Day 18 - August 10, 2024
So the International Olympic Committee, by virture of the Court of Arbitration for Sport, has stripped Jordan Chiles of her bronze medal an awarded it to the Romanian Ana Barbosu. In case you don't know, when the floor exercises was finished in the individual apparatus finals, Jordan Chiles was officially listed in fifth, behding gold medal winner Rebecca Andrade of Brazil, silver medalist Simone Biles of the USA, Barbosu and a fourth-place Romanian. But, the US officials noticed that the scores, which are based upon a starting difficulty rating for the perforamnce, had been underscored for Chiles by .1. They appealed to the judges who corrected their error. That extra .1 point raised Chiles from 5th to 3rd, earning her the bronze medal, which was awarded at the podium. Romania then appealed that decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which concluded that the US coaches did not appeal in time, doing so four seconds after the one-minute deadline has expired. So, Barbosu was announced as the bronze medalist and Chiles dropped to fifth. The IOC has demanded the bronze medal awarded to Chiles be returned. The United States gymnastic officals state they have time-stamped video evidence of them appealing the decision at 40 seconds and 55 seconds after the conclusion of the meet, thus within the time frame. Who knows where this is going to end up?!
In the first ever Breaking events in the Olympics, the b-boy battle was decided with Canada's Phil Wizard winning gold in his battle over Frenchman Danny Dan, with American b-boy Victor (Montalvo) winning bronze. This is likely the only time Breaking will be contested in the Olympics, as it will not return in Los Angeles in 2028. Phil Wizard joins b-girl Ami from Japan as the Breaking gold medalists.
In ladies golf, New Zealand's Lydia Ko won gold, her third consecutive medal in the Olympics, and, with this win has now qualified for the Golf Hall of Fame,
In sport climbing, in the ladies boulder and lead, Janja Garnbret of Slovenia won the gold medal just ahead of thh USA's Brooke Raboutou (silver) and Jessica Pilz of Austria (bronze).
The USA also won silver thanks to Nevin Harrison's performance in the women's canoe singles 200 meters, just behind Katie Vincent of Canada, who won gold, and just behind Yarisleidis Cirilo Duboys of Cuba, who won the bronze.
Today a lot of emphasis fell to the team events, as the gold medal games happened to end the two weeks of game play. And none was as hyped as men's basketball where host France played the previously dominant United States close, and then Steph Curry scored 12 points in the last three minutes of the gold medal game to secure victory over the France and secure gold. LeBron James was named MVP of the tournament by FIBA, with Curry also making the first team along with Germany's Denis Schroeder, France's Victor Wembanyama, and Serbia's Nikola Jokic.
Nikola Jokic had only the fifth triple-double in Olympics history, as hed led Serbia to the bronze medal.
Despite falling short in basketball, France did win gold in men's volleyball, sweeping Poland 3-0. Poland settled for silver.
In women's soccer, a late goal by Mallory Swanson put the USA women up 1-0 against Brazil, and some great goalkeeping by Alyssa Naeher preserved the shutout, her third straight in the knockout rounds.
In women's handball, which was one of the most exciting tournaments during thes games, Norway was able to defeat the home crowd and France, bringing gold to the Scandinavians and silver to France. Seriously, if you haven't watched team handball, men or women, WATCH IT!
Women's water polo was also exciting in these games, and they wrapped up today with Spain defeating Australia 11-9 in the gold medal match.
But, as like most final weekends in the Olympics, the action on the track dominated. In a fantastic race, Emmanuel Wanyonyi of Kenya won the gold medal in the men's 800 meters, closely followed by Canada's Marco Arop (silver) and Djamel Sedjati of Algeria earned bronze. American Bryce Hoppel wa right on the heals of the medalists, finsihing in fourth as the top four runners all finished within .48 seconds of each other, with first and second separated by only .01 seconds.
And, as close as the men's 800 meter finish was, the women's 120 meter hurdles race waws even closer. American Masai Russell and France's Cyrena Samba-Myela both defeated the favorite Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico. Masai edged Samba-Myela of .01 of a second for gold.
At the 5,000 meter distance, Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen won gold ahead of Ronald Kwemoi of Kenya (silver) and the American Grant Fisher (bronze). Fisher is the first American ever to medal in the 5,000 and the 10,000 meter races at the same Olympics.
An even much farther distance, the marathon, was held today as well, with Ethiopia's Tamrit Tola winning gold ahead of Belgian Bashir Abdi and Benson Kipruto of Kenya.
The men's high jump was hotly contested, but New Zealand's Hamish Kerr came away with the gold, American Shelby McEwen earned silver, and defending gold medalist Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar winning bronze.
And then we get to the final races of the Olympics on the track (women's marathon still remains tomorrow), teh 4x400 meter relays, men and women, and we had some doozies. In the men's race, anchor leg Rai Benjamin held off 200 meter gold medalists Letsile Tobogo, setting an Olympic record and earning gold for the Americans. Tobogo, of Botswana, finished second for his country. By virtue of his running a leg in the qualifying rounds, Quincy Wilson, 16, becomes the youngest track gold medalist in US History.
Another gold for the US women, who absolutely dominated their race running the second fastest time every in the event, behind only the Soviet Union in Seoul in 1988. The American coaches pulled two runners from the relay inserting 400 meter hurdle gold medalist and world record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and 200 meter gold medalist Gabby Thomas into the 2 and 3 slots, between leadoof Shamier Little and anchor Alexis Holmes. The gold medal is Harvard's 13th medal at these games!
Athlete of the Day - Mallory Swanson, United States, Soccer
As deflated as the women's soccer team was after the last Olympics and World Cup, a new coach and a new outlook led to a gold medal, and a bright future for the entire team, but also its forwards, Sophia Smith, Trinity Rodman, and Mallory Swanson.
U.S. Athlete of the Day - Masai Russell, USA, Athletics
Her first victory in a major tournament was in the U.S. Olympic trials, and her second in these games.
Team of the Day - France Men, FRA, Volleyball
The host country dominated a Polan team that has the best player in the world, Wilfredo Leon.
U.S. Team of the Day - Women's 4x400 meter relay, USA, Athletics
Domination.
Olympic Term of the Day: b-boy; b-girl - Athletes that compete in breaking are called b-boys (males) and b-girls (females).
Olympic Events Watched: Athletics, Basketball, Breaking, Canoe, Golf
USA Closing Ceremony Flag-Bearer (listed alphabetically): KATIE LEDECKY, NICK MEAD
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