Paris Olympics Day 2: Simone Biles and LeBron James shine as Americans step up at the Games

PARIS (AP) — On the first sunny day of the Paris Olympics, the stars from the United States shined bright.

Simone Biles and LeBron James dazzled, so did the U.S. women's soccer team. Torri Huske grabbed some of the spotlight, and Haley Batten made a name for herself by earning a silver medal in mountain biking for the best finish ever by an American rider.

Although it was French swimmer Léon Marchand who received the most boisterous cheers in crushing the field to win gold in the men’s 400-meter individual medley, the U.S. had a strong Sunday on Day 2 of the Games.

Biles made her Olympic return three years after pulling out of multiple finals at the Tokyo Games to protect her safety, which prompted an international discussion about mental health, by powering through discomfort she felt in her calf to lead the U.S. women's gymnastics team into the finals.

Biles, Suni Lee and Jordan Chiles went 1-2-3 in the all-around during early qualifying, though Chiles will miss the all-around final due to rules that limit countries to entering two athletes per competition.

There’s a chance Chiles will make the floor exercise final should she finish in the top eight. Lee is practically a lock for the beam and bars finals, with 2020 floor exercise champion Jade Carey in good position to join Biles in the vault final.

But all eyes were on Biles, who briefly scared an entire nation when she left the after her floor exercise and received medical attention. She had tweaked her calf in warm-up, but U.S. coach Cecile Landi said it was a minor injury.

She performed in front of a star-studded crowd that included Tom Cruise, Jessica Chastain, Snoop Dogg, Anna Wintour and Lady Gaga, who wrote on social media of Biles: “She nailed it, what an honor to be so close!”

Two of the most experienced Olympians on the U.S. men's basketball team, James and Kevin Durant, began the squad's bid for a fifth consecutive gold medal with a near-flawless performance.

Durant made his first eight shots and scored 23 points, James added 21 points, nine assists and seven rebounds and the U.S. rolled to a 110-84 win over Serbia in the Olympic opener for both teams.

James and Durant were a combined 18 for 22 from the field — 8 of 9 for Durant, 9 of 13 for James — as the U.S. had no trouble with the reigning World Cup silver medalists.

Jrue Holiday scored 15, Devin Booker had 12 and Anthony Edwards and Stephen Curry each added 11 for the U.S.

Huske knocked off world-record holder Gretchen Walsh in the women’s 100 butterfly, using a strong finish to get her hands to the wall just ahead of her teammate in a 1-2 finish for the U.S.

The favorite went out with her usual strategy: start fast and try to hold on. It worked at the U.S. trials, where she set her world record of 55.18 last month, and she was under record pace at the turn.

But Huske chased her down in the race that really mattered. The winner touched in 55.59 — about the length of a finger ahead of Walsh’s time of 55.63.

When Huske saw the “1” beside her name on the scoreboard, she reached across the lane rope to give Walsh and hug while breaking down in tears.

Marchand, meanwhile, lived up to the huge expectations at his home Olympics with a flag-waving crowd cheering his every stroke. He was under world-record pace on the final turn but faded a bit coming home, touching in 4 minutes, 2.95 seconds — an Olympic record, but just shy of his own world mark of 4:02.50.

Marchand claimed that mark at last year’s world championships in Fukuoka, Japan, erasing a record held by Michael Phelps for 15 years.

And, in an upset, Italian swimmer Nicolo Martinenghi shocked record-holder Adam Peaty in the 100 breaststroke.

Peaty, the gold medalist in both Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo, had taken a long layoff to deal with mental health issues. Upon his return, he worked his way back up to speed and entered the final as the top qualifier but settled for silver as his quest for a third consecutive gold was ended.

Sophia Smith scored a pair of goals to lead the U.S. past Germany 4-1 and put the team in good position to advance out of its group at the Olympics.

Mallory Swanson and Lynn Williams also scored for the Americans, who defeated Zambia 3-0 in the opener but won’t know their fate in the knockout round for sure until after the final Group B matches on Wednesday.

The Americans play Australia in Marseille to conclude group play.

Batten broke a rule but still came home with America's best ever mountain biking finish when she won silver.

Batten was fined by the Olympic mountain bike judges for violating a rule on the final lap of her race. She was jockeying for second place when she went through a lane dedicated for taking on food and drink or stopping for mechanical problems.

After the judges reviewed the footage, they decided Batten had done neither and broke one of the rules of the race. She was fined 500 Swiss francs, or about $565, for “failure to respect the instructions of the race organization or commissaires,” though the judges apparently decided that the infraction was not serious enough to warrant a disqualification.

Batten finished ninth three years ago at the Tokyo Games.

Rafael Nadal was unsure he could even play men's singles Sunday the day before his match, but turned up at Roland Garros and beat Marton Fucsovics of Hungary 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 in the first round.

The victory set up a blockbuster showdown against rival Novak Djokovic.

It will be the 60th meeting between this pair of greats, more than any other two men have played against each other in the sport’s Open era, which began in 1968. Djokovic, a 37-year-old from Serbia, leads the head-to-head series 30-29, and his 24 Grand Slam titles make him the only man in tennis history with more than Nadal’s 22.

