USNWT v. Japan Olympics soccer: Live updates, scores | AP News

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THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Retired American women’s soccer star Megan Rapinoe and rapper Snoop Dogg were among the fans at Parc des Princes in Paris to watch the U.S. play Japan.

Rapinoe wore a U.S. Olympic baseball cap as she cheered on her former team.

Rapinoe retired from soccer last year. She played in 205 matches for the U.S. with 68 goals, including two directly from corner kicks at the Olympics.

The quarterfinal game between United States and Japan has kicked off at Parc des Princes in Paris.

It looks like a full house again after the men’s match between the U.S. and Morocco on Friday.

The winner of this match plays either Canada or Germany in the semifinals in Lyon on Tuesday.

Just the name Simone Biles is enough to trigger applause.

More than an hour before the vault event that also features Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade, the presenter at Bercy Arena announcing that expected duel set off wild shouts from the still half-empty venue.

If Biles wins, it will be her seventh Olympic gold medal, and 10th overall. Andrade was second to Biles in all-around.

▶ Read more about Biles’ pursuit of history at the Paris Games

The U.S. women’s national team made one change to the starting lineup for its quarterfinal match against Japan in Paris.

Korbin Albert replaced Sam Coffey in the midfield. Coffey was ineligible for the game because of yellow card accumulation.

The United States also made forward Jaedyn Shaw available after she missed the first three games with a leg injury.

The game is scheduled to kick off at 9 a.m. EDT.

▶ Read more about the U.S. looking to reclaim Olympic women’s soccer gold

The Americans won all three group-stage games for the first time since 2012 to finish atop Group B. Japan, the 2012 Olympic silver medalists, won Group C. The U.S. won the gold in 2012.

In the other women’s quarterfinals, France will face Brazil, Spain will play against Colombia and Canada will take on Germany. Canada advanced out of group play despite being docked six standings points for a drone scandal that has rocked the program.

Matt Ebden and John Peers won Australia’s second tennis gold medal in Olympic history on Saturday, beating Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram of the United States 6-7 (6), 7-6 (1), 10-8 in a match tiebreaker in the 2024 Games men’s doubles final.

Olympics doubles uses a first-to-10, win-by-two tiebreaker in place of a traditional third set.

Ebden and Peers trailed by a set and 4-2 in the second before breaking Ram’s serve to begin the comeback. Their tennis gold follows the one won for Australia by Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde in men’s doubles at Atlanta in 1996.

▶ Read more about the men’s Tennis doubles

Curious about which songs are fueling the athletes competing at the Paris Olympics? The AP has an idea.

IOC President Thomas Bach said Saturday the “hate speech” directed at boxers Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-Ting at the Paris Olympics is “totally unacceptable.”

“We will not take part in a politically motivated … cultural war,” Bach said at a news briefing at the midway point of the games, that also tried to draw a line under days of global scrutiny about the female boxers’ gender.

“What is going on in this context in the social media with all this hate speech, with this aggression and abuse, and fueled by this agenda, is totally unacceptable,” the International Olympic Committee leader said.

▶ Read the latest on boxer Imane Khelif

A judoka from Afghanistan tested positive at the Paris Olympics for the anabolic steroid that sprinter Ben Johnson used at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

Mohammad Samim Faizad gave a sample at his opening bout that tested positive for stanozolol, the International Testing Agency said Saturday. It was the third failed drug test at the Paris Games.

He lost his only bout in the men’s 81-kilogram class to Wachid Borchashvili of Austria on Tuesday.

Faizad turns 22 during the Olympics, from which he has been removed. He was the only athlete based in Afghanistan on its team of three men and three women in Paris.

Simone Biles’ second Olympic all-around gymnastics title is a testament to her mental and physical toughness.

The 27-year-old has long relied on both during a career that’s made her the greatest of all time in her sport. The mental health advocate practiced what she preached during the all-around final.

Biles closed her eyes and reset herself after two rotations and responded with fabulous routines on balance beam and floor exercise that made her the third woman in Olympic history to claim multiple all-around crowns.

She goes for her third gold medal at the Paris Games in the women’s vault final starting at 4:20 p.m. CEST (10:20 a.m. EDT).

