Simone Biles, Suni Lee miss out on medals in women’s gymnastics balance beam final
(PARIS) — Team USA women’s gymnastics stars Simone Biles and Sunisa Lee came up empty in the balance beam final on Monday.
After Simone Biles secured her third gold medal of the Paris Olympics on Saturday, she and Lee both notched identical scores of 13.1000, which wasn’t enough to make the podium.
Italy’s Alice D’Amato secured gold with a 14.366, Yaqin Zhou of China scored 14.100 for silver, edging out Manila Esposito by just .1, who took bronze.
Lee, who earned her sixth career Olympic medal on Sunday with bronze in the uneven bars final, went third in the rotation and scored a 13.100.
Biles, who scored a 14.733 in qualifying, tied her teammate with the exact same score — 13.100 — due to a .3 point penalty.
The 10-time Olympic medalist will compete in the women’s floor exercise final back in Bercy Arena later on Monday, along with teammate Jordan Chiles.
(NEW YORK) — A woman who lost a leg in a shark attack is now heading to Paris to compete in the 2024 Paralympics.
“The 1st time I got back in [the water] was in July, a year ago,” Ali Truwit told ABC News’ Good Morning America. “I got back in with a floaty around my stomach because we weren’t sure how I was going to respond in the water again, and now I’m headed to the Paralympics.”
She added, “To represent my country is just an incredible kind of journey that makes me feel proud and also really grateful.”
Truwit said she was on a post-college graduation vacation with her best friend in Turks and Caicos in May 2023 when the attack occurred.
The two were out in the ocean snorkeling when a shark appeared “seemingly out of nowhere” and started to attack them, Truwit recalled.
“We fought back, but pretty quickly the shark had my leg in its mouth, and the next thing I knew, it had bitten off my foot and part of my leg,” she said.
Truwit said she and her friend had to swim roughly 75 yards back to the snorkeling boat.
Once on the boat, Truwit said her friend tied a tourniquet on her leg to stop the bleeding. Truwit was eventually airlifted to a hospital in Miami, where she underwent two lifesaving surgeries.
She was later transported to a hospital in New York to be closer to her family and friends at home, where she underwent a trans-tibial amputation on her left leg.
The surgery took place on May 31, 2023, Truwit’s 23rd birthday.
“Very dark days,” she recounted of that time in her life. “But I am alive, and that’s what I try to focus on and kind of just live the life that I’ve been given again to the fullest.”
Adapting to a new normal
After her amputation, a prosthetic leg helped provide Truwit with better mobility, although she said she still faced challenges adapting to her new normal.
“I’m relearning life without an ankle,” she explained. “I have to learn how to sit again and stand again, and walk again, and run, and how to do stairs and the everyday challenges.”
Truwit said she also faced pain in her leg as well as the risk of infection, and struggled emotionally in addition to the physical limitations.
“There are a lot of challenges for me with body image … learning to love my new body and accept it and learn that it’s beautiful in its own right,” she said. “And I think that’s been something that’s been so huge for me.”
Truwit described her recovery process as a “very long and bumpy road of ups and downs.”
She said she was able to pull through it with the help of family and friends and a shift in her own mindset.
“I think I really, early on, wanted to send myself the message that [what] would happen to me was not going to stop me from doing things I love and doing things I think I’m capable of,” she said.
Reclaiming her passion by fighting back her fear
The incident also affected Truwit’s love for water, which she said she had considered a place of comfort and peace her whole life.
In order to confront her fear, Truwit said she waded into her backyard pool just six weeks after having her leg amputated.
“Mentally and physically, it was really hard, [but] with the help of my physical therapists and my family, we worked to just get me back in, little by little,” she recalled.
From there, she began reaching out to her longtime coach Jamie Barone, who she said has been coaching her since she was 12. She said she asked him to help her run sets for exercise again.
After regaining her love of water, Truwit said she decided to test out her ability to make it to Paris for the Paralympics, which she said became “the most healing decision I could have made for my recovery.”
She expressed her intention to compete in the Paralympics to her mom, who she said is a former captain for the Yale University swimming team.
