EDDIE PELLS

AP National Writer
Julien Alfred, of Saint Lucia, celebrates after winning the women's 100-meter final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Sha’Carri Richardson’s comeback halted by Julien Alfred, who brings 1st Olympic medal to St. Lucia
Sha’Carri Richardson’s comeback story hit a brick wall Saturday when Julien Alfred romped to the 100-meter title in 10.72 seconds to blow away the field and bring the first-ever Olympic medal to her island country of St. Lucia.
 
FILE - U.S. runner Jeneba Tarmoh, left, trains with her coach, Bobby Kersee for the 2012 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 23, 2012, in Birmingham, England. Kersee's known as the “mad scientist” for his outside-the-box training methods. He's concocted a winning formula that’s struck gold for some of the biggest stars in track history. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)
Bobby Kersee coaches some of biggest stars in track history with ‘mad scientist’ training methods
Bobby Kersee’s known as the “mad scientist” for his outside-the-box training methods. He’s concocted a winning formula that’s struck gold for some of the biggest stars in track history.
 
Gold medalist Joshua Cheptegei, of Uganda, celebrates after the men's 10,000-meter final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Olympic cheers fill the air as fans return for a 10,000-meter masterpiece and more at the track
Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda took the lead with a little more than a lap left in a masterpiece of a 10,000-meter race to finish in an Olympic-record 26 minutes, 43.14 seconds in front of a roaring crowd on an electric opening night at the track.
 
Pole vault luggage bags sit on the track at the Team USA training facility at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Eaubonne, France. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
For Olympic pole vaulters, hammer throwers, getting there (with your equipment) is half the fun
Hammer throwers, pole vaulters, javelin hurlers, discus throwers and shot putters all have tales from the road about lugging around their equipment. Sometimes their equipment gets lost, damaged or even ruined.
 
Kimia Yousofi, of Afghanistan, makes a political statement after a heat in the women's 100-meter run at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Afghanistan sprinter uses Olympic trip to shine light on how women are treated in her country
To get a sense of the real race Afghanistan’s lone woman at the Olympic track meet is running, one only needed to look at the back of her bib. On it, in handwritten script, were the words, spelled like this: “Eduction” and “Our Rights.”
 
Sha'carri Richardson of the United States, wins a heat in the women's 100-meter run at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Sha’Carri breezes through opening round at her first Olympic race, wins 100 heat in 10.94 seconds
Sha’Carri Richardson blazed through a no-fuss opening round in the 100 meters, winning her first-ever race at the Olympics in 10.94 seconds to easily qualify for the semifinals.
 
FILE - Kendall Ellis arrives for a heat women's 400-meter run during the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Team Trials, June 21, 2024, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)
Kendall Ellis rides porta potty mishap to a deal with a toilet paper company, and a trip to Olympics
The summer has been flush with opportunities for American 400-meter champion Kendall Ellis. Track fans might remember Ellis as the runner who found herself stuck in a porta potty at the U.S. track trials, in a semi-panic as she banged on the door for 10 minutes trying to grab someone’s attention, wo
 
Australia's Henry Hutchison smiles as he rings the bell after they defeated Kenya in their men's Rugby Sevens Pool B match at the 2024 Summer Olympics, in the Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France, Wednesday, July 24, 2024. Match winning teams get to ring the bell. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
Bells will ring when the Paris Olympics’ track meet starts on Friday
When action at the Olympic track meet starts Friday, Sha’Carri Richardson, Noah Lyles and the rest will be going for gold, a $50,000 check and a chance to go out with a clang.
 
FILE - Yaroslava Mahuchikh, of Ukraine, smiles after winning the gold medal in the women's high jump final at the European Athletics Championships in Rome, June 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)
Olympics on her mind, Ukraine in her heart, world-record high jumper goes for a gold medal in Paris
The best high jumper in Ukraine, and maybe the world, hasn’t spent much time at home the last few years.
 
FILE - Lamont Marcell Jacobs, of Italy poses with his gold medal following the men's 100-meters final at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 2, 2021, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco, File)
Defending 100-meter champ Marcell Jacobs comes to Olympics hoping to prove his doubters wrong
Now that Marcell Jacobs is part of Olympic history, he knows a little bit about it, too. Part of that is knowing that if he defends his title in the 100 meters, all those doubters, naysayers and people who called him a fluke won’t have much more to say on that topic.
 
