National Sports

(LONDON) -- An Olympic athlete has had his finger amputated after he suffered an injury just so he can play in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Just two weeks ago, Matthew Dawson, a 30-year-old hockey player from Australia, suffered a badly broken finger on his right-hand during a team training session in Perth, Australia, and, after consulting with doctors, he found out the injury would take months to recover from and that he would miss out on the opportunity to play in his third Olympic Games.

But instead of opting for a long recovery, Dawson made a decision that would shock his teammates and has already made headlines around the world. He decided to amputate his finger so that he could compete in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

"There was a bit of shock within the team,” said Dawson’s teammate, Aran Zalewski, in an interview in Paris in the run up to the opening ceremony on Friday evening. “We didn't really know what to think. And then we heard that he went to the hospital and chopped his finger off, which was pretty interesting because I know people would give an arm and a leg and even a little bit of finger to be here sometimes.”

“When you've spent a lifetime of choice and sacrifice to come and compete at the highest level, I think for him it was an easy decision,” Zalewski continued. “We've got his back. We're fully supportive of his decision. We played a game [on Monday] and he seems absolutely fine. It's great to see that his finger is going to be all right and he'll be able to play with us throughout the tournament."

Dawson, who underwent surgery on his right hip, a month after the Commonwealth Games in 2018, has had a long list of injuries during his career, including suffering a fractured eye socket in Feb. 2018 in a training accident, causing him to miss the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia the following month.

Dawson took up hockey when he was 8-years-old after his sister gave up netball and his parents signed her up for the local hockey team.

"As little brothers tend to do, I tagged along and watched my sister play hockey over the next couple of years," Dawson explained in an interview in Nov. 2018.

Dawson is now set to be a three-time Olympian after competing in 2016 and 2020, where he won a silver medal with his squad after losing to Belgium on penalties. He is also a two-time Commonwealth Games gold medalist in 2018 and 2022 and has two Hockey World Cup appearances under his belt where he came in third with his team in 2018 and fourth in 2023.

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(PARIS) -- From Bacon (both Sarah, a diver, and Phoebe, a swimmer) to Coffey (both Olivia, a rower, and Sam, a soccer player), Team USA will be sending a veritable smorgasbord of talent to Paris for the 2024 Olympics.

You probably know the big names -- such as gymnast Simone Biles and swimmer Katie Ledecky -- but there are 592 U.S. Olympians competing in Paris.

The returning members of Team USA have already won 110 gold medals before arriving in Paris, led by swimmers Ledecky (seven) and Caeleb Dressel (seven) and women's basketball player Diana Taurasi (five). Ledecky also has the most total medals (10) while Biles has seven total medals, including four gold. No one else on the team has more than four gold.

Not sure who else to pay attention to in Paris? We've compiled a list of the 10 Americans to know when the Summer Games kick off this weekend.

Chase Budinger, beach volleyball

If you think you remember a basketball player named Chase Budinger, who played eight seasons in the NBA and was co-MVP of the McDonald's All-American Game in 2006 alongside Kevin Durant, you're probably confused why "beach volleyball" is next to his name above. But no, that's not a typo.

Budinger, the California Basketball Player of the Year in his senior season in high school, hung up his basketball shoes in 2017 and hit the beach for his second-best sport -- volleyball. Then again, maybe it's his best sport?

The 36-year-old was actually a huge volleyball recruit in high school, too. But he passed up playing the indoor game for a college basketball career at Arizona. Now, he and partner Miles Evans will be heading to Paris to play beach volleyball as part of Team USA.

Evans and Budinger only started playing together last year, but they are the U.S.'s No. 2 team behind Andy Benesh and Miles Partain. Partain, just 22 years old, and Benesh are a great story in their own right and probably a better bet to win gold from the U.S. teams. They're ranked No. 9 in the world.

But Budinger and Evans are ranked No. 13 and have two tournament wins in less than 20 matches as partners.

Katie Moon, pole vault

There was definitely a pun to be made with Moon's last name, but for now we'll just focus on her out-of-this-world talent.

Moon, then known by her maiden name, Nageotte, won gold in pole vault in Tokyo and followed that up with world titles in 2022 and 2023. She also took home top honors on the Diamond League circuit (a regular season, so to speak) last year.

Her toughest competition will likely be Great Britain's Molly Caudery, who has also grabbed headlines for her modeling work, and Australia's Nina Kennedy, who won at the last Diamond League event before the Olympics. Caudery won the indoor world championships in March and has the world best this year (4.92 meters).

Moon can be a streaky jumper. She finished eighth (last place) at last week's London Diamond League event and was upset by unheralded (and unsponsored) Bridget Williams in the U.S. Olympic trials.

But Moon's personal best of 4.95 meters, set ahead of the Tokyo Games, is better than any of her competitors and back-to-back gold is easily within her reach.

Katie Grimes, swimming

Theoretically, swimming is swimming, no matter where you are doing it. But it's unusual for a talented swimmer in the pool to also compete in open-water swimming. No American woman had ever done both until this year.

Grimes will be doing the double in Paris, swimming in the 1,500 meters and the 400-meter individual medley indoors as well as the 10-kilometer open-water event -- still scheduled to be held in the Seine River as long as no one's skin melts off during training.

Grimes is actually a bit of a prodigy. She was Team USA's youngest member in Tokyo at just 15 years old. At 18, she's still one of the youngest Americans at the Games (gymnast Hezly Rivera, 16, is the youngest).

She had already qualified for Paris in the open-water event before showing up at the indoor swim trials in Indianapolis last month by taking bronze in the 10-kilometer outdoor event in July 2023. She was actually the first American to make the U.S. team in any sport.

No woman has ever won a medal in their career in both the pool and open-water competition (though it has happened on the men's side). Grimes has a real chance to do both in the same Olympics.

Salif Mane, triple jump

No slight to Fairleigh Dickinson University, but the New Jersey school isn't exactly known as a track and field powerhouse. In fact, Mane was the only competitor from FDU at the NCAA track and field championships in Eugene, Oregon, last month as he wrapped up his senior season.

