Whew- my eyes hurt, but instead of raining down upon yhou readers a daily recap, I've condensed the days worth into this post, catching what I could that was newsworthy, interesting or unique, which the pole vault incident checks all those boxes and then some!
Find a comfy chair, or reading space and dig in! Oh, as track and field is my weakest area of knowledge, the next Olympic notebooks will be much shorter! :)
Women's basketball: Well, with all that I'm covering, it was bound to happen that I was to make an error! I completely missed USA defeating Belgium in my last post, and now Team USA is in the quarterfinals, so we'll just move along to that spot, thank you very much! The quarterfinals has Team USA facing off against Nigeria on Wednesday. Friday's Action:
Men's Soccer: Alrighty, lets just rip the bandaid off now; Team USA was crushed by Team Morocco, 4-0, and the men's American's dream of a deep run in these 2024 Olympics has come to an end.
Men's 10K Marathon: In a big surprise, USA's Paul Fisher stormed late and in an almost photo finish, became the second American to medal in this sport in the last 56 years. The first man to get a medal for the USA was a silver in 2012!
Unintended Eye Candy- USA's Paul Fisher with the bronze medal in the 10K!
Men's 4x400 Mixed relay: Team USA's mixed relay of Vernon Norwood, Shamier Little, Kaylyn Brown and Bryce Deadmon set a world record in this preliminary event! Congrats, team! Let's keep it going!
Men's Synchro Diving: For the 10m Springboard final, China once again wins the gold, but for this match-up, they actually got a scare from Team Mexico, consisting of Juan Celaya-Hernandez and his partner, Olvera Ibarra, who came within two points of the upset, but happily settled for the silver!
Found eye candy from Team Mexico!
Swimming: France's Leon Merchand strikes again, winning his FOURTH gold medal in these games by finishing first in the 200m individual medley. French President Emmanuel Macron was among the frenzied fans at the arena cheering Leon on! Merchand becomes the first French athlete ever in any Olympics to score four gold medals in a single Olympics event!
The news was not so good for American Caeleb Dressell, who was looking to defend two of his titles, the 50M "splash and dash", and the 100M butterfly....he did not finish well, at all.
Might as well throw in this eye candy, as swimmer Thomas Ceccon of Italy made waves while on the podium with his teammates, when he stretched his arms up with the Italian flag, viewers got a good look at his abs much to the surprise/delight of viewers everywhere! I found a full shot of monsieur Ceccon's physique to share with you all: ( I also think he has gold medaled in these games- it's all a blur at this point!)
Heavy is the crown when you look this good! Italy's Thomas Ceccon- Olympics 2024 gold winner, and soon to be recruited to Only Fans!
Men's Indoor Volleyball: The USA team has advanced to the quarterfinals, defeating Japan in four sets! Btw, all four USA volleyball teams have made the quarterfinals!
Women's Track: USA track superstar Sha'Carri Richardson hit the track for her first heat, and won to move on to the finals.
Men's Trampoline:- Wasn't expecting this to make the blog, but Ivan Litvinovich successfully defended his Olympic trampoline title, snagging the gold under the Individual Athlete Nations flag, the first to do so. AIN was created for athletes who wanted to compete who are from countries that are in civil conflict, and since Ivan's home country of Belarus is banned due to the war with Ukraine, Ivan opted for the AIN flag. The sport is very hypnotizing, I must say!
Fly high on that trampoline, Ivan!
Tennis: I saved this for last, as we are now at the near the end of clay court Olympic tennis play. First off, #1 seeded Iga Swiatek took home the bronze on the women's side. Italy's Jasmine Paulini and her partner advance to the women's doubles final.
Canada with Felix Double A (see previous posts-his last names are a typo canyon for me!)
and his partner became the first French tennis team to score a medal in the court in French Olympic history. China defeated Czechia for the gold.
That just leaves the woman's final between Croatia's Donna Vekic and China's Zheng Qinwen and the men's final between Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokivic, a rematch of Wimbledon. Novak is only missing an Olympic gold medal, so expect a battle on Sunday!
Saturday's Action: Gymnastics (mostly) finishes, Tennis has just two matches left. Track and Field hits the ground running. <grin>
Tennis: China's Zheng Qunwen makes history with her gold medal win over Croatia's Donna Vekic in the women's final! Qinwen wins China's first gold medal in any of women's tennis, and also becomes the first Chinese player, male or female, to win the singles at the Olympics.