FILE - Shericka Jackson, of Jamaica, wins a heat in the women's 100-meter run at the World Athletics Championships, July 16, 2022, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis, File)
Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson says she’s out of the Olympic 100 meters and will focus on the 200
Shericka Jackson of Jamaica won’t run in the 100 meters when Olympic track starts Friday, clearing out one sprinter who was expected to give Sha’Carri Richardson her toughest competition in the sport’s marquee event.
 
FILE - Jasmine Moore competes in the women's long jump final during the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Team Trials, Saturday, June 29, 2024, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/George Walker IV, File)
Olympic history for Jasmine Moore. She’s the 1st US woman to qualify for triple and long jump
Jasmine Moore always loved jumping. For a while when she was a kid, she thought all those leaps, with a few twirls mixed in, might make her part of America’s Team — as a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader.
 
Witold Banka, president of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), attends a press conference at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
US lawmakers accuse Olympic leaders of blackmail over their fight with IOC, World Anti-Doping Agency
Instead of reexamining a drug-fighting law that Olympic leaders don’t like, a bipartisan group in Congress is proposing a new bill that would hold back funding for the World Anti-Doping Agency if it doesn’t do its job better.
 
Noah Lyles, right, of the United States poses for photos while traveling along the Seine River in Paris, France, during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, July 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis,Pool)
Noah Lyles finds fame but not much privacy at Olympic Village
 
FILE - LSU's Sha'Carri Richardson, center, celebrates as she wins the women's 100 meters during the NCAA outdoor track and field championships in Austin, Texas, June 8, 2019. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
75% of US Olympians played in college. Future of Games hinges on fallout from NCAA athlete payouts
 
Witold Banka, president of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), attends a press conference at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
An Olympic-sized fight erupts among anti-doping officials, and it’s just getting started
Global regulators hinted at sanctioning America’s drug-fighting watchdog, a suggestion that further ratchets up tensions between those in charge of keeping sports clean.
 
FILE - Noah Lyles celebrates after winning the men's 200-meter final during the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Team Trials Saturday, June 29, 2024, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/George Walker IV, File)
Noah Lyles looks to be the star of the Olympics, and bring all of track along for the ride
Noah Lyles has some lofty goals he wants to accomplish at the Paris Games. At the top of the list is becoming the king of sprints by winning the 100 and 200 meters and maybe a relay or two.
 
FILE - In this July 27, 2021 file photo, Simone Biles, of the United States, watches gymnasts perform after she exited the team final at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in Tokyo. Biles, who redefined excellence in gymnastics and picked up seven Olympic medals along the way, drew attention and, from some, criticism by pulling out of events in Tokyo because of a mental block that made her afraid to attempt certain dangerous moves. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis, File)
Biles, Osaka and Phelps spoke up about mental health. Has anything changed for the Paris Olympics?
Athletes heading to the Paris Olympics have more access than ever to resources in the once-taboo realm of mental health and many sound more willing than ever to use them. That seems significant given that the U.S.
 
FILE - The Eiffel Tower is seen behind the Olympic rings, at the Trocadero plaza Thursday, July 18, 2024 in Paris. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)
Olympic drug-fighting failures make Enhanced Games ‘not so radical’ says former anti-doping advocate
An expert on the ground floor of some of anti-doping’s most broad-reaching advances says it might make sense to stop testing athletes.
 
FILE - The gaming platform Roblox is displayed on a tablet, Oct. 30, 2021, in New York. (AP Photo/Leon Keith, File)
Olympic marketing deal hopes to meet young fans where they are - on Roblox
The Olympics’ ever-expanding quest to draw in young fans is meeting them where they are — on Roblox. The U.S.
 
FILE - Passengers in the back of a taxi film themselves as they leave the Eiffel Tower decorated with the Olympic rings ahead of the 2024 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, July 17, 2024, in Paris. The city itself will be one of the protagonists of the 2024 Olympics. That's why the Eiffel Tower and Seine River are featured just as prominently as Simone Biles or Katie Ledecky in NBC’s ads. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)
Athletes are as excited as regular visitors to be tourists in Paris during the Olympic Games
Paris is a popular destination for tourists, of course. The food and drink. The art and history. The landmarks. And so on. The city itself will be one of the protagonists of the 2024 Olympics.
 
FILE - U.S. gymnast Alicia Sacramone is embraced by a teammate during the gymnastics Women's Team Final at the Beijing 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2008. The laughs didn't come so easy in the aftermath of the 2008 team final, when Quinn shouldered — unfairly in hindsight — a share of the blame for finishing runner-up to host China. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson, File)
Olympic success or failure can hinge on the snap of a finger, a tiny wobble or even a gust of wind
Mike Conley spent most of the 1980s ranked among the top triple jumpers in the world. So, heading into the U.S. Olympic trials in ’88, there was very little thought given to the idea he wouldn’t finish in the top three and make the trip to Seoul.
 
