SAINT-DENIS, France app Before Gabby Thomas set foot on the Stade de Franceapps purple track, surrounded by 80,000 or so screaming spectators, her coach gave her some last-minute advice.

appThe only thing I needed to do was get the lead. Get the lead and then finish strong,app Thomas said, recounting Tonja Buford-Baileyapps counsel. appAnd I did that.app

Following precisely that easier-said-than-done plan, Thomas, a 27-year-old Harvard grad, sped to the victory in the womenapps 200 meters at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday night, finishing in 21.83 seconds to add a gold to the bronze she took home in the event from Tokyo three years ago.

She burst into the lead for good at the curve and was never challenged down the stretch, finishing well clear of 100-meter champion Julien Alfred of St. Lucia, who was 0.25 seconds off the pace in 22.08.

After Thomas crossed the line, she shouted and placed both of her hands on her head, looking every bit like someone enjoying what she called appthe happiest moment of my life.app

appI couldnappt tell you where my competitors were in that race, because I blacked out,app Thomas said.

Thatapps one explanation. Another would be that there was no one really all that near her.

Brittany Brown of the U.S. got the bronze in 22.20, 0.02 second in front of Dina Asher-Smith of Britain.

Out of three sprints so far on the purple track at Stade de France, the Americans have picked up two golds: Thomasapp triumph followed Noah Lylesapp success in the menapps 100 on Sunday night by a far slimmer margin: five thousands of a second.

appIt really was so inspiring, hearing Noah go after what he wanted and take it,app Thomas said. appI knew that if I were in any position in this race, I could still go after it and take it if I had to.app

US tops Brazil to make semis; Durant sets mark

All the favored teams in the first three menapps basketball quarterfinals at the Paris Olympics had problems. Canada lost to France. Serbia erased a 24-point deficit to beat Australia. Germany had to shake off a double-digit deficit before beating Greece.

So, going into the fourth and final game of the night, the U.S. knew what it had to do.

appWe wanted to come out and make sure we were the aggressor,app U.S. coach Steve Kerr.

They made it look easy, too. Devin Booker led a balanced front with 18 points and the Americans had little trouble with Brazil in the menapps basketball quarterfinals winning 122-87 on Tuesday.

The U.S. (4-0) moves on to face Serbia (3-1) in Thursdayapps semifinals, while Germany (4-0) takes on France (3-1) in the other semifinal. Winners of those games will play Saturday night for the gold medal.

appEverybody expects us to win,app U.S. forward Jayson Tatum said. appBut you donappt take things for granted, right? Canada lost earlier. Itapps a different game. Itapps not like playoffs, where itapps a series. Weappve got one game and a lot of (stuff) can happen in one game, especially over here.app

Kevin Durant scored 11 points and passed Lisa Leslie as the U.S. Olympic career scoring leader, menapps or womenapps. Leslie had 488 points in her four Olympic appearances, all of which ended with gold medals. Durant is trying to go 4 for 4 on the gold front as well; heapps two wins away from getting that done.

"Records are meant to be broken," Durant wrote on Twitter, "Iappll hold on to this until another great comes along and passes me upappLisa Leslie you are the gold standard in basketball, I appreciate your love and support throughout the years..much love to you alwaysappitapps all about the gold baby. Letapps get it fellas"

If there was one issue, it was this: LeBron James left in the third quarter after catching an elbow around his left eye, struck by Brazilapps Georginho de Paula while going for a rebound. James went down, eventually pressed a towel over the eye and left for the locker room area later in the third.

Kerr said James needed four stitches.

appIappm all right,app James said. appGot hit with an inadvertent elbow around the eye.app

US womenapps volleyball reaches semifinals

The reigning Olympic champion U.S. womenapps volleyball team posted a straight-set victory Tuesday night over Poland.

The Americans led throughout while taking the first two sets, 25-22 and 25-14. They fell behind 5-0 and 7-1 in the third set before rallying to close it out, 25-20.

Next up is a semifinal date Thursday with powerhouse Brazil, which swept the Dominican Republic earlier in the day. Itapps a rematch of the Tokyo Games final.

Turkey eliminated China with a 3-2 victory. It moved on to a matchup with Italy, which beat Serbia 3-0 in the final match of the day.

U.S. coach Karch Kiraly said he was thrilled to get his players off their feet sooner app and not have to play any extra sets, especially for setter Jordyn Poulter as she continues to regain her form in match play after a devastating left knee injury in December 2022 that required surgery.