Olympics - Paris 2024 - Day 15

Day 15 - August 7, 2024

Well, the biggest problem today isn't an actual controversy, for once, but is a black eye for Australia's field hockey team.  Tom Craig, a FeeHocker (shoutout to Blackish), wa arrested for purchasing cocaine.  I don't know if he did or didn't, but I do know that he was arrested for it.  That being said, good to see the controversies had nothing to do with anything that occurred in our around the actual events.

Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat has definitely had an up-and-down memorable Olympics.  Qualifying in a weight class lower than the one in which she participated in Tokyo 2020, Phogat went on to upset Japanese star Yiu Sasaki in teh quarterfinals.  Sasaki won the gold medal in Tokyo without even surrendering a single point to any point during the entire tournament.  She then won her quarterfinal and semifinal matches to advance to the finals.  However, before the finals began, Phogat failed to make weight by about two-tenths of a pound.  This despite a lot of time in the sauna, and even cutting her hair.  Phogat then fainted later in the day and went to the hospital, suffering from dehydration.  She then announced her retirement from wrestling on X (Twitter).

In that weight class, Sarah Hildebrandt of the USA, who was supposed to wrestle Phogat, instead defeated Yusneylis Guzman Lopez for the gold medal in wrestling.

Showing off his own strength, USA weightlifter Hampton Morris won third place in his weight class, earning not only the bronze, but the first medal in weightlifting of any kind for the United States since 1984, games it should be noted that the Eastern Bloc countries boycotted.  Congratulations Hampton!

Another American flourishing at these Olympics is Kristen Faulkner, a cyclist that only took up cylcing six years ago.  She followed-up her gold medal performance in the road race by leading her team to the gold medal - her second of these games - in the women's team pursuit.  Faulkner, Chloe Dygert - a bronze medalist in the cycling time trial - Jennifer Valente, and Lilly Williams, defeated a New Zealand team that had beaten them in a preliminary round for gold.  Faulkner's gold medal is the 11th medal at these games for Harvard alumni and/or students.  ELEVEN!

On a different track, US track athletes had a great day today as well.  In the 3000 meter steeplechase, American Kenneth Rooks took off in a sprint in front of a lead pack of about 7 (some were spread out a little bit - but they were all in touch with each other), later saying "what did I have to lose".  Although he was caught and passed by defending Olympic champion Soufiane El Bakkali of Morocco, Rooks won the silver.  Rooks, who is only in his second international race at this distance, seemed to be an unknown quantity to the rest of the finishers as they didn't even appraoch him to congratulate him like they did El Bakkali, but it didn't look like anger or jealousy, but more like, "Who is this guy?"  Abraham Kibiwot of Kenya finished with the bronze.

Steeplechase world record holder Lamecha Girma of Ethiopia fell over a hurdle on the penultimate lap and hit his head hard on the track.  He was transported on a stretcher, and later a gurney, to the hospital where he is recovering well.

And then there was the men's 400 meter dash.  Quincy Hall of the US dug down deep within himself, and passed 3 other runners in the last 30-40 meters in order to capture gold for the US!  Hall's finish was spectacular, as he was looking like he was putting so much into his final sprint that he might fall down.  You can tell from his facial expressions that he literally had nothing else to give as he was picking off runners.  Hall passed Zambia's Muzala Samukonga who held on for bronze, and at the line, nipped Matthew Hudson-Smith of Great Britain, earning the Brit the silver.  This was Zambia's third medal ever, and the first since the great Samuel Matete.

Nina Kennedy of Australia wins gold in the women's pole vault, followed by the USA's Katie Moon (silver) and Alysha Newman of Canada (bronze).  Newman will be the one remembered, though, for her twerking celebration.

In team sports, there was no better place to be than in the water polo pool.  In the first semifinal matchup, Greece scored against Serbia with 11 seconds left on the clock to tie the match.  In a rush Serbia speeds up their transition, where Greece fouled with 3 seconds left; stopping the clock.  The Serbia player picks up the ball, fires it toward the net, and in for a victory and a date in the finals.  But this was just the appetizer.  

The entree match pitted the United States versus Australia, where the United States scored a second goal early to tie it up 2-2.  But wait, there's more.  On the play, the American's Johnny Hopper was issued a red card on a brutality call - he threw a punch - pulling the goal off the board, ejected Hopper, gave Australia a penalty shot - which they hit, and a 4:00 power play.  The score was 5-1 Australia at the end of the first period, but then it was 5-5 at the end of the third period.  At the end of regulation, the score was 7-7 and went to a shootout, where US goalie Adrian Weinberg made two saves for the US to win the match 4-3 on penalty shots.Weinberg had 11 total saves in the match - as the US adance to play Serbia in the gold medal match.

