By ANDREW DAMPF, Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — Katie Ledecky gritted her teeth and flexed her left arm atop the lane rope.

There was plenty of splashing, too, by one of the most accomplished swimmers to ever dive into the pool.

Ledecky dominated the 1,500-meter freestyle at the Paris Games on Wednesday for her eighth Olympic gold medal and 12th medal overall.

And that might not even have been the most impressive performance on a big night in the pool.

France’s Léon Marchand completed one of the most audacious doubles in swimming history by winning the 200 butterfly and the 200 breaststroke about two hours apart.

Leon Marchand, of France, celebrates after winning the men’s 200-meter breaststroke final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, July 31, 2024, in Nanterre, France. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

There was also a world record in the 100 freestyle as Pan Zhanle of China lowered his own mark.

Triathlon success

An ambitious plan to clean up the long-polluted Seine River paid off when the swimming portions of the Paris Olympics triathlons were finally held in the waterway Wednesday.

After a couple of canceled swim practices and a day’s delay because of the river’s water quality, the women’s and men’s events finished in spectacular fashion — on the Pont Alexandre III bridge with the Eiffel Tower in the background.

“It’s magical,” said newly minted gold medalist Cassandre Beaugrand of France. “It’s the best route we’ve had in a long time and I know all the other athletes feel the same.”

Beaugrand navigated slippery roads that turned the cycling portion into a series of spills following an early morning rain.

The men’s triathlon, which started less than an hour after the women finished, there was plenty of stifling heat and humidity to deal with as the sun came out in full force. Alex Yee of Britain used a burst at the end to catch and pass Hayden Wilde of New Zealand to win the gold medal by six seconds.

U.S. men beat South Sudan in basketball

The U.S. men’s basketball team had an easier time with South Sudan in the rematch than it did when the teams first met a couple of weeks ago. The U.S. clinched a trip to the quarterfinals with a 103-86 victory.

Guatemala’s gold

A spinal injury ended Adriana Ruano’s Olympic dream as a gymnast. She came back as a shooter and won Guatemala’s first Olympic gold medal.

Ruano was training for the 2011 world championships in gymnastics, a qualifier for the London Olympics the following year, when she felt pain in her back.

Adriana Ruano Oliva of Team Guatemala is congratulated by her coach as she wins the gold medal after competing in the Shooting Trap Women’s Final on day five of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Chateauroux Shooting Centre on July 31, 2024 in Chateauroux, France. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

An MRI showed the then-16-year-old had six damaged vertebrae — a career-ending injury — and Ruano’s doctor recommended she take up shooting if she wanted to stay in sports without aggravating her injured back.

That advice paid off Wednesday as Ruano won gold in the women’s trap with an Olympic-record score of 45 out of 50.

Djokovic still chasing gold

Novak Djokovic is three wins away from earning the only big title he lacks.

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Djokovic needed a bit of time to assert himself before taking control with a five-game run for a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Dominik Koepfer of Germany, reaching the singles quarterfinals for the fourth time at the Summer Games.

A gold medal is pretty much the only accomplishment of significance missing from the resume of Djokovic, a 37-year-old from Serbia who has won a men’s-record 24 Grand Slam titles and spent more weeks at No. 1 than anyone in the history of the computerized tennis rankings.

Djokovic next faces Staassefanos Tsitsipas.

Rafael Nadal’s Paris Games ended when he and Carlos Alcaraz were eliminated in the men’s doubles quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-4 loss to the fourth-seeded American duo of Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram.

Nuni Omot has been told by many people that he has NBA talent.

He believes he has an NBA game, as well, with his 6-foot-9 frame and versatility to shoot, create and defend multiple positions. That’s never been more true, he believes, than now.

Through years of play at various levels and locations of professional basketball, Omot has evolved into a greater and greater player.

“I’ve gotten better every year, and I think that people haven’t realized the growth that has happened. I continue to get better every year. I don’t think there’s much emphasis on that. Obviously, some people know the amount of work I put in,” Omot said before the start of the Olympics. “Obviously, the work is always going to show. Every year, I continue to get better, I continue to figure it out. The game continues to slow down as you play longer and as you continue to play. I think that’s my advantage, my versatility and for the years I’ve been playing, I’ve obviously gotten smarter, I’ve gotten better, I’ve gotten more wise and whatnot.”

But there are only so much chances to strut your stuff in front of important eye balls. One of those, the Mahtomedi grad knew, was in these Olympics. Specifically, in Wednesday’s group play bout against Team USA — the greatest collection of men’s basketball talent a competitor can lace their shoes up against.

Omot met the challenge. The 29-year-old forward scored 24 points on 8 for 12 shooting — including 3 for 5 from 3-point range — in South Sudan’s 103-86 loss in France.

