Olympics Day 14 briefing: Noah Lyles' COVID diagnosis, big day on the track for Team USA, men's basketball survives

Team USA women's volleyball defeated Brazil in a deciding fifth set Thursday. They now advance to Saturday's gold-medal match against Italy, looking to repeat their championship performance from the Tokyo Games.

Female swimmers took to the Seine River once again Thursday morning, this time for the open-water 10km race. Americans Katie Grimes and Mariah Denigan finished 15th and 16th, respectively. Despite concerns for recontamination from rain flooding, only a few triathletes reported being ill after swimming in the river last week.

Medal count

Three big things about Team USA

1. Men's basketball survives Serbia scare

Team USA made an epic fourth-quarter comeback Thursday to defeat Serbia 95-91 and advance to the gold-medal game. Down 13 at one point, Steph Curry's team-leading 36 points were vital in getting back into the game. The U.S. will play host nation France in Saturday's final, looking to win its fifth straight gold medal.

2. Big medal day in track & field

Despite the Lyles news, it was a huge medal day for Team USA. Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone won back-to-back golds in the women's 400m hurdles, setting a new world record. Teammate Anna Cockrell won silver after disqualifying in the same event in Tokyo. Tara Davis-Woodhall and Jasmine Moore won gold and bronze, respectively, in the women's long jump. Grant Holloway completed an undefeated season by winning gold in the men's 110m hurdles. His teammate Daniel Roberts eked out silver over Jamaica's Rasheed Broadbell.

3. Women's water polo suffers semifinal upset, will play for bronze medal

The women of Team USA water polo lost to Australia in a shootout Thursday, meaning they will not be able to try for a record fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal. Instead they will play for bronze against the Netherlands on Saturday.

You won't believe this

Team USA's Samuel Watson won bronze in men's speed climbing Thursday, breaking his own world record at 4.74 seconds. But, Watson didn't finish first — how could he set the world record? In sport climbing, each race is a one-on-one elimination round. So, even if an athlete doesn't make the gold-medal final, it's still possible for one to post the fastest time in the world without finishing first in the competition. In this instance, Watson blazed past his opponent in the third-place race after he was eliminated in the semifinal.