When they compete at the Paris Games, they're just athletes at their peak. The emphasis is not that they're coming from regions ravaged by war.

The Olympics — focused on celebrating peace — has brought together 10,500 athletes, including those from countries where 110 armed conflicts are raging. These are conflicts that often are not grabbing attention as the wars in Gaza and Ukraine dominate headlines.

Women's boxing at the Paris Olympics has highlighted the complexity of drafting and enforcing sex eligibility rules for women's sports and how athletes like Imane Khelif of Algeria and Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan are left vulnerable in the fallout.

When eligibility for women's events has come into question, it often has been a legally difficult process for sports bodies that has risked exposing athletes to humiliation and abuse. In the 1960s, the Olympics used degrading visual tests intended to verify the sex of athletes.

Pushing and shoving in one race on the track. A cameraman walking into the action in another. Leg cramps and untimely misses in the field.

The often-routine qualifying rounds at Olympic track and field took some strange turns Wednesday with a four-man pileup in one men's 5,000-meter heat, a cameraman who walked into the other and drama in the high jump that left the defending co-champions in dire straits.

Sam Welsford had just dismounted from his space-age bike, the one that costs about as much as a Range Rover, and looked at the record time his teammates from Australia had just set in the men's pursuit at the Paris Olympics.

"I reckon," Welsford said with a charmed smile, "we'll have to go faster for gold."

Boxer Imane Khelif of Algeria advanced to the gold-medal bout in the women's welterweight division at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday night, moving one win away from what she calls the best response to the worldwide scrutiny she has faced over misconceptions about her gender.

With one more victory, Khelif would win Algeria's second boxing gold medal and its first in women's boxing.

Here's a quick guide to artistic swimming at the Paris Olympics.

Why aren't men competing in artistic swimming for the 2024 Olympics?

Thierry Henry stood with his arms outstretched, facing the jubilant crowd and soaking up the atmosphere.

The final of the men's football tournament at the Paris Olympics was in sight after France had been pushed to the limit by Egypt in Monday's semifinal at Stade de Lyon.

Juanlu Sanchez came off the bench to fire Spain to a record-equaling fifth Olympic men's football final on Monday.

Sanchez struck in the 85th minute at Stade de Marseille to seal a 2-1 win over Morocco and set up a final against France at the Paris Games.

No one can match America's depth at the pool.

That said, claiming the top step on the Olympic medal podium is no longer a given for U.S. swimmers.

Hours after he knelt on the red clay, after his body shook as he cried, after he finally got to kiss an Olympic gold medal won for Serbia, Novak Djokovic was asked whether he can consider his tennis career complete.

He already had 24 Grand Slam trophies, after all, putting him ahead of rivals Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer — and every other man who's played the game. He already had a record 400-plus weeks ranked No. 1. And now, at age 37, he collected the gold he desperately wanted, something Nadal (in singles in 2008 and doubles in 2016) and Federer (in doubles in 2008) had but Djokovic did not until Sunday's 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2) victory over Carlos Alcaraz.