Through one of her mom’s former teammates, Truwit said she was connected to the U.S. Paralympic swim program, where she began to train and compete less than four months after her amputation surgery.
In June, Truwit competed in the Paralympic trials in Minneapolis and made the U.S. team in the Women’s 400-meter freestyle race.
In the weeks leading up to the Paralympic Games, which start on Aug. 28, Truwit said she has trained for as much as six hours per day, six days a week at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Center in Colorado and with her coach in Stamford at Chelsea Piers in Connecticut.
“It’s so fun to be with my teammates and the coaches and to learn more about what’s to come, so I’m really excited for it all,” she said. “I’m in a race with the American flag on my cap. That, to me, is not only a huge honor in itself, but also a way for me to thank the everyday American heroes who have helped save my life and help me rebuild my life.”
Swimming at the Paralympic Games will take place from Aug. 29 to Sept. 7.
Inspiring others through her journey
Prior to the shark attack, Truwit said she had always been a private person, but she later learned that sharing her story has helped others as well as herself.
“The exposure is new for me, and every time someone tells me that hearing my story helps them through their trauma, or watching my outlook or my mindset or the way that I bounce back has encouraged them, that they can do it too, that heals me,” she said. “That helps me. That gives meaning to me of an otherwise random trauma.”
Looking back at her journey, from the start of her recovery process to where she is today, Truwit said she has witnessed her own strength firsthand.
“We are so much stronger than we think,” she said. “We have so much more in us than we think we’re capable of contributing and achieving and aiming for … and that is such an exciting thought to me.”
(NEW YORK) — The wife of Columbus Blue Jackets star Johnny Gaudreau is speaking out after the hockey player and his brother Matthew Gaudreau were killed last week while riding bicycles in New Jersey, according to police.
Meredith Gaudreau, who shares two children with her late husband, wrote about the bond she saw between her husband and his brother, who are also survived by their parents and two sisters, in a series of Instagram posts Sunday.
“John and Matty. U don’t hear one name without the other. Always side by side. Even in large group settings, u can find them hip to hip,” Meredith Gaudreau captioned a series of photos of the brothers. “John’s younger brother- but he looked up to Matty and relied on him for everythinggg. And Matty was always there. Absolute best friends and biggest fans of each other despite polar opposite personalities. Everyone wanted to be around them, including me.”
In separate posts, Meredith Gaudreau also reflected on the late NHL star as a father and a husband, writing, “Thank you for the best years of my life. Despite losing you, I am still the luckiest girl in the world to have been yours.”
Alongside photos of Johnny Gaudreau with their two children, she wrote, “The absolute best dad in the world. So caring and loving. The best partner to go through parenthood with. John never missed a single appointment. Was the best at putting the baby to sleep and the Apple of Noa’s eye. I love how much she looks like him. We are going to make you proud. We love you so so so much daddy.”
Johnny Gaudreau, 31, and Matthew Gaudreau, 29, were cycling in Salem County on Aug. 29 “close to the fog line of the roadway” when they were hit from behind by a driver who was trying to pass another car, according to New Jersey State Police.
The driver, 43-year-old Sean Higgins, who told police he had about 5 or 6 beers before the crash, failed a field sobriety test, according to the probable cause affidavit. Higgins is charged with two counts of death by auto, according to police.
His detention hearing is scheduled for Sept. 5.
The Gaudreau brothers’ deaths came the night before their sister Katie was set to get married, according to their former coaches.
Matthew Gaudreau’s wife, Madeline Gaudreau, is pregnant with their first child.
Madeline Gaudreau also wrote on Instagram Sunday about the brothers’ bond, and how she and her sister-in-law Meredith Gaudreau will now be there for each other.
“To Meredith- we will forever share this extreme heartbreak and terrible bond.. however , the boys couldn’t have picked stronger woman as their wives and mothers of their children,” she captioned a series of photos. “We will carry each other through every season .. as the boys would do for each other. They blessed us with children.. through them we will always have a part of them earth side with us forever.”
Describing the brothers as each other’s “biggest cheerleaders,” she added, “I find extreme comfort knowing they are together , as they always were. I know they are still messing with each other up there and will continue to look over their families.”
