Day 19 - August 10, 2024
For these entire Olympics I have been able to mention a type of controversy that was brewing from that day, whether it be political, event-related, or imagined - but something each day became a story that people disscussed that wasn't about the competition. I have refrained from mentioning the biggest one because it is disgusting and I did not want to even mention the man's name. But, since I have made it to the end without doing so, I am going to mention the story so that you - my readers - know that I am not ignoring it to ignore it, but rather was purposefully trying not to add to the publicity of Steven van de Velde. Van de Velde is a beach volleyball player from the Netherlands that was convicted of child rape in 2016 in England. The incidents occurred when he was 19 and the child was 12. He was transferred from prison in England to the Netherlands and was after serving only 13 months of a 4-year sentence. He qualified for the Netherlands beach volleyball team, and participated in the Olympics, where he was booed more than cheered, the latter part to which I say - way to go Olympic attendees and fans.
Today was the last day of the Olympics, with only a few medal events being played and I will begin with the most exciting event of the day, the women's basketball gold medal match between the United States and host France. The United States, led by A'ja Wilson, narrowly defeated France 67-66, to keep their 61 game winning streak in the Olympics in tact, as well as their 8th straight gold medal. This games was very sloppy, and physical, and the scored showed it, but Wilson had 21 points and 13 rebounds, and Kahleah Copper and Kelsey Plum each had 12 points coming off the bench. Kelsey Plum follows-up her gold medal in 3x3 from Tokyo with this year's basketball gold medal. Australia defeated Belgium for the bronze medal.
In women's volleyball, Italy defeated the United States 3-0, cementing itself as the best volleyball team in the world by unseating the defending gold medalists.
In the water, the United States men salvaged the bronze medal over Hungary by winning the shootout 3-0. Serbia won the gold over Croatia 13-11.
In the men's team handball gold medal game, Denmark absolutely dominated Germany, winning 39-26. Spain beat Slovenia for the bronze.
At the velodrome, American Jennifer Valente won the omnium, which is a points conglomeration of 4 different cycling events; the scratch race, tempo race, elimination race and points race. The women's scratch race is a 7.5 kilometer race, with points being awarded to cycleists based upon their finish. The tempo race is a complicated race where riders earn points by winning sprints during each lap and by lapping the field whereas riders who are lapped are deducted points. The winning rider is the one that accumulates the most points, not the one that finishes first. The elimination race is a race in which the field participates in a sprint race every other lap, and the last place finisher is dropped - or eliminated - from the competition. The rider that lasts the longets wins this race. The points race is exactly that, a points race. This is an 80 lap race with a spring every 10 laps. The winners of laps accumulate points (5,3,2,1) or a rider gains 20 points for lapping the field. The winner is the rider that accumulates the most points in all four races, and that was Jennifer Valente! Poland's Daria Pikulik won silver and Ally Wollaston of Australia earned bronze.
On the wrestling mat, American Kennedy Blades lost to Japan's Kagami Yuka 3-1 in the gold medal match, to win the silver medal.
The best performance yesterday belonged to Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands, who won the marathon gold medal ahead of Ethiopia's Tigst Assefa (silver) and Hellen Obiro of Kenya (bronze). This came on the heels of already winning bronze in both the 5,000 meters and the 10,000 meters earlier in the week. This is the first time a female has won medals in all three distance races, and the only runner since Emil Zatopek of then-Czechoslovakia to achieve this feat in Helsinki 1952.
I may end up doing a wrap-up post, or perhaps a post on the Closing Ceremonies, with the former more likely than the latter, but for now, it's on the Los Angeles in 2028.
Athlete of the Day - Sifan Hassan, Netherlands, Athletics
She won the gold medal in the marathon after already competing in the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters earlier this week, and won the bronze medal in all of them.
U.S. Athlete of the Day - Jennifer Valente, USA, Cycling
Won her second gold of these Olympics in the Omnium, a series of races combining speed, endurance, and recovery.
Team of the Day - Denmark Men, DEN, Handball
Just absolutely dominated the gold medal match.
U.S. Team of the Day - USA Women, USA, Basketball
Despite all the pressure of a 60-game winning streak and a 7 consecutive gold medal streak, along with playing in front of a raucous crowd dying for a upset of the US juggernaut by France, the U.S. women managed to pull-out the gold medal 67-66.
Olympic Term of the Day: clean-and-jerk; snatch - Both are weightlifting terms. The former is a two-movement lift in which the weight is raised to shoulder level, and then raised above the head in a second movement. The latter is a one motion lift in which the competitor takes the barbell from the ground overhead in one continuous motion.
Olympic Events Watched: Basketball, Closing Ceremonies, Cycling, Handball, Water Polo
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