PARIS: Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, at the center of a row over her eligibility to fight in the women's category, won again at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday to enter the gold medal match.
Khelif beat Thailand's 2023 world silver medalist Janjaem Suwannapheng in a unanimous points decision to advance to Friday's final in the 66kg category.
The Algerian was cheered on by the crowd at Roland Garros.
On the track, American sprinter Gabby Thomas said she was in “disbelief” after roaring to the women's 200m title at the Stade de France.
Thomas held off newly crowned 100m champion Julien Alfred of St Lucia, who took silver.
American Cole Hocker won men's 1500m gold in a major upset after producing a remarkable surge in the home straight to take him past pre-race favorites Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Josh Kerr.
Cuban wrestler Mijain Lopez made Olympic history when he became the first athlete to win five consecutive individual gold medals in the same event.
Lopez, who turns 42 in two weeks, defeated Chile's Yasmani Acosta in the 130kg Greco-Roman final.
With his victory, Lopez broke the tie for four consecutive individual Olympic gold medals that he shared with Carl Lewis (Athletics/Long Jump), Michael Phelps (Swimming/200m Medley), Katie Ledecky (Swimming/800m Freestyle), Al Oerter (Athletics/ discus). ), Paul Elvström (sailing) and Kaori Icho (wrestling).
In the basketball quarterfinals, LeBron James and his USA teammates slipped past Brazil and won 122-87 with Devin Booker leading the way with 18 points and Anthony Edwards adding 17 points.
They next face Serbia, who battled back from 24 points down to lead Australia 95-90 in a remarkable overtime win, largely thanks to the late efforts of three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic.
France will face Germany in the other semi-final.
Khelif's victory means she is guaranteed at least a silver medal in Paris.
The International Boxing Association disqualified Khelif and another boxer, Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting, from last year's world championships after failing gender eligibility tests.
The boxing event in the French capital is being run by the International Olympic Committee due to concerns over the way the IBA was running the sport.
The IOC allowed the two boxers to fight and Lin is also guaranteed a medal.
Ireland's Kellie Harrington, meanwhile, won the first boxing gold of these Games when she retained her 60kg title before leading her fans in a wild celebration.
Thomas became the first American woman to capture an Olympic short sprint title since her childhood idol Allyson Felix won the 200m at the 2012 London Games.
She pulled away from Alfred to win in 21.83 seconds, and her USA teammate Brittany Brown took bronze.
“I'm really in disbelief because having an Olympic gold is something in my wildest dreams. But at the same time, I know how hard I've fought for it,” says Thomas.
There were no complaints from Alfred about missing out on a sprint double.
“I felt ready for the 200m tonight,” she said. “I'm fine, no complaints at all.”
In the velodrome, Dutch powerhouse champion Harrie Lavreysen led his country to the men's team sprint cycling gold in a new world record time to successfully defend his title.
The United States and Brazil will battle for the women's soccer gold medal after posting contrasting wins in their last four matches against Germany and World Cup holders Spain, respectively.
The United States, record four-time gold medalists in women's soccer, are on course to win the title for the first time since 2012 after beating Germany 1-0 in extra time in Lyon, with Sophia Smith scoring the only goal.
Brazil reached their first Olympic final since 2008 by beating the reigning world champions 4-2 in Marseille.
In other events, organizers' decision to cancel a “familiarization session” for marathon swimmers on Tuesday raised questions about why triathletes were allowed to swim in the Seine the day before.
Organizers said on Tuesday they were “very confident” the women's and men's 10km swimming events would take place in the river this week as planned.
The United States tops the medal table with 24 golds, two ahead of China while Australia has 13.