In the other pool, China won the team artistic swimming event capturing gold, leaving the silver for the United States and the bronze medal for Spain.

In other team sports, the United States fell to Poland in the men's volleyball semi-finals, as they just didn't have an answer for the best player in the world, Wilfredo Leon.  The Americans will be battling for the bronze medal later this weekend.

In kid's sports, just kidding, Keegan Palmer of Australia won gold in skateboarding, American Tom Scharr secured silver, and the bronze medal was awarded to Brazil's Augusto Akio.

Athlete of the Day - Quincy Hall, USA, Athletics

Not only did he comeback down the final backstretch to pass 3 athletes to win gold, he did it in the fourth fastest time ever.

Team of the Day - Poland Men's Volleyball Team, Volleyball

That team is good, but it is mostly because Wilfredo Leon is a bad, bad boy.

U.S. Team of the Day - Women's Team Pursuit, USA, Cycling

Gold medalists in the team pursuit.  Second gold for Kristen Faulkner, second medal for Chloe Dygert.

Olympic Term of the Day:  Brutality Call - A water polo call in which the offending player is "demonstrate obvious intent to injure another player."

Olympic Events Watched:  Athletics, Basketball, Beach Volleyball, Kayak, Skateboarding, Volleyball, Water Polo

USA Potential Closing Ceremony Flag-Bearer (listed alphabetically): Simone Biles, Ryan Crouser, Caleb Dressel, Brady Ellison, Kristen Faulkner, Cole Hocker, Vincent Hancock, Torri Huske, Lee Kiefer, Katie Ledecky, Ilona Maher, Tom Murphy. Sophia Smith, Gabby Thomas

Olympics - Paris 2024 - Day 14

Day 14 - August 6, 2024

Since I have been able to find something controversial that has occurred everyday, let's see what today brings ...  Well, US 3x3 athlete Hailey van Lith stated that the referees in 3x3 had it out for the Americans, not wanting them to win in 3x3 like the do indoors.  Nah - that is just complaining, especially since the US women won bronze medal after starting 0-3.

Given all the uproar about the "transgender" [Ed. Note - she is not transgender] Algerian boxer, and to a lesser extent the Taiwanese boxer, you would think an uproar would be caused by the fact that Henry Fieldman from Great Britain, a man who previously won a bronze medal in rowing in Tokyo, just won bronze for Great Britain in the women's eights in rowing.  Then, we find out he was the coxswain, and rowing allows the coxswain in the men's or women's eights to be of any gender.  No news there.

Then, I found out that trainers have been noticiing that horses in the equestrian events have been developing blue tongues, which is a key sign of oxygen deprivation.  This should be news, except that it is in equestrian!!!  These Paris games have been HOT, HOT, HOT, and still a lot of Americans do not believe in climate change.  Being in Florida, I might not even be allowed to say "Climate Change" (not quite true, but almost.)  All kidding aside, this is a serious issue, and animals used in competition should be taken care of as good, if not better, than the human athletes.  I hope that none of the horses suffer serious long-term effects from this.

With regard to the action, today was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!!  Yes, I meant to capitalize that and add three exclamation points.  It was simply, GREAT!

And the greatest, perhaps of all time, was/is Mijain Lopez, the Cuban heavyweight wrestler, who won gold when he defeated his former training partner Yasmani Acosta Fernandez 6-0 in the gold medal match.  In winning gold, Lopez became the only athlete in any sport to win the gold medal in a single event 5 separate times (meaning 5 separate Olympics).  Entering Paris, 4 athletes had won 4 golds in one event, which I have written about previously (Al Oerter, Carl Lewis, Michael Phelps and Lopez himself).  That number was reached by two other athletes, including Katie Ledecky, which I have written about previously, also.  But today, Lopez rises above the rest by winning his fifth; (Beijing 2008, London 2012, Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020, and Paris 2024).  Lopez, now 41, had planned on retiring after Tokyo, but despite not competing in events since then, was convinced to return by the Cuban wrestling federation.  It was a glorious return to gold, after which Lopez definitively announced his retirement by removing his shoes and leaving them on the mat - a tradition of retirement in the sport.  Congrats Mijain, your retirement is well-earned.

 

Staying on the mat, American Amit Elor - just 20 - won her first gold medal in the 68 kilogram weight class by easily defeating Kyrgystan's Meerim Zhumanazarova 3-0.  Elor, who was never seriously challenged the entire meet, including three wins by technical fall, announced her presence as potentially the next great wrestling Olympian, especially given the fact she has not lost a match since 2019.