That didn't stop the triple jumper from winning Fairleigh Dickinson's first individual national title in any sport and then upsetting everyone at the U.S. Olympic trials.

Mane jumped a personal best 17.52 meters at the U.S. Olympic trials just weeks after setting a previous personal best (17.14 meters) at the NCAA championships.

Now the Bronx native has a chance to continue a legacy in triple jump for the U.S., which has won five of the last 10 gold medals in the event.

Tara Davis-Woodhall, long jump

Mane was a jumper who wasn't on many people's radar not long ago, but Davis-Woodhall has been a star jumper with gold medal potential for awhile. She won gold in junior world championships and even broke future Olympian Marion Jones' California high school state record that had stood since 1993 (well before she was born).

She's hardly been a disappointment on the senior level, but Davis-Woodhall is finally realizing her full potential. No doubt the most exuberant and outgoing member of Team USA -- she's never not bouncing around with a megawatt smile -- she is currently ranked No. 1 in the world in long jump.

Davis-Woodhall, who is married to three-time Paralympic medalist Hunter Woodhall, finished second in the U.S. Olympic trials in 2021 and qualified for the Olympics as well. But the then-22-year-old finished a disappointing sixth at the Tokyo Games.

The weight of expectations appeared to lie heavily on her shoulders at this year's trials. She scratched on both her first two jumps in the finals, but qualified to continue on with her third and final jump. but she qualified for the Paris Games on her last jump of the competition.

Davis has had the best season of her career, finishing first in every competition she's competed in, including a win in the indoor world championships in March. She hasn't competed in any Diamond League events, but has the second-best jump (7.18 meters) in the world this year. Germany's Malaika Mihambo, the gold medalist in Tokyo and the owner of the longest jump in the world this year (7.22 meters), will be Davis-Woodhall's stiffest competition.

Fiona O'Keeffe, marathon

There's beginner's luck and then there's just beginner's talent. O'Keeffe, who won at the U.S. Olympic trials in the first professional marathon of her life, hopes it's the latter.

The 26-year-old literally put her blood, sweat and tears into her first marathon in Orlando back in February. She crossed the finish line in 2 hours, 22 minutes and 10 seconds -- a trials record -- with her bib covered in blood, which she ascribed to a "little chafing situation."

O'Keeffe was an All-American at Stanford University as a 5,000-meter and 10,000-meter runner before taking her talent to the road.

Medalling in Paris is unlikely given the depth of the Ethiopian and Kenyan teams, but she has huge potential in a discipline that is traditionally dominated by veteran runners.

Jimmer Fredette, 3x3 basketball

"College player" is a derisive term that has plagued college basketball and football players for decades. From Tim Tebow to Adam Morrison to Charlie Ward (in both sports), the names are well-known by sports fans.

Fredette, who was a star at Brigham Young University, was given the label well before he even left college. He still developed a legion of fans for his reputation as a gunner and ultimate competitor (think Caitlin Clark before Caitlin Clark). He led the nation in scoring as a senior in 2010-11, earning Associated Press player of the year honors, and setting just about every scoring record in BYU history.

He was drafted 10th overall by the Sacramento Kings in 2011, but bounced around to the Chicago Bulls, New Orleans Pelicans, New York Knicks and Phoenix Suns in an unremarkable NBA career. He was certainly never close to making the men's Olympic basketball team.

And yet, at 35 years old, more than five years removed from his last game in the NBA, he's shooting for gold in Paris as a member of the U.S. 3x3 basketball team -- a half-court, outdoor version of the game that debuted in Tokyo. (The U.S. men's team didn't even qualify for the Tokyo Games, so this is technically the United States' debut in the sport.)

Jimmermania has been revived again.

Kennedy Blades, wrestling

Blades already has the coolest name on the U.S. team, but now she's looking for some hardware in Paris.

The 20-year-old from Chicago, who is already posing for photos in Paris with Snoop Dogg and getting praise from MMA legend Jon Jones, is a rising star in wrestling -- and maybe combat sports in general (can it be long before the UFC comes calling?).

Blades barely missed the Tokyo Games, losing to Tamyra Mensah-Stock in the final match in the 76 kg weight class, at just 17. Mensah-Stock went on to win gold in 2021 and Blades' profile in the sport skyrocketed. She was used to defying expectations though, becoming the first girl to win a state title against boys in the annual Illinois Kids Wrestling Federation tournament at just 12 years old.

Blades defeated Adeline Gray, a six-time world champion who took the silver medal in Tokyo, to qualify for Paris.

Her timeline for greatness has moved up.

Emma Hunt, climbing

It will take the women's Olympic gold medalist about 10.5 seconds to run the 100-meter dash. Hunt wonders why they waste so much time.

The 21-year-old -- who was ranked No. 1 in the world at just 18 -- owns the American speed climbing record, climbing the 15-meter-high wall in 6.55 seconds. She'll be looking to spend as short a time competing in Paris as possible as speed climbing is contested as a standalone sport for the first time (In Tokyo, bouldering, lead and speed were combined in one event).

Hunt set the U.S. record in Salt Lake City in May when she won the World Cup final against Aleksandra Kalucka of Poland. Kalucka's countrywoman, Aleksandra Miroslaw, holds the current world record -- which has fallen repeatedly in recent years -- at 6.25 seconds.

Both Polish climbers will be among the top competition for Hunt in Paris, as will be Indonesian star Desak Made Rita Kusuma Dewi, who edged out Hunt for the world title in 2023 (Miroslaw took bronze, while Kalucka took fourth).

Victor Montalvo, breaking

We're not here to legislate whether breakdancing -- officially known as breaking -- should be in the Olympics. Besides, the United States has the best competitor in the world, so just wait for another gold medal.

Montalvo, 30, is the defending world champion in breaking. Known as B-Boy Victor, he has carried on a back-and-forth rivalry with Canadian Phil Wizard in each of the last three world championships. Victor won in 2021 and 2023, while the Canadian won in 2022.

