlon
Nafissatou Thiam (Belgium) squeaked past Katarina Johnson-Thompson (Britain) by 44 points to win her unprecedented third straight Olympic heptathlon title.
The 29-year-old joins Polish hammer thrower Anita Wlodarczyk as the second woman to win three straight Olympic titles in the same track and field event.
Yemisi Ogunleye of Germany won the women’s shot put while American Raven Saunders, the silver medalist in Tokyo, finished 11th.
Marileidy Paulino won the 400 meters in an Olympic record 48.17 seconds to become the first woman to win Olympic gold for the Dominican Republic.
Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet completed the 5,000-10,000 double with a victory in the longer race in 30 minutes, 43.25 seconds.
Sifan Hassan added bronze in the 10,000 to the one she captured in the 5,000 and was facing a 36-hour turnaround before running the marathon on Sunday.
Not even a tense tête-à-tête in the gold medal game could spoil the vibe at Paris’ biggest beach party.
Canada’s Brandie Wilkerson and Brazil’s Ana Patrícia got into a finger-pointing shouting match across the net in the tiebreaking third set of the beach volleyball final of the Paris Olympics on Friday night. The referee tried to keep the peace, but it was the Eiffel Tower Stadium DJ who cooled tempers on the sand by playing John Lennon’s “Imagine” over the PA system.
The players laughed and clapped. The crowd applauded and sang along.
Wilkerson was shown a yellow card.
The top-ranked Brazilians left with the gold medal.
“We‘re competitors and we are fighting for the same thing: There’s only one gold medal,” Wilkerson said during a post-match news conference in which the two laughed and jokingly put up their fists as if they were going to brawl it out.
“Immediately after the game, it’s all love and respect,” she said. “We bring out the best in each other, and I’m honored to play against this team.”
Ana Patrícia and Duda rallied from an 11-5 deficit to take the first-to-21, win-by-two first set 26-24, and Canada won the second 21-12. Brazil opened up a 12-7 lead in the first-to-15 tiebreaker when after a joust at the net, Wilkerson and Ana Patrícia began pointing fingers at each other.
The second referee, the one at sand level, moved out to separate the two players, but Wilkerson continued to argue and picked up a yellow card. As the Brazilians got into position to serve for the next point, the DJ began playing “Imagine,” the late Beatle’s song calling for unity and peace.
The message resonated with the players.
“What a beautiful opportunity we have to play the finals under the Eiffel Tower against the best in the world,” Wilkerson said. “Like, that, in of itself, is a win.”
Wilkerson told reporters afterward that it was all a misunderstanding: She was responding to her family, cheering in the crowd behind the Brazilians, and Ana Patrícia thought Wilkerson was taunting her.
“We’re pretty amped up, partners are coming in, refs are coming in. So it was a bit of a mess,” Wilkerson said. “But after the game, and even right when they came to shake our hands, still on the court, there was an immediate hug and just kind of like, ‘Hey, it’s all good.’”
When play resumed, it took Brazil only five more points to finish off Wilkerson and Melissa Humana-Paredes, kicking off a party the sport’s spiritual home hadn’t seen since hosting the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games at Copacabana. In Tokyo, the country was shut out at the Summer Games for the first time since beach volleyball was added to the program in 1996.
Three years later, Brazil not only returned to the podium but climbed to its top step.
With the Eiffel Tower’s strobes sparking in the background and yellow- and green-wearing fans singing and waving Brazilian flags, the country was awarded its first women’s gold since Atlanta. (The United States, which had won four of the last five, was shut out in both the men’s and women’s tournaments in Paris.)
After the medal ceremony, the Canadians and Brazilians — along with the bronze-winning Swiss — posed for selfies together. Wilkerson and Ana Patrícia spoke to each other and hugged; there may have even been an air kiss.
“It was a game thing,” Ana Patrícia said. “Everybody wants to win. But it happens. It’s everybody trying to win, but now everything is OK.”
Wilkerson and Humana-Paredes will return to Canada with the country’s first beach volleyball medal since the men won bronze at the 1996 Atlanta Games. That team was coached by Humana-Paredes’ father.
Switzerland beat Australia in straight sets in the third-place game earlier Friday night to earn the bronze medal.
Nina Brunner and Tanja Huerberli beat Tokyo silver medalists Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho del Solar 21-17, 21-15 in 39 minutes. It was the second Summer Games in a row that a Swiss team took the bronze medal, coming three years after Joana Heidrich and Anouk Vergé-Dépré placed third in Tokyo.
