2024 Paris Olympics live updates: Biles takes silver on floor; Thomas and Lyles advance in 200-meter races
U.S. hopes for a gold medal in surfing were kept alive by Caroline Marks, who beat Johanne Defay of France in a wave-for-wave women’s semifinal battle that came down to a virtual tiebreaker.
The Surfline wave forecast of 4 to 6 feet and rising continued to disappoint as competitors spent time on “paddle battles” for wave choice priority and ended up with walls instead of Teahupo’o’s trademark tubes.
Defay came out ahead early and posted the highest-scoring wave, shredding every last drop. But Marks responded with excellent wave choice, dropping into a rare barrel before using the rest of the walled-up wave as a canvas to rip.
The score of 7.0 put her in a virtual tie, but because it was the highest-scoring wave, Marks took the victory and heads to the gold medal final. Defay will get to battle for bronze in a heat against the loser of the second semifinal, which features Brazil’s Tatiana Weston-Webb and Costa Rica’s Brisa Hennessy.
France defeated Egypt 3-1, earning a spot in the gold medal final against Spain.
After a scoreless first half, Egypt scored in the 62nd minute with a goal from Mahmoud Saber.
But France was resilient, scoring the equalizer in the 83rd from Jean-Philippe Mateta. A few minutes later, Mateta helped France capitalize on Egypt’s going down to 10 men because of a red card, scoring a powerful header for his second goal of the match. Michael Olise extended France’s lead in the 108th minute for its third goal.
France led in shots on target and controlled possession.
Despite the loss, Egypt has a chance to win its first soccer medal in the bronze match against Morocco.
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