Paris Olympics 2024: Day 13’s biggest moments, including Stingers’ epic win and Noah Lyles’ wheelchair exit

1. Polo penalty pride

What’s better than beating the US? Tying with them and beating them in a penalty shootout!

That’s what the Aussie Stingers achieved in a thrilling semifinal that had it all, including Abby Andrews reeling off four straight goals in the third period to help steady the underdogs following a 5-2 deficit.

After an 8-8 deadlock, up stepped Gabi Palm to reject the penalty effort of USA’s double gold medallist Maddie Musselman and spark scenes of jubilation in the pool.

The Aussies will start as outsiders against Spain in the final, but that won’t deter them one bit as they look to cap a fairy-tale run to the final with gold.

2. COVID drama

We saw during his successful 100m effort that Noah Lyles loves to give the fans plenty of excitement and drama to feed off - but in the 200m final, it happened in a way he didn’t want.

The resounding favourite after dominating the distance for several years, Lyles could only muster a third-place finish as Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo raced to gold.

As Lyles sprawled on the ground in pain and was quickly pushed out of the arena in a wheelchair, it was revealed he had been battling COVID for the past three days to hurt his chances of emulating Usain Bolt and achieving the 100-200m double.

3. Silver sprint

Missed it by THAT much!

The words of Maxwell Smart may well have been uttered by Australia’s men’s K4 500 metre quartet after they were pipped at the post by Germany and had to settle for silver.

Riley Fitzsimmons, Jackson Collins, Pierre van der Westhuyzen and Noah Havard fell 0.04 seconds short of the ultimate glory in what will likely be Australia’s biggest ‘near-miss’ of the Games.

4. Magnificant Moesha

It’s a daunting prospect: Making your Olympic debut, tackling a gruelling 10km swim, and having to do it in the much-discussed murky waters of the River Seine.

Australian Moesha Johnson took it all in her stride, leading for much of the event before being overcome late by Dutchwoman Sharon van Rouwendaal.

The 26-year-old was ecstatic with her “beautiful silver” as she added to the Aussies’ dominance in water sports in Paris.

5. Hoops thriller

Serbia’s men’s basketball team know a thing or two about epic Olympic comebacks after a remarkable recovery in their quarter final clash with Australia.

But they were on the wrong side of a massive turnaround in the semifinal, coming agonisingly close to causing a boilover against the almighty US side before a late surge from some the NBA’s greatest-ever players.

Veteran trio Steph Curry, LeBron James and Kevin Durant - who each have cases to be considered among the best 20 or so players the game’s ever seen - came up huge when it mattered most to help the US eke out a four-point win and set up a gold medal match-up against France and hometown here Victor Wembanyama.

6. A near miss!

Australia’s pair of Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho del Solar became the first team all tournament to take a single set off the world No.1 Brazil.

They won the first set, pushed them in the second and were right in the mix in the third again. Brazil needed just one of their two match points to seal the deal at the end.

For the Aussies, the heart-breaking loss means the best they can do is bronze after winning silver in Tokyo.

7. Let’s go, Richo!

West Australian Matthew Richardson stormed into the semifinal of the men’s sprint event at the velodrome by defeating Japanese rider Yuta Obara.

He won both of their two head-to-head races with times of 9.796 and 10.010 seconds and celebrated with a massive roar and a double fist-pump, giving us an iconic photo.

8. Boxing bronzes

Charlie Senior and Caitlin Parker have both had to settle for their bronze medals after losing their semifinal bouts on Friday morning.

Senior lost in a a unanimous points decision to competition favourite Abdumalik Khalakov from Uzbekistan, while Parker dominated the first round but China’s Qian Li came over the top to also win by unanimous decision.

9. One Hull of a run

Jessica Hull has stormed into the final of the 1500m, where she is a strong chance for a medal, with a classy performance in the semifinal.

Hull ran a comfortable second in her semi with a 3.55:40 behind Ethiopa’s Diribe Welteji. The favourite for Sunday’s final is Kenyan middle-distance legend Faith Kipyegon.

10. Drought is over

Pakistan has broken a long-standing medal drought that dates all the way back to 1992. And in a result that will light up that country, it came over rivals India.

Arshad Nadeem threw an Olympic record 92.97 to stun the favourite, India’s Neeraj Chopra in the men’s javelin final.