Omot was the game’s leading scorer and one of the most impactful players on the floor. South Sudan out-scored the U.S. in Omot’s 28 minutes of play. The contest was justification for the way he feels about his game.

“A lot of guys that they’ve given so much credit and who they hype up so much, I’ve always found myself to either be at the same level or play even better than,” Omot said. “I don’t want to compare myself to other people, and I just continue to try to dominate every time I can and just show the reason why I should be playing at a level.”

South Sudan will meet Serbia — who’s led by reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic — in its final group play game on Saturday. If the Bright Stars win that game, they’ll move onto the quarterfinals in their first Olympic Games.

Each victory would guarantee another opportunity for players like Omot to prove themselves on a giant stage against high-level competition.

“For me, I feel like this is going to be a real big opportunity for myself, for people across the world to see who I really am as a player on the global stage,” Omot said before the games. “Obviously, I never played at the highest level in the NBA, I never played at the highest level in Europe, in Euro League, so my thing is just to show it’s never been talent that’s the issue. It’s just obviously people being able to see it live and against the best people, so I think this is going to be a huge thing for me.”

Thus far, he’s taking full advantage of the opportunity.

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GENEVA — The U.N. human rights office issued a report Wednesday saying Palestinians detained by Israeli authorities since the Oct. 7 attacks faced waterboarding, sleep deprivation, electric shocks, dogs set on them, and other forms of torture and mistreatment.

The report said Israel’s prison service held more than 9,400 “security detainees” as of the end of June, and some have been held in secret without access to lawyers or respect for their legal rights.

A summary of the report, based on interviews with former detainees and other sources, decried a “staggering” number of detainees — including men, women, children, journalists and human rights defenders — and said such practices raise concerns about arbitrary detention.

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“The testimonies gathered by my office and other entities indicate a range of appalling acts, such as waterboarding and the release of dogs on detainees, amongst other acts, in flagrant violation of international human rights law and international humanitarian law,” said U.N. Human Rights Chief Volker Türk in a statement.

Findings in the report, one of the most extensive of its kind, could be used by International Criminal Court prosecutors who are looking into crimes committed in connection with Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks and Israel’s blistering ongoing military campaign in Gaza.

Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.

In May, the ICC’s chief prosecutor sought arrest warrants for leaders of Israel and Hamas, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, over war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip and Israel.

Authors of the report said its content was shared with the Israeli government.

In response, the Israeli military said that abuse of detainees was illegal and against military orders. It said since the war began there have been cases where correctional staff have been dismissed for violating military rules in their treatment of detainees. Investigations are launched into all detainee deaths in custody, it said.

Israel’s prison services did not respond to an Associated Press request for comment.

Israel’s prison authorities previously told the AP that all Palestinian prisoners are treated according to Israeli law. However, Israel’s Ministry of National Security, the body in charge of prisons, says it has actively made conditions worse and purposefully overcrowded cells for Palestinians held on security charges since the war broke out as a policy of deterrence.

The ministry is headed by ultranationalist minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who has long called for harsher punishment, including the death penalty, for Palestinians held on terror charges.

The report also said detainees were taken from Gaza, Israel and the West Bank, and says Israel has not provided information regarding the fate or whereabouts of many, adding that the International Committee of the Red Cross has been denied access to facilities where they are held.

“Detainees said they were held in cage-like facilities, stripped naked for prolonged periods, wearing only diapers. Their testimonies told of prolonged blindfolding, deprivation of food, sleep and water, and being subjected to electric shocks and being burnt with cigarettes,” a summary of the report said.

“Some detainees said dogs were released on them, and others said they were subjected to waterboarding, or that their hands were tied and they were suspended from the ceiling,” it added. “Some women and men also spoke of sexual and gender-based violence.”

The report said the Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, had also “continued to carry out arbitrary detention and torture or other ill-treatment in the West Bank, reportedly principally to suppress criticism and political opposition.”

In New York, when asked at a news briefing about U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ reaction to the report, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said: “Our reaction is one of shock and one of horror in seeing these reports,” adding that it’s “critical that there be accountability for those responsible.”

On Wednesday, an Israeli military court extended the detention of eight out of nine soldiers being held over what a defense lawyer said were allegations of sexual abuse of a Palestinian at Sde Teiman — a shadowy facility where Israel has held prisoners from Gaza during the war. The soldiers’ detention triggered angry protests by supporters demanding their release.

The war in Gaza erupted after Hamas’ surprise attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people that day and taking 250 others hostage. Israel’s retaliatory operation has obliterated entire neighborhoods in Gaza and forced some 80% of the population to flee their homes. Over 39,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count.

Associated Press writers Jack Jeffery in Ramallah, West Bank, and Jennifer Peltz at the United Nations in New York contributed to this report.

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