▶ Read more about Biles’ road to being arguably the greatest U.S. gymnast in history

These Olympics have been full of memorable moments since the dazzling opening ceremony: The Seine River was too dirty for the triathlon swim to go off as scheduled, a gender controversy has emerged in women’s boxing, and of course, Simone Biles has dazzled while winning two gold medals with more still up for her taking.

Here’s a look at some of the other memorable moments from the first half of the games:

• The internet fell in love with “Pommel Horse guy”: The world was introduced to the lovable Stephen Nedoroscik when he helped the U.S. men’s gymnastics team win its first Olympic medal in 16 years.
• Leon Marchand ruled at the pool: The French star racked up with four golds in four swimming events
• “The Real John Wick” fueled meme after meme: Yusuf Dikec, 51-year-old Turkish pistol shooter, went viral on social media for a seemingly casual attitude while shooting his way to a silver medal in mixed 10-meter air pistol.
• A scene from the opening ceremony sparked controversy: The opening ceremony prompted a storm of outrage for a contentious scene featuring drag queens and other performers.

▶ Read more about memorable moments from the Paris Olympics

LGBTQ+ athletes, officials and observers have warned that a deluge of hateful comments misidentifying a female boxer in the Paris Olympics as transgender or a man could pose dangers for the LGBTQ+ community and female athletes.

Famous figures like former U.S. President Donald Trump and “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling have railed against Algeria boxer Imane Khelif after her Italy’s Angela Carini quit their bout Thursday.

Some athletes and LGBTQ+ observers worry such comments have already started to vilify transgender, nonbinary and other LGBTQ+ people at an event championing inclusion.

Khelif is set for her next match later Saturday.

▶ Read more about the concerns surrounding the backlash around Khelif

Noah Lyles finished second in his opening heat of the 100 meters but still advanced and kept alive his hopes for the sprint double.

The American got off to a sluggish start and finished in 10.04 seconds, which was .06 behind Louie Hinchliffe, a British sprinter being trained by Carl Lewis.

The second-place finish means Lyles won’t have the premier lane choice when he races in the semifinals Sunday. If he advances there, he’ll race for the gold medal later that evening.

▶ Read more about track and field at the 2024 Olympics

Marseille, host of the 2024 Olympics sailing competition, is a city of contrasts.

It’s a millennia-old port, crossroads of cultures and faiths, where the sea is ever present but not equally accessible, and the beauty and cosmopolitan flair rub shoulders with enclaves of poverty and exclusion.

At the other end of its spectacular, monument-fringed bay from where the world’s best sailors are racing, inner city children learn to swim in the Mediterranean that many see from their homes but have never dipped a toe in.

▶ Read more about the home of sailing for the Paris Games

Snoop Dogg carried the torch in the leadup to the 2024 Olympics and made his way around Paris. His latest stop is the Palace of Versailles for equestrian competition.

Sha’Carri Richardson won her first-ever race at the Olympics and Australia’s swimmers and Léon Marchand continued their dominance in the pool on Day 7 of the Paris Games.

Here’s a look at some of the day’s other top moments:

• Track: The U.S. mixed 4×400 meter relay team set a world record when Vernon Norwood, Shamier Little, Bryce Deadmon and Kaylyn Brown finished the four laps in 3 minutes, 7.41 seconds.
• Swimming: Cameron McEvoy became the first Australian man to win swimming gold at these Games by dethroning Caleb Dressel in the 50-meter freestyle.
• Trampoline gymnastics: Ivan Litvinovich and Viyaleta Bardzilouskaya of Belarus became the first two neutral athletes to win medals at this Olympics.
• Tennis: Novak Djokovic is in the men’s singles final at the Olympics for the first time after the 37-year-old from Serbia defeated Lorenzo Musetti of Italy 6-4, 6-2.
• Soccer: The United States is out of men’s soccer after getting routed 4-0 by Morocco in the quarterfinals.

▶ Read more about what happened on day 7 of the 2024 Paris Olympics

Simone Biles will again be one of the highlights of the 2024 Olympics on Saturday as she tries to win the vault event for her third gold medal in Paris.

Sha’Carri Richardson will go for her first Olympic medal in the women’s 100 meters, while in the pool Katie Ledecky will look to add another gold to her collection in the women’s 800-meter freestyle.

The U.S. women’s soccer team will be in action as well, taking on Japan, as will the U.S. men’s basketball team against Puerto Rico.

▶ See the full schedule of events and read more on what to watch