On the men’s side, Sweden was set to face Germany for gold on Saturday night, with Norway and Qatar playing for the bronze.
The men’s soccer tournament came to a dramatic end at the Paris Olympics.
Just not the end the host nation wanted.
Jean-Philippe Mateta, who had helped fuel France’s comeback after falling in a 3-1 hole in the first half against Spain, limped off the field in exhaustion at the final whistle. His teammates were just as weary, lying on the field while Spain’s players wildly celebrated their 5-3 victory after extra time.
Despite the ending, fans at Parc des Princes serenaded the team with the French national anthem, “La Marseillaise.”
“It’s cruel but that’s football,” France midfielder Desire Doue told television station France 2. “We gave a lot throughout the competition, and again tonight. We came back and took it to extra time. We gave it our all. Unfortunately, we didn’t take some of our chances, we lacked a bit of efficiency.”
Enzo Millot scored an early goal for France but then Spain answered with three goals in a short period, putting the home team down 3-1 at the break.
Mateta had converted a penalty kick in stoppage time, pulling even with Spain 3-3 and sending the final into extra time. But ultimately, Spain prevailed with two goals from Sergio Camello.
“It’s part of football,” captain Alexandre Lacazette said. “Sometimes you come back, you fight back, but it’s just a matter of small things sometimes.”
Coach Thierry Henry told his players afterward he was proud of them, and reminded them that medaling at the Olympics was “an extraordinary feat.”
“I told them, `You won. You’ve earned respect for life. You never gave up, in the training sessions, whatever happened, you always stayed. You always fought,’” Henry said. “We know this group of players will never meet again. It’s impossible. We know that, but this group of people will remain together forever in my eyes.”
Henry was one of the most decorated players of his generation. He won the World Cup as a player in 1998 on home soil, then was part of the squad that was runners-up in 2006. He also won a European Championship with the French in 2000.
Going into the match, Henry was credited with creating chemistry on a team without superstar Kylian Mbappe, who wasn’t released by new club Real Madrid.
The team went undefeated at the Olympics until the end, finishing atop its group and then beating Argentina and Egypt in the knockout round for a spot in the final.
Despite the loss, Henry and the France squad applauded the fans in the stands. They won a medal, after all, just not the color they had hoped for.
“It’s difficult at the moment to take it all in but it was still a beautiful story,” he said.
Oranje is gold again in women’s field hockey after the Netherlands pulled off a first-of-its-kind Olympic sweep.
The Netherlands defended its title from Tokyo, rallying from an early deficit to beat China 2-1 in a shootout in the final at the Paris Olympics on Friday night.
The victory followed the Dutch men’s team taking gold a day earlier. The Netherlands became the first country to sweep the field hockey medals at the Games since the women’s tournament was added in 1980.
“We have both golds — that’s historic,” said Pien Sanders, who scored in the shootout nearly 24 hours after boyfriend Thijs van Dam won with the men’s team. “This means everything. I think the pressure is always really high for the Dutch team and that we are here with gold, it’s so beautiful.”
Much like the men, the women did so surrounded by a sea of orange, with Dutch fans filling Yves-du-Manoir Stadium and making for a festive atmosphere. Also like the men, it did not happen easily.
The Netherlands fell behind 5:54 in when a defensive lapse in front allowed Chen Yi to redirect Dan Wen’s setup past goalkeeper Anne Veenendaal. After trailing for just six minutes all tournament until the final, the Dutch generated plenty of quality chances through three quarters, including Frederique Malta ringing one penalty corner shot off the left post and missing wide right on another.
“It was a little bit nerve-wracking, actually,” Maria Verschoor said. “Till the end, I was like, ‘Oh my God, is it going to happen?’ All the time were saying: ‘OK, it’s coming. It’s coming.’
Yibbi Jansen tied it with 9:11 left in regulation by scoring on a penalty corner, setting off cheering, flag-waving, and jumping in the stands. Sanders, Verschoor, and Marijn Veen scored in the shootout to spark what could be an all-night party for the Dutch players and their fans.
“We have all these celebrations,” Verschoor said. “I think we will have a lot of parties in the coming days.”
Jansen finished as the tournament’s leading goal scorer with nine but said: “If was not gold, it doesn’t matter. The only thing that counts is that we win.”