Hoping to join Elor as a gold medalist is Sarah Hildebrandt, whose victories in the meet so far have advanced her into the gold-medal match.  Hoping I will get to write about her again!

Staying in combat sports, Omari Jones lost his semi-final fight via split decision, meaning he earns bronze for the tournament, becoming the only American to win a medal in Paris.  Boxing, as of right now, will not be contested in Los Angeles in 2028, but the LA organizing officials are hoping that they will be able to include the sport in the games.

Kellie Harrington of Ireland won the gold medal of China's Yang Wenly in the 60kg weight class.

The United States women's volleyball team advances to the semi-finals by defeating Poland, and looking the best they have all tournament in doing so.

In women's soccer, the United States defeating Germany 1-0 in extra time thanks to a magnificent goal from Sophia Smith.  The shoutout guarantees the USA a medal, and they will face Brazil, a 4-2 victor in its semi-finals matchup - in the gold medal game.

The USA mens basketball team dominated Brazil to advance to the semi-finals in what was a phenomenal day of basketball for superfans and casual fans alike.  Serbia won its quarterfinal duel to advance to play the Americans, matching up the last two NBA MVPs in Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid.  In other action, FIBA Denis Schroeder led Germany into the semi-finals defeating Greece, and the team most felt was best-situated to challenge the Americans, Canada, fell to host France, despite what seemed like a million points from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.  I have to give credit to my friend JWeiss for coming up with both FIBA Denis Schroeder and FIBA Patty Mills - Akin to "Playoff Rondo."  

In the US game, Kevin Durant became the leading all-time Olympic scorer passing the immortal Lisa Leslie.

In perhaps the most dominating performance yesterday, the Netherlands' men's team sprint in cycling set a new world record in its semi-final race, only to eclipse it again to win gold.  Nobody else was even close!  And if you haven't watched Olympic cycling in a velodrome - DO IT!

At the skate park, Australia's Arisa Trew, just 14, led a collection of teenagers to the podium winning gold just ahead of Hiraki Cocona of Japan (15 - silver), and Great Britain's Sky Brown (16 - bronze).

Sam Watson of the USA broke his own world record in the sport climbing speed event, traversing the 15 meter wall in 4.75 seconds during qualifying.  Watson broke the record just moments after his previous record of 4.79 was tied by Indonesia's Veddriq Leonardo.

Approximately the world away, in Tahiti, the surfing medals were decided.  For the women, Caroline Marks of the USA defeated Tatiana Weston-Webb of Brazil for gold, with Johanna DeFay earning bronze.

In men's action, Kauli Vaust of France won gold by defeating Jack Robinson of Australia, who earned bronze.  Brazil's Gabriel Medina captured bronze by winning the bronze-medal match, and the hearts of all Olympians with this qualifying round photograph!

Athletics is always one of the most anticipated sports in the Olympics, but rarely is the anticipation matched by the deliver on the field as it was today.  For starters, in the women's 3000 meters steeplechase, Bahrain's Winfred Yavi overtook Peruth Chemutai of Uganda - the reigning Olympic champion - to not only win gold but to also set an Olympic record.  Chemutai looked in absolute shock at the finish line as she claimed silver, and Kenya's Faith Cherotic earned bronze.

Camryn Rogers of Canada, the reigning world champion in the women's hammer throw, uncorked a gold-medal winning throw on her last attempt to capture first place, defeating the USA's Annette Echikunwoke, who slipped to silver.  Zhao Jie of China earned the bronze.  Echikunwoke won the first ever medal in the women's hammer for the United States while Rogers added the women's gold medal to Canada's men's hammer gold medal.

In the men's 1500 meters, Norway's Ingebrigtsen - the defending Olympic champion - and Josh Kerr of Great Britain - the defending World Champion - had engaged in one of the best pre-Olympic trash talking episodes that we have ever seen.  And they were bot ready to prove it on the track, at least until the back stretch where America's Cole Hocker passed them both to set an Olympic record and win gold for the USA.  Running with Hocker, fellow American Yared Nuguse also passed Ingebrigtsen to win the bronze medal.  Kerr settled for silver, but it is unlikely that the fact he beat Ingebrigtsen means anything to him at this point.  The Hocker-Nuguse finish was the first time the US has won two medals in the 1500 meters since Stockholm in 1912.

And as great as the Hocker victory was, it was simply the appetizer to the women's 200 meter dash final.  With no Jamaican women qualified for the finals, it appeared to be Gabby Thomas's gold medal for the taking, and take it she did, running the turn like nobody else in the world to outdistance 100 meter gold medalist Julien Alfred of St. Lucia, who won silver.  American Brittany Brown came from behind at the finish line to win silver.  Thoms has secured the 4th gold medal, and 6th overall, for athletes from Harvard, and she is expected to participate in the 4x100  meter relay for a chance at another.

