Paris 2024 medals leaders:
1. United States 21 gold, 30 silver, 28 bronze (79 total)
2. China 21, 18, 14 (53)
3. France 13, 16, 19 (48)
4. Australia 13, 12, 8 (33)
5. Great Britain 12, 13, 17 (42)
6. South Korea 11, 8, 7 (26)
7. Japan 10, 5, 11 (26)
8. Italy 9, 10, 6 (25)
9. Netherlands 7, 5, 5 (17)
10. Germany 7, 5, 4 (16)
Previous reports:
REF! U! GEES!
ReplyDeletePer Channel 3:
... when boxer Cindy Ngamba pumped her chest and gestured to the crest on her vest when she guaranteed herself an Olympic bronze medal on Sunday after beating France’s Davina Michel, it didn’t necessarily seem like an extraordinary moment.
Except it was the Refugee Olympic Team crest that Ngamba held up as she celebrated the historic achievement of becoming their first ever medal-winning athlete after winning her women’s middleweight quarterfinal and guaranteeing herself a place on the podium.
Ngamba was born in Cameroon and moved to the UK aged 11, where she now trains, but represents the Refugee Olympic Team, which has allowed refugee athletes to compete at the Games since 2016.
She took up boxing in the UK aged 15 where she rose through the age-group ranks to become a world-class prospect and came out as gay at 18 – if she returns to Cameroon, she could be sent to prison since homosexuality is banned in the country.
“I’m so grateful,” Ngamba told Eurosport after her fight. “I’m over the moon, I had my refugee team, the crowd, France and Paris team, and everyone in my family to come and support me. Most of all, I just want to thank the Lord” ...
Since Ngamba’s UK citizenship status is not yet confirmed, she cannot represent Team GB, but as a refugee, she is able to represent the Refugee Olympic Team for whom she was one of the flagbearers at the opening ceremony.
But Ngamba has had to fight for this protected status, signing papers every week to stay in the UK and enduring an arrest that took her to a detention camp in London from which she was later released.
“Being a refugee to me means a life-changing opportunity,” she told the Olympics website before these Games. “A lot of refugees out there all around the world have so many potentials, but they don’t have that the doors open for them yet. It’s a big family, all around the world.”
Generally, I root for any days off from school for any kids, because, while I loved school, I totally rooted for any day off from school when I was a kid. But I’m actually sort of sorry for the kids in Long Beach, California, that they don’t go back to school until after Labor Day this year.
ReplyDeleteBecause if they were in class tomorrow, you know those teachers would be suspending lesson plans and rolling those TVs on carts into the classrooms of Woodrow Wilson Classical High School ... probably all of the feeder elementariness and middles ... maybe even all of the other schools in the whole Long Beach district. There might even be pep rallies. Max Irving, Woodrow Wilson Classical Class of 2012 (I think), and the rest of the Team USA men’s water-polo team are scheduled to face Australia in the Paris 2024 quarterfinals at 10 a.m. Los Angeles time Wednesday ...
Very cool from Jeff Eisenberg of Yahoo! Sports:
ReplyDeletePARIS — In the middle of an unpretentious, working-class neighborhood in Long Beach, California, is a century-old public school with a remarkable claim to fame.
Woodrow Wilson Classical High School churns out Olympians at a pace that other high schools around the country can’t match.
The last time that Wilson didn’t have an athlete at the Summer Olympics, Harry Truman was the President of the United States, gas cost 26 cents a gallon and credit cards hadn’t been invented yet. Alumni of Wilson have competed at every Summer Olympics since 1952, with the exception of the 1980 Games that the U.S. boycotted.
Hanging from the walls of Wilson’s gymnasium are more than just state championship banners or jerseys of athletes whose numbers have been retired. There are also an array of banners celebrating the 30-plus alumni who have made the Olympics in everything from track and field, to swimming, to volleyball, to baseball, to rowing, to water polo ...
U! S! A! ... U! S! A! ... U! S! A! ...
ReplyDeleteThe Fastest Man in the World attended T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Virginia. The greatest woman swimmer in history attended Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart in Bethesda, Maryland.
ReplyDeleteThe Team USA at Tokyo 2020 won its first Olympic gold medal in women's indoor volleyball, and, just a few seconds ago, Team USA swept Poland, 3-0, to advance to the Paris 2024 semifinals.
ReplyDeleteThe soccer American women, meanwhile, are tied at nils with the Germans in that semifinal.
