Former Alabama Athlete Shines at Paris Olympics

The United States clinched its first gold medal of the Paris Olympics on Saturday with a victory in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay. Although former Alabama swimmer Matt King was not in the final lineup at Paris La Defense Arena, he still earned a gold medal for his contributions in the preliminary rounds.

King swam the second leg in the first qualifying heat, with Ryan Held starting the race and Hunter Armstrong and Caeleb Dressel completing the relay, finishing second to Australia. In the finals, the United States swapped Held and King for Jack Alexy and Chris Guiliano, who helped secure the gold in 3 minutes, 9.28 seconds, defeating Australia by 1.07 seconds. Italy took the bronze, following strong preliminary performances from China and Great Britain.

On Saturday, former UMS-Wright and City of Mobile Swim Association star Paige Madden also competed, finishing fourth in her heat and sixth in the women's 400-meter freestyle finals. Madden's time of 4:03.34 was the seventh fastest in the heats, earning her a spot in the eight-swimmer final, where she clocked 4:02.26. Australia's Ariarne Titmus set a world record to win the gold with a time of 3:57.49, while Canada's Summer McIntosh and the United States' Katie Ledecky took silver and bronze, respectively. Madden is set to compete in the women's 4x200-meter freestyle relay on Thursday and the 800-meter freestyle on August 3.

Victor Johansson, another Alabama athlete, represented Sweden in the men's 400-meter freestyle, finishing fifth in his heat with a time of 3:47.98, which did not qualify him for the finals. Germany’s Lukas Maertens won the gold in 3:41.78, followed by Australia's Elijah Winnington and South Korea's Woomin Kim. Johansson is also scheduled to compete in the 800-meter freestyle on Monday, the 1,500-meter freestyle on August 3, and the 10-kilometer open-water event on August 9.

In men's soccer, Birmingham's Tanner Tessmann captained the United States to a 4-1 victory over New Zealand at Stade de Marseille in Marseille, France. Despite a 3-0 loss to France in their Olympic opener on Wednesday, Tessmann played a pivotal role, drawing two fouls and receiving a yellow card in first-half stoppage time. The United States will play their final Group A match against Guinea on Tuesday at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint-Etienne, France. With a 2-0 record, France leads Group A, followed by the United States and New Zealand at 1-1, and Guinea at 0-2. The top two teams in each of the eight groups advance to the quarterfinals.

Tennis at Roland Garros faced disruptions due to rain, impacting New Zealand's Erin Routliffe, a former Alabama athlete. Her opening-round women's doubles match with partner Lulu Sun against Italy’s Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini has been rescheduled for Sunday, set as the sixth match on Court 9.