Athlete of the Day - Mijain Lopez, Cuba, Wrestling

He stands alone with 5 gold medals in 5 separate Olympics.

U.S. Athlete of the Day - Cole Hocker, USA, Athletics

Unexpeted gold medal and Olympic record in the 1500 meters.

Co-U.S. Athlete of the Day - Gabby Thomas, USA, Athletics

Gold medal performance in the 200 meter dash.

Team of the Day - Netherlands Men, Netherlands, Cycling team sprint

Set a world record in the semi-finals, and then re-set it in the gold medal sprint!

U.S. Team of the Day - Women's Soccer, USA, Soccer

Heading to the gold medal match after a Sophia Smith 95th minute gold in extra time.

Co-U.S. Teams of the Day - Women's Volleyball, USA, Volleyball

Dominating performance - their best of these Olympics - over Poland to advance to the semi-finals.

Olympic Term of the Day:  Velodrome - An arena for track cycling.  It features steeply-banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degree circular bends connected by two straights.  The straights transition to the circular turn through a moderate easement curve.

Olympic Events Watched:  Athletics, Basketball, Beach Volleyball, Boxing, Cycling, Handball, Soccer, Sport Climbing, Volleyball, Water Polo, Wrestling 

USA Potential Closing Ceremony Flag-Bearer (listed alphabetically):  Simone Biles, Ryan Crouser, Caleb Dressel, Brady Ellison, Kristen Faulkner, Cole Hocker, Vincent Hancock, Torri Huske, Lee Kiefer, Katie Ledecky, Ilona Maher, Tom Murphy. Sophia Smith, Gabby Thomas

Olympics - Paris 2024 - Day 12

Day 12 - August 4, 2024

I have been trying my best to watch as many events as possible, which means that in order to maximize events, I have missed some of the general news, and such was with Saturday's big news surrounding the sprints.

Sha'Carri Richardson of the United States and Jamaican legend Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce were both denied entrance to the warm-up facility on Saturday due to the fact that they made their own travel arrangements and did not arrive on the Olympics-provided shuttle bus.  Apparently they had done the same thing for the previous days, but on Saturday, they were told that they had to walk to a different general entrance that required about an hour walk to-and-fro the other entrance.  Both runners were told that this was a rule change from the day prior.  So, given that neither runner was going to have their normal prep time/warm-up, and given that Fraser-Pryce, in her fifth Olympics, was nursing a bit of an injury, the Jamaican chose to DNS (did not start) rather than risk further injury.  Richardson did run the 100 meter semi-finals, but she did not look her top self.  She did win the semi-finals after a fabulous run by St. Lucia's Julien Alfred, but again Richardson did not run her top time.  Was she affected?  Probably for her semifinal run, but she most likely was able to do he rproper warmup for the final.

In bad news, the Belgian delegation announced that they would not be participating in the triathlon relay due to the fact that one of their triathletes became sick after the women's triathlon event, and they believe that swimming in the contaminated Seine River may have caused.  There is no way the Paris Olympic Committee could have seen this coming, since swimming has been prohibited in the Seine for over 100 years because of said contamination.

The men's 100 meter final has already been written about - A LOT - and deservedly so.  I am just going to say WOW, and congratulations to Noah Lyles of the USA (gold), Kishane Thompson of Jamaica (silver) and Fred Kerley of the USA (bronze).  Each runner finished the race under 10 seconds, and here is the finish line!

Lyles was truly one of the superstars entering these games, and his gold medal solidified his status as a track legend, even before the 200 meters and the 4x100 meters.  Two other superstars entering Paris are Novak Djokovic and Scottie Scheffler.  Novak Djokovic defeated Carlos Alcaraz in an instant classic 7-6, 7-6, easily taking both tiebreakers.  This completes the career Golden Slam for Novak Djokovic (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, US Open, Olympic gold), joining Steffi Graf, Andre Agassi, Rafael Nadal, and Serena Williams.

Scottie Scheffler came to these games the number 1 ranked player in the world, but entering Sunday's final round, Scheffler found himself in sixth place, and 4 shots out of the lead.  Jon Rahm Made the turn 

in the lead, and after the 10th hole, found his lead had grown to 4 shots.  But Scheffler birdied four holes down the stretch to take the lead, which he did not relinquish, even as the remaining leaders finished after he did, with Tommy Fleetwood of Great Britain needing to chip in from about 80 feet to earn a playoff.  Fleetwood earned silver and Japan's Hideki Matsuyama won silver.  Scheffler definitely cherished this win, as he showed his emotions on the podium!

