Paris Olympics Day 5: Triathlon held in the Seine; Djokovic still chasing tennis gold

PARIS — An ambitious plan to clean up the long-polluted Seine River paid off when the swimming portions of the Paris Olympics triathlons were finally held in the waterway Wednesday.

After a couple of canceled swim practices and a day’s delay because of the river’s water quality, the women’s and men’s events finished in spectacular fashion — on the Pont Alexandre III bridge with the Eiffel Tower in the background.

“It’s magical,” said newly minted gold medalist Cassandre Beaugrand of France. “It’s the best route we’ve had in a long time and I know all the other athletes feel the same.”

Beaugrand navigated slippery roads that turned the cycling portion into a series of spills following an early morning rain.

The men’s triathlon, which started less than an hour after the women finished, there was plenty of stifling heat and humidity to deal with as the sun came out in full force. Alex Yee of Britain used a burst at the end to catch and pass Hayden Wilde of New Zealand to win the gold medal by six seconds.

Djokovic still chasing gold

Novak Djokovic is three wins away from earning the only big title he lacks.

Djokovic needed a bit of time to assert himself before taking control with a five-game run for a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Dominik Koepfer of Germany, reaching the singles quarterfinals for the fourth time at the Summer Games.

A gold medal is pretty much the only accomplishment of significance missing from the resume of Djokovic, a 37-year-old from Serbia who has won a men’s-record 24 Grand Slam titles and spent more weeks at No. 1 than anyone in the history of the computerized tennis rankings.

Djokovic next faces Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Rafael Nadal’s Paris Games ended when he and Carlos Alcaraz were eliminated in the men’s doubles quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-4 loss to the fourth-seeded American duo of Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram.

Americans 3×3 team now 0-2

The U.S. men’s 3×3 basketball team fell to 0-2 in pool play in the Paris Olympics with a 19-17 loss to Poland Wednesday night.

Jimmer Fredette cut the lead to 1 with about 90 seconds left before Michal Sokolowski made a free throw a few seconds later to extend the lead to 19-17.

The U.S. had a chance to tie it late, but Fredette’s 2-point attempt came up short. Fredette, who was brought in to boost the team after the U.S. failed to qualify for Tokyo, appeared to sustain an injury with about three minutes left. He looked to be in pain as he was tended to by a trainer but soon returned to the game.

Canada women’s soccer advances despite losing points

Vanessa Gilles scored in the 62nd minute to give Canada a 1-0 victory over Colombia and send the team into the quarterfinals of the Paris Olympics on Wednesday despite losing six points in the tournament because of a drone-spying scandal.

Canada will face Germany in a quarterfinals Saturday in Marseille.

Earlier in the day, the defending Olympic champions lost their bid to overturn the FIFA-ordered points deduction for filming an opponent’s practice in France.

Canada, which won its first two matches but earned no points from those victories, went into Wednesday’s match in Nice in need of a win to stand a chance of advancing.

U.S. tops group

Trinity Rodman and Korbin Albert both scored and the United States remained undefeated at the Olympics with a 2-1 victory over Australia on Wednesday to conclude the group stage.

The Americans, who already qualified for the quarterfinals, will play Japan on Saturday at Parc des Princes in Paris.

The United States is the winningest team at the Olympics, with four gold medals in women’s soccer. They’re playing under new coach Emma Hayes, who is tasked with turning the team around after a disappointing Women’s World Cup.

So far the team is off to a good start. The front trio of Rodman, Sophia Smith, and Mallory Swanson have scored seven of the team’s nine goals in France.

Wednesday’s medalists

GYMNASTICS

MEN’S ALL AROUND

Gold: Shinnosuke Oka, Japan

Silver: Zhang Boheng, China

Bronze: Xiao Ruoteng, China

CANOE

WOMEN’S SINGLE

Gold: Jessica Fox, Australia

Silver: Elena Lilik, Germany

Bronze: Evy Leibfarth, United States.

CYCLING

BMX FREESTYLE

WOMEN’S PARK

Gold: Deng Yawen, China

Silver: Perris Benegas, United States

Bronze: Natalya Diehm, Australia

MEN’S PARK

Gold: Jose Torres Gil, Argentina

Silver: Kieran Darren David Reilly, Britain

Bronze: Anthony Jean Jean, France

DIVING

SYNCHRONIZED 10-METER PLATFORM

WOMEN

Gold: Chen Yuxi and Quan Hongchan, China

Silver: Jo Jin Mi and Kim Mi Rae, North Korea

Bronze: Andrea Spendolini Sirieix and Lois Toulson, Britain

FENCING

MEN’S SABRE TEAM

Gold: South Korea

Silver: Hungary

Bronze: France

JUDO

WOMEN’S 70KG

Gold: Barbara Matic, Croatia

Silver: Miriam Butkereit, Germany

Bronze: Michaela Polleres, Austria, and Gabriella Willems, Belgium

MEN’S 90KG

Gold: Lasha Bekauri, Georgia

Silver: Sanshiro Murao, Japan

Bronze: Maxime-Gael Ngayap Hambou, France, and Theodoros Tselidis, Greece

ROWING

MEN’S QUADRUPLE SCULLS

Gold: Netherlands (Lennart van Lierop, Finn Florijn, Tone Wieten, Koen Metsemakers)

Silver: Italy (Luca Chiumento, Luca Rambaldi, Andrea Panizza, Giacomo Gentili)

Bronze: Poland (Dominik Czaja, Mateusz Biskup, Miroslaw Zietarski, Fabian Baranski)

WOMEN’S QUADRUPLE SCULLS

Gold: Britain (Lauren Henry, Hannah Scott, Lola Anderson, Georgina Brayshaw)

Silver: Netherlands (Laila Youssifou, Bente Paulis, Roos de Jong, Tessa Dullemans)

Bronze: Germany (Maren Voelz, Tabea Schendekehl, Leonie Menzel, Pia Greiten)

SWIMMING

WOMEN’S 100M FREESTYLE

Gold: Sarah Sjoestroem, Sweden

Silver: Torri Huske, United States

Bronze: Siobhan Haughey, Hong Kong

WOMEN’S 1,500M FREESTYLE

Gold: Katie Ledecky, United States

Silver: Anastasiia Kirpichnikova, France

Bronze: Isabel Gose, Germany

MEN’S 100M FREESTYLE

Gold: Pan Zhanle, China

Silver: Kyle Chalmers, Australia

Bronze: David Popovici, Romania

MEN’S 200M BREASTSTROKE

Gold: Leon Marchand, France

Silver: Zac Stubblety-Cook, Australia

Bronze: Caspar Corbeau, Netherlands

MEN’S 200M BUTTERFLY

Gold: Leon Marchand, France

Silver: Kristof Milak, Hungary

Bronze: Ilya Kharun, Canada

SHOOTING

WOMEN’S TRAP

Gold: Adriana Ruano, Guatemala

Silver: Silvana Maria Stanco, Italy

Bronze: Penny Smith, Australia

TRIATHLON

WOMEN

Gold: Cassandre Beaugrand, France

Silver: Julie Derron, Switzerland

Bronze: Beth Potter, Britain

MEN

Gold: Alex Yee, Britain

Silver: Hayden Wilde, New Zealand

Bronze: Leo Bergere, France