Olympics - Paris 2024 - Day 11

Day 11 - August 3, 2024

This was actually from yesterday, but I just found out about it after I posted yesterday's report, so it gets its own entry.  There was a fight in the Olympics that didn't involve boxing, wrestling, judo, tae kwon do, or cisgender/transgender/intersex boxers!  After France defeated Argentina in men's soccer 1-0, an actual physical fight broke out on the pitch.  This all stems from Argentina's Copa America victory prior to the Olympics in which - in celebration - the Argentines were seen celebrating by mocking French soccer players, especially players of African descent.  We saw problems with this in the Morocco-Argentina match, and Argentinian teams of all types have been cascaded with massive boos all around Paris.  Probably was just a matter of time until this happened.  I doubt that any intra-Olympics disciplinary action will be taken against the French players involved.

But, thank God this was the only real conflict yesterday, as there was some really good action at the event venues!

The United States women's soccer team, which was embarrased last Olympics, defeating Japan 1-0 in the quarterfinals off a stoppage time in the first extra time period by Trinity Rodman.  The win puts the Americans into the semi-finals and on the verge of a medal, which they missed in Tokyo.  Below is a good look at Rodman's goal as it passes the keeper.

Rodman's goal was a very important play, but no play was as amazing as Joel Embiid's block of this DUNK ATTEMPT!  Embiid, who has been much-maligned in these Olympics as his game just doesn't seem suited for international play and even sat out the entire game against South Sudan, may have made up for everything with this one play!  Anthony Edwards led the way with 25 points against Puerto Rico, as the United States moves on to the knockout rounds.

For the United States, the stars were out and producing!  Katie Ledecky won the gold medal in the 800 meter freestyle, her 4th straight gold medal in this event (London 2012, Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020, Paris 2024), and her 9th gold medal of all time.  Her 9th gold medal places her in a tie for second all time for Summer Olympic golds, behind Michael Phelps 23.  She is tied with former greats Paavo Nurmi (Athletics, Finland), Larissa Latynina (Gymnastics, Soviet Union), Mark Spitz (Swimming, United States) and Carl Lewis (Athletics, United States).  Ledecky stated after the race that she would look forward to defending her title in Los Angeles in 2028.  If she concentrates solely on the 800 meters and 1500 meters, I don't doubt she would win at least her 10th gold!  Joining Ledecky on the podium were Ariarne Titmus of Australia (silver) and Ledecky's teammate Paige Madden (bronze).

Joining Ledecky in the four-time gold medalist in a single event is retired Army Sergeant Vincent Hancock, who won his fourth consecutive gold-medal in skeet shooting.  And Hancock at age 35 has a lot of shooting left in him.  Winning the silver medal in skeet shooting was American Conner Lynn Prince and the bronze medal was awarded to Meng Yuan Lee of Taiwain.

The athletes to have won four gold medals in the same event in four consecutive Olympics prior to 2024 are:  Paul Bert Elvstroem of Denmark (sailing - monotype yachting; 1948 - 1960), Al Oerter of the United States (discuss; 1956 - 1968), Carl Lewis of the United States (long jump, 1984 - 1996), Michael Phelps of the United States (200 meter individual medley; 2004 - 2016) and Mijain Lopez of Cuba (Greco-Roman wrestling; 2008 - 2020).  These 5 athletes have now been joing by Teddy Riner (France; judo); Ledecky and Hancock.

The incomparable Simone Biles won another gold medal - her third of these Olympics and 7th overall - in the vault.  Jade Carey joined her on the podium by capturing the bronze medal.  Brazil's Rebecca Andrade earned silver.

Also in gymnastics, America's pommel horse specialist Stephen Nedoroscik earned the bronze medal on that apparatus, falling just behind Ireland's Rhys McClenaghan (gold) and Nariman Kurbanov of Kazakhstan (silver).