Men's doubles saw Felix Double A take the bronze, making history as the first male Canadien to medal in Olympics tennis. USA's Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul snag the silver, as Great Britain's doubles team took the gold.
Gymnastics- Individual: USA's Simone Biles added to her trophy case as she wins her 7th gold medal with an awe-inspiring vault routine. American Jade Carey, who missed the all-arounds, came back and snagged the bronze also on the vault.
Stephen Nedoroscik snagged the bronze on the pommel horse to add to Team USA's gymnastics medal count! Our ClarkKent/Superman glasses-wearing gymnast (except when he is ON the pommel horse), had the crowd roaring when he finished his routine. Stephen, who is cross-eyed, and hence the glasses, after he dismounted, immediately asked, "Where are my glasses?" #NerdsRule . Rhys McClaughin captured the first ever gold medal for Ireland in this event!
The Cinderfella story of today's individuals was that of the Philippines Carlos Yunos, who won the gold medal in the floor exercise competition. It is only the second ever gold medal for the Philippines in the Olympics! Congrats, kid! Israel and Great Britain captured the silver and bronze. Update: I just learned that the Philippine's government is also gifting Yunos a house as a gift for Yunos bringing home the gold to his home country!
Men's Basketball: Team USA finished group play with a convincing win over Puerto Rico, winning 104-83 and will be seeded first when the knockout rounds begin next week.
Women's soccer: Team USA won their match against Japan in stoppage time minutes, 1-0, to move on in the tourney. Women's Boxing: Normally I am not a fan of this sport, and would not be listing it, but with all the BS that the Russian influenced International Boxing Association has put Algeria's Imane Khelif thru with its transphobic slurs, I'm happy to report that Khelif will at least snag a bronze medal as she moved on to the semi's! Rowing: After failing to make the podium in the last three Summer games, the 8-man crew for the USA finally snapped that streak, snagging the bronze in this event!
Track & Field: Team USA's Sha'Carri Richardson scored her first medal, snagging the silver in the women's 100m. St. Lucia's Lucien Alfred took the gold, and that tiny country went nuts over their first ever medal! American Melissa Jefferson took the bronze in her first ever Olympics competition, so lots of joy was spread around in this event! Jasmine Moore became the first American woman ever to score a medal in the triple jump, taking home the bronze!
Team USA came up just short of the gold, as the Netherlands squeaked ahead of the USA in the final leg of the 4x400 mixed relay to take the gold, with USA taking the silver medal.
High Jump: In one of the most emotional Olympic moments of 2024, Ukrainian high jumper Yaroslava Mahuchikh, who was forced to flee her country due to the war with Russia, won gold at the Paris Olympics on Sunday.
It was Ukraine's first individual gold of these Summer Games, following a victory in women's team saber fencing. The Ukraine athletes said after the medal ceremonies that these medals are for "The 400 athletes who are not here, who have fought for our country in the war with Russia, to defend our freedom who have died, these medals are for them."
I need a moment.
Skeet Shooting: I know nothing about this sport, but Team USA's Vincent Hancock deserves a shout-out here, as he wins his fourth consecutive gold in this competition. He is the sixth USA male to win four consecutive medals in the same event!
From that baby face kid in 2008 to the young man that he is today in 2024, 4-time Olympic champion, Vincent Hancock!
Shot putter Ryan Crouser has made Olympic history, winning his third gold medal in the event. Crouser stands alone as being the only shot-putter to win gold in three Summer Olympics. Fellow American Joe Kovacs took home the silver.
The last event of the night was the much anticipated track meet, the men's 100m sprint, and what a literal photo finish, as American Noah Lyles is now the fastest man in the world, capturing the gold with a 9.79 second score! It actually took a moment for the results to become official, as the photos of the sprint was reviewed and reviewed by officials as it was that close between Lyles and the Jamaican runner.
Leaning in for that gold medal victory, Noah!
Swimming: In the 4x400m mixed relay, the USA team comprised of Ryan Murphy, Nic Fink, Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske, broke the world record in this event, taking home the gold, beating China and Australia!
Teenage phenom Summer McIntosh of Canada, added to her medal count as she beat out American Katie Douglass to snag the gold in the 200m individual medley. McIntosh now has three gold and one silver medals in her first summer Olympics! Closing out the night in the pool with the 800m freestyle was Katie Ledecky, defending her title in this event for the FOURTH time, and is now at the top of American female athletes with nine gold medals in her career, and just one shy of being the world female record holder for most gold medals! Methinks she will compete in Los Angeles in 2028 to snag that world medal honor!
