Olympics

Jordan Chiles' Wednesday got a whole lot better thanks to Flavor Flav ... 'cause hours after she was in tears over her lost Olympic medal -- the rapper gifted her a custom bronze clock that cheered her up right away.

Flav waited for the perfect moment to dole out the present to the Team USA gymnastics star -- at the VMAs in New York City, while the two were on stage presenting an award.

Flavor Flav turned to Chiles mid-speech and told her, "I know they tried to take your medal away. But you know what? I got you something that they can't take away from you."

Jordan Chiles is still clearly not over losing her Olympic bronze medal ... as she was seen fighting back tears while discussing the ordeal on Wednesday.

The emotional scene played out at the Forbes Power Women's Summit in New York City ... after the Team USA gymnast was asked to open up about the Paris Games controversy for the first time since it all went down.

She had to pause for several seconds to collect herself before she get her words out ... and when she ultimately answered the questions -- she said she felt like she had lost a part of her when officials took her bronze away.

2:08 PM PT -- Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital tells TMZ Sports that Dickson Ndiema's cause of death was due to "inhalation burns and sepsis with resultant pulmonary edema."

Pulmonary edema happens when too much fluid is in the lungs which makes it difficult for someone to breathe.

The ex-boyfriend of Ugandan Olympian Rebecca Cheptegei has died from the injuries he sustained after allegedly killing the runner in a fiery attack, according to local reports.

Dickson Ndiema succumbed to the ailments at a local hospital, authorities said. At the time, it was reported he suffered severe burns in the domestic violence incident that claimed Cheptegei's life.

"At the ICU he developed respiratory failure as a result of the severe airway burns and sepsis that led to his eventual death on Monday at 6:30 PM despite life-saving measures," Kenya's Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital CEO Dr. Philip Kirwa said.

Rebecca Cheptegei -- the Olympic distance runner who sustained burns on roughly 75 percent of her body after being attacked by her boyfriend -- has died at the age of 33.

The Uganda Athletics Federation confirmed the devastating news via X on Thursday ... saying, "We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of our athlete, Rebecca Cheptegei early this morning who tragically fell victim to domestic violence."

According to local authorities, Cheptegei -- who placed 44th in the women's marathon at the Paris Olympics -- got into an argument with her partner, Dickson Ndiema, prior to the burning on Sunday.

Washington Spirit midfielder Croix Bethune will not play again this season ... and it's all because she hurled out a ceremonial first pitch at a Nationals game last week.

The 23-year-old was tapped by the MLB org. to kick off its tilt with the Yankees on Aug. 28 following her gold medal success at the Paris Games ... and, initially, everything appeared to go off without a hitch.

The soccer star -- who was at the D.C. game with several other Olympians -- toed the rubber, threw the ball to a catcher ... and was all smiles throughout the process.

Viral Olympic breaker Rachael Gunn -- AKA "Raygun" -- is issuing a mea culpa to the entire community for all the backlash it faced following her Paris 2024 performance ... saying despite the end results, she truly tried her best.

Raygun did a sit-down interview with "The Project" on Wednesday ... where she addressed all the hoopla surrounding her infamous routine last month -- including the not-so-nice reactions.

"It is really sad to hear those criticisms, and I am very sorry for the backlash that the community has experienced," Raygun said. "But I can't control how people react."

Distance runner Rebecca Cheptegei -- who just competed in the 2024 Olympics in Paris -- was set on fire by her boyfriend in a brutal attack in Kenya over the weekend, cops say.

Trans Nzoia County Police Commander Jeremiah ole Kosiom told reporters the incident happened on Sunday ... after the athlete and her partner, Dickson Ndiema, had gotten into an argument over property.

"During the altercation," Kosiom said, "the boyfriend was seen pouring a liquid on the woman before burning her."

The USA men's 3x3 squad failed to bring home the hardware, but Jrue Holiday thinks he and his NBA brothers could yield different results if they teamed up for the Olympics ... telling TMZ Sports he likes their chances!!

