(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Thursday’s sports events:
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE
Kansas City Royals 7, Washington Nationals 4 Miami Marlins 8, Minnesota Twins 6
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Detroit Tigers 4, Tampa Bay Rays 3 Chicago White Sox 7, L-A Angels 0 Oakland Athletics 3, Texas Rangers 2 Oakland Athletics 3, Baltimore Orioles 1
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Milwaukee Brewers 5, Pittsburgh Pirates 2 Colorado Rockies 10, St. Louis Cardinals 8 San Diego Padres at L-A Dodgers (TBA) N-Y Mets at Atlanta 1:10 p.m. (Postponed)
(PARIS) — Noah Lyles came up short in his quest for the 100-meter, 200-meter double at the Paris Olympics. He did get the bronze, but had been aiming to be the first American to win both in 40 years.
Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo took the gold in 19.46 seconds, running away from American Kenny Bednarek — who took silver — and Lyles.
Lyles told NBC after the race he tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, but chose to race anyway. His representative confirmed the diagnosis to ABC News.
Lyles was the favorite in the event, but ran only 19.70. He has a career-best of 19.31 — set at the world championships in 2022 — and a season best of 19.53.
Lyles looked extremely fatigued after the race and sat down on the track after the event. He was attended to by medical professionals and taken off the track in a wheelchair.
The 21-year-old Tebogo set a career-best time in the final as well as an African record.
Lyles also took bronze in Tokyo three years ago.
Usain Bolt is the last person to accomplish the 100 meters and 200 meters — in 2016 — when he did it for the third straight Olympics. Carl Lewis was the last American to win the 100 and 200 when he did the double at the Los Angeles Games in 1984.
Lyles won the 100 meters on Tuesday in a historically close race. He edged out Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson by just 0.005 seconds.
Lyles was attempting to win three golds at the Paris Games by also winning in the 100-meter relay. Lewis is also the last person to win the 100 meters, 200 meters and 4×100-meter relay when he did it in 1984.
Following his win in the 100 meters, Lyles was asked how he felt about completing the triple.
“Pretty confident,” he said. “I can’t lie.”
Lyles ran the anchor leg in the qualifying heats Thursday, taking first place in the group. The final will be held Friday at 1:47 p.m. ET. He told NBC he wasn’t sure if he would run in the 100 meters, but was leaning toward not competing.
(LONDON) — Giorgia Villa might be the most “grateful” athlete on the face of the planet.
And no, it isn’t just because the newly minted Italian silver medalist helped Team Italy score their first Olympic team medal in gymnastics since 1928. Villa is sponsored by cheese.
Having also won the bronze at the 2019 World Championships as well as being on gold-winning teams at the 2022 Mediterranean Games and the 2022 European Championships, she has actually been sponsored by Parmagiano Reggiano since 2021, a three-year period where she has matured as an athlete to become one of the best gymnasts in the world.
“A new face is added, as a testimonial, to the prestigious team of Parmigiano Reggiano: The young gymnast Giorgia Villa, 2018 champion of the Youth Games and one of the most promising athletes in her specialty at an international level,” Impresa e Sport, an Italian marketing agency said in 2021 when they first announced the sponsorship deal.
“The very young athlete, spearhead of the national rhythmic gymnastics team, has in fact become the brand’s new ambassador, with all the enthusiasm and freshness of her splendid age. Tenacious, determined, smiling, Giorgia proudly underlined this new role as well as once again confirming how the combination of Parmigiano Reggiano and the world of sport is indissoluble in terms of authenticity, quality and energetic value, both in sporting activity and in correct nutrition,” the statement read.
Villa first started in gymnastics at the age of 3 when her mother signed her up for gymnastics lessons due to her high energy and activity level.
“I had just started nursery school, but I immediately understood that I would love that sport with all my being,” said Villa. “I left school and, still wearing my pink apron, I couldn’t wait to enter that gym and jump and run feeling free and happy.”
Now 21, Villa has been training at the Italian Gymnastics Federation’s International Academy of Brescia, Italy, since she was just 11 years old.
“Every single day has been a personal achievement. There have been many sacrifices that I have had to face, but I have received a lot of satisfaction which time after time has given me the energy needed to face future challenges that lay ahead of me,” said Villa during an interview in 2022. “I am a person who loves to show what she can do, and then achieving important results is incomparable to any sacrifice.”
“I love gymnastics so much because it allows me to always be in motion,” Villa continued. “It is also a wonderful method to let off steam and release all the energy I have in my body, to always be in a group and in company even if gymnastics is fundamentally still an individual sport. I also love the fact that it pushes me to try to overcome my limits by improving every single skill.”
Fast forward to 2024 and Villa can be seen across social media taking pictures with the massive wheels of cheese that are produced exclusively in the provinces of Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena, Bologna to the west of the Reno river, and Mantua to the east of the Po river, according to the cheesemaker.
“Since I was a child I have always loved this fantastic product, a symbol of Italian excellence and culture, and from today being able to collaborate with them makes me extremely proud and charged to face future challenges,” Villa said at the time of her sponsorship announcement.
While the cheese sponsorship might be a bonus, Villa has always been honest about her goals within the sport of gymnastics and, when asked whether the Olympic Games were always her goal and if she considered quitting during difficult moments in her career, Villa was firm in her opinion and didn’t crumble.
“The biggest objective is the Olympics, for me and I think all of us. This (medal) paid (us) back for the injuries and hard moments that we lived over the years,” she said.