Marks wins surfing gold in Tahiti

American Caroline Marks won the women’s surfing gold medal on Monday at the Paris Olympics in Tahiti. Marks beat Brazil’s Tatiana Weston-Webb, who was awarded the silver medal. “Your whole life goes into a moment like this,” the 22-year-old Marks said with a gold medal hanging around her neck. “It’s beyond all my wildest dreams.” French Polynesian Kauli Vaast won gold in men’s competition. Cheers and tears erupted from boats floating near the wave and crowds of spectators along the shore as the final match ended in the afternoon. Vaast pumped his arms into the air in victory after beating Jack Robinson from Australia. “I don’t really realize it, but I just made history,” Vaast said. “I can’t be prouder to represent Tahiti and France at home.” For the bronze medals, Gabriel Medina from Brazil and Johanne Defay from France won after beating Alonso Correa from Peru and Brisa Hennessy from Costa Rica, in the men’s and women’s competitions respectively. Six of the eight surfers who made it to the semifinals represented different nations.

American Hocker scores big upset

Cole Hocker of the United States pulled off a major track and field upset on Tuesday night, beating his personal-best time by more than 3 seconds to outrace favorites Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway and Josh Kerr of Britain for the title at 1,500 meters. Hocker won the race in an Olympic record 3 minutes 27.65 seconds, pulling from fifth to first over the final 300 meters to take down the two runners whose rivalry dominated the buildup to the much-anticipated race. “This may be an upset to a lot of people, but if you’ve been following my season, you knew I was capable of it,” Hocker said. “But still, things had to go my way today.” The 23-year-old product of University of Oregon was listed as much as a 30-1 long shot for this race. He beat Kerr by .14 seconds, while Ingebrigtsen, who set the pace through the first 1,250 meters, ended up in fourth behind American Yared Nuguse. It was the first U.S. win in the metric mile since Matt Centrowitz took gold in 2016. This is the first time Americans put two men on the 1,500-meter podium since the Stockholm Games in 1912.

Wrestling great ends career on top

Mijain Lopez defeated Yasmani Acosta Fernandez of Chile 6-0 in the 130-kilogram final to win his fifth consecutive gold medal in Greco-Roman wrestling. The 41-year-old Cuban became the first Olympic athlete to win gold in any event at five consecutive Games and the first wrestler to win five gold medals. “What’s great is the joy,” Lopez said through a translator. “It was a result that I was craving, but also for the whole world and my country. So happy to reach the Olympic elite. The reward of a lifetime of working hard with the help of everyone and my family. It is my biggest win.” Following the match, he placed his shoes in the center of the mat, symbolizing his retirement. Lopez first appeared at the Olympics in 2004, when he finished fifth. Shortly after winning this gold, Lopez embraced Acosta Fernandez, a Cuban who moved to Chile to give himself a better chance of competing in the big events. Acosta Fernandez is the first wrestling medalist for Chile. Lopez had said Monday that he would retire, saying there needed to be room for new faces in the sport. —Associated Press