ReplyDeleteIn a match with two scoreless halves, a scoreless period of stoppage time, one U.S. goal in the first half of extra time, a scoreless second half of extra time and a scoreless period of stoppage time, Team USA prevails against Germany in somehow significantly more exciting fashion than the Americans' quarterfinal win over Japan in a match with two scoreless halves, a scoreless period of stoppage time, one U.S. goal in the first half of extra time, a scoreless second half of extra time and a scoreless period of stoppage time.
ReplyDeleteThis is a huge win.
DeleteIt really was! The U.S. goalkeeper did a "star jump" save in ET2 that saved the game. It was amazing.
DeleteAnd now we have quarterfinal action in women's water polo, on E(!). It turns out that E is apparently among "the networks of NBC" and has been carrying Olympics coverage throughout Paris 2024, and suddenly I feel like a fool!
ReplyDelete3-2, Team USA over Hungary with 9:32 to play in the second something ... quarter, half, period, something ... I'll figure it out, but I'm exhausted, and I need a nap ...
ReplyDeleteFinal: Team USA 5, Hungary 4. Phew!
DeleteThe Tokyo 2020 water-polo medalists were Team USA (gold), Spain (silver) and Hungary (bronze) on the women’s side and Serbia (gold), Greece (silver) and Hungary (bronze) on the men’s.
ReplyDeleteThe women’s semifinals Thursday will pit Team USA against Australia and Netherlands against Spain. The men’s quarters tomorrow are Greece-Serbia, Team USA-Australia, Italy-Hungary and Croatia-Spain.
ReplyDeleteHeartbreak in women’s beach volleyball! Team USA has been eliminated from medal contention; Americans won gold at Tokyo 2020, and, since Athens 2004, Americans have medaled in every Olympics and won four golds. But a few minutes ago, hand-holding Californians Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes lost in two straight sets to a Swiss duo.
ReplyDeleteFull-speed ahead for Team USA men’s basketball: 122-87 over Brazil in the quarterfinals. Here were the scores of Team USA’s three wins in three group games:
ReplyDelete— 110-84
— 103-86
— 104-83
Thursday’s semifinals will have France face Germany and Team USA play Serbia. The Tokyo 2020 medalists were Team USA (gold), France (silver) and Australia (bronze).
The US/France game for the gold medal in 2021 was spectacular.
DeleteAs for women’s hoops, the quarters are tomorrow:
ReplyDelete— Germany vs. France
— Spain vs. Belgium
— Nigeria vs. Team USA
— Serbia vs. Australia
Here are the American women’s group scores:
— 102-76 over Japan
— 87-74 over Belgium
— 87-68 over Germany
The Tokyo 2020 medalists were United States (gold), Japan (silver) and France (bronze). Team USA is Paris is vying for its 10th Olympic championship and eighth gold medal in a row.
In Paris, not is.
DeleteBut that's all five-on-five/in-a-gym/take-the-ball-out/coach-yelling-from-the-sidelines traditional basketball. We also now have Olympic 3x3 basketball (pronounced "three-EX-three"), and a common first reaction to its inclusion in the last couple of games has been, "Oh, wow, NBC is really rigging the works here to squeeze in two more easy gold medal for the Americans and keep people from flipping over to one of the CSIs."
ReplyDeleteWell, more accurately, that was my reaction, but I had it figured all wrong ...
For one thing, it genuinely is a quite different game. Wikipedia: "The game is a single period of a maximum 10 minutes and the winner is the first team to score 21 or the team with the higher score at the end of the 10 minutes; scoring 21 points immediately ends the game."
ReplyDeleteThat's only the start of the crucial differences--for my money, the largest being that play continues off a made shot. If your opponent makes a field goal, you simply grab the ball out of the net, take it out beyond the arc and restart half-court offense. One of the effects of this is that, if your team scores on a play where two of your players are flying to the basket and their momentum takes them out of bounds, your opposition can often pretty quickly get an open look beyond the arc. And, by the way, in 3x3, those makes are worth 100 percent more points as regular field goals, as opposed to 50 percent more in traditional five on five ...