Katie Ledecky thru four Summer Olympics with that gold medal in the 800m Freestyle!
Sunday's Action: Yep, since so many sports stuff is wrapping up this weekend, with track n field set to take the spotlight next week, I'm adding an extra day!
Women's Basketball: USA team won its 58th consecutive Olympics basketball game, beating Germany to move into the quarterfinals to face Nigeria.
Road Cycling: In a stunning upset, Team USA's Kristen Faulkner won the gold in this event, the first American woman to win it in 40 years! She also was the only cyclist that finished the race in just under four hours!
Swimming: Final day at the pool for this sport! In the Men's 1500m Freestyle, not only did Team USA's Bobby Finke defend his title in this event, he did in world record time. It was the only medal Finke had in these Games, and he helped Team USA avoid a shutout in all of the men's individual competitions; that's a nice way to end your 2024 Summer Olympics!
In the men's 4x100 medley relay, Team USA's streak of fifteen gold medals was broken, as China barely eked out the win and the gold medal, with the American's taking silver. Oh, Leon Merchand of France got his 5th medal, as France took the bronze!
In the final swimming competition swimming contest, Team USA's woman's team won the gold in the 4x100 medley relay and did it in world record fashion! Nice way for the Americans to finish swimming competition.
Oh, and the final tally between swim rivals USA and Australia? Gold medals: USA: 8 Australia: 7. Overall medal count: USA: 28 Australia: 18. Gymnastics: USA's Suni Lee took home the bronze on the uneven bars, tying for 3rd on the women's all-time list with six medals. Lee has one more event, the balance beam, on Monday, to go for her seventh! Over on the men's side, in vault individual compeition, the storybook dream continues for Philippine's Carlos Yulo, who won the gold in vault, making him the first Philippine athlete to ever score two gold medals for his country. At this point, after already being gifted a house by the Philippine government, he is probably in line for a neighborhood in his home country! The other note from this contest, is that Great Britain's Harry Hepworth scored a bronze, the first medal ever for the men in this event!
The Brits are just wild about Harry, scoring a medal for England in gymnastics!
Tennis: The predicted inevitable is here, with Spain's Carlos Alcaraz facing off against Serbia's 37 year-old Novak Djokivic for the gold in a blockbuster match. Earlier in the day, Italy's Lorenzo Musetti won his match for the bronze.
It was a perfect weather day for tennis at Roland-Garros, and both players brought their A game, a battle of the best of the best playing their best, but in the end, it was Novak FINALLY getting the one prize in his long career he never had, the gold medal at the Olympics, as he defeated Carlos in straight sets, 7-6, 7-6. Neither player had their serve broken, hence the two tie-breakers. Afterwards, Carlos was upset, feeling he let his country of Spain down with just the silver medal. A note about Carlos and his first Olympic final: He is the youngest man (21) to reach an Olympics singles final since ....1904!!! Y'all need to excuse me, as I need to go comfort a certain Spaniard!
Finally! After 20 years, Novak Djokivic of Serbia wins Olympic gold in tennis! With the gold medal, Novak now has completed the Golden Grand Slam.
Golf: American Scottie Scheffler is having a year. Scheffler is the leader in points on the PGA tour, he won the Masters Cup, and now can add a gold medal to his trophy case. Scheffler came back from several shots behind the leader at the opening of Sunday's final round to shoot a 62, which for you non-golfing readers is an extremely good round of golf (the lower the number, the better). Tommy Fleetwood of Great Britain took the silver, as his shot on the 17th hole rolled just past the hole, while Hideki Matsuyama, who was at the top or near the top of the leaderboard for the first three days, missed SIX birdie shots and had to settle for par on each of those holes, ended up with the bronze medal. The choke job of the day though, belonged to Spain's Jon Rahm, who was at the top of the leaderboard and proceeded to bogey (not a good thing) his way out of medal contention.
Finally, if you haven't seen it already, lets just say that this French Pole Vaulter may come away is the most popular athlete at these games....not for his pole vaulting skills though, but for ..well, lets just say losing a gold medal due to #BDE is definitely a flex!
The link below has the story, and video, and also this is not the first time a dude's junk has gotten in the way of a pole vault bar!
Frenchman Anthony is very handsome, and looks great from the back! it's what in front that became his greatest opponent on Pole Vault!
The ultimate Olympic cock block!
Hope you enjoyed and learned a few things from this post (jockstraps can be your friend!), thanks for reading!
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