The second of back-to-back Olympic titles came with former coach Alyson Annan on the other side with China. Annan, an Australian native who guided the Netherlands to gold in Tokyo in 2021, abruptly stepped down in early 2022 after a Royal Dutch Hockey Association investigation into team culture under her watch following complaints from players.
Annan said China should be proud of her team’s performance, entering the Olympics as an underdog and coming 10 minutes away from the country’s first field hockey championship at the Games.
“We got Olympic silver, and we were this close to gold,” Annan said, adding she was not surprised by the run. “Six months ago, a year ago, two years ago, we wouldn’t have thought we’d be here.”
The Netherlands improved to 21-0 against China over the past decade, with 15 of the previous 20 wins coming by multiple goals.
“It was a very close game,” said coach Paul van Ass, whose son, Seve, won gold with the men’s team. “Well, we attacked and they defended. But because they got a goal so early, they had the time to defend. And they defended very well.”
Argentina took home women’s field hockey bronze after beating Belgium in a penalty shootout. Argentina medaled for a second consecutive Games, taking silver in Tokyo for losing to the Netherlands in the final.
“It’s crazy,” Argentina goalkeeper Cristina Cosentino said. “We’re very happy. We came here to get medals, and we couldn’t go back empty-handed.”
The Netherlands was the only country to win two field hockey medals of any color in Paris. Germany took silver and India bronze on the men’s side.
Track and field fans are used to seeing Jamaican athletes on the medal stand at the Olympics. In Paris, other Caribbean nations have introduced themselves and their countries to the world.
“It was just our turn, man,” said Thea LaFond, whose gold in the triple jump was the first Olympic medal for her island, Dominica. “It kind of becomes like truly a family. When we say one Caribbean, one love; one Caribbean, one love.”
Sure, Jamaica has six medals — most of them for its unexpected field success — but the medals this time have also come from St. Lucia, Dominica, and Grenada.
And the Caribbean athletes in track and field definitely have a kinship.
“You know, ‘One Caribbean always,’” Julien Alfred of St. Lucia said. “When one Caribbean athlete wins, the whole Caribbean celebrates.”
Alfred got things started by upsetting American favorite Sha’carri Richardson in the 100 meters to earn St. Lucia’s first Olympic medal on the same night of LaFond’s victory. Then she added a second with silver in the 200.
The latest Caribbean success came from Marileidy Paulino, who won gold in the 400 meters Friday to become the first woman from the Dominican Republic to win gold in any Olympic sport.
“We have been developing and showing that this is not just for the developed countries,” Paulino said. “The Dominican Republic is having a rebirth.”
It was the Dominican Republic’s first gold since Felix Sánchez won the 400 hurdles in 2012.
The island nations and the athletes often support each other during frequent hurricanes.
A month ago, Hurricane Beryl decimated Barbados and Jamaica, with a pair of islands in St. Vincent and the Grenadines almost entirely destroyed.
“We actually got lucky. That’s probably one of the first hurricanes that did not touch Dominica,” LaFond said. “But your heart always goes out to St. Vincent the Grenadines and all the other islands that were affected, especially Jamaica. That was quite scary.
When the hurricane hit, the Maryland-based LaFond quickly checked in fellow triple jumper Shanieka Ricketts of Jamaica, who took silver in Paris.
“It’s in those times that you realize how strong the Caribbean really is, how quick we are to aid each other in moments of need,” LaFond said. “It puts things in perspective, right? Maybe a hard workout or a bad meeting isn’t so bad when you’re concerned about the well-being of your loved ones. We’re tough people.”
Rickets was supposed to fly to Europe the day after Beryl hit Jamaica for a pre-Olympics training camp in Paris.
“We had to cancel plans and wait until the hurricane passed,” Ricketts said, adding that she flew over about a week later.
So a week of training lost?
Not quite.
“I have like a little makeshift gym in the garage. So that’s what we used during that time,” Ricketts said.
Grenada, another Caribbean country, has won two bronzes: Anderson Peters in the javelin and Lindon Victor in the decathlon.
Also Friday, three Cuban-born athletes now competing for European nations filled the podium in the men’s triple jump: Jordan Diaz of Spain (gold), Pedro Pichardo of Portugal (silver), and Andy Diaz of Italy (bronze).
“My family that’s in Cuba, my entire life that I had back in Cuba,” Jordan Diaz said. “It was a very difficult decision, but if I had to take the same decision, I would.”