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 13

Day 13 - August 5, 2024

It looked like we were going to have some controversy on the track during the women's 5000 meters final as Kenyan's Beatrice Chebet won the 5K to win gold, ahead of compatriot Faith Kipyegon, both just ahead of bronze medalist Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands.  However, Kipyegon was disqualified for impeding Ethiopia's Gudaf Tsegay, who ultimately finished ninght.  However, Kenya appealed the decision, which reinstated Kipyegon's silver finding that it was Tsegay who initiated the contact.  Hopefully all future controversies are this easily resolved.

It exciting news, boxer Cindy Ngamba won her quarterfinal match in teh 75kg weight class to advance to the semi-finals, guaranteeing at least a bronze medal, and becomes the first refugee athlete to win a medal in these games (technically she won't win it until this weekend after the semi-finals and finals, but it is guaranteed).  Ngamba moved to the United Kingdom from Cameroon at age 11, and was granted refugee status by the United Kingdom since returning to Cameroon could equate to a death penalty, as she is a lesbian.  Ngamba, who is an advocate for the plight of worldwide refugees, was selected to carry the Refugee flag during the Opening Ceremonies.

The biggest story of the day occurred in athletics, as defending pole vault gold medalist Mondo Duplantis not only secured his second-consecutive Olympic gold medal, but also set the world record in doing so.  USA's Sam Kendricks won silver and Emmanouil Karalis of Greece secured the bronze.

Also in the field events, American Valarie Allman defended her gold medal in the discus, outdistancing Sandra Elkasevic of Croatia (silver) and China's Feng Ben (bronze).

On the track, the men and women participated in the 200 meter dash, with the women completed their semi-finals and the men their preliminary rounds.  In both, all three Americans advanced, setting the stage for an amazing finals tomorrow for the women, and semi-finals for the women.

Germany won gold in the team triathlon, edging the United States (silver) and Great Britain (bronze), the latter two medals decided by a photo finish.  The USA's Taylor Knibb was determined to have nipped the British runner at the finish line, giving her, Morgan Pearson, Seth Rider and Taylor Spivey the silver.  Followers of the Olympics, or readers of this blog, will know that Taylor Knibb withdrew from the Cycling road race to focus on this team triathlon event, giving way to Kristen Faulkner to participate - and win gold!

Another heartwarming moment occurred in women's gymnastics, as Rebecca Andrade of Brazil outperformed Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles of the USA for gold, while Biles and Chiles took silver and bronze respectively.  This was Andrade's first gold medal, and you can tell that both Biles and Chiles really respect her as they gave her this greeting on the podium!

On the outdoor basketball court, The Netherlands defeated host team France in men's 3x3, securing the gold medal on a walk-off shot in overtime.  Given that the 3x3 game is exciting, and that France was in the finals, that stadium was absolutely rocking!  Earlier in the day the United States women secured bronze, defeating Canada in the bronze medal game after succombing to Spain earlier in the day.  Spain ultimately lost the gold-medal game to Germany, settling for bronze.  On the men's side Lithuania won the bronze medal by defeating Latvia, in an all Baltic final.

In other team competition, Spain defeated Morocco 1-0 in men's soccer, and will face host team France in the gold medal match after Les Bleus defeated Egypt 3-1.  

In men's volleyball, the United States defeated powerhouse Brazil in an incredibly entertaining match to advance to the semi-finals, and one step closer to a medal.

In team skeet shooting, the American team Vincent Hancock and Austen Jewell Smith earned the silver medal, falling to eventual champions Diana Bocosi and Gabriele Rossetti of Italy 45-44.  This is the second medal for both Hancock and Smith, as Hancock won gold in the men's individual and Smith earned bronze in the women's event.

In an electrifying women's badminton final, South Korea's An Se Young defeated He Bing Jiao in the gold medal match.  An, who didn't lose a game in the group play, won 21-13, 21-16 to capture gold.

On the men's side, Denmark's Viktor Axelson defeated Thailand's Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the gold medal match, with Zii Jia Lee of Malaysia winning the bronze medal.

In kayak cross, which is such an exciting event to watch, Australia's Noemie Fox captured gold, defeating Angele Hug of the Netherlands (silver), Kimberly Woods of Great Britain (bronze) and Germany's Elena Lilik in the large final.  Noemie Fox's medal adds to her family's total in Paris as her sister Jess has already won two golds in these games.

Shinnosuke Oba of Japan added a gold medal in the men's high bar to his all-around individual gold medal and team gold medal.

In combat sports, Amit Elor of the United States had a tremendous, if expected day 1, as she defeated her three opponents by a combined score of 28-2, to advance to the gold medal match in the 68kg weight class, culminating in a 10-0 technical fall - her third consecutive technical fall in these games - over South Korea's Sol Gum Pak.  I say this was expected because Elor, although only 20, has not lost an international match since 2019!  I certainly hope to report on gold, not silver, for Elor after the finals.

In Greco-Roman wrestling, in the 130kg division, Cuban legend Mijain Lopez advanced to the gold-medal match where he will face Chilean Yasmani Acosta Fernandez for the gold.  Lopez, 41, will be wrestling for his 5th consecutive gold medal, and if successful, will be the only athlete to ever win 5 gold medals in the same event.  In his way is Cuban-born Acosta Fernandez, who moved to Chile in large part due to the fact that he was not able to get any international experience due to the fact that Lopez was the champion in his weight class.  I will definitely be reporting on this event after the finals occur.

Staying in combat sports, the mixed team judo finals was one of the more entertaining matchups in the entire Olympics as host country France tangles with Japan!  The mixed judo competition pits 5 judoka, 3 of each gender, in one-on-one matches, with the most victories determining gold.  Japan took an early 2-0 lead, winning the two opening matches, before Teddy Riner stepped up to turn the tide for France, the defending - and only - gold medalists in this event.  Riner won his match, defeating Saito Tatsuru to close the deficit in half.  Then, Joan-Benjamin Gaba defeated Japan's Abe Hifumi, to even the score.  Hifumi had not lost a fight in 5 years before yesterday's battle.  Both countries split the last two matches, leaving the score tied 3-3.  The tiebreaking procedure is to select a weight class at random, and Riner was selected to face Tatsuru again, and he was able to secure the gold for France!

I mis-reported Teddy Riner's record in a few posts this week.  Before yesterday he had won 4 gold medals in judo, but only three - including this year - were individual, as France won team gold in Tokyo.  This makes his fifth gold medal (in five events).

Athlete of the Day - Mondo Duplantis, Sweden, Athletics

Set the world record for the 9th time in winning his second consecutive gold medal in the pole vault.

Co-Athlete of the Day - Teddy Riner, France, Judo

Won two matches for France, to win gold medal in the mixed team judo competition, including the decisive seventh match.

U.S. Athlete of the Day - Taylor Knibb, USA, Triathlon

Not just because she anchored the mixed triathlon relay team to a silver medal, but because she withdrew from the cycling road race for the specific purpose of preparing for the team mixed triathlon relay.  I would say she was successful.

Team of the Day - Netherlands Men, Netherlands, 3x3

Defeating France before a packed house by hitting a walk-off two in overtime.  (The overtime rules are first team to score two points.)

Olympic Term of the Day:  Technical Fall - In amateur wrestling, is a victory condition satsfied by outscoring an opponent by a specified number of points (10 points in the Olympics).  It is wrestling's version of the mercy rule.

Olympic Events Watched:  3x3, Athletics, Badminton, Beach Volleyball, Kayak, Shooting, 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, Vincent Hancock, Torri Huske, Lee Kiefer, Katie Ledecky, Ilona Maher, Tom Murphy