PARIS – IndyStar correspondent David Woods had a busy two weeks in Paris trying to keep up with Indiana's strong Olympic contingent.

Here are his top moments from the Paris Olympics. (He was in the venues to witness six — all but swimming’s medley relay, track cycling, basketball, gymnastics.)

1. Cole Hocker shocker

The Cathedral kid did it, stealing 1,500-meter gold from Josh Kerr and Jakob Ingebrigtsen. Cole Hocker, a 21-to-1 longshot, found room on the rail and ran to an Olympic record of 3:27.65 (equivalent to a 3:44.27 mile). To become Olympic champion in the 1,500 is to add one’s name to the greats: Paavo Nurmi, Herb Elliott, Peter Snell, Kip Keino, John Walker, Sebastian Coe, Noureddine Morceli, Hicham El Guerrouj. In a 53-year journalism career, this was the biggest sports event I ever covered.

More: Cole Hocker's gold 'sparks a national pride' as USA track dominated

21-to-1 longshot: How Cole Hocker pulled off biggest upset at Paris Olympics

2. No longer Syd the Kid

I was in the mixed zone (interview area) at Rio de Janeiro, where a 17-year-old Sydney McLaughlin sounded like she wanted to be at home with friends and not an Olympics. Eight years later, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone is the pre-eminent woman in track and field, and perhaps any sport. She set one world record in the 400-meter hurdles and nearly another in the 4x400 relay, missing by a tenth of a second. In six championship races since 2021, she has six world records, and I have witnessed five (four at Eugene, Ore.). McLaughlin-Levrone’s time of 50.37 is worth 1,323 points on World Athletics scoring tables — higher than 1,313 for the 100-meter world record of 10.49 set by Florence Griffith-Joyner at Indianapolis in 1988.

3. Lilly King’s last dance

Could not go out better than King did. The 27-year-old Hoosier, in her last Olympic swim, reclaimed breaststroke magic as part of a 4x100-meter medley relay team setting a world record. It was her sixth medal in three Olympics.

4. Chloe Dygert golden at last

I went to the individual time trial, believing the Brownsburg cyclist would win gold. She crashed on the slick roads and still managed to earn a bronze. Instead, she won her first gold at the velodrome, the first gold ever for U.S. women in team pursuit. Dygert was 25th Monday in the first stage of the women’s Tour de France, beginning in the Netherlands. After that, she aims at World Championships on the roads (September in Zurich) and track (October in Ballerup, Denmark).

5. Mondo’s ninth world record

Like LeBron, Tiger or Ronaldo, he needs no last name. It’s just Mondo. Mondo Duplantis, a pole vaulter from Lafayette, La. — who represents Sweden — set his ninth world record, each by one centimeter. His clearance of 6.25 meters equals 20 feet, 6 inches, or 5 ½ feet higher than the first 15-foot vault, by Cornelius Warmerdam, back in 1940. The first 20-foot vault was by Sergey Bubka in 1991. Mondo is effectively the face of track and field, succeeding Usain Bolt.

6. Carmel’s first swim medalist

I have been covering Drew Kibler since 2015, when he was a North Central freshman finishing third in the state in the 100-yard freestyle. He transferred to Carmel, and he became Carmel’s first Olympic swimming medalist when he was on the team finishing second to Great Britain in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay.

7. Distance runners break through

Fudging here a bit on No. 7, combining three in one. Grant Fisher kicked to bronzes in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters and Kenneth Rooks to silver in the steeplechase. Rooks’ time of 8:06.41, just .36 behind gold, was his best by nine seconds and a bigger surprise than Hocker.

8. Stephen Curry’s 3s-peat

Stephen Curry twice rescued Team USA. He scored seven of his 36 points in the final two-plus minutes of a 95-91 semifinal win over Serbia, which had led by 17. Then he made four 3-pointers in the closing 2:47 of a 98-87 win over France for the gold medal. He was 9-of-14 on 3s vs. Serbia, 8-of-13 vs. France – or 51 points on 27 shots.

9. Rajeev Ram silver again

Carmel tennis player Rajeev Ram, 40, became the oldest Olympic tennis medalist in 116 years. An Australian doubles team beat Austin Krajicek and Ram 6-7 (6-8), 7-6 (7-1), 10-8 on the Roland Garros court used for the French Open. Had not covered a tennis match since 2016, when Ram and Venus Williams won silver in mixed doubles at Rio.

10. Pommel Horse Guy

Stephen Nedoroscik had one job. He did it. The nerdy-looking, Rubik’s cube-solving Clark Kent-lookalike delivered a pommel horse routine that gave the U.S. men a team gymnastics medal for the first time since 2008. He and Indianapolis gymnast Alec Yoder, a 2021 Olympian, have been longtime rivals on this difficult apparatus.

Contact IndyStar correspondent David Woods at dwoods1411@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Top 10 Paris Olympics moments: Cole Hocker, Lilly King, Carmel medals