The sport, which developed from the 1980s dance craze, takes place in head-to-head "battles" over multiple rounds. Each dancer is graded in five categories: technique, vocabulary, originality, musicality and execution. The scoring is done by the judges in real time with winners advancing through a bracket.

No cardboard needed.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) -- As the 2024 Summer Olympics officially kick off in Paris on July 26, USA Today sports columnist Christine Brennan joined Brad Mielke on Thursday’s episode of "Start Here," ABC News’ flagship daily news podcast, and dived into the concession made by the U.S. Olympic Committee and officials from Salt Lake City, Utah, in order to secure the city's bid to host the 2034 Winter Games, which the city also hosted in 2002.

START HERE: But as far as the U.S. is concerned, the biggest Olympics story of the day did not have anything to do with Paris at all. In the wee hours of the morning, Salt Lake City, Utah, learned it will once again be the host of the Winter Olympics, in 2034. That was the sound of people cheering this news at 4 a.m. local time in Salt Lake City. They’ve got a decade to get even more amped up.

But the International Olympic Committee announced a rule here that has already created a really weird vibe. Let’s take you to Paris right now, where Christine Brennan is covering the Games. She’s a sports columnist with USA Today…she’s also an ABC News contributor. Christine, can you just explain what’s going on with the future Olympics?

BRENNAN: Brad, this was crazy. Salt Lake City is really the only city that wants to host the Winter Olympics. It's getting harder and harder for the International Olympic Committee to find cities and countries that are interested. It costs so much money, it's so difficult. Obviously, climate change, you know, all the things that we know about what it is with an Olympics.

So you get a city like Salt Lake City, which hosted the 2002 Olympics and did a fabulous job, great Olympic Games. And this was a slam dunk. Everyone just expected it would just go without any issue, any problem. Instead, several International Olympic Committee members proposed an amendment. And they want the U.S. to drop the FBI investigation into the Chinese doping controversy.

START HERE: Yeah, I think the language was like the U.S. cannot “undermine the world anti-doping agency,” they can't undermine WADA, which you'd think like, why would they do that? And yet it apparently all goes back to this federal investigation of Chinese athletes. Can you brush us up on that?

BRENNAN: We just found out about it. The New York Times and a German public broadcasting company exposed it a few months ago. Chinese swimmers, the 23 swimmers tested positive before the Tokyo Olympics. But it was never revealed, no transparency. They went to compete in Tokyo and three, three golds. They won three golds. And 11 of them, of the 23, are competing here. And so all these athletes that competed in Tokyo, including Katie Ledecky in a relay, came in second to people who had tested positive a few months earlier. That outrages the United States.

Because of a law known as the Rodchenkov Act, it allows the U.S., in this case, the FBI, to go after officials or others in a criminal manner and criminal prosecution, who were involved in this doping scheme. They've already served a subpoena to the World Aquatics executive director. Again that's swimming, to try to figure out this doping scheme, what happened and why the world didn't know about it.

START HERE: OK, so this is like an ultimatum. You can have the Games if you stop investigating this. What did U.S. organizers do?

BRENNAN: Stunningly and amazingly, just I cannot believe it, the Salt Lake City officials and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee caved.

START HERE: Wow.

BRENNAN: They caved. And so while you had Katie Ledecky an hour and a half earlier in a press conference talking about the importance of clean sport. One floor and 90 minutes later, you had these officials caving in to demands, as from the International Olympic Committee, for them to get rid of the investigation into something that Katie Ledecky -- Michael Phelps just testified in front of Congress -- that they care so much about.

START HERE: Right and it’s interesting, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency sounded pretty furious about this, but they sound more upset with the IOC for pressuring Salt Lake City. Local organizers though, Christine, sounded upbeat about this. You had Utah Gov. Spencer Cox yesterday defending all this. But I guess I'm just confused as to why the organizers made this concession? Like if the U.S. has been so public about wanting to go after these people and protecting their own athletes, frankly?

BRENNAN: Because they were scared they were going to lose the Olympics otherwise. I cannot believe that Salt Lake officials and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee didn't just say no.

Now, what's going to end up happening here, I believe, is that it will be a rude awakening, because I cannot imagine Congress taking too kindly to what the U.S. Olympic Committee and the Salt Lake officials just did. And I've got to believe that if any of these officials show up and deserve to be arrested, they're going to get a knock on the door and they're going to be arrested. And so they may be the most shocked people on the planet when they thought they got this deal from Salt Lake City.

So it's truly a mess. It's stunning. It's exactly the way that they did not want to kick off the Olympic week. But it is something worthy of all of our attention.

I think for a lot of people, they remember Salt Lake City and they remember the bribery scandal from 1999. Once again, Salt Lake City officials are involved again in a major controversy of their own making. This is supposed to be such a positive thing, and now they're mired right back in controversy, just as they were at the beginning of the century.

START HERE: Wow. Unbelievable. And Christine Brennan will, of course, have a column in USA Today that's out actually right now this morning. Thank you so much, Christine.

BRENNAN: Brad, thank you.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) -- Here are the scores from Thursday's sports events:

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

INTERLEAGUE

Baltimore Orioles 7, Miami Marlins 6

NATIONAL LEAGUE

San Diego Padres 3, Washington Nationals 0
L.A. Dodgers 6, San Francisco Giants 4
N.Y. Mets 3, Atlanta Braves 2

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Detroit Tigers 3, Cleveland Guardians 0
Texas Rangers 2, Chicago White Sox 1
Tampa Bay Rays 13, Toronto Blue Jays 0
Oakland Athletics at Los Angeles Angels

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) -- Of the nearly 600 American athletes representing the red, white and blue at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Hezly Rivera will make history as the youngest athlete to compete for Team USA.

The New Jersey-born gymnast secured her spot on the highly competitive women's team -- led by Simone Biles -- with a gold medal winning balance beam performance at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Minnesota last month.

Meet the youngest athlete on Team USA, Hezly Rivera

Ahead of the first women’s gymnastics qualifying event on Sunday, July 28, the first-time Olympian spoke to ABC News' Good Morning America about what it means to be part of the impressive five-woman roster alongside 2020 Tokyo veterans Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, and Jade Carey.

