Thursday, August 8, 2024

Paris Olympics 2024 Friday and Saturday 8.2 and 8.3

8.2.24 Friday-- 

Uneventful day for the US, just a handful of events worth noting. 

Leon Marchand of France won his fourth individual gold medal. At only 22 years of age, it will be interesting to see where he is in four years at Los Angeles. He is so accomplished and he does train in the US so it would only make sense for him to come back. 

Men's 200m IM

1. Leon Marchand, France 1:54:06
2. Duncan Scott, Great Britain 1:55:31
3. Shun Wang, China 1:56:00

Regan Smith had a successful Olympic games. She walked away from this Game's with five medals, two golds from relays and, three silver medals in individual competition. At the age of 22, this is Regan's second Olympics. 

Women's 200m Backstroke

1. Kaylee McKeown, Australia 2:03:73
2. Regan Smith, USA 2:04:26
3. Kylie Masse, Canada 2:05:57


Track & Field opened at this Olympic Games. Grant Fisher from the US took a bronze, it was the first time the US medaled in this event since 2012 in London. 

Track & Field Men's 10,000m 

1. Joshua Cheptegei, Uganda 26:43:14
2. Berihu Aregawi, Ethiopia 26:43:44
3. Grant Fisher, USA 26:43:46

8.3.24 Saturday-- 

Saturday was very eventful and active in terms of medals for the US. It was an exciting day in Gymnastics, Swimming, and Track & Field. 

Let's start first with rowing and the Men's Eight. The story of the night was that the US Men medaled in this event for the first time since 2008. 

Men's Eight

1. Great Britain 5:22:88
2. Netherlands +1.04
3. USA +2.40

In Gymnastics, there were three event finals. In the floor exercise, Carlos Yulo won the first ever Olympic gold medal in gymnastics for the Philippines and just their second gold medal overall. 

Gymnastics Men's Floor Exercise

1. Carlos Yulo, Phiilippines 15.000
2. Artem Dologopyat, Israel 14.966
3. Jake Jarmen, Great Britain 14.933

 



Stephen Nedoroscik catapulted himself to hero status these Olympic games playing a major part in the US Men securing a bronze medal in team competition. Clark Kent, aka Superman aka Stephen also managed to walk away with the only individual Men's Gymnastics medal for the US earning a bronze for his speciality, pommel horse. 

Men's Gymnastics Pommel Horse

1. Rhys McClenaghan, Ireland 15.533
2. Nariman Kurbanov, Kazakhstan 15.433
3. Stephen Nedoroscik, USA 15.300

Last individual Gymnastics event I want to write about is the Women's Vault. Simone Biles added another gold to her resume, and Jade Carey got redemption from Tokyo earning a bronze. Brazil's Rebeca Andrade continued to impress. 



Saturday also happened to be the last night in the pool and the first night in track and field. There was lots of action and I want to share the news and results with you. 

Swimming: Men's 100m Butterfly (no US medal) 

1. Kristof Milak, Hungary 49.90
2. Joshua Liendo, Canada 49.99
3. Ilya Kharun, Canada 50.45

In the Men's Shot Put Final, Ryan Crouser and Joe Kovacs have done something special, they have finished one, two respectively in this event for the past three Olympics-- Rio, Tokyo, and Paris. This is truly incredible. The two are said to be friends and rivals. 

Track & Field Men's Shot Put

1. Ryan Crouser, USA 22.90
2. Joe Kovacs, USA 22.15
3. Rajindra Campbell, Jamaica 22.15 

In the 4x400m Mixed Relay, the US Team had set a World Record in the semi finals. Then when it came time to run the finals, the US lost their lead when Femke Bol from The Netherlands passed the field in the closing straight away and grabbed that gold. 

Track & Field: Mixed 4x400m Relay

1. Netherlands, 3:07:43
2. USA, 3:07:74
3. Great Britain, 3:08:01


Back to the pool, Summer McIntosh once again covered in gold this Olympics! She took gold in front of Kate Douglass in the 200m IM. That brought her total to three golds and none silver. Douglass also had a strong Olympics, two golds and two silvers for her. Some disappointment here for Alex Walsh as she had won bronze but was disqualified for an illegal turn. Heartbreaking. 

Swimming: Women's 200m IM

1. Summer McIntosh, Canada 2:06:56
2. Kate Douglass, USA 2:06:92
3. Kaylee McKeown, Australia 2:08:08

Katie Ledecky continued her legacy in the pool in the 800m, she has won this event in three consecutive Olympic Games. She is also, with winning this race, a nine time Olympic gold medalist which is the most won by a woman in Team USA history!

Swimming: Women's 800m Freestyle

1. Katie Ledecky, USA 8:11:04
2. Ariarne Titmus, Australia 8:12:29
3. Paige Madden, USA 8:13:00

The last relay in the pool was the mixed 4x100m Medley Relay. The US Team was made up of Ryan Murphy, Nic Fink, Gretchen Walsh, and Torri Huske who swan the anchor leg and literally came up with her personal fastest time. 

Track & Field: Mixed 4x100m Medley Relay

1. USA, 3:37:43
2. China, 3:37:55
3. Australia, 3:38:76



Jasmine Moore, at only 23 years old, is no stranger to firsts. She became the first American woman to qualify for both the long jump and the triple jump. She completed on Saturday in the triple jump and became the first American woman to medal in this event! Just staggering stats, and hopefully we will be seeing her for a long time. 

Track & Field: Woman's Triple Jump

1. Thea Lafond, Dominica 15.02
2. Shanleka Ricketts, Jamaica 14.87
3. Jasmine Moore, USA 14.67

One of the premiere events of the Olympics is the 100m of Track & Field in both the Men's and Women's. The US team had three women qualify for the final, including Sha'Carri Richardson who came to these Olympics with a lot to prove. Richardson was the favorite leading to Tokyo, but tested positive for cannabis use making her ineligible to compete at the games. She returned to the sport, and often says, "I'm not back, I'm better". And on this night she was better winning a silver medal. Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia won gold, the first Olympic medal ever for Saint Lucia. Melissa Jefferson won the bronze putting two US women on the podium. 

Track & Field: Women's 100m 

1. Julien Alfred, St. Lucia 10.72
2. Sha'Carri Richardson, USA 10.87
3. Melissa Jefferson, USA 10.92











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