Each and every day of the 2024 Paris Olympics, NBCOlympics.com will keep you updated overnight with the biggest stories from across the Olympic landscape. All competition streams live on NBCOlympics.com and Peacock — visit the schedule page for more details. We will continue to update this recap throughout the day.
After an exciting first day of competition in which the U.S. won its first gold medal of the Games thanks to the men’s swimming 4x100m freestyle relay team, the momentum continued for Team USA on Sunday.
Despite appearing to struggle with a lower leg injury, Simone Biles finished atop the leaderboard in the women’s gymnastics qualification round in her Paris Olympic debut and the U.S. men’s basketball team breezed past Serbia in their opening game of the tournament.
Here’s what you should know so far.
Women’s gymnastics: Biles shows grit
Simone Biles made her Paris Olympic debut on Sunday in the women’s gymnastics qualification round. This round served as the qualifier for the team final, all-around final and individual event finals. The 23-time world champion is the favorite to win her second all-around Olympic title in Paris, a feat only two female gymnasts have ever achieved (Larisa Latynina and Vera Caslavska).
Biles began by delivering a stellar routine on beam. But while warming up on the floor exercise ahead of Rotation 2, Biles appeared to injure her lower leg. Despite some apparent discomfort, it did not stop her from competing.
The seven-time Olympic medalist finished the competition atop the leaderboard in the all-around with a score of 59.566, the highest score that any gymnast has earned in an international competition this Olympic cycle. She finished No. 1 on vault and floor, second on beam and eighth on uneven bars.
Afterwards, Biles’ coach Cecile Landi said that Biles felt something in her left calf, but “wouldn’t be able to do what she did today if it was too serious.” At this moment, there is no concern about her ability to keep competing at the Olympics.
Defending all-around champion Suni Lee delivered a stellar routine on the uneven bars to secure her spot in the all-around final.
Tokyo silver medalist Jade Carey will not have the chance to defend her floor title after making several uncharacteristic mistakes throughout her routine.
Sixteen-year-old Hezly Rivera, who is the youngest member of the entire U.S. Olympic team in Paris, contributed scores of 13.900 on uneven bars and 12.633 on beam.
The U.S. women will compete in the team final on Tuesday, July 30 at 12:15 pm ET.
Results: Team | All-Around | Vault | Uneven Bars | Balance Beam | Floor Exercise
U.S. men’s basketball opens Olympic slate
The U.S. men’s basketball team began its run to a fifth straight gold medal with a game against Serbia, which is led by three-time NBA MVP and Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic. The Serbia team was expected to be the United States’ toughest opponent in Group C.
Team USA was led by Kevin Durant, who missed camp and exhibition games due to a calf injury, but was cleared to play before the game. Durant looked like he never left, making all eight of his shots in the first half and finishing with 23 total points.
Despite a slow start, the U.S. team finished with a convincing 110-84 win over Serbia. The game featured five Americans in double figures and a 62% mark from the field.
Team USA will return to action on Wednesday, July 31 vs. South Sudan.
SEE MORE: LeBron finds Anthony Edwards for buzzer-beating alley-oop
Cycling: Batten wins silver in mountain bike
American Haley Batten won silver in the women’s mountain bike final, claiming the United States’ best-ever finish in mountain biking (men or women) and first medal overall since Georgia Gould‘s bronze in 2012.
Batten remained in contention through three laps, but on the fourth lap, her bike tire flattened on the rock portion of the race. The time it took for her to repair the tire caused her to fall to eighth, but she closed the gap on the fifth lap to battle back for a second-place finish.
Results: Women’s mountain bike final
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