Both brothers played hockey at Boston College.
Before attending BC, the brothers played hockey at Gloucester Catholic High School in their native New Jersey. Matthew Gaudreau returned to the high school as a hockey coach, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said.
Johnny Gaudreau, a winger, won the Hobey Baker Award in 2014 as the best player in college hockey. He was also a finalist for the Calder Trophy, given to the league’s best rookie, in 2014-15, and named to the All-Star Game in 2015. He played nine seasons for the Calgary Flames before joining the Blue Jackets before the 2022-23 season. He had 12 goals and 48 assists last season.
The brothers’ uncle wrote in a statement after their death, “Last night we lost two husbands, two fathers, two sons, two brothers, two sons and brothers in law, two uncles, two nephews, two cousins, two family members two teammates, two friends but truly two amazing humans.”
ABC News’ Emily Shapiro, Ben Stein, Jason Volack, Kendall Coughlin and Lena Camilletti contributed to this report.
(MIAMI) — The NFL’s Miami Dolphins franchise spoke out Monday night about the traffic stop by police officers where wide receiver Tyreek Hill was removed from his vehicle, placed on the ground and handcuffed before Sunday’s season opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
In its statement, the organization said it was “saddened by the overly aggressive and violent conduct directed toward” Hill on Sunday, urging “swift and strong action against the officers” involved in the incident.
Hill was detained and handcuffed on the ground after being pulled over as he was driving up to Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday around 10:20 a.m. ET.
“It is both maddening and heartbreaking to watch the very people we trust to protect our community use such unnecessary force and hostility towards these players,” the Dolphins’ organization said.
The statement from the team follows the release of officer body camera footage of the incident by Miami-Dade Police on Monday night.
In the footage, which ABC News has reviewed, a motorcycle officer pulls over Hill and approaches the driver’s side window. Hill rolls down the window and tells the officer to stop knocking on the window.
Hill then asks for his ticket and tells the officer he’s going to be late before rolling the car window back up.
The officer then asks the wide receiver to roll the window down, and Hill cracks it open a little. The officer then tells Hill, “Get out of the car right now. We’re not playing this game.”
When Hill opens the door, the newly released footage shows the officer grabbing Hill’s hand and putting it behind Hill’s head. The officer then appears to drag Hill out of the car.
The videos then shows the officer putting Hill’s face down on the ground with two other officers assisting. One officer has his knee on Hill’s back until Hill is handcuffed, the videos show.
Approximately six minutes into the incident, body camera footage shows an assisting officer looking at Hill’s ID. He can be heard saying, “You know who that is, right?”
The first officer said he didn’t know and then was told Hill was one of the Dolphins’ star players.
In a statement from Hill’s attorney, Julius B. Collins, describing the incident, Collins said Hill “had his window rolled down and that officer then demanded Mr. Hill out of the vehicle even after Mr. Hill complied with that officer’s request to keep his window down.”
Collins said in his statement, “Hill rolled down his window each time he was requested to do so by the requesting officers.” He went on to call the officers’ actions “excessive” and said they were exploring all legal remedies.
“We believe that this matter was escalated due to overzealous officers attempting to impose their authority on Mr. Hill because they were not pleased with how fast he complied with their request and that Mr. Hill did not roll down his window far enough to their liking,” he added.
When asked about the incident after the game, Hill told reporters, “I wasn’t disrespectful… because my mom didn’t raise me that way, didn’t curse, none of that.”
South Florida Police Benevolent Association president Steadman Stahl released a statement Monday saying Hill’s refusal to cooperate with officers led to his detainment.
“He was briefly detained for officer safety, after driving in a manner in which he was putting himself and others in great risk of danger,” Stahl said. “Upon being stopped, Mr. Hill was not immediately cooperative with the officers on scene who, pursuant to policy and for their immediate safety, placed Mr. Hill in handcuffs.”
Miami-Dade Police Department director Stephanie V. Daniels said in a statement along with the body camera footage Monday that the “department is committed to conducting a thorough, objective investigation into this matter.”
“We will continue to update the public on the outcome of that process,” Daniels said.
Daniels also said one of the officers involved was placed on “administrative duty.”