The Paris Games came to a close on Sunday with the Americans atop the medal count.
The Paris Games came to a close on Sunday with the Americans atop the medal count.
The two weeks in the French capital marked the first Summer Games unaffected by COVID since Rio 2016, and one of the most successful Olympics ever for Team USA, which tied China with 40 gold medals and 126 medals overall.
There was no shortage of memorable moments, but here are 10 that stuck in our mind. Noah Lyles wins the 100-meter dash in a photo finish
Going into Paris, the last American male to win the 100-meter dash and hold the title of ‘Fastest Man in the World’ was Justin Gatlin in 2004.
Lyles, after struggling in the 2020 Tokyo Games, crossed the line just five-thousandths of a second ahead of Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson to stand atop the podium — a finish so close that Lyles didn’t realize he won until seconds after the fact.
Although he failed to complete the double, settling for a bronze medal in the 200 meters, his 9.784 in the 100 stands as one of the iconic moments of the Games. Ledecky becomes most-decorated American woman in history
For Katie Ledecky, this Olympics was the Drive for Nine as she hoped to take GOAT status in women’s swimming.
That’s just what she did, with a pair of golds in the 800 and 1500-meter freestyle races to go with silver in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay and bronze in the 400-meter freestyle race.
Ledecky’s nine gold medals and 14 overall medals made her the most-decorated American woman and most-decorated female swimmer in history, while tying with former gymnast Larisa Latynina for the most gold medals of any woman in Olympic history. Biles gets back on top
Simone Biles was widely considered the best gymnast ever going into these Olympics, but there was unfinished business at play after her Tokyo Games were derailed by a case of the “twisties.”
A trio of gold medals in the team all-around, individual all-around and vault, along with a silver in the floor exercise, set things right.
