PARIS – Two California alumni captured bronze medals on the penultimate day of the 2024 Paris Olympics, as Great Britain's Georgia Bell came back to finish third in the women's 1500m and Kitty Lynn Joustra helped Netherlands to a last-second 11-10 victory over USA in women's water polo.

Track & Field
It's been a long road to this moment for Bell, who elected to retire from the sport following her graduation from Cal in 2017. She has continued to build momentum over the past two years with a number of impressive performances, including this week's second-place finishes in both the first-round and semifinal heats of the 1500m.

Bell got out to a modest start in Saturday's 1500m final, sitting in eighth after the first 400m. She inched her way forward, moving into fourth place with the final 300m ahead of her. In a gutsy finish, Bell made her final move to the outside and finished in third place with a time of 3:52.61. It was the 11th-fastest time in world history, setting a new British record and making her the first Cal track athlete, man or woman, to medal in a non-relay event.

Bell's bronze was the third medal earned by Cal track & field athletes at the 2024 Olympics, giving the program its most podium finishes since 1920.

Women's Water Polo
Folllowing a heartbreaking penalty-shootout loss to Spain in the semifinals, Joustra and the Netherlands rebounded with a thrilling win against USA in Saturday's bronze medal match, keeping the Americans off the podium for the first time since women's water polo's Olympic debut in 2000.

After starting the fourth quarter down 9-6, Netherlands clawed its way back and Sabrina van der Sloot scored the winning goal with one second left, sealing the 11-10 win. 

Joustra scored at least once in each of the Netherlands' first six games, including a pair of two-goal outings. She becomes the eighth Cal women's water polo player to medal at the Olympics and the program's only medalist in Paris.

Representing Canada in the seventh-place game, Emma Wright added two more goals and Kindred Paul scored once in a 19-10 loss to Greece. Wright – Canada's team captain for the second straight Olympics – ends an impressive run in Paris which saw total 12 goals while scoring in all seven games.

Cal Athletics
20 Golden Bears have earned medals in this Olympics, good for third-most all-time for Cal. If USA men's water polo defeats Hungary in tomorrow's bronze medal match, the Bears will set a new record with 24 medalists.

USA will face Hungary at 1:35 a.m. PT. Nikolaos Papanikolaou and Greece will also be in action at midnight against Spain in the fifth-place game.