"It feels incredible -- this doesn't have to happen too often, so I'm very excited to be the youngest team member of the group," Rivera, 16, said. "I felt so happy and super excited because this is what I've been working for my whole life. So for it to finally come true is so exciting and so surreal."

Team USA's rising star may be the rookie of the team, but Rivera is going into the competition with confidence.

"I need to trust myself and trust my training, because my muscle memory is there and it's very strong," she said. "I just have to do what I do in the gym. And I know everything will be perfect."

While Rivera doesn't know which events she'll be competing in at the Games just yet, she told GMA that in practice she's training for "vault, bars, beam and floor."

Rivera's sister was the first person who picked up on her early enthusiasm for gymnastics "because from a very young age, I was already doing cartwheels and handstands and bridges everywhere."

But it wasn't until she attended a friends' fifth birthday party at a local gym, where she recalled "flipping around on all the equipment" and said, "the coaches told my parents that they should put me -- on a little mini team -- and that I had potential."

Hezly Rivera facts and career highlights

National Competition Results
2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Minneapolis, Minn: Gold in balance beam; 4th in uneven bars; 5th in all-around; 8th in floor exercise
2024 Winter Cup, Louisville, Ky: Gold in balance beam; bronze medalist in all-around and floor exercise
2023 Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships, San Jose, Calif: Gold in all-around, uneven bars and balance beam
2023 Winter Cup, Louisville, Ky.: Gold all-around, balance beam and floor exercise
2022 OOFOS U.S. Gymnastics Championships, Tampa, Fla: Bronze in floor exercise
2022 U.S. Classic, Salt Lake City, Utah: Gold in balance beam; silver in all around and floor exercise
2022 Winter Cup, Frisco, Texas: Bronze in all-around
2018 Hopes Classic, Salt Lake City, Utah: Gold in floor exercise

International Competition Results
2024 Jesolo Trophy, Jesolo, Italy: Bronze in team competition
2023 Junior World Championships, Antalya, Turkey: Silver in team competition
2022 DTB Pokal Cup, Stuttgart, Germany: Gold in team competition

Nickname: Hez
Birthday: June 4, 2008
Hometown: Oradell, NJ
High School Graduation Year: 2026
Year she began gymnastics: 2013
Favorite Event: Bars
Parents: Henry Rivera and Heidy Ruiz, who are both from the Dominican Republic
Siblings: Hanly Rivera and Carhelis Abreu
Favorite school subject: Math
Hobbies or favorite activities: Shopping
Favorite book: Mamba Mentality
Favorite movie: Spy Kids 2
Favorite Food: Rice and beans with chicken and avocado 

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) -- Here are the scores from Wednesday's sports events:

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

INTERLEAGUE
Miami Marlins 6, Baltimore Orioles 3
N.Y. Mets 12, N.Y. Yankees 3
Minnesota Twins 5, Philadelphia Phillies 4
Arizona Diamondbacks 8, Kansas City Royals 6
Colorado Rockies 20, Boston Red Sox 7

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Cleveland Guardians 2, Detroit Tigers 1
L.A. Angels 2, Seattle Mariners 1
Toronto Blue Jays 6, Tampa Bay Rays 3
Texas Rangers 10, Chicago White Sox 2
Houston Astros 8, Oakland Athletics 1

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Cincinnati Reds 9, Atlanta Braves 4 (Gm 1 Doubleheader, Gm 2 PPD)
San Diego Padres 12, Washington Nationals 3
Pittsburgh Pirates 5, St. Louis Cardinals 0
Milwaukee Brewers 3, Chicago Cubs 2
San Francisco Giants 8, Los Angeles Dodgers 3

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) -- Here are the scores from Tuesday's sports events:

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

INTERLEAGUE
Miami Marlins 6, Baltimore Orioles 3
N.Y. Mets 3, N.Y. Yankees 2
Philadelphia Phillies 3, Minnesota Twins 0
Arizona Diamondbacks 6, Kansas City Royals 2
Boston Red Sox 6, Colorado Rockies 0

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Cleveland Guardians 5, Detroit Tigers 4
L.A. Angels 5, Seattle Mariners 1
Tampa Bay Rays 4, Toronto Blue Jays 2
Texas Rangers 3, Chicago White Sox 2
Houston Astros 2, Oakland Athletics 8

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Cincinnati Reds At Atlanta Braves (PPD)
San Diego Padres, 4 Washington Nationals 0
St. Louis Cardinals 2, Pittsburgh Pirates 1
Milwaukee Brewers 1, Chicago Cubs 0
San Francisco Giants 2, Los Angeles Dodgers 5

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) -- Here are the scores from Tuesday's sports events:

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

INTERLEAGUE
Miami Marlins 6, Baltimore Orioles 3
N.Y. Mets 3, N.Y. Yankees 2
Philadelphia Phillies 3, Minnesota Twins 0
Arizona Diamondbacks 6, Kansas City Royals 2
Boston Red Sox 6, Colorado Rockies 0

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Cleveland Guardians 5, Detroit Tigers 4
L.A. Angels 5, Seattle Mariners 1
Tampa Bay Rays 4, Toronto Blue Jays 2
Texas Rangers 3, Chicago White Sox 2
Houston Astros 2, Oakland Athletics 8

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Cincinnati Reds At Atlanta Braves (PPD)
San Diego Padres, 4 Washington Nationals 0
St. Louis Cardinals 2, Pittsburgh Pirates 1
Milwaukee Brewers 1, Chicago Cubs 0
San Francisco Giants 2, Los Angeles Dodgers 5

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) -- American gymnast Simone Biles is considered by many to be the G.O.A.T -- the Greatest Of All Time -- and for good reason.

"I'm not the next Usain Bolt or Michael Phelps. I'm the first Simone Biles," she told reporters at the 2016 Olympics.

Here’s a look at Biles’ historic gymnastics career thus far as she heads to her third Olympic Games, this year in Paris, France:

Most decorated gymnast of all time

Her rise to fame began in the wake of the 2012 Olympics, which Biles was too young to qualify for.