From one emotion to another ... let's go to the badminton court.  Rio 2016 gold medalist in singles, Carolina Marin from Spain did not have the opportunity to defend her title in Tokyo thanks to a left ACL tear in 2019 and a right ACL tear in 2021.  She goes up 10-6 in the second set of the semi-finals before falling straight to the floor as she attempted to return the shuttlecock.  She immediately rolled onto her stomach and screaming.  The entire room went quiet (and keep in mind they play several matches simultaneously).  After a long time down, Marin gets up and puts a knee brace on her right knee to try to continue, and now ahead 10-7, she makes one step toward the shuttlecock and let's out a scream.  She goes down crying as we all know it is another knee injury.  She is surrounding by her coaches (which incidentally, her personal coach was also named coach of the French team, but he took that job only on the condition that he would also be allowed to coach Marin), trainers, her opponent - who exhibited nothing by genuine class and concern - and the officials.  You could see that the officials were trying not to ask the coaches if Marin could not continue because they did not want to force the coaches to have to say yes, but alas, they did.  She gets up and is helped to the sideline with the entire arena standing and applauding.  Get well soon Carolina.

Two other superstars competed in the last day of swimming, and succeeded in winning gold.  First, Caleb Dressel was fresh off his 9th gold medal won the day prior as the US team won the 4x100 mixed medley relay.  (He was not mentioned as winning his 9th medal in yesterday's update as Ryan Murphy and Nic Fink swam in the finals; with Dressel winning a gold from his participating in the semi-finals round.  His 9th gold medal ties him for second of all time with Paavo Nurmi, Larissa Latynina, Mark Spitz, Carl Lewis and Katie Ledecky.)  Dressel swam the third leg - the butterfly leg - in the 4x100 medley relay, and was amazing, clocking a 45.9 second leg.  He single-handedly gave the team a chance for gold while simultanesouly pulling away from third, fourth and fifth places.  But, the 10th gold was not to be, as China, with two swimmers who have had prior positive steroid tests swept under the rug, defeating the USA.

Bobby Finke took the lead immediately in teh men's 1500 meters freestyle, with a 54 second first lap, and tired the field quickly to the point where no other swimmer could mount a charge as Finke finished in world record time! 

Another world record was set in the pool as the United States women set the record in winning gold in the 4x100 meter medley relay.  The team of Regan Smith (backstroke), Lilly King (breaststroke), Gretchen Walsh (butterfly), and Torri Huske (freestyle) secured the gold over the Australians (silver), and also secured the title of most golds in the pool for the US with 8, over Australia's 7.

Also in the pool, Sweden's Sarah Sjoestrom maintained her dominance in the sprints by winning gold in the 50 meter freestyle to go along with her gold in the 100 meter freestyle.

Sunisa Lee won bronze on the uneven parallel bars, finishing just behind Qui Qiyuan of China who won silver, and the gold medalist Algeria's Kaylia Nemour.

The United States women's basketball team secured the number 1 overall seed in the knockout rounds by crushing Germany, mostly behind the strength of the bench, which outscored their opponents 52-13 in this game.  Both basketball teams are huge favorites to win gold.

At the skeet shooting venue, American Austin Jewell Smith secured the bronze medal, shooting better than everyone except Chile's Francisco Corvetta (gold) and Britain's Amber Rutter (silver).  Tomorrow is the first ever mixed team skeet shooting event, and with Jewell Smith winning the bronze, and Victor Hancock securing gold in the men's event, the USA should be primed to medal.

In the men's archery gold medal match, Brady Ellison of the USA competing against South Korea's Kim Woo-jin, and after both secured the same amount of points after all 5 sets, they went to a 1 arrow arch-off.  And despite hitting the 10 point bullseye, Ellison's arrow was just a bit farther from the center from Kim's, giving the South Korean the gold and Ellison the silver.

And, in Harvard athlete news, Kristen Faulkner, an alternate for the cycling road race who is competing in the indoor cycling events, took to the road race when Taylor Knibb withdrew to concentrate on the triathlon.  Faulkner, with Belgian Lotte Kopecky, began to chase Marianne Vos and Blanka Vas, who had taken off much earlier to form the lead.  Faulkner and Kopecky caught them with about 6 kilometers remaining, and Faulkner kept pushing the attack.  Kopecky, Vos and Vas just started looking at each other, and none of them had the will, or the ability, to try to go with Faulkner.  Faulkner continued unabated to the finish line for gold.  Kopecky, Vas and Vos finished in a photo finish for silver and bronze, with Vos from the Netherlands winning silver and Kopecky earning bronze.  The tally so far in these games for Harvard athletes is now 3 golds and 1 silver.  