Andy Murray’s tennis career, meanwhile, was extended for at least one more match when he and British partner Dan Evans saved five match points during a first-round doubles win. Murray and Evans rallied past the Japanese pair of Taro Daniel and Kei Nishikori 2-6, 7-6 (5), 11-9.

The Brits trailed 9-4 in the decisive tiebreaker, which is held in place of a third set in doubles.

The 37-year-old Murray announced before the Summer Games that it would be the final event of his career, and then pulled out of the singles bracket, leaving him only in doubles.

Murray is a three-time Grand Slam champion and the only tennis player with two Olympic singles golds — from London in 2012 and Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

United States' Mallory Swanson, left, reacts with teammate Sophia Smith after scoring her side's third goal during a women's group B match between the United States and Zambia at Nice Stadium at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Nice, France. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Gold medalist, Leon Marchand, of France, poses after the men's 400-meter individual medley final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Nanterre, France. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Andy Murray of Britain reacts after scoring a point against Kei Nishikori and Toro Daniel of Japan during the men's doubles tennis competition, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Pauline Ferrand Prevot, of France, centre, winner of the women's mountain bike cycling event, poses with her gold medal flanked by silver medallist Haley Batten, of United States, left, and bronze medallist Jenny Rissveds, of Sweden, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Elancourt, France. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

LeBron James, left, of the United States, shoots as Bogdan Bogdanovic, of Serbia, during a men's basketball game at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France. (Gregory Shamus/Pool Photo via AP)

Paris Olympics Day 2: Simone Biles and LeBron James shine as Americans step up at the Games

Paris Olympics Day 2: Simone Biles and LeBron James shine as Americans step up at the Games

Simone Biles, of United States, celebrates after competing on the uneven bars during a women's artistic gymnastics qualification round at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

SEATTLE (AP) — A year ago, the New York Yankees were knocked out of playoff contention with a week to go in the regular season, ending a string of six straight postseason appearances.

Remembering what that was like made wrapping up a playoff berth with more than a week left this time around feel that much better to the Yankees.

“A lot of things have come together. Probably better health overall. Definitely an added focus for guys that were coming off tough years and simply put, we’re better. We weren’t a great team last year and this team has a chance to do something special,” New York manager Aaron Boone said.

After spending last year sitting at home when the postseason arrived, the Yankees wrapped up their place in the playoffs with a 2-1 win over the Seattle Mariners in 10 innings Wednesday night.

New York has the best record in the American League at 89-63 and leads second-place Baltimore by five games in the AL East with 10 to play. The latest victory ensured the Yankees at least a wild card.

It’s the 59th postseason appearance in franchise history, but the Yankees are still trying to end a World Series drought that dates to 2009, when New York celebrated its 27th title.

Last year, the Yankees were hampered by an injury-riddled roster that was eliminated from playoff contention on Sept. 24. Before that, the Yankees hadn’t missed the postseason since 2016, when Aaron Judge had just 27 games of major league experience.

Now they’re headed back to the playoffs with Judge the MVP favorite in the American League, another hitting star in Juan Soto and a starting pitching staff that might have enough depth to carry the Yankees on a deep playoff run.

“(It’ll) definitely be exciting, especially after the season we had last year missing out on the postseason,” Judge said. “That’s what we came into the season to do, get into the postseason and give ourselves an opportunity to go out there and win a World Series. That’ll be step one, but we've got to get there first.”

The task over the final stretch is making sure that return to the playoffs includes going in as champions of the AL East. The recent slump by the Orioles has opened a gap in the division race and built perhaps enough of a cushion to take some of the drama away from next week’s three-game series between the teams in the Bronx.

But it only remains stress-free as long as the Yankees don’t stumble over the next few days. After closing out the series in Seattle on Thursday, the Yankees finish up their final trip with three games in Oakland.

They hope it’s the last time they have to be away from home for a while.

“Our goal is to win the division. That’s what we want to do," Soto said. “We’re going to focus on that and try to finish the season strong.”

Soto is a big reason the Yankees are back in the playoffs and might end up with home-field advantage in the American League. While Judge is rightfully the favorite to win his second MVP in the past three seasons with 53 homers and 136 RBIs, the contributions from Soto have been equally important.

Soto reached the 40-homer mark for the first time in Tuesday’s series opener against the Mariners. It was also the 200th longball of his career, at just age 25 and heading into an offseason when he will be the top free agent. The duo will probably determine just how deep this Yankees playoff run goes.

“Getting a front-row seat this year, all year, watching him, watching him go about it, watching him day in and day out, just a great hitter,” Boone said.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

New York Yankees' Anthony Rizzo follows through on an RBI double against the Seattle Mariners during the 10th inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

New York Yankees' Anthony Rizzo reacts after hitting an RBI double against the Seattle Mariners during the 10th inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

New York Yankees' Juan Soto hits a double against the Seattle Mariners during the third inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

New York Yankees' Anthony Rizzo hits an RBI single to score Jasson Domínguez against the Seattle Mariners during the second inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)