In 2013, at the age of 16, she secured four medals -- two golds -- in her first appearance at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.

In 2014, she won four golds and a silver at the competition. In 2015, she scored another four gold medals and a bronze. In 2018, she won four golds, one silver, and one bronze. In 2019, she won five gold medals. In 2023, she won four golds and one silver.

Overall, she’s scored 30 world titles, 23 as a gold medal winner, according to the official Olympics website.

In her first Olympic Games in 2016, Biles won four gold medals and one bronze. In Tokyo, she won one silver and one bronze before sitting out for the rest of the competition to focus on her mental and physical health.

Biles is the most decorated gymnast in history -- male or female -- according to the Olympics. In all, she has 37 world and Olympic medals combined.

She has five moves named after her

Biles now has five signature moves named after her in three different events: on the floor, on vault, and on the balance beam.

"Many people aren't even attempting to do them because there's such high difficulty high risk maneuvers, and she does them with complete ease and effort," Dominique Dawes, a three-time Olympian and 18-year gymnastics veteran. "It's amazing to watch what she's doing. And she does it with a smile on her face."

For a move to be named after an athlete in gymnastics, the gymnast has to submit a video of them performing the move to the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique Women’s Technical Committee.

The committee determines the difficulty of the skill, and if it receives a high enough difficulty score, it is then eligible to be named.

Then, a gymnast must perform the move without "a major fault" at an international competition.

The "Biles on the floor" -- first successfully completed by Biles on the world stage in 2013 at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships -- is a double layout with a half-twist, which means that her body remains straight and elongated as she flips twice.

Her second signature move on the floor, "Biles II," was first successfully completed on the world stage in 2019. For this move, Biles performs a triple-double, meaning she Biles flips twice while twisting three times before hitting the ground.

The Biles on the vault is a round-off, into a back hand-spring with a half turn, completing the move by twisting twice in a somersault. It one of the most difficult vaults in women's artistic gymnastics, with a difficulty score of 6.4.

Biles II on the vault is the most recent move to be named after the athlete. In 2023, she became the first woman to land the Yurchenko double pike, a move that consists of a backflip off the vault and two full rotations in a pike position before landing.

The Biles on the balance beam, completed in 2019, features a double-double dismount from the beam -- two flips and two twists.

Dawes was a gymnast during the old ways of scoring -- which is when gymnasts aimed simply for a "perfect 10." Now, gymnasts are scored on two metrics -- the perfect 10 of execution and the open-ended scoring of difficulty that gymnasts have free reign of collecting points on.

Dawes said that with the old way of scoring, there was "no need to push yourself beyond that value." Now, "sky is the limit" for athletes like Biles.

"It really is Simone versus herself." Dawes said. "That's really what makes her one of the greatest of all time ... Back then they used to cap our scores. And so now with this new scoring system, the sky is the limit for athletes like Simone, who's very talented. And so if she does a higher, difficult maneuver on any of the different pieces of apparatus, she'll actually get credit for it."

Prioritizing her mental and physical health

Simone Biles pulled out of the Tokyo Olympics before finishing the individual all-around competition and the team final following a shocking stumble on vault.

"We wholeheartedly support Simone’s decision and applaud her bravery in prioritizing her well-being. Her courage shows, yet again, why she is a role model for so many," USA Gymnastics said in a statement.

Her exit shined a light on mental health among elite athletes who face intense pressures as the world watches. She later also discussed how her exit was tied to her struggle to recover mentally after being sexually abused by former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar.

Biles has also been outspoken about experiencing depression and having to take anxiety medication in the fallout of the Nassar abuse.

"As a recent competitor in the Tokyo Games who was a survivor of this horror, I can assure you the impacts of this man's abuse are not over or ever forgotten," Biles said at a 2021 Congressional hearing. "The announcement in the spring of 2020 that the Tokyo Games were to be postponed for a year meant that I would be going to the gym, to training, to therapy, living daily among the reminders of this story for another 365 days."

Biles qualified in all six of the women's gymnastics finals at the Tokyo Olympics and was expected to win an unprecedented six gold medals. The goal was to become the first woman since 1968 to win back-to-back titles in the all-around.

"I just never felt like this going into a competition before," Biles said at a press conference Tuesday following the team final. "I tried to go out here and have fun, and warm up in the back went a little bit better, but once I came out here I was like, ‘No, mental is not there.’"

"It’s been really stressful this Olympic Games, just as a whole," said Biles to reporters at the time. "It’s been a long week. It’s been a long Olympic process. It’s been a long year."

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) -- Here are the scores from Monday's sports events:

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

AMERICAN LEAGUE
N.Y. Yankees 9, Tampa Bay Rays 1
Detroit Tigers 8, Cleveland Guardians 2
Texas Rangers 4, Chicago White Sox 3
Oakland Athletics 4, Houston Astros 0
Los Angeles Angels 3, Seattle Mariners 1

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Pittsburgh Pirates 2, St. Louis Cardinals 1
Final N.Y. Mets 6, Miami Marlins 4
Final Cincinnati Reds 4, Atlanta Braves 1
Final Chicago Cubs 3, Milwaukee Brewers 1
San Francisco Giants 2, Los Angeles Dodgers 3

INTERLEAGUE
Minnesota Twins 7, Philadelphia Phillies 2
Kansas City Royals 10, Arizona Diamondbacks 4
Boston Red Sox 8, Colorado Rockies 9

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(NEW YORK) -- Here are the scores from Sunday's sports events

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

INTERLEAGUE
San Diego 2, Cleveland 1
Minnesota 7, Milwaukee 8
Boston 6, LA Dodgers 9

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Baltimore 2, Texas 3
Chicago White Sox 1, Kansas City 4
Detroit 4, Toronto 5
NY Yankees 4, Tampa Bay 6

NATIONAL LEAGUE
San Francisco 3, Colorado 2
Arizona 1, Chicago Cubs 2
NY Mets 2, Miami 4
St Louis 6, Atlanta 2
Philadelphia 6, Pittsburgh 0
Cincinnati 2, Washington 5

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(NEW YORK) -- Here are the scores from Thursday's sports events:

WOMEN'S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION

Minnesota Lynx 86, Atlanta Dream 79
Dallas Wings 101, Indiana Fever 93
 

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(ARLINGTON, Texas) -- Ingrid Andress is apologizing for her rendition of the national anthem at the 2024 Home Run Derby on Monday night that has since gone viral online.

