Canadian archer Peters comes up short in Olympic quarterfinal bid after breakthrough year

Eric Peters went from 64th to fifth in the world's recurve archery rankings in just over a year.

But, the 27-year-old marksman of Kitchener, Ont., who won a silver medal at last year's world championships, won't be rising up the Paris Olympics podium.

Peters was defeated 6-2 by Mauro Nespoli of Italy on Sunday in the men's individual elimination round.

He won Sunday's first set 28-23, then tied the second (30-30) and third (28-28) sets, before winning the fourth 29-26 to clinch the showdown.

"This is the biggest crowd that archery may have ever seen," Peters said before facing Nespoli. "It's incredible. It isn't something we get to experience often in the sport, and just having this atmosphere, it's something else."

In July 2023, Peters travelled to Berlin and broke through to earn Canada's highest finish of all-time at the World Archery Championships when he placed second. His world silver medal also secured Team Canada an Olympic qualification position for Paris.

Baldoni, Betteridge eliminated in kayak cross

The quarterfinals, semifinals and medal rounds at Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium are set for Monday at 9:52 a.m. ET. 

Ngamba becomes 1st athlete competing as refugee to earn medal

Boxer Cindy Ngamba has made history by becoming the first athlete competing as a refugee to clinch an Olympic medal.

The win means she's at least scored a bronze medal as she advances to the semifinals Friday. Ngamba was a flag bearer for the 37 athletes making up the biggest Olympic Refugee Team since the idea was born ahead of the 2016 Rio Games.

Ngamba moved to the United Kingdom at 11 and said she was granted refugee status in 2021 because she could have been imprisoned for being gay in Cameroon.

Shericka Jackson a no-show for 200m sprint

Jamaican sprinter Shericka Jackson pulled out of the women's 200 metres Sunday and will not race for an individual medal at the Paris Games.

Jackson, the defending world champion who is the second-fastest woman of all time in the 200, had previously withdrawn from the 100, saying it was partly because of a leg injury she suffered in a tuneup race last month. It is unclear why she pulled out of Sunday's race.

It turns American Gabby Thomas into the clear favourite to win the 200. Thomas cruised through her qualifying heat in 22.20 seconds, as did Julien Alfred, who returned to the track and ran 22.41 about 13 hours after beating Sha'Carri Richardson in the 100.

Jackson's exit deals yet another blow to the Jamaican women, a perennial Olympic powerhouse that had captured 15 of the 24 Olympic medals in the 100 and 200 between 2008 and 2021.

Only minutes before Saturday night's 100 semifinal, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce pulled out with an undisclosed injury, saying on social media "it is difficult for me to find the words to express my disappointment."

Jackson, who won last year's world championships in 21.41 — just 7-100ths of a second shy of Florence Griffith Joyner's 36-year-old world record — and ran a pedestrian 22.29 at her country's Olympic trials in June.

Then, in a race in Hungary on July 9, she pulled up before the finish of a 200, leaving her form in doubt with the Olympics less than a month away.

Dutch beach volleyball player convicted of rape eliminated

Steven van de Velde, the Dutch beach volleyball player who was convicted of raping a 12-year-old British girl in 2016, was eliminated from the Paris Olympics on Sunday night when he and partner Matthew Immers lost to Brazil in straight sets.

In his fourth and final match, Van de Velde was again subjected to a steady stream of hoots and whistles when he served the ball. With the Netherlands holding a match point and the crowd jeering, Van de Velde served, Evandro was set up for the spike and the Brazilians won 21-16, 21-16.

Van de Velde, 29, served 13 months in prison after his 2016 rape conviction in England. Although victims advocates, lawmakers and fans have called for him to be banned from the Olympics, the IOC has said it was powerless to stop the Netherlands from sending an athlete who qualified in the usual way.

Van de Velde rose from the players' bench and waved to the crowd when he was introduced before the match, picking out the orange-clad Dutch fans who were applauding among the boos.

Van de Velde has not spoken to reporters after his matches, something typically required of all Olympians. Immers has said his partner was skipping his media responsibilities to get some mental rest.

The Dutch finished with a 1-2 record in pool play, winning the three-way tiebreaker because of a higher ratio of sets won and lost. But that left them with a round-of-16 matchup with Brazilians Evandro and Arthur, who have not lost a set in four matches at the Paris Games.

Faulkner ends U.S. medal drought in women's road race

Kristen Faulkner timed her attack to perfection to win the women's road race at the Paris Olympics on Sunday, becoming the first American rider in 40 years to win a medal in the event.

The 158-kilometre route started and finished in Paris, with Faulkner crossing the line at the Trocadero in a fraction under four hours.

Faulkner finished 58 seconds clear of Dutch rider Marianne Vos, Lotte Kopecky of Belgium and Blanka Vas of Hungary, who were separated by a photo finish with Vos taking silver and Kopecky clinching the bronze.

Canadians Alison Jackson, of Vermilion, Alta., and Olivia Baril, of Rouyn-Noranda, Que., finished 19th and 44th, respectively.

Faulkner and Kopecky caught up Vos and Vas with about three kilometres left. As Faulkner attacked, the other three hesitated and then could not catch her.

She only had the Eiffel Tower and glory ahead of her.

The 31-year-old Alaska native is the first American to win a road race medal of any colour since the 1984 Los Angeles Games, when Connie Carpenter and Alexi Grewal swept the gold medals.

Canadian water polo advances to quarters

Canada's women's water polo team fell 20-11 to the Netherlands, dropping to 1-3 through four games. Wednesday's 12-7 win over China proved enough for Canada to finish fourth in group play.

"We learned a lot of really good stuff going into our next game. We'll use this to clean up some odds and ends here and there, but we're ready for that next round," Shae La Roche said, with Canada set to face Spain in a quarterfinal at 8 a.m. ET on Tuesday. "We're playing Spain, and we've had some training camps with them this year. It's a team we know really well, and we just need to make some adaptations, but if we execute our game plan really well, I think we have really great odds."

Philibert-Thiboutot closes Games in 1,500m semifinal

Quebec City native Charles Philibert-Thiboutot saw his 1,500m journey at his second Olympics come to an end, running a season-best of 3:33.29 in a heat featuring U.S. star Yared Nuguse, who topped the semifinal with 3:31.72. The 1,500m final is set for 2:50 p.m. ET on Tuesday.