Noah Lyles is the world’s fastest man, Harris veepstakes enter the final stretch: Weekend Rundown

Noah Lyles wins 100m gold in a photo finish

Bold-talking American sprinting star Noah Lyles arrived at the Paris Olympics announcing his intentions of leaving with four gold medals.

On Sunday, he took the gold in the men’s 100-meter final — by five-thousandths of a second. He came out just barely ahead of Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson and the U.S.’ Fred Kerley.

The race was so close that even the commentators nearly called the wrong winner before the photo finish, which showed Lyles first to lean over the finish line even as others managed to step over it before him.

According to Olympic rules and regulations, the first athlete whose torso reaches the closest edge of the finish line is the winner. That means the trunk of the body is what counts, as opposed to the head, limbs or feet.

Novak Djokovic wins the Golden Slam

Even the characteristically tough Novak Djokovic couldn’t help but shed a tear at the end of the men’s singles final.

The Serbian tennis legend had won all four Grand Slam titles and practically every honor there is in the sport, but the Olympic gold medal had escaped him. He had tried five times to win the gold, failing each time.

That finally changed Sunday when Djokovic, 37, defeated Carlos Alcaraz to win his first gold.

Simone Biles claims medal number 10

Simone Biles’ Olympic medal collection has officially reached double digits. She claimed her 10th Olympic medal and seventh gold in the vault apparatus final Saturday, defeating the demons she experienced at the same event in Tokyo three years ago when the infamous “twisties” descended.

Despite speculation about a potential retirement, Biles said after Saturday’s competition that she hasn’t ruled out Los Angeles in 2028, when she would be 31.

“Never say never,” Biles said. “The next Olympics is at home, so you just never know, but I am getting really old.”

On Sunday, Suni Lee held down the fort as the only American in the uneven bars final, earning a bronze and defending her podium finish in Tokyo. Algeria’s Kaylia Nemour fulfilled her long-awaited destiny by winning gold. Qiu Qiyuan of China took silver.

‘I want to tell the entire world that I am a female’

Algerian welterweight Imane Khelif, backed by a sizable cheering section, beat Hungarian Anna Luca Hámori on Saturday, meaning she is guaranteed at least a bronze medal.

“I want to tell the entire world that I am a female, and I will remain a female,” Khelif said after questions about her sex arose.

Lin Yu-ting, a featherweight representing Chinese Taipei who has also faced scrutiny, is also guaranteed a medal after her quarterfinal victory Sunday.

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said earlier that “hate speech” directed at the two athletes is “totally unacceptable” and stressed there isn’t “any doubt” they are both women and eligible to compete.

Other Olympic highlights:

• Underdog is an understatement for Kristen Faulkner, the American cyclist who didn’t even qualify for the Olympics but is now going home with a gold medal.
• Bobby Finke and the U.S. women set world records in the 1,500-meter freestyle and the 4×100-meter medley Sunday. Team USA is now taking home the most gold medals from this quadrennial swim meet.
• Katie Ledecky can’t be stopped. The U.S. swimmer won her ninth gold and 14th overall medal Saturday, taking the 800-meter freestyle and concluding her fourth Olympic Games in style.
• Racing in a downpour, Julien Alfred won the first Olympic medal in any sport for Saint Lucia on Saturday when she took gold in the women’s 100-meter final. Sha’Carri Richardson came in second.
• The crowds are full and raucous at the Paris Olympics. Outside the events? Not so much. Business is down for shops, restaurants and cafés. Taxi drivers sit idle at their ranks, some blaming the Olympics for driving away fares.

Who will win Kamala Harris’ veepstakes?

Three Northern governors, another one from a ruby-red conservative state, a border-state senator and a Cabinet secretary with a talent for communication have all met with Kamala Harris’ team in recent days as she picks a running mate.

Whom Harris will select remains an open question — though we’ll know the answer by Tuesday, when she is set to appear with her running mate for the first time during a battleground-state tour that begins in Philadelphia.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz are under strong consideration.

Five of the six prospects have cultivated their state and national profiles by being prominent figures in the MAGA “resistance.”

Here’s how each could uniquely help the Democratic ticket — plus the potential drawbacks already getting attention.