"I'm not gonna b------- y'all, I was drunk last night," Andress wrote in a statement posted to Instagram on Tuesday, referring to her performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.

Jelly Roll, Shaboozey and more country stars reveal best advice they ever received

"I'm checking myself into a facility today to get the help I need," she continued. "That was not me last night. I apologize to MLB, all the fans, and this country I love so much for that rendition. I'll let y'all know how rehab is I hear it's super fun. xo, Ingrid."

Andress, a four-time Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter, is best known for her song "More Hearts Than Mine" and her Sam Hunt collaboration "Wishful Drinking."

According to her website, Andress' next shows are both at music festivals, Aug. 3 at Basilica Block Party in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Oct. 4 at Country Calling in Ocean City, Maryland.

"Good Morning America" has reached out to Andress' representative for comment.

If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, call SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357). SAMHSA's National Helpline is a free, confidential, 24/7, 365-day-a-year treatment referral and information service.

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(NEW YORK) -- Here are the scores from Sunday's sports events:

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

INTERLEAGUE
Oakland 18, Philadelphia 3
Detroit 4, LA Dodgers 3
Pittsburgh 9, Chi White Sox 4
San Francisco 3, Minnesota 2
Toronto 8, Arizona 7

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Baltimore 6, NY Yankees 5
Tampa Bay 2, Cleveland 0
Boston 5, Kansas City 4
Texas 4, Houston 2
LA Angels 3, Seattle 2

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Miami 3, Cincinnati 2
Chi Cubs 8, St. Louis 3
Colorado 8, NY Mets 5
Milwaukee 9, Washington 3
Atlanta 6, San Diego 3

WOMEN'S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Connecticut 96, Phoenix 69
Las Vegas 89, Washington 77
Indiana 81, Minnesota 74
Seattle 81, Atlanta 70

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(LONDON) -- Meandering within the manicured lawns and historic courts of Wimbledon are Rufus and Flo, a couple who are incredibly popular with players and fans alike, yet simultaneously unassuming and vital workers whose sole function is to keep the public safe and the tennis uninterrupted.

With a combined 20 years of experience working at Wimbledon, they know exactly what they are doing when they start work each day of the two-week tournament in southwest London: Rufus watches the skies while Flo keeps an eye on the grounds.

The biggest difference about Rufus and Flo, compared to most of the other employees at Wimbledon, is that Rufus is a 16-year-old hawk and Flo is a 4-year-old Labrador Retriever.

Rufus, famous in his own right with over 5,000 followers on Instagram and has also been called “the world's most notable bird" and "one of Britain's best-known birds” in the media, has a singular responsibility -- keep Wimbledon clear of pigeons at all costs.

“Rufus is ‘Chief Pigeon Deterrent’ here at Wimbledon,” Donna Davis told ABC News while standing on Centre Court on the middle Sunday of the 2024 Championships. “Often the pigeons can go up in the rafters and then sneak around and build little nests. They generally have a really comfortable time up there and then come down when the grass seed has been laid to munch on the seed. It's like caviar to them. Rufus is here to stop all of that.”

Davis shares a unique bond with Rufus that is built on trust as well as her keen understanding of avian behavior and Rufus’ training relies heavily on food motivation.

“We build up that loyalty and trust, ensuring I always have food for him,” says Davis. “He even does what I call his ‘Wimbledon wiggle’ -- which is when he shakes his tail before he flies off.”

Though essentially a wild bird, Rufus is trained to return to Davis, seeing her as his most reliable food source. Davis also makes sure to maintain Rufus at the right weight, something that is crucial to their relationship and ensures that he finds returning to Davis more appealing than expending energy hunting for his own meals.

Davis has worked at Wimbledon now with Rufus and his predecessor, Hamish, for 24 years this year but her career at the All England Club all began because she saw a solution to a massive problem that she noticed while watching the 1999 Wimbledon men’s semifinal between Pete Sampras and Tim Henman.

“During that match, the pigeons kept coming down to Centre Court in between points to munch on the seed that had been laid and Sampras kept having to bat them off the baseline with his racquet,” Davis told ABC News. “And of course at that critical point, if you're getting distracted, that's the last thing you need, and it can cost you the game or the match. So I was watching and I was thinking, ‘I'm going to give them a call.’ I did exactly that and they said, ‘come down, show us what you can do’ and here we are, 24 years later.”

Meanwhile, Flo, the 4-year-old Labrador Retriever, has a complimentary -- but no less important -- role to Rufus as she patrols the grounds to keep the perimeter of the 42-acre complex secure and the more than half-a-million people who come to Wimbledon each year safe.

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Training a dog like Flo for her specific role is an intensive process, her owner and handler Mark Millsand told ABC News.

Her handler explains that it typically takes about ten weeks of intensive, but relatively quick, training to get dogs like Flo up to speed with the kind of work they are doing, the process designed to ensure that the dogs are sufficiently prepared for their roles -- much like passing a driving test but gaining proficiency through experience.

Flo’s working day at Wimbledon is long and demanding. Spanning around 12 intense working hours. Millsand ensures she gets regular breaks to prevent overheating and he says that keeping her alert and ready to respond at a moment's notice is crucial, especially if a sudden search operation is required.

However, Flo does have plenty of opportunities to interact with the public on their walks and she has quickly become a favorite among visitors.

“We have a lot of returning visitors here every year,” said Millsand. ”They seem to remember the dogs. They get a glazed recollection of our faces and then they think, Oh, I remember Flo.”

Flo might be a working dog with an intense focus on her daily duties but she can’t pull a fast one on Millsand, who is more than just her handler because Flo is a family dog, a pet first and foremost.