But the big thing is that FIBA has set up these convoluted rules that effectively (and probably are designed to) create a walled garden and prevent President Harris from conscripting 43-year-old LeBron James and three other Washington Wizards to go represent Team USA in the Los Angeles 2028 3x3 men's tournament. I mean, seriously, get a load of this great Reddit back and forth.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I kind of fell in love with the game at Paris 2024. Everybody says it's all about "Iso" (isolated) basketball, and there definitely is an element of that. But one thing I like is that the immediate-takeout, scoring and other rules actually seem to disincentivize young speed and athleticism. Arvin Slagter, one of the four Dutch guys who won the men's gold, is a 38-year-old who "is known as a three-point specialist with a high basketball IQ and excellent court vision," says Wikipedia. "He is also praised for his leadership capability in the Netherlands, as he was part of championship teams with different clubs in the DBL." When somebody starts praising those attributes about an NBA guy, it usually means he's down to his last 10-day contract or so and is about to have a podcast. Those characteristics actually do seem to be of premium value in 3x3.
ReplyDeleteI really disagree here. It seems to me that a team of all young quick guys who can drive to the basket would dominate. If you had a team of John Walls who could beat their man to the basket and score or get fouled on every possession, you would be extremely difficult to beat.
DeleteAs a 56-year-old dude who, when his knees aren't giving him too many problems, still plays with teen-agers and guys in their 20s on Thursday nights, I find this aspect of 3x3 (men's or women's game) highly satisfying. Hardly anything is more fun (for me) in our church-gym games than those times when the shoot-for-teams ends up with the young guys vs. the old guys … and the young guys spurt out to, say, an 8-2 lead in a game to 12 … and then one of the old guys walks up and rainbows in a 3 … and then the young guys immediately throw up a stupid missed 3 … and then the old guys walk the ball back up the court and one of us actually keeps moving when we don't have the ball in our hands and breaks free for a backdoor layup … and then we old guys actually keep our hands up on defense and one of the young guys gets frustrated and tries a crossover and dribbles the ball of his foot … and suddenly the young guys are starting to get hacked off with each other … and then the young guys start acting like they don't care what the score is … and—“12-10, that’s game”—the old guys win! That's the best!
ReplyDeleteI find three-EX-three to have some of that, and I'm looking forward to seeing more of it in future Olympics. And I imagine USA Basketball will figure out a way to work within or around FIBA's maze of ridiculous rules to put more successful teams on the court in Los Angeles and so forth.
See my comment above. Your scenario only works if the young people don't know what they're doing, or if they lose focus. But if the young person is mean and doesn't mind taking contact, they can tear the old guys apart.
DeleteOf course, maybe the Euros feel like they can take quick people out of the game by calling a lot of charges or by letting the older guys get away with shoving and other fouls. But that's not sport, that's just politics.
DeleteImagine three Allen Iversons against three Tree Rollinses. If the Trees come out to the line, the Iversons will drive past them. If the Trees stay back, the Iversons will rain twos on them. And when the Trees get the ball, the Iversons will make enough steals to make a difference in the game.
DeleteAnyway, all of this explains why I didn't find it to be a very entertaining game. With only three defensive players on the court, it's just too easy to beat your man to the basket and draw a foul or make a layup. To make up for that fact, they've made the game ludicrously short -- thus creating a much larger element of chance in the outcome. To me, a great sport is where you can be confident that most of the time, the better team won. Because these games are so short, you can't have that confidence here.
DeleteAllen Iverson would be great at 3x3, and he'll be only 53 at Los Angeles 2028!
DeleteHe's not eligible. He helped us lose the Olympics in 2004.
DeleteTyrese Maxey would be devastating in 3-on-3, and he hasn't played for our OIympic team.
DeleteActually, a team of Tyrese Maxey, De'Aaron Fox, and Malik Monk would be very difficult to beat in 3-on-3. Maybe have Rob Dillingham as the fourth guy. None of them have been on the Olympic team yet.
DeleteIf you think about it, Cal's whole plan was to spread the floor and let his quickest guys attack the basket. So Kentucky had a whole series of guys who would have been great at 3-on-3.
DeleteI also stand by my proposal that 21 be added as a demonstration sport. Maybe H-O-R-S-E, Around the World and Dunk Contests, too. Basketball is really fun most any way one plays it, and I would be fine with more variations of it being part of the Olympics.
ReplyDeleteParis 2024 3x3 medalists were the Netherlands (gold), France (silver) and Lithuania (bronze) on the men's side and Germany (gold), Spain (silver) and Team U! S! A! ... U! S! A! ... U! S! A! (bronze) on the women's. Way to go, 30-year-old Dearica Hamby of Marietta, Georgia; 30-year-old Cierra Burdick of Matthews, North Carolina; 22-year-old Hailey Van Lith of Wenatchee, Washington, (formerly of U of L!) and 24-year-old Rhyne Howard of Cleveland, Tennessee (formerly of UK!)!
