On a wild final night of swimming, U.S. sets two world records, edges Australia in gold-medal race

NANTERRE, France (AP) — The final night of swimming at the Paris Olympics stirred a wide range of emotions for an American team that no longer rules the world.

A world record from Bobby Finke.

Elation.

A historic loss that reignited gripes about Chinese doping.

Stunning.

Finally, another world record for the women's 4x100-meter medley relay team to edge out rival Australia for the top spot in the gold-medal table.

Whew!

“Just an awesome way to cap off the meet,” said Lilly King of the winning relay team, who joined her teammates in strolling around the deck holding up the stars and stripes as the crowd filed out La Defense Arena.

Finke set his new standard in the 1,500 freestyle before the American women closed a thrilling nine days of swimming in style.

The U.S. finished with eight gold medals to top Australia, which won seven events. Still, it was the lowest victory total for the Americans since the 1988 Seoul Games, when they were beaten by a doping-tainted East German program.

They finished with 28 medals overall, two shy of their total three years ago in Tokyo. In all, 13 countries won at least one gold — French star Léon Marchand was essentially a country unto himself — and 19 teams made the medal podium.

After a bevy of disappointing performances by some of its biggest names, the U.S. team was very much aware of its gold-medal battle with the Aussies.

“I knew Bobby had tied it up,” King said. “Bobby’s swim was electric. That was amazing. He definitely got my energy going for the relay. I was pumped to hopefully assert that lead and get the gold.”

That's just what she did.

King, whose third Olympics will be her last, made up for a disappointing showing in her individual events by powering to the lead on the breaststroke segment.

Then it was Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske, two of the biggest U.S. stars at these games, bringing it home in 3 minutes, 49.63 seconds to break the record of 3:50.40 set by the U.S. at the 2019 world championships.

Regan Smith led off in the backstroke leg, earning a relay gold for the second night in a row after starting her Olympic career with five silvers and a bronze.

Australia, the defending Olympic champion, took the silver this time in 3:53.11. The bronze went to China in 3:53.23.

Four world records were set during the meet, three of them by the U.S.

China stunningly won the gold in the men’s 4x100 medley relay, ending the American run of dominance that stretched back to the introduction of the event at the 1960 Rome Games.

The only time the U.S. didn’t win gold was in 1980, when it boycotted the Moscow Games.

The winning team included Qin Haiyang and Sun Jiajun, who were both among the nearly two dozen swimmers who tested positive for a banned substance before the Tokyo Games but were allowed to compete. The result stirred more hard feelings from other nations that feel the Chinese might have gotten away with cheating.

The real star of the Chinese team was Pan Zhanle, who had previously set a world record while winning the 100 free and powered away from American Hunter Armstrong on the anchor leg to touch in 3:27.46.

The Americans were left with the silver in 3:28.01, with France taking bronze in 3:28.38 to give Marchand his fifth medal of the games — four of them individual golds.

British star Adam Peaty, whose team barely missed out on a medal by finishing fourth, blasted a system that allowed the Chinese swimmers to compete at the Olympics.

“If you touch and you know you’re cheating, you’re not winning, right?” Peaty said. “As an honorable person, I mean, you should be out of the sport, but we know sport isn’t that simple.”

Peaty noted that after the initial revelations, additional reports surfaced of more positive tests in the Chinese program that went unpunished.

“I think we’ve got our faith in the system, but we also don’t,” he said. “Whoever’s in the race, I expect in my head that it has to be fair for them to be there. We did our best job as a team to do that, and it may have been (worthy of) a bronze. Who knows?”

Caeleb Dressel, who swam the butterfly leg for the Americans, said prior to the Olympics that he didn't have faith in the World Anti-Doping Agency or his sport's governing body, World Aquatics.

With a silver around his neck, he seemed resigned to the belief that nothing will change.

“I don’t work for WADA,” Dressel said. “There’s nothing I can do.”

Finke was under record pace the entire race and really turned it on coming to the finish. He touched in 14:30.67 to break the record of 14.31.02 set by China’s Sun Yang at the 2012 London Games.

The silver went to Italy’s Gregorio Paltrinieri in 14.34.55, while race favorite Daniel Wiffen of Ireland couldn’t follow up his triumph in the 800 freestyle. He was never a factor and settled for the bronze in 14:39.63, barely holding off Hungary’s David Betlehem for the final spot on the podium.

Finke became only the fourth swimmer to defend the men’s title in the longest event at the pool, and the first since Australia’s Grant Hackett in 2004.

“I really wanted to get on top of the podium again and I hear the anthem all over again like I did for the first time in Tokyo,” said Finke, who swept the 800 and 1,500 three years ago.

This time, a gold in the 1,500 to go with a silver in the 800 felt pretty good, too.

“It was a dream,” he said.

Sarah Sjöström of Sweden claimed her second gold medal of the Paris Olympics, furiously dashing from one end of the pool to the other to easily claim the 50 freestyle title.

The 30-year-old Sjöström, competing in her fifth Summer Games, had already won the 100 free — an event in which she holds the world record but only decided to swim at the urging of her coach.

She was more surprised than anyone with that victory, which had her overflowing with confidence heading into the 50 free.

Sjöström touched in 23.71, just shy of the world record of 23.61 she set at the 2023 world championships in Fukuoka, Japan. In a race that’s usually decided by mere hundredths of a second, the Swedish star turned this into a relative blowout. She was fastest off the block and clearly in control by the midway point of the single lap, where the swimmers don't even bother coming up for air.