“She is absolutely not this well behaved all of the time,” Millsand joked. “Unfortunately, she is very fond of strawberries, which means this is the wrong environment for her to be in with Wimbledon’s strawberries and cream. If she sees people eating strawberries, she can get very friendly.”

Not to be outdone by Rufus, even though Flo doesn’t have an Instagram account, she has had plenty of brushes with fame herself and got to meet Her Majesty Queen Camilla at The Championships last year.

Each of them also, notably, have side hustles. Flo will patrol football matches and sets of television shows while Rufus can be seen high above the skies in central London keeping Westminster Abbey free from pesky pigeons.

Historically, animals have been present at Wimbledon, acting as vital employees since before the tournament was founded in 1877. In the early years of the tournament, ponies and horses were used to level the surface of the grass to a pristine standard by pulling a large roller, even wearing leather boots so as not to trample the freshly smooth surface or damage the grass.

But not all creatures have been so warmly welcomed at Wimbledon over the years, like back in 1982 when a swarm of bees in disrupted the second set of the third round match between Americans Pam Shriver and Kathy Rinaldi, engulfing both of them. Rinaldi was stung on the arm and Shriver, quite considerately, removed the sting.

Over the years, Wimbledon has also had interruptions by squirrels -- in 1949 during the match between Hans van Swol of the Netherlands and Frenchman Bobby Abdesselam -- sparrows, during the 1989 men’s semifinal between Stefan Edberg and John McEnroe, and -- in the days before Rufus and Hamish -- a mouse even interrupted play during the 1998 first round matchup between Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Mark Philippoussis.

For now, Rufus and Flo work in tandem, steadfast guardians of this tournament, making sure the competition can unfold as seamlessly as possible.

Their teamwork, however, involves a great irony. Rufus and Flo do not get along. At all.

“Rufus and the search dogs are not friends,” laughed Millsand. “I think it's a healthy awareness of each other, but Flo wouldn't stand a chance against Rufus even though she thinks she does, but she wouldn't. I'd love to go over and talk to Donna Davis and have a chat with her about Rufus but we just can't get close enough.”

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(LONDON) -- The first thing you should know about becoming a ball boy or ball girl at Wimbledon is that the process is no joke.

In fact, the process is so rigorous and intensive that the acceptance rate of those who get through the training program to work on the hallowed grounds of Wimbledon is on par with being accepted into Oxford or Cambridge University, according to the latest enrolment data from Admission Report.

By the time the tournament comes around in early July, the ball boys and ball girls (BBGs) will have been training for five months, starting in the dead of winter in January or February at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club facility in Raynes Park, just three miles south of where they hope to end up at The Championships come summer.

Prospective BBGs train once a week with each session lasting approximately two-and-a-half hours. In these sessions, anywhere from 40 to 80 prospective children will train, focusing on general fitness, movement exercises and core skills needed to become a BBG such as rolling, feeding, receiving and game knowledge.

Training is continuous with the only reprieve coming during school holidays, meaning that the candidates have to be fully dedicated to becoming a BBG at a pace that can test both their commitment and endurance.

Alma Hamoud and Rudy Price -- both 15-years-old and in their first year working at the tournament as BBGs -- are two of the highly skilled ones who made it through the arduous process and took a few minutes in between matches to speak to ABC News on the middle Sunday of the 2024 Championships.

“Staying focused is the hardest thing because you have to watch every ball on every point and react,” Hamoud said. “But I feel really proud to go home and my parents tell me they have seen me on the TV.”

“It is a ton of fun to be a part of such a huge and famous event,” Price echoed. “I feel a lot of pride when I am on the court.”

Both admit, however, that nerves do come into play because they don’t want to make a mistake when TV cameras are everywhere and thousands of people in the crowd can see their every move. It should be noted that they were flawless on the court in the matches watched by ABC News.

The BBGs are essentially trained to be ghosts on the court, part of the pomp and circumstance of Wimbledon but never a feature. Their job is critical -- vital -- to the flow and pace of any of the more than 700 tennis matches played at Wimbledon as these unsung heroes seamlessly retrieve and deliver balls to the best tennis players in the world, ensuring that they can focus entirely on their game.

“I practiced rolling a lot at home and at sports centers near my house,” Hamoud said as she discussed the training and selection process from the 31 local schools that work with Wimbledon on the BBG program. “Only 10 students make it from each school so it is very competitive.”

The training includes specific routines for scoring -- such as knowing which end the balls should be at a given score -- and set pieces like marching, the procedures at the start and end of matches, tie breaks, ball changes and even suspended play -- every eventuality that they might encounter on the courts.

Throughout the five-month training period, candidates are constantly assessed by the instructor team and are also expected to self-evaluate their performance by identifying key areas for their own improvement.

Sarah Goldson, who oversees the selection process for Wimbledon BBGs and has directed the training since 2012, is the one to make the final selections of approximately 280 BBGs that are chosen from around 1,500 applicants each year, including 170 new recruits and 110 recall applications from those who have served in the previous two Championships.

“I just felt a sense of relief when I found out I got the job,” said Price. “We put in so many hours of training so it all feels worth it now.”

The tradition of BBGs at Wimbledon dates back approximately 100 years to the 1920s and 1930s when ball boys were provided by Shaftesbury Homes, one of the U.K.’s oldest children’s charities and has been active since 1843. But that all changed after World War II starting in 1946 when volunteers from institutions and schools began to take on the role.

The landscape would radically shift again in 1977 when ball girls were introduced to the tournament. From there, it took just three years for mixed teams of ball boys and ball girls to become standard practice in 1980.

It took a further six years for ball girls to make their debut on Centre Court, marking a significant milestone in the tournament's history just 38 years ago and 109 years after The Championships at Wimbledon began in 1877.

Now, as of 2024, the gender ratio is maintained at approximately 50% for girls and 50% for boys and there are no specific height or weight requirements for the role, though candidates must meet several criteria, including completing the training program, being physically fit and available for training, having thorough knowledge of tennis rules and scoring and prioritizing their commitment to the tournament.

To qualify for the full training program, candidates must score sufficiently across four areas of assessment during the winter trials where the competition is incredibly fierce, the difference between success and failure to becoming a BBG coming down to a mere one or two points in many cases.