The United States set a World Record in winning gold in the 4x100 meter mixed medely relay, defeating China by .8 seconds, with Australia finishing third.  In the mixed medley relay, each team selects which two males and females participate for whichever stroke they wish, so long as each swimmer swims a separate stroke.  The United States opted to put the two males first, with Ryan Murphy leading off with the backstroke, Nic Fink went second for the breast stroke leg, followed by Gretchen Walsh in the butterfly leg.  Walsh, competing against a male athlete from Australia, held the lead before touhcing off for Torri Huske for the freestyle leg.

On the track the United States, which set the world record for the 4x400 meter mixed relay in the preliminaries, did not fare as well in the final as Femke Bol, from The Netherlands, ran down absolutely everybody to win gold for the Dutch.  The United States easily outdistanced everyone except Bol for silver.

Some other amazing finishes at the track, as Julien Alfred, from St. Lucia, won her nation's first ever Olympic medal, and it was gold in the 100 meter dash.  Alfred, now the fastest woman in the world, defeated Sha' Carri Richardson from the United States, who earned silver.  Melissa Jefferson of the United States earned bronze.

Also winning her country's first ever Olympic medal was Dominica's Thea LaFond, who bested the competition to win gold in the women's triple jump.  Shanieck Richards of Jamaica earned silver, and the USA's Jasmine Moore captured the bronze.

Ryan Crounser - star of the shotput from the USA, won his third consecutive gold medal in the event, followed by compatriot Joe Kovacs, who won his third consecutive silver medal in the event.

Athlete of the Day - Julien Alfred, St. Lucia, Athletics

Not only first ever medal for St. Lucia, but it was gold, in a premier event, defeating Sha' Carri Richardson. 

Team of the Day - 4x100 meters mixed relay, USA, Swimming

Ryan Murphy, Nic Fink, Gretchen Walsh, and Torri Huske set a world record, and put the US 1 gold behind Australia in the pool.

American Athlete of the Day - Vincent Hancock, United States, Shooting

Ledecky and Biles are often in contention here, so Hancock gets it for his fourth consecutive gold medal in skeet shooting.

Olympic Term of the Day:  Skeet - In shooting, skeet is the event in which participants shoot at clay targets thrown at various speeds and angles.

Olympic Events Watched:  3x3, Athletics, Basketball, Beach Volleyball, Cycling, Gymnastics, Handball, Soccer, Swimming, Table Tennis

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

Olympics - Paris 2024 - Day 6

 Day 6 - July 29, 2024

Light day of Olympics watching for your author, as it was a Monday, and sometimes work must be done.  That does not mean there isn't anything to report, as there was some great action on the fields, courts, pools, etc.

The day wasn't without controversy though, controversy which actually occurred two days ago, but was announced yesterday.  Eurosports' commentator Bob Ballard was on the call for the women's 4x100 meter freestyle relay.  After Australia won gold, and the other teams were competing to finish second through eighth, Ballard stated, "Well, the women are just finishing up.  You know what women are like ... hanging around, doing their makeup."  Ballard's broadcasting partner Lizzie Simmonds, herself a former Olympian, immediately called him out saying, "Outrageous Bob."  Ballard was removed from his job broadcasting the Olympics and sent home by Eurosports, and rightfully so.

But yesterday was a better day in the pool, as there was some fantastic action.  In the women's 400 meter individual medley - the race that most consider the rest to determine the world's best overall swimmer - Canada's Summer McIntosh cruised to gold - her second of the games, with Americans Katie Grimes and Emma Weyant neck-and-neck for silver and gold.

Also in the pool, American Luke Hobson secured bronze for the USA in the 200 meter freestyle, finishing behind Romania's David Popovici (gold) and Britain's Matthew Richards.

American team captain Ryan Murphy secured the bronze medal - hist 7th overall Olympic medal - in the men's 100 meter backstroke, and he arose out of the pool to see his pregnant wife holding a sign that read, "IT'S A GIRL!"  Thomas Ciccon of Italy won gold, followed by China's Xu Jiayu.

In the women's 200 meter freestyle, Australia Ariarne Titmus staked her claim to the best female swimmer of these games with another medal, this time silver as she was bested only by her countrywoman Mollie O'Callaghan.

