Simone Biles leads in gymnastics qualifiers at Paris Olympics

French poster boy Leon Marchand thrilled the crowds at the La Defense Arena as he convincingly qualified for the final of the men’s 400m Individual Medley this morning.

Marchand wasn’t near his world-record pace, but with the crowd at fever pitch, the 22-year-old — he’s coached by Michael Phelps’s long-time coach Bob Bowman at Arizona State — still comfortably qualified fastest for tonight’s final.

France hasn’t won gold in the pool since 2012, but the dominant Marchand, one of the biggest French stars at these Games, looks set to end that drought in Paris. The swimmer has been tearing up the record books over the last few years and is a gold medal favorite in four events.

The 400m medley sees swimmers swim 100m in each of the four recognized Olympic swimming strokes: butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle. Team USA’s Chase Kalisz, the defending gold medalist in this event, missed out on making the final, though America will be represented by Carson Foster, who qualified fourth fastest.

U.S. Olympian Kristen Faulkner didn’t seriously start riding a bike until 2017 when she needed an outdoor hobby. Shortly after she moved to New York City for a venture capital job, she developed a passion for cycling in her spare time.

“It was kind of my outlet every day to get into Central Park and ride for two hours away from the bustle of the city,” Faulkner told NBC News.

But it didn’t come without some initial growing pains.

“I couldn’t clip in” to the bike, she said. “And I was like, ‘Why is this not working?’ I was starting to get really embarrassed. Finally, we realized I just had incompatible cleats and pedals.”

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Some of the biggest, veteran names of tennis will be on the Roland-Garros clay today in hopes of rekindling past magic.

Paris 2024 has attracted some of the sport’s biggest contemporary names, such as Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff. But this tournament isn’t a top priority for many players because it’s not a Grand Slam. That opens the door to some high-profile players in the twilight of their career.

Action began at noon local time 7:00 a.m. ET with 22-time major winner Rafael Nadal, 38, playing the second match at center court against Hungarian Márton Fucsovics.

Stan Wawrinka, 39, and Caroline Wozniacki, 34, are slated to play in the fourth and fifth matches slated for Court Simonne-Mathieu, while French favorite Gaël Monfils, 37, is set for the day’s fourth match on Court Suzanne-Lenglen.

Chellsie Memmel, the technincal lead coach on the gymnastics squad, spoke after Team USA raced to the top of rankings. But the joyous mood was tempered by apprehension over Simone Biles’ taped left ankle.

“I haven’t even got to speak to Simone. I need to speak with our team, our medical team, but I don’t have an answer about that. I just first and foremost, I just want to make sure she’s physically okay,” Memmel said, saying she was concerned.

At the Bercy Arena, Team USA’s day is done. Simone Biles’ biggest rival in the all-around, Rebeca Andrade, will compete later today.

There are still three more subdivisions in this qualification round, but the U.S. women are on track to have representatives in each event final.

Simone Biles is currently in eighth on bars, so her place there isn’t guaranteed, but it’s unlikely that anyone bumps Suni Lee out of the final. The all-around, vault, beam and floor finalists are in secure positions.

All-Around: Simone Biles and Suni Lee

Vault: Simone Biles and Jade Carey

Bars: Suni Lee and Simone Biles

Beam: Simone Biles and Suni Lee

Floor: Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles

As expected, the U.S. women dominated the qualification round. After the second of five subdivisions, they scored a 172.296, which is more than five points over Italy, China and Great Britain.

No other teams have the difficulty required to match that, so Team USA is expected to enter Tuesday’s team final in first.

For the first time, two Olympic all-around champions will go head-to-head in the all-around final – and they’re both from the same country.

Simone Biles (2016) and Sunisa Lee (2020) will make history regardless of where they finish in Thursday’s final.

By less than a tenth, Sunisa Lee will overtake Jordan Chiles in the all-around standings.

Due to the two-per-country rule, Simone Biles and Lee will be the U.S. representatives in the all-around final. Both are Olympic all-around champions.

Lee did a slightly more conservative routine, taking out one difficult connection and earning a 14.866. That will put her on track to make the bars final as well.

She did not debut her new skill on bars today, but Biles did a stellar routine, earning a 14.433.

That will bring her to a 59.566 in the all-around and she is now in first place in the current standings. It is likely to stay that way.