FILE - Sha'Carri Richardson, of the United States, celebrates after winning the gold medal in the final of the Women's 100-meters during the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Aug. 21, 2023. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek, File)
Sha’Carri Richardson out to prove she is not just back, but better after drug suspension
Sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson’s comeback story reaches its crescendo when she goes for gold at the Paris Olympics in the 100 meters.
 
FILE - Simone Biles and the U.S. women celebrate as the 2024 team is named at the United States Gymnastics Olympic Trials on Sunday, June 30, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr, File)
US Olympic fundraising team sets audacious goal of raising $500 million by 2028
 
FILE - United States' Hannah Roberts competes in the Cycling BMX Freestyle Women's Park Final for the 2024 Olympic Qualifier Series held in Shanghai, May 18, 2024. Turns out Olympians and Paralympians are just like us: They watch the Summer Games or Winter Games on TV and think about which sports they would love to try. The difference, of course, is that the folks heading to Paris in July and August, already have a sport — and already are quite good at it. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)
Olympians heading to Paris Games often wonder what it would be like to compete in a different sport
Turns out Olympians and Paralympians are just like us: They watch the Summer Games or Winter Games on TV and think about which sports they would love to try.
 
FILE - Tara Davis-Woodhall, of the United States, gets a kiss from her husband Hunter Woodhall after winning the silver medal in the women's long jump final during the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, Aug. 20, 2023. They are track and field's power couple. Long jumper Tara Davis-Woodhall and her husband, Hunter Woodhall, are on a quest to make this Olympic year better than any before it.(AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, File)
Destination Paris: Tara Davis-Woodhall and husband Hunter focus on small stuff in chase for gold
They are track and field’s power couple. Long jumper Tara Davis-Woodhall and her husband, Hunter Woodhall, are on a quest to make this Olympic year better than any before it.
 
FILE = Sha'Carri Richardson, of the United States celebrates anchoring her team to gold ahead of Shericka Jackson, of Jamaica in the Women's 4x100-meters relay final during the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Saturday, Aug. 26, 2023. When all the other fastest runners and best jumpers and throwers of 2024 line up for the Olympic track and field meet, little of what they've done on the road to Paris will mean much. What will matter is how they respond to pressure when the spotlight is on.(AP Photo/Denes Erdos, File)
Stars Richardson and Lyles among the track athletes looking for their first gold medals in Paris
When Sha’Carri Richardson, Noah Lyles and all the other fastest runners and best jumpers and throwers of 2024 line up for the Olympic track and field meet, little of what they’ve done on the road to Paris will mean much.
 
FILE - Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps poses in the Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool in Long Beach, Calif., Jan. 18, 2008. Almost any Olympic athlete can tell you where the spark was lit to push them into sports. For many, it was in front of a TV set as a kid, watching the Summer Games play out in some faraway place — and often, Michael Phelps was the athlete that drew their interest. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill/File)
Olympians’ early memories of seeing Michael Phelps and the torch kickstarted their careers
Almost any Olympic athlete can tell you where the spark was lit to push them into sports. For many, it was in front of a TV set as a kid, watching the Summer Games play out in some faraway place — and often, Michael Phelps was the athlete that drew their interest.
 
A view of the Paris La Defense Arena, Wednesday, June 12, 2024 in Nanterre, outside Paris. The Paris La Defense Arena will host the swimming and some water polo events during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)
WADA made reasonable decision in China doping case despite doubts of its own scientist, probe says
An investigator backed the World Anti-Doping Agency’s handling of a doping case involving 23 Chinese swimmers, while also publishing notes indicating WADA’s own science director doubted China’s explanation that the athletes had been subject to contamination.
 
FILE - Sydney McLaughlin, of the United States, wins the women's 400-meter hurdles final ahead of Femke Bol, of the Netherlands, at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. The two greatest women's hurdlers of their era have been plotting, planning and training — and, whether by design or by happenstance — mostly avoiding each other for the past two years. If things go right for them, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone of America and Femke Bol of the Netherlands are headed for what would be only their third career showdown at the Paris Olympics. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek, File)
After avoiding each other, star hurdlers McLaughlin-Levrone and Femke Bol prepare for showdown
The two greatest women’s hurdlers of their era have been plotting, planning, training and mostly avoiding each other for the past two years.
 
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