American's were successful outside of the pool as well, with Jagger Eaton and Nyjah Huston winning silver and bronze in the skateboarding men's street final, with Eaton finishing just .1 point behind Japan's Horigome Yuto for the gold.  Eaton's silver will pair with his bronze medal from Tokyo.

The USA won another medal in fencing, as Nick Itkin secured bronze in the men's foil, defeating Japan's Iimura Kazuki in the bronze medal match.  Cheung Ka Long of Hong Kong won gold in a scintillating final over Italy's Filippo Macchi, winning 15-14 in the gold medal match.

And, of course, the US Men's gymnastics team won bronze medal in the team competition, for the country's first medal in 16 years in Beijing in 2008.  Congratulations to the team of Asher Hong, Paul Juda, Brody Malone, Stephen Nedoroscik, and Frederick Richard.  The pure exuberance showed by the Americans in winning bronze was interestingly contrasted with the disappointment shown by the Chinese team - who suffered some uncharacteristic falls on high bar - in finishing second.  Japan won the gold.

The Women's rugby team defeated Great Britain 17-7 to advance to the semi-finals.  Here's to hoping that I can write more about them tomorrow after today's semi-finals and finals.

The most fascinating event I watched yesterday was the men's canoe slalom, in which Nicolas Gestin was able to secure gold in front of the home fans.  He was followed onto the podium by Adam Burgess of Great Britain and Slovakia's Matej Benus.  Benus earned his second Olympic medal in the event, having come in second in 2016 in Rio.

The best event I watched was the women's volleyball match between Turkiye and the Netherlands, with Turkiye coming back to win the last 3 sets after falling behind 2 sets to none.

And I would be remiss if I didn't mention the Novak Djokovic - Rafael Nadal match in the second round - YES SECOND ROUND - with Djokovic thrashing the Spaniard in his last singles match at Roland Garros Stadium.  Nadal remains alive in doubles with Carlos Alcaraz, who also won his singles match yesterday.

As for the best photograph from yesterday's events - and probably from Olympic history - is this one:

This photograph was taken by Jerome Brouillet of AFP/via Getty Images after Brazil's Gabriel Medina (pictured) just concluded what he knew was an amazing ride in surfing at Teahupo'o in Tahita.  It turns out Medina's ride was awesome - it was the highest scoring ride in Olympics history.

Athlete of the Day - Gabriel Medina, Brazil, Surfing

Dominating run in the men's surfing competition, and come on, look at that pose coming off the ride.

American Athletes of the Day - Frederick Richard/Stephen Nedoriscik, United States, Gymanstics

Richard's scintillating performance on high bar catapulted the Americans into medal contention.  Nedorisik, who did not perform until the American's sixth and final apparatus - the pommel horse - due to the rules of only 3 competitors per country per event in the team finals, nailed his anchor leg performance to secure the USA's first men's gymnastics medal since Beijing 2016.

Olympic Term of the Day:  Pancake - Volleyball - Defensively, when diving to save the ball from hitting the floor, a player dives and puts their hand straight out onto the ground so that the ball bounces off the hand instead of the ground in order to prolong the point.

Olympic Events Watched:  Beach Volleyball, Canoe, Field Hockey, Gymnastics, Kayaking, Swimming, Synchonized Diving, Volleyball

USA Potential Closing Ceremony Flag-Bearer (Alphabetically - Capitals indicate a potential favorite to this point):  Chloe Dygert, Brady Ellison, Torri Huske, Casey Kaufhold, LEE KIEFER, TOM MURPHY, Sophia Smith, Mallory Swanson                             

Olympics - Tokyo 2020 - Day 10

 Day 10 - July 30, 2021

Hooray - I am back on pace to blogging at a normal hour!  Real post today!

As usual, let's start in the pool.  In hopefully some foreshadowing for what should be a great finals race, the USA's Caleb Dressel tied an Olympic record in the 100 meter butterfly in his Heat (which happened to be the last heat of the first round) of 50.39 seconds.  In the first semi-final, Kristof Milak of Hungary broke the Olympic record by swimming the race in 50.31 seconds.  Caleb Dressel immediately came back to break that record in the second semi-final by going 49.71.  Can't wait to see this final today!!!