The table tennis men's final was amazing, as 19th seed Truls Moregard of Sweden gave Chinese world champion Fan Zhendong all he could handle, but Zhendong was too much, winning gold.

Back at the track, Ukranian and Australian athletes dominated the women's high jump, with Ukranian world champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh winning gold and her compatriot Iryna Geraschenko earning bronze.  The Australians Nicola Olyslagers (silver) and Eleanor Patterson (bronze) also captured medals.

But I don't think we will see any ending like that men's 100 meter final.  Here it is again!

Athlete of the Day - Noah Lyles, United States, St. Lucia, Athletics

Delivered on all the hype in winning gold in one of the marquis events of the Olympics, in an ending that will be discussed for years.  Bobby Finke and Kristen Faulkner with honorable mentions.

Team of the Day - 4x100 meters women's medley relay, USA, Swimming

Regan Smith, Lilly King, Gretchen Walks and Torri Huske for a world record, and the gold that decided the team "competition".

Olympic Term of the Day:  Shuttlecock - In badminton, the cork to which feathers are attached to form a cone shape, or similar item of plastic, to be struck with the badminton rackets.

Olympic Events Watched:  Archery, Athletics, Badminton, Basketball, Beach Volleyball, Cycling, Golf, Kayak, Shooting, Swimming, Volleyball

USA Potential Closing Ceremony Flag-Bearer (listed alphabetically:  Simone Biles, Ryan Crouser, Caleb Dressel, Brady Ellison, Kristen Faulkner, Vincent Hancock, Torri Huske, Lee Kiefer, Katie Ledecky, Ilona Maher, Tom Murphy

Olympics - Paris 2024 - Day 9

 Day 9 - August 1, 2024

One thing and one thing only dominated yesterday, and it was a topic that I wanted to avoid until it actually occurred but was something that us "amateur" sports enthusiasts knew was brewing.  And, although technically inapplicable here, the issue is one of transgender women in sports.  I will try to be as thorough as I can, but also as brief as possible as I want to get to the actual sports as quickly as possible.

The issue surrounds Imane Khelif, an Algerian boxer, and what happened in her first round fight agains Angela Carini from Italy.  Carini retired 46 seconds into the fight after taking one punch to the nose from the Algerian fighter.  The controversy comes from the fact people believe Carini retired because she was fearful for her safety fighting against a "man".  Carini didn't help matters by refusing to shake Khelif's hand after the fight - for which Carini later apologized and even said she would embrace Khelif.  

So, the issue about Khelif being a "man" is that she was suspended by the IBA - the International Boxing Association - for having failed a test which said her chromosomes are XY.  It should be noted that the IBA is run by a Russian, who moved its headquarters to Russia after the leader secured funding from Russia, and the "test" occurred after Khelif had defeated a Russian fighter.  The IBA never produced the results of the test, only saying that she must  be XY because her testosterone was so high.  Also of note is that the IBA has been discredited as an agency and no longer oversees amateur or Olympic boxing.  

Anyway, Khelif was born female, has female sex organs - and always has - participated in the Olympics in Tokyo in 2020, and hails from a country that outlaws gender-reassignment surgery and practically outlaws anything it considers gay, bisexual or lesbian.  If Khelif was a transgender athlete, she would be more likely to be arrested or executed than representing Algeria in the Olympics.

There is a legitimate discussion that can be had about transgender athlete's participation in certain women's sporting events - but this is not the situation upon which to have that discussion.

Can I get to the good stuff now?  Good.

Simone Biles, Simone Biles, SIMONE BILES!!!  After a subpar performance in the uneven parallel bars left her third after two rotations of apparati, Biles nailed her vault and floor exercises to secure the gold medal in the individual all-around.  Rebecca Andrade of Brazil won silver and Biles' USA teammate Suni Lee earned bronze!  Biles is truly the GOAT - and they should retire that term!

Another All-Time Great, Katie Ledecky, won her 13th medal, the most all-time by an American female athlete, as the US won silver in teh 4x200 meter freestyle relay.  Australia dominated for gold, but they cannot take away Ledecky's record-breaking swim.

Also at the pool, a current and future great, Summer McIntosh of Canada, won the 200m butterfly final for her second gold medal of these events.  The 17 year old has won three total medals in Paris.  Following her on the podium were silver-medalist Regan Smith, and bronze-medalist Zhang Yufie of China.