Politics in brief

Across the aisle: The Harris campaign has announced a new push to win over Republican voters in an effort to mobilize swing-state voters who cast ballots for former GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley.

Debatable: Donald Trump has said he will no longer take part in a September debate on ABC, instead pushing for a debate on Fox News. The Harris campaign accused him of “running scared.”

Vance’s worldview: JD Vance’s ascension to the national spotlight makes him the most visible advocate of the New Right movement, particularly when it comes to foreign policy.

‘Weird’ politics: Democrats have been using the word “weird” to describe Trump and Vance. Republicans have responded in part by using the word against trans and other LGBTQ people.

SCOTUS reform: Justice Neil Gorsuch responded to President Joe Biden’s proposal for sweeping Supreme Court reforms, telling him to “be careful.”

Florida braces for a storm; heat wave scorches the West

Tropical Storm Debby is likely to register hurricane-strength winds before it reaches Florida’s south-facing Gulf coastline, National Hurricane Center forecasters say. It is expected to reach the Florida Gulf coast late Sunday or Monday as it continues to draw strength from warm, tropical water.

There will also be more extreme weather inland, with a heat wave expected to bring unusually high daytime temperatures across the Northwest, the Rocky Mountains, the desert Southwest and Southern California.

And as punishing heat spreads across the Deep South this summer, inmates at Mississippi’s largest prison say they are sweltering in cells where temperatures can easily climb into the triple digits. The issue drew the scrutiny of the U.S. Justice Department four years ago, but despite efforts to upgrade the only maximum-security prison for men in the state, inmates say the situation hasn’t improved.

Far-right riots consume multiple U.K. cities

The United Kingdom woke up Sunday morning to city streets covered in debris and smoldering rubbish as a weekend of far-right, anti-immigration demonstrations — stoked by conspiracy theories spread on social media after the killing of three girls in Southport — erupted into violence in seven cities across the country.

A library in Liverpool, which was reopened last year as an “education to employment” service for people of all abilities, was set ablaze, while in the city of Hull, rioters smashed a window at a hotel housing asylum-seekers as demonstrators clashed with police.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has vowed to take action against “extremists” stoking disorder, with police detaining at least 100 people over the weekend.

Israel braces for attack after assassinations

Israel fears a potential multiday attack by Iran and its ally Hezbollah in response to the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh and Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr, an Israeli official told NBC News.

“They’ll just try to wear us out,” the official said.

The tension represents yet another escalation in the Middle East during the 10 months of the Israel-Hamas war, characterized by a series of heightened stress points amid worries that an all-out regional conflict is on the horizon.

In ‘Vacationland,’ workers struggle to find homes

Companies that cater to the tourist industry along Maine’s picturesque Midcoast are thriving, and many want to expand. But with housing costs soaring, they are instead battling to recruit and retain workers.

Maine’s housing crunch isn’t new, and it’s hardly unique, with affordable housing shortages crimping hiring in South Florida, Nashville, Tennessee, and Atlanta.

But “Vacationland” encapsulates a dilemma at the heart of the economy: A massive wave of consumer spending has powered the pandemic rebound, yet surging shelter costs continue to prop up inflation.

In case you missed it

• A Florida deputy was dead and two others were hospitalized with injuries after what authorities called an “ambush” shooting overnight Friday.
• A 5-year-old boy died when a bounce house full of children was carried into the air by a wind gust before it crashed on a baseball field in Maryland, authorities said.
• A little-known federal law has forced nearly 122,000 disabled veterans in the last 12 years to return the payouts they received to leave the military, according to data obtained by NBC News.
• Investigators looking at the telephone records of suspected fentanyl traffickers from Mexico discovered a surprising partner: Chinese criminal groups.
• Two “Saturday Night Live” cast members who made history when they were hired, Punkie Johnson and Molly Kearney, have announced their exits from the sketch comedy show.
• Following the huge success of Korean beauty trends in the U.S., simplified beauty routines from Japan are now also gaining attention.
• “Deadpool & Wolverine” is dominating the box office on its second weekend. The Marvel Cinematic Universe film has already broken multiple records, including highest domestic gross ever for an R-rated feature, held for more than 20 years by “The Passion of the Christ.”