PARIS: Noah Lyles targets the second leg of an Olympic sprint treble in the 200m on Thursday while LeBron James and his band of NBA superstars attempt to edge closer to a 17th basketball gold medal.
Lyles ended the USA’s 20-year wait for a gold medal in the 100m and goes into the 200m the clear favourite as a three-time world champion in the event.
“I spent years working on the 100m, but the 200 is where it’s at. This is where I get to show my speed and endurance and my top-end speed,” said Lyles.
“This is where I get to show I’m stronger than everybody else.”
The American will face competition from team-mates Kenny Bednarek and Erriyon Knighton and Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo.
Reigning champion Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone will battle Femke Bol in a mouth-watering women’s 400m hurdles final.
McLaughlin-Levrone and Bol go head-to-head in what promises to be one of the races of the Paris Games, pitting the two fastest women in the history of the event against each other.
Bol already has one gold after anchoring the Dutch to victory in the 4x400 mixed relay, while McLaughlin-Levrone is the world record holder in the 400m hurdles, which she won three years ago in Tokyo. Bol finished third in that race.
Grant Holloway hopes to claim an elusive Olympic gold in the men’s 110m hurdles. The 26-year-old is a three-time world champion but had to settle for silver in Tokyo.
LeBron James and the United States look to continue their relentless march toward a fifth straight Olympic basketball gold, taking on Nikola Jokic’s Serbia for a place in the final.
Noah Lyles, Richardson breeze through 200m heats at US trials
The two teams meet for the third time in as many weeks, beating them in a pre-tournament warm-up and then again to launch their Olympic bid – winning both games by 26 points.
“Serbia is really good,” said US coach Steve Kerr. “We can’t get lulled to sleep because we beat them twice.”
Hosts France, led by San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama, play World Cup holders Germany in the first semi-final.
France are also in the driving seat in the women’s golf tournament with Celine Boutier going into the second round with a three-shot lead, South Africa’s Ashleigh Buhai sits in second place, while reigning champion Nelly Korda battled back from a poor opening stretch to finish on even par, seven strokes behind Boutier.
World number seven Boutier, who grew up just 20km from Le Golf National, has not posted a top-10 finish in her last 11 tournaments but found her best at the right time.
“It’s true that it’s nice to be able to post a good first round, and yes super positive for the rest of the week,” said Boutier. In men’s hockey, world number one Netherlands take on world champions Germany.
The match could be the first part of a golden double for the Dutch whose women’s team face China in their final on Friday.
The men’s javelin final could be a cracking clash between India’s defending champion Neeraj Chopra and Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan.
In the Seine, which runs through the heart of the city, the women’s 10km marathon swim is due to take place despite doubts over the quality of the water.
Training for the open water swimming was cancelled on Tuesday due to pollution.
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