Fellow American Kate Douglass won gold in the 200m breastroke, besting South Africa's Tatjana Smith and Tes Schouten of the Netherlands, who won silver and bronze respectively.

Equally as dominating as Biles and Ledecky has been the USA women's basketball team who have won 56 consecutive Olympics games.  Correction, 57, as they slowly pulled away from a Belgian squad that looks like medal contender.

Athletics - the formal name of Track & Field - started, with the men's 20km walk.  Ecuador's Brian Pintado pulled away from the leaders with one 1km lap remaining to coast to the gold medal.

In "non-traditional" sports, the USA - and HARVARD - won gold around Paris.  First at the rowing venue, the USA won gold in the men's fours despite facing the favorites and world champions from Great Britain.  Nick Mead, Justin Best, Michael Grady and Liam Corrigan - a Harvard alumnus - rowed their way to America's first rowing gold in this event since 1960!

Harvard making its presence felt - AGAIN - in fencing as the USA won gold in the team foil.  Jacqueline Dubrovic, and Maia Mei Weintraub were led by gold medalist Lee Kiefer with silver-medalist Lauren Scruggs (a rising senior at Harvard) securing the winning point!  Go Crimson!

In judo, Azerbaijan secures a gold in the men's 100kg division as Zelym Kotsoiev defeated Georgia's Ilia Sulamanidze 10-1.

Athlete of the Day - Simone Biles, United States, Swimming

How could it be anybody but?

Non-Simone Biles Athlete of the Day - Brian Pintado, Ecuador, Athletics/Summer McIntosh, Canada, Swimming

The 20km racewalking is no joke.  McIntosh now has 2 golds, and 3 overall medals at 17 years of age.

Team of the Day - USA Women, Fencing

Individual and team gold for Lee Kiefer; Individual silver and team gold for Lauren Scruggs in foil.  Great work ladies!

American Non-Simone Biles Athlete of the Day - Katie Ledecky, United States, Swimming

breaking a career record usually gets you noticed on here.

Co-American Athletes of the Day - Liam Corrigan, United States, Rowing/Lauren Scruggs, United States, Fencing

Harvard Gold Medalists!!!

Olympic Term of the Day:  Repechage - Boats that do not qualify for the next round from a heat, participate in an additional race, with the winners then qualifier for the next round.  That additional race is called a repechage.

Olympic Events Watched:  Archery, Athletics, Basketball, Beach Volleyball, Golf, Gymnastics, Swimming, Tennis

USA Potential Closing Ceremony Flag-Bearer (Alphabetically - Capitals indicate a potential favorite to this point):  SIMONE BILES, Chloe Dygert, Brady Ellison, Torri Huske, Casey Kaufhold, LEE KIEFER, KATIE LEDECKY, Ilona Maher, Tom Murphy

Olympics - Paris 2024 - Day 5

Day 5 - July 28, 2024

The controversy of the day involves the Brazilian swim team.  Brazil sent home swimmer Ana Carolina Vieira after she left the athlete's village with her boyfriend - fellow swimmer Gabriel Santos - without clearing it with the team beforehand.  Santos was given a warning, but Vieira was sent home.  The Brazil swim team leader, Gustavo Otsuka, claims that they were both warned, but then they found out Vieira questioned the lineup of the 4x100 meter freestyle relay team that finished 12th in the heats, failing to advance to the finals.  But we all really know what happened - Santos is a he, and his behavior is somehow not as bad as Vieira's, the woman.  And yes, this is 2024.

In what could have been the biggest news of the entire Olympics, Simone Biles injured her calf during a warm-up on the floor exercises.  After some treatment and getting her leg wrapped, she completed the floor exercises, the vault, and the uneven parallel bars, and she finised in first overall, as did the US team.  Sunisa Lee - the defending Olympic all around champion - will be the other American in the all-around finals, narrowly nipping teammate Jordan Chiles, who finished fourth overall.  Chiles failed to qualify for the individual all-around because the rules only permit two finalists per country, maximum.

We just missed one of the potentially all time biggest upsets in sports history as the Netherlands' women's archery team took the 9 time defending South Korean team to a ninth and deciding game in the semi-finals, before faultering on their last shots.  Yes, I said - 9 TIME DEFENDING CHAMPION!!!  After the late loss in the semi-finals, the Netherlands lost  5-4 to South Korea, they then lost their bronze medal match to Mexico. South Korea, in the finals, won its second consecutive 5-4  over China to win gold.

