With the United States’ lineup of NBA all-stars next on its schedule, South Sudan posted a victory in its first Olympic men’s basketball appearance on Sunday.
Auburn alumnus JT Thor had six points, seven rebounds, one assist, one steal and one blocked shot while playing 22 minutes, 43 seconds off the bench for South Sudan in a 90-79 victory over Puerto Rico in a Group C game at Stade Pierre Mauroy in Villeneuve-d’Ascq, France.
After three seasons with the Charlotte Hornets, Thor does not have an NBA contract yet for the 2024-25 campaign. He’ll be matched up with NBA players again, though, at 2 p.m. CDT Wednesday, when the Bright Stars meet the United States at the Paris Olympics.
The United States opened pursuit of its fifth straight gold medal in men’s basketball by beating Serbia 110-84 in Group C on Sunday.
Thor was among the eight athletes with Alabama roots in action on Sunday at the Paris Olympics.
Colombia’s Luisa Blanco competes in the vault during women’s artistic gymnastics qualifying at the Summer Olympics on Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Paris.(AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Sunday was a successful day in women’s artistic gymnastics for three athletes with college ties to the state at Bercy Arena in Paris.
Former Auburn gymnast Suni Lee and former Alabama gymnast Luisa Blanco qualified for the women’s all-around final. Lee with the United States and Alabama’s Shallen Olsen with Canada helped their teams qualify for the women’s team final.
The defending gold medalist in women’s all-around, Lee posted the third-highest score in qualifying on Sunday. She had a 14.033 on the balance bean, 13.100 on the floor exercise, 14.133 on the vault and 14.866 on the uneven bars.
At 56.132, Lee finished third behind teammate Simone Biles at 59.566 and Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade at 57.700 in the combined scoring.
The United States led the eight teams that qualified for women’s team final on Tuesday, where it will be joined by Italy, China, Brazil, Japan, Canada, Great Britain and Romania.
Olsen competed only in the vault on Sunday for Canada and contributed a 14.166 score.
Despite finishing at No. 3 in the overall scoring, Lee did not breeze into the women’s all-around finals, which will be held on Thursday. Each nation is allowed to advance only its top two finishers to the all-around final, and Lee came in 0.067 ahead of teammate Jordan Chiles, who finished fourth overall but did not advance to the all-around finals.
The two-gymnast rule cleared a path for Blanco to reach the all-around finals, however.
Blanco finished 30th in the overall scoring on Sunday at 51.698, but she received the last of the 24 spots in the all-around finals, becoming the first gymnast representing Colombia to qualify for that stage of the competition.
Blanco had a 13.466 on the vault, 12.833 on the uneven bars, 12.766 on the balance beam and 12.633 on the floor exercise.
Representing Germany, Tim Puetz (Auburn) advanced out of the first round in men’s doubles in tennis as he and partner Kevin Krawietz defeated Russians Daniil Medvedev and Roman Safiullin 6-4, 6-4 on Court Suzanne Lenglen at Roland Garros. The German pair are the No. 2 seed in the tournament.
Puetz and Krawietz will play Gael Monfils and Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France in the second round.
In women’s doubles, the opening-round match between New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe (Alabama) and partner Lulu Sun against Italy’s Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini was not played for the second day in a row after rain scrambled the schedule on Saturday. Only two matches in women’s doubles have been completed so far.
Nigeria’s Toni Payne (7) and Spain’s Alexia Putellas battle for control of the ball during a Group C women’s soccer match at the Paris Olympics on Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Nantes, France.(AP Photo/Jeremias Gonzalez)
In women’s soccer, Spain defeated Nigeria 1-0 when Alexia Putellas connected on a direct free kick in the 85th minute at Stade de la Beaujoire in Nantes, France. The Super Falcons also lost their opening Group C match 1-0 to Brazil on Thursday.
Former Oak Mountain High School standouts Toni Payne and Nicole Payne played for Nigeria. Toni Payne started in midfield, played the entire match and drew three fouls. Nicole Payne came on in the 72nd minute.
Nigeria completes group play against Japan at 10 a.m. CDT Wednesday. Despite their 0-2 record, the Super Falcons aren’t out of the running to advance to the knockout round, which features the top two finishers in each group. Spain has a 2-0 record, while Japan and Brazil are 1-1.
Singapore’s Letitia Sim competes in women’s 100-meter breaststroke heat race at the Summer Olympics on Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Nanterre, France.(Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)
University of Michigan swimmer Letitia Sim from Spanish Fort High School and TNT Swimming in Daphne represented Singapore in the women’s 100-meter breaststroke. Her 1:07.75 time in the third heat race ranked 25th among the 37 competitors, and she did not advance in the competition.
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at@AMarkG1.