Emma KcKeon of Australia won gold in the 100 meter freestyle, breaking the Olympic recod that she set just two days ago.  This is her second gold medal of these games.  Hong Kong's Siobhan Haughey earned the bronze, and Australia's Cate Campbell won bronze.

The best result in the pool on Day 10 was turned in by South Africa's Tatjana Schoenmaker in teh 200 meter breastroke.  Not only did Schoenmaker win gold, but she broke the world record in the process.  The USA finished second and third, with Lilly King earning silver and Annie Lazor winning the bronze.

However, it wasn't Dressel, or McKeon, or Schoenmaker that were the talk of the pool, as American backstroker Ryan Murphy - without pulling any punches - stated that swimming results were tainted by doping, and that he doesn't think his races were clean.  Murpy finished third in the 100 meter backstroke earlier this week behind Evgeny Ralnov (gold) and Kilment Kolesnikov (silver); and he finished with the silver medal in the 200 meter backstroke behind Evgeny Ralnov.  Both Ralnov and Kolesnikov swim for the Russian Olympic Committee because Russia itself is banned from international competition for systemic doping and testing procedures, as well as the erasing of testing records of its athletes.

Qualifying heats have started on the track, and boy-oh-boy do we already have some controversy.  The USA's 4x400 mixed medley relay easily won its heat, but was disqualified for passing the baton outside of the exchange zone on the fist and second legs of the race.  However, team USA was reinstated after it was shown that race officials lined up Lynna Irby, running the second leg, incorractly.  Tape also showed the officials lining up other runners in other heats incorrectly, but those runners noticed it and self-corrected.  Team USA advances.

On a completely other track, Bethany Shriever won the finals in the women's  BMX.  The Great Britain rider narrowly defeated Colombia's Mariana Pajon by just .09 seconds.  Pajon was the two-time defending gold medalist in the event, having won gold in 2012 in London and 2016 in Rio.  Merel Smulders from the Netherlands finished with the bronze.  Apologies to Shriever, but this was the best picture I saw.

On the men's side, Conor Fields of the USA, the defending gold medalist and the number 1 seed entering the finals, took a horrific crash in the first turn of the finals, sending him to the hospital, where last report was that he was stable, but still undergoing tests.  With Fields down, Niek Kimmann of the Netherlands won gold, Kye White of Great Britain took silver, and Colombia's Carlos Alberto Ramirez Yepes earned bronze.

The games of the day is no doubt the women's soccer quarterfinals - all of the games (well, 3 out of 4)!  Sweden beat Japan 3-1, and in a barnburner, Australia defeated Great Britain 4-3, setting up an Australia-Sweden semi-final matchup.  In the other half, Canada outlasted Brazil in penalty kicks after a 0-0 draw.  In the final quarterfinal matchup, Vivienne Miedema earned her 100th cap in the game against the USA, and then proceeded to score her 9th and 10th goals of these Olympics.  It wasn't enough as the USA added 2 goals within a 3 minute stretch of the first half to send this game to extra time.  Preserving the tie was a late penalty kick save by US goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher.  After a goalless extra time, the U-S prevailed 4-2 on penalty kicks, with Naeher making 2 saves in the shootout!  The clinching goal calmly scored by Megan Rapinoe.

Athlete of the Day - Alyssa Naeher, Soccer, United States

Not just the 2 shootout saves (Canada's goalie also had 2), but the big penalty shot save late in the second half as well.

Olympic Term of the Day:  Exchange Zone - A track and field term for the marked area in a lane of track where two relay runners must meet and exchange the baton; the exchange zone is 20 meters long.

Olympic Events Watched:  Athletics (Track & Field), Baseball, Basketball, BMX, Canoe, Handball, Judo, Soccer, Table Tennis, Volleyball 

USA Potential Closing Ceremony Flag-Bearer (Alphabetically):  Caleb Dressel, Phillip Dutton, Brady Ellison, Lee Kiefer, Katie Ledecky, Sunisa Lee, Kelsey Plum, Anastasija, Zolotic