Those who get through are then rewarded with even more intense training as the Championships approach and, in May, the BBGs move to training on grass towards the end of the program, including a dedicated grass court week on the Championships courts and during the wildcard playoffs for Wimbledon.

Furthermore, just two years ago in 2022, BBGs participated in the qualifying competition for Wimbledon for the first time, covering 10 to 12 courts over four days, a practice that Wimbledon says is now permanently integrated into the BBG calendar.

This, ultimately, prepares the BBGs for what they have been waiting for -- the main event at Wimbledon starting in early July.

“We start at 10 a.m. and we will stay until the last court is closed,” said Hamoud. “It’s a very long day.”

Hamoud isn’t wrong. The BBGs routine involves alternating one-hour periods on and off the court, giving them enough time to take breaks and while ensuring they remain alert and focused throughout the day.

For Hamoud and Price, who both grew up as tennis fans, being on the same courts with giants of the sport is an experience they’ll never forget and even though the demands on their time and energy can be heavy, neither of them would trade the experience for anything.

“I hope I get to see Djokovic,” Hamoud told ABC News. “I really want to see Andy Murray, he is a British legend,” echoed Price.

Both are aware that their experience can open doors to future opportunities within the sport, from playing to coaching to sports management, but whatever comes next and how they’re inspired following the 2024 Championships at Wimbledon is up to them.

After all, Hamoud and Price are getting their start exactly the same way a couple of former ball boys did who you may have heard of -- seven-time Grand Slam winner John McEnroe and 20-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer.

Said Federer in an interview upon his retirement from the game in 2022 as one of the greatest tennis players ever to have played the sport: “At heart, I am always going to be a ball boy.”

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) -- Here are the scores from Thursday's sports events:

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

INTERLEAGUE

Toronto Blue Jays 5, San Francisco Giants 3
Chicago Cubs 8, Baltimore Orioles 0
Houston Astros 6, Miami Marlins 3

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Detroit Tigers 10, Cleveland Guardians 1
Boston Red Sox 7, Oakland Athletics 0
Tampa Bay Rays 5, N.Y. Yankees 4
Seattle Mariners at Los Angeles Angels (TBA)

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Cincinnati Reds 8, Colorado Rockies 1
N.Y. Mets 7, Washington Nationals 0
Pittsburgh Pirates 1, Milwaukee Brewers 0
Philadelphia Phillies 5, Los Angeles Dodgers 1
Atlanta Braves at Arizona Diamondbacks (TBA)

WOMEN'S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION

New York Liberty 91 Chicago Sky 76

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(CHARLOTTE, N.C.) -- After a heated match on the pitch, emotions spilled over into the stands Wednesday night at the Colombia/Uruguay Copa America semi-final match in Charlotte, North Carolina.

About a dozen Uruguay players went into the stands and had to be removed by security personnel.

"Uruguay players have entered the stands and a fight has broken out between fans and players," read a post on the Fox Soccer X account, which was retweeted by Fox Sports, which aired the match.

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(NEW YORK) -- U.S. men's national soccer team coach Gregg Berhalter has been fired, officials said.

In a statement Wednesday, the U.S. Soccer Federation said Berhalter had "been relieved of his duties ... effective immediately."

“I want to thank Gregg for his hard work and dedication to U.S. Soccer and our Men’s National Team,” U.S. Soccer President Cindy Parlow Cone said in a statement. “We are now focused on working with our Sporting Director Matt Crocker and leveraging his experience at the highest levels of the sport to ensure we find the right person to lead the USMNT into a new era of on-field success.”

Berhalter's exit comes after the national team lost 1-0 to Uruguay in the Copa América tournament last week.

U.S. Soccer Sporting Director Matt Crocker has launched a search for Berhalter's replacement, U.S. Soccer said.

“We are deeply grateful to Gregg for his commitment the past five years to the Men’s National Team and to U.S. Soccer,” Crocker said in a statement. “Gregg has earned the respect of everyone within our organization and has played a pivotal role in bringing together a young team and moving the program forward. We wish Gregg all the best in his future endeavors, and we know he will find success in his next coaching position.”

Berhalter, 50, initially served as head coach from 2018 through the expiration of his contract in 2022, before being rehired in June 2023 on a contract through the 2026 World Cup.

As head coach, he saw a 44-17-13 record in 74 matches and a 29-9-7 record in official competitions, according to U.S. Soccer. Under his tenure, the team qualified for the 2022 World Cup. The team ultimately fell to the Netherlands in the round of 16.

As head coach, he led the team to winning the 2021 Gold Cup and two Concacaf Nations League titles.

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(NEW YORK) -- Former Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter pleaded guilty Wednesday to a single count of wire fraud conspiracy in connection with a gambling scheme that cost him his NBA career.

Porter, in a dark suit and tie, said "guilty" when asked by a federal magistrate in Brooklyn how he pleaded to the charge and admitted he withdrew from games so he and others could benefit from electronic bets placed on how he would perform.

"I knew what I did was wrong and unlawful and I'm deeply sorry for my conduct," Porter said.

An NBA investigation found Porter placed more than a dozen bets on basketball games, including in which he bet the Raptors would lose. He received a lifetime ban from the league in April.

The wire fraud conspiracy charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison but the former Toronto Raptors player agreed not to appeal anything less than five years. Porter will also be required to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines and restitution.

His lawyer said Porter became addicted to gambling and had amassed large gambling debts.

Porter was encouraged by his accomplices to clear those debts by withdrawing from certain games prematurely to make sure bets on his performance were successful, prosecutors say.

A league investigation found he tipped off other gamblers about his health and then falsely claimed he was sick so he could stop playing in at least one game, creating a windfall for those gamblers who placed parlor bets that he would underperform.

Four others have been charged by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York.

Porter's sentencing is set for Dec.18, 2024. The former NBA player was released on a $250,000 bond co-signed by his wife and his mother, both of whom were in the courtroom.

The judge instructed Porter to have no contact with four co-conspirators who have been charged in the case.

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