All-time Olympic 3x3 medals:
1. United States 1 gold, 0 silver, 1 bronze
T2. Germany 1, 0, 0
T2. Latvia 1, 0, 0
T2. Netherlands 1, 0, 0
T5. France 0, 1, 0
T5. Spain 0, 1, 0
T7. Lithuania 0, 0, 1
T7. Serbia 0, 0, 1
T7. China 0, 0, 1
The Russians were given both silver medals at Tokyo 2020, but I’m never falling for their Olympic bullshit again.
Both 21 and H-O-R-S-E are better than 3-on-3, because they are organic games that were invented by basketball players, as opposed to an artificial game made up by a bureaucracy.
DeleteOn the other hand, I hate P-I-G, which is just a way for adults to more quickly quit playing with children .
DeleteI agree. It would be interesting to know what basketball variants the people have invented in other countries like Lithuania. You know the Lithuanians must have a lot of 1-on-1 and 2-on-2 variants.
DeleteYes! That's an excellent point.
DeleteWikipedia:
DeletePiterbasket is a team sport closely resembling basketball. The game was initially created for kindergarten children, but is now played by adults and handicapped athletes.
Piterbasket was created by Anatolij Nesmejanov in Saint Petersburg, Russia in 2002. In 2010 in Kaunas, Lithuania held the world's first international piterbasket match between Kaunas and Saint Petersburg teams. In 2011, piterbasket was included in Lithuania's national Olympic kindergarten festival programme.
Looks fun.
DeleteFrom https://piterbasket.com/:
Since each team has the opportunity to throw the ball into any of the three baskets, the spectacle and emotion of the game is significantly increased, which increases the attractiveness of the new game and causes sports excitement not only among the players, but also among spectators and fans. The simplicity of the rules of the game, comfort and entertainment, the ability to attack numerous times and achieve the desired hits into the basket make the new game of Peterbasket accessible to all ages, and therefore - a game of equal opportunities.
In fact, a simplified version of the world-famous basketball is proposed, which allows eliminating its objective difficulties arising as a result of a large playing area, high placement of the rings, a large distance between them and a relatively large number of competitors. Naturally, these parameters of the game may not always correspond to the real capabilities of those wishing to take part in it. And this is especially acutely felt by those who, by the will of fate, do not have the full range of motor skills necessary to play regular basketball. Piterbasket, like no other sports game with a ball that currently exists in the world, is created specifically for everyone and is essentially not only a family and folk, but also a therapeutic sports game, a new type of adaptive sport.
OH, MY GOSH, THE MEN'S 1500M RACE WAS ASTOUNDING!
ReplyDeleteGold: Cole Hocker of Indianapolis
DeleteSilver: Josh Kerr of Great Britain
Bronze: Yared Nuguse of Louisville(!) (and DuPont Manual!)
THE METRIC MILE!
DeleteEntering the last lap at Stade de France, Hocker, Nuguse and Hobbs Kessler of Ann Arbor, Michigan, were fourth, fifth and sixth behind ... well, nevermind ... check out Wikipedia's perfect recap:
ReplyDeleteThe final was held on 6 August at 20:50 (UTC+2) in the evening.
The race, as expected, was led by the defending Olympic champion and Olympic record holder Jakob Ingebrigtsen nearly wire-to-wire. However in the final 100 metres, Josh Kerr began to move quickly on the outside. As Kerr attempted to pass, Ingebrigtsen drifted slightly from the rail to force Kerr to run wide, allowing Cole Hocker of the United States to pass on the inside. Kerr appeared to be in position to pull away and win down the home stretch, but Hocker, having run less distance out of the turn, caught him with about 10 metres remaining to win.
Yared Nuguse took third, with Ingebrigtsen shockingly finishing out of a medal position.
Amazing!
Five more meters, and Nuguse would've won silver. But he wouldn't've caught Hocker. Hocker was just thundering down the track the last several meters--fists pumping with each stride. It was exhilarating!
ReplyDeleteI miss the first-week Team USA domination in the pool, but I'll have to say that, on balance, I prefer the second-week Team USA medals party in track and field/athletics.
ReplyDeleteAt leas it feels that way. I haven't looked at the comparative numbers, but prime-time, tape-delay Channel 6 is making me feel like Team USA is absolutely rocking this sport at Paris 2024.