The South Korean women were equally amazing in the 10 meter air pistol shooting event, with Oh Ye Jin winning gold and Kim Yeji winning silver, with India's Manu Bhaker earning bronze.  The Italians were able to put 2 men on the podium in the 10 meter air pistol event, with Federico Nilo Maldini wining silver just ahead of compatriot Paolo Monna (bronze).  They both finished behind China's Xi Yu.

In the biggest upset so far in the Olympics, Cuban boxer Julio Cesar La Cruz - in search of his third gold medal in boxing in the Olympics, lost in the first round to Loren Berto Alfonso Dominguez of Azerbaijan.  Dominguez, a Cuban-born exile who defected to Azerbaijan, defeated La Cruz in a split decision, ending La Cruz's attempt to become only the fourth athlete ever to win 4 boxing gold medals.

Japan's dominant team in women's skateboarding finished with the gold and silver as Yoshizawa Coco (gold) and Akama Liz (silver) beat the old woman of the competition, 16 year old Rayssa Leal of Brazil, who earned the bronze.

Kazakhstan and Moldova both earned their first medals of these games in judo, with Gusman Krygyzbayev winning bronze in judo for the former, and Denis Vieru winning bronze in for the latter.  Both finished behind Japan's Abe Hifumi (gold), who defeated Brazil's Willian Lima 10-0 in the gold medal match.  In the women's 52kg final, Uzbekistan's Diyorka Keldiyorova defeated Kosovo's Distria Krasniqi 1-0 for the gold, the first for Uzbekistan in these games.  Krasniqi (OK you caught me, I just wanted to type Krasniqi again) won the first medal for Kosovo.

In US team  news, Haley Batten won the silver medal in women's cross-country mountian biking, finishing just behind France's Pauline Ferrand Prevot, who secured gold.  Jenny Rissveds of Sweden earned the bronze.

The United States women continued winning on the pitch with a 4-1 victory over Germany.  They have now scored almost double the amount of goals (7) as they did the entire World Cup (4).  Sophia Smith scored a brace and Mallory Swanson added her third goal of these games.  The US secures a berth in the knockout rounds, but will have a final tune-up group match against Australia.

US women secured more medals for the team in the epee portion of the fencing program as Lee Kiefer defending her gold medal from Tokyo, defeating teammate and Harvard fencer Lauren Scruggs in the final.  Scruggs secured the silver with her performance at these games.

The United States men's basketball team easily defeated the reigning MVP Nikola Jokic's Serbian team behind 23 points from Kevin Durant and 21-7-9 from LeBron James.  Next up for the US is South Sudan, who defeated Puerto Rico in a hotly contested, fun-to-watch match.

As we always know, the first week is dominated by the pool, and the action there did not fail to astound.  France's wunderkind Leon Marchand set an Olympic record in winning gold in the 400 meter individual medley.  American Carson Foster earned the bronze, just behind Japan's Tomoyuki Matsushita, both well behind Marchand.

The women's 100  meter butterfly final featured two Americans, Gretchen Walsh - the world record holder, and Torri Huske, and these two highly ranked women did not disappoint as Huske took home the gold just ahead of Walsh.  Huske finished fourth, just .001 off the podium in Tokyo, so this race was some sweet redemption for her.  China's Zhang Yufei finished fourth.

But the race of the day was the men's 100 meter breastroke, in which Italy's Nicolo Martinenghi narrowly upset the sport's best breastroker Adam Peaty of Great Britain, who tied for silver with American Nic Fink.  It is a good thing they use computerized timing devices because we could not visibly determine the winner from the overhead camera view as Martinenghi's time of 59.03 just narrowly outtouched both Peaty and Fink at 59.05. Peaty had won the gold medal in the event in Rio in 2016 and Tokyo in 2020.  Hours after finishing the race Peaty tested positive for Covid, putting his remaining events in doubt.

Athlete of the Day - Leon, France, Swimming

He thoroughly dominated the 400 meter individual medley, long considered the quintessential race to determine the best all around swimmer.

American Athlete of the Day - Lee Kiefer, United States, Fencing

Defending her gold-medal winning performance from Tokyo in the epee.

Olympic Term of the Day:  Epee - Fencing - The Epee is the heaving thrusting sword in fencing, as opposed to the foil, which is the light, flexible thrusting sword, and the sabre, which is the shorter, slashing sword with a larger guard.

Olympic Events Watched:  Archery, Basketball, Beach Volleyball, Fencing, Gymnastics, Rugby, Skateboarding, Soccer, Swimming, Volleyball

USA Potential Closing Ceremony Flag-Bearer (Alphabetically):  Chloe Dygert, Brady Ellison, Torri Huske, Casey Kaufhold, LEE KIEFER, Sophia Smith, Mallory Swanson