We caught up with the Celtics champion and Paris gold medalist while he was working an honorary shift at Raising Cane's in Boston this week ... and he talked all about his "whirlwind" 2024.

"It's been fun," Holiday said. "Winning's not too bad."

Caitlin Clark had a pretty good night Wednesday -- she broke yet another WNBA record, logged a big victory ... and got to meet Simone Biles!!

It all happened at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indiana ... as Clark and the Fever were taking on the Connecticut Sun in a huge matchup.

Biles pulled up to watch the contest with Gabby Thomas -- and the two Olympic superstars were treated to quite the show from Clark.

Team USA rugby player Ilona Maher is continuing to ride the high of her 2024 Paris Olympic experience ... as she just posed in front of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cameras with her medal!!

The publication announced the bronze winner was its September digital issue cover model on Wednesday ... sharing the news with a ton of shots from a photoshoot in New York.

Maher joins names like Livvy Dunne, Angel Reese and Naomi Osaka who have shown off their athletic figures for the S.I. photogs in recent years.

Gable Steveson's NFL journey has encountered a setback -- the Buffalo Bills just waived the former two-time national wrestling champion and Olympic gold medalist ahead of the 2024 season.

NFL Network's Mike Garafolo broke the news on Tuesday ... saying the Bills opted to leave the developmental product off their initial 53-man roster, as all 32 teams need to get down to that number by 1 PM PST.

The 2020 Tokyo Games star signed a three-year deal with Buffalo this past May ... after he was released from the WWE, which he joined in 2021.

Flavor Flav's got airline passengers in their full upright position ... 'cause the dude flies so much he's basically a flight attendant -- quite literally.

The rapper shared a video where it looks like Southwest's has him on duty ... 'cause he's walking up and down the aisle handing out snacks to all the other passengers at 30K feet.

Check out the vid ... FF -- fully decked out in his 2024 Olympics apparel, complete with a custom watch hung around his neck -- seems happy to help out the crew, giving a "yeah, boy!"

Another Olympic medal disaster ... USWNT star Lynn Williams broke her gold medal while celebrating Team USA's win, and she's not happy!!!

Williams -- the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) all-time leading scorer -- held story time with her thousands of followers on TikTok, just weeks after USWNT won their fifth gold medal in Paris.

The 31-year-old broke down what happened.

Simone Biles now has some fresh wheels to pair with her new gold and silver ... the gymnastics legend revealed Thursday she copped a G-Wagon to celebrate her triumph in Paris.

The 27-year-old posed for a pic on the hood of the white Mercedes-Benz to show off the big purchase ... after telling her 12.7 million followers she ditched her old matte-black ride for the new car.

Biles captioned the photo with three emojis ... all showing she was stoked to have the new whip. She also revealed it's got some custom red interior ... which cushioned her Prada bag perfectly.

Stephen Nedoroscik is trading in the pommel horse for the dance floor ... the bronze medalist was just announced as one of the contestants on the upcoming season of Dancing with the Stars!

The U.S. gymnast appeared on Good Morning America to make things official ... where he was introduced while doing a version of a pommel horse routine, and by the looks of it, he hasn't missed a beat since his medal-winning performance!

The 25-year-old won't be the first Olympic gymnast to appear on the show ... Suni Lee, Simone Biles, Shawn Johnson and Aly Raisman have all appeared on the dancing competition in the past.

Katie Grimes admittedly had some things other than her opponents on her mind before hopping into the Seine River at the Olympics earlier this month ... telling TMZ Sports she was actually "nervous" about the water's cleanliness.

Of course, the E. Coli levels of Paris' famed body of water were a huge talking point in the leadup to the Games ... as the city dumped a fortune into making sure it was safe enough for athletes to swim in during the Olympiad.

On race days, officials deemed it was all OK for competitors ... but Grimes says when it was her time to dive in at the Aug. 7 marathon event, it was on her mind.