Meg Harris of Australia took the silver in 23.97, while the bronze went to China’s Zhang Yufei in 24.20. For Zhang, another of the swimmers implicated in the Chinese doping scandal, it was her fourth bronze of the games to go with a silver.

Walsh, in her first swim of a busy night, just missed out on a medal in 24.21.

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

United States' Ryan Murphy, Nic Fink, Caeleb Dressel, and Hunter Armstrong pose for a phztowith their silver medals during the awards ceremony for the men's 4x100-meter medley relay at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

United States' Ryan Murphy, Nic Fink, Caeleb Dressel, and Hunter Armstrong celebrate winning the silver medal on the podium for the men's 4x100-meter medley relay at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Australia's Mollie O'Callaghan pours water from her shoe after she and her teammates plunged into the pool after they were awarded silver medals for the women's 4x100-meter medley relay at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

United States' Torri Huske embraces teammates after winning the gold medal in the women's 4x100-meter medley relay final at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

United States' gold medal winners Lilly King, Gretchen Walsha nd Torri Huske embrace on the podium during the awards ceremony for the women's 4x100-meter medley relay at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

United States' gold medalists pose for a photo on the podium with Australia's silver medalists and China's bronze medalists during the awards ceremony for the women's 4x100-meter medley relay at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

China's Xu Jiayu, Qin Haiyang, Sun Jiajun, and Pan Zhanle pose for a photo with their gold medals on the podium for the men's 4x100-meter medley relay at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

United States' gold medalists Regan Smith, Lilly King, Gretchen Walsh, and Torri Huske pose for photo on the podium for the women's 4x100-meter medley relay at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

United States' Gretchen Walsh, from left, Lilly King, Regan Smith and Torri Huske celebrate winning the gold medal in the women's 4x100-meter medley relay final at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

United States relay swim team celebrates winning the gold medal in the women's 4x100-meter medley relay final at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

United States' Lilly King competes in the women's 4x100-meter medley relay final at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

United States' Gretchen Walsh, from left, Lilly King and Regan Smith celebrate winning the gold medal in the women's 4x100-meter medley relay final at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

United States' Regan Smith competes in the women's 4x100-meter medley relay final at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

United States' Gretchen Walsh, from left, Lilly King and Regan Smith celebrate winning the gold medal in the women's 4x100-meter medley relay final at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024.(AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

United States' Bobby Finke competes in the men's 1500-meter freestyle final at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

United States' Bobby Finke celebrates winning the gold medal in the men's 1500-meter freestyle final at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024.(AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Sweden's Sarah Sjoestroem looks at the board after winning the gold medal in the women's 50-meter freestyle final at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Sweden's Sarah Sjoestroem celebrates after winning the gold medal in the women's 50-meter freestyle final at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

United States' Bobby Finke competes in the men's 1500-meter freestyle final at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

United States' Nic Fink competes in the men's 4x100-meter medley relay final at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

United States' Bobby Finke competes in the men's 1500-meter freestyle final at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

China's team celebrates winning the gold medal in the men's 4x100-meter medley relay final at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

United States' Bobby Finke celebrates winning the gold medal in the men's 1500-meter freestyle final at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

China's swim relay team members celebrate winning the gold medal in the men's 4x100-meter medley relay final at the Summer Olympics in Nanterre, France, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Anthony Edwards scored 37 points, Rudy Gobert added 23 points and 19 rebounds and the Minnesota Timberwolves extended their winning streak to five games with a 114-109 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday night.

Julius Randle chipped in 15 points and Donte DiVincenzo 13 for the Timberwolves, who won for the sixth time in seven games.

Quentin Grimes led Philadelphia with 28 points on 10-for-18 shooting, including 6 for 10 from long distance. Guerschon Yabusele scored 19 points, Lonnie Walker IV had 18 and Jared Butler 16 as the Sixers lost their 11th straight game and for the 14th time in 15 games. Philadelphia last won on March 16, at Dallas.

After Philadelphia rallied to within 111-109 with just under 15 seconds remaining, Edward fought off a double-team, rising up to hit a 3-pointer at the shot-clock buzzer, making it 114-109. Yabusele missed a 3-pointer with 5 seconds left and Edwards grabbed the rebound, sealing the win.

Timberwolves: Minnesota got a scare. But it had 15 turnovers, went 21 of 29 at the free-throw line and struggled to put this one away. The win keeps them in a logjam for the top six playoff spots in the West.

76ers: Philadelphia, with eight injured players and three All-Stars sitting out, challenged last season’s Western Conference runner-up down to the wire.

Edwards shot that gave Minnesota a 114-109 lead was his sixth 3, making him the third player in league history to post 300 3s in just 75 games. The others are Stephen Curry, who did it twice, and James Harden.

Philadelphia's 11 straight losses matches the 15th-longest skid in franchise history. It’s also the Sixers' longest since a 12-game skid in March and April 2016.

The Timberwolves play the fourth of a five-game trip on Tuesday against Milwaukee. The Sixers are at Miami on Monday.

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

Philadelphia 76ers' Justin Edwards, left, shoots the ball with Minnesota Timberwolves' Rudy Gobert, right defending during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Saturday, April 5, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

Philadelphia 76ers' Marcus Bagley dunks the ball during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Saturday, April 5, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

Philadelphia 76ers' Guerschon Yabusele, center, goes up for the shot against Minnesota Timberwolves' Rudy Gobert, left, during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Saturday, April 5, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

Philadelphia 76ers' Jared Butler, left, drives to the basket against Minnesota Timberwolves' Anthony Edwards, right, during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Saturday, April 5, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)