The Paris Olympics were a stage for epic comeback stories for athletes, the businesses that support them — and even the Games themselves, Ina and Sara report.

• Why it matters: Fans love feel-good victories so much (especially in an iconic setting), they're tuning into the Games at an unprecedented rate.

Team USA athletes with redemption stories more valuable than gold:

• Simone Biles won four medals, including the gymnastics team and individual all-around golds — marking a dramatic return to dominance after withdrawing from the Games in Tokyo.
• Her teammate, Sunisa Lee, came back from kidney disease to win team gold and bronze medals in the all-around and uneven bars.
• Jordan Chiles and Jade Carey overcame adversities of their own, all of which led Team USA to dub its Paris journey "the redemption tour."
• Sha'Carri Richardson won the silver medal in the women's 100 meters and gold in the 4x100 relay — an especially sweet victory for the sprinter after being denied a spot at the last Olympics for failing a marijuana test.

The U.S. women's soccer team defeated Brazil today, capturing the team's first Olympic gold since 2012.

• Brittney Griner returned to international basketball competition after spending 10 months in Russian captivity — and welcoming a baby just days before the Games began. The U.S. women's basketball team has advanced to Sunday's gold medal game.

📺 NBC enjoyed its own redemption story, breathing a sigh of relief with rebounded TV ratings in its first post-pandemic Games that stand in stark contrast to Tokyo's empty stands and masked athletes.

🌐 International stories also captured global attention:

• Imane Khelif of Algeria won the gold medal in the 66-kilogram (145-pound) boxing tournament amid vicious attacks amid questions about her gender.
• The tiny island of St. Lucia won its first gold medal, thanks to Julien Alfred, who defeated Richardson in the 100 meters.
• Thea LaFond won gold in triple jump for Dominica — an island that doesn't even have its own track.

🇫🇷 The Games are also a redemption story for France, which faced skepticism from the world about everything from security to pollution in the Seine — and for the Olympics themselves, which have dealt with manifold crises in recent years, including Zika in Rio in 2016 and COVID in Tokyo and Beijing.

• Read on.

This year's Games appear more inclusive than ever on TV. But women are still fighting for certain rights behind the scenes, Sara writes.

• Elite athletes globally still earn less than men. In the U.S., President Biden signed a federal law last year to ensure Team USA women get the same pay and benefits as men in the same sport.

🧢 French sprinter Sounkamba Sylla was told by the French government she couldn't participate in the opening ceremony if she wore a hijab. She and the government eventually compromised, and Sounkamba wore a baseball cap to ride down the Seine with the French team.

The Paris Games made history as the first in which an equal number of women and men participated. But parity isn't equity — a fact that's also been on full display, Ina writes.

Even with no transgender women competing at the Paris Olympics, the questioning of athletes' gender triggered major controversy:

• Boxers Khelif and Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting endured global online abuse, and questions about whether they should be competing. Both received strong support from the International Olympic Committee and their home countries, as well as from fans in Paris. Each earned medals in Paris.
• Rugby player Ilona Maher — who helped lead Team USA to a surprising bronze, and drew much attention to the sport — also faced gender-based attacks.

Maher and Khelif are flipping the conversation back on critics, saying this kind of bullying is toxic and dangerous:

• "It can destroy people — it can kill people's thoughts, spirit and mind," Khelif told SNTV. "It can divide people. And because of that, I ask them to refrain from bullying."
• "I get the comments of being called a man, being called too masculine, because I have muscles," Maher told TIME. "I know that it's from very sad, insecure people online. But I know they're saying it to other girls as well. And that's what I don't like."

The big picture.

The majority of Team USA medals awarded so far during this summer's Olympic Games have gone to women, Sara writes.

Medal count: 115 total medals, ♀️ 63 women, ♂️ 46 men, 7 mixed. Women have received more than twice as many golds (23) as men (11).

Women have won medals across many outdoor events, including cycling, shooting and rugby. But the biggest wins so far have been indoors. Some standouts:

🤸‍♀️ Gymnastics:

• Simone Biles: 3 gold, 1 silver.
• Sunisa Lee: 1 gold, 2 bronze.
• Jordan Chiles: 1 gold, 1 bronze — at least for now.

🏊‍♀️ Swimming:

• Katie Ledecky: 2 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze.
• Kate Douglass: 2 gold, 2 silver.
• Torri Huske: 3 gold, 2 silver.

🤺 Fencing:

• Lee Kiefer: 3 gold.

👟 Track:

• Sha'Carri Richardson: 1 gold, 1 silver.

AI was on full display at the Games — the risks and the rewards, Ina writes.

• A number of professional and amateur sports use AI — particularly machine learning — to help sort and categorize footage and offer areas for improvement.

Why it matters: AI holds huge potential for helping teams and athletes gain insights into their performance and adjust their training accordingly.

💡Reality check: AI is expensive, prompting fears it'll benefit rich countries that already dominate the medal count.

The bottom line: That's one of the risks that prompted the IOC to develop its Olympic AI Agenda, outlining its vision for the technology.

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Ina caught up with two Olympic guests who traveled all the way from Sesame Street — Elmo and Abby Cadabby.

The sites they're seeing: Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe and the Louvre.

Elmo's favorite part of the Olympics: "Countries from all around the world cheering on each other, and they are working together."

The Olympic sport they want to compete in: artistic swimming.

• Because it's like being a mermaid, Abby said.

Watch the interview ... More Axios Olympics coverage.