Daily Edition – Day 3: …Ready for it?
From The GIST (hi@thegistsports.com)
What an opening weekend!
A truly unforgettable Opening Ceremony is in the books, the first medals have been handed out, and we’ve already become Olympic channel surfers to keep up with all of the action. Riding the wave right into today’s news…
Country | 🥇 | 🥈 | 🥉 | Total |
| 🇯🇵 Japan | 4 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
| 🇦🇺 Australia | 4 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| 🇺🇸 USA | 3 | 6 | 3 | 12 |
| 🇫🇷 France | 3 | 3 | 2 | 8 |
🏊 After just missing the podium at the 2020 Tokyo Games, Torri Huske soared to the gold medal in yesterday’s 100m butterfly final, with fellow American (and world record holder) Gretchen Walsh finishing four-tenths of a second behind her to win the silver.
- Earlier in the weekend, Katie Ledecky claimed the bronze medal in Saturday’s 400m freestyle “Race of the Century,” Ledecky’s 11th career Olympic medal. Just keep swimming.
🤺 Lee Kiefer defended her Olympic gold in yesterday’s all-American women’s foil fencing finale, beating compatriot Lauren Scruggs to give the red, white, and blue a gold-silver finish.
🚴🏼 Despite a fine for “failure to respect the instructions of the race organization or commissaires,” 25-year-old mountain biker Haley Batten won silver yesterday, the best-ever Olympic finish by an American rider. Ain’t no mountain high enough.
🏉 Ilona Maher and the Team USA women’s rugby sevens squad are off to an electric start. The Eagles dominated Japan and Brazil in yesterday’s pool play action to secure their spot in today’s quarter-finals. Hitting different.
🎾 U.S. flag bearer Coco Gauff cruised in her Olympic singles debut yesterday, posting a straight-sets win over Australia’s Ajla Tomljanović, while her countrywomen Jessica Pegula, Danielle Collins, and Emma Navarro also advanced to this morning’s second round. Aces.
🏀 Kevin Durant is him. The three-time Olympic gold medalist was perfect in the first half, and LeBron James added 21 points of his own, lifting Team USA to a resounding 110–84 group stage win over Serbia yesterday. Definitely easier than crossing the Delaware.
🥈 Kassidy Cook and Sarah Bacon sizzled to a silver medal in the women’s synchronized 3-meter springboard final on Saturday, Team USA’s first medal of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
🥇 As for the first American gold medal in Paris, that belongs to Jack Alexy, Chris Guiliano, Hunter Armstrong, and now eight-time Olympic gold medalist Caeleb Dressel after they outlasted Australia in the 4x100 freestyle relay on Saturday. Talk about making a splash.
Women’s Soccer
⚽ Keep on survivin’
The GIST: From No. 12 Australia and No. 64 Zambia’s 11-goal showdown to No. 1 Spain’s last-minute win over No. 36 Nigeria, yesterday’s six group stage games more than delivered — but No. 8 CanWNT’s ongoing drone scandal continues to cast a cloud over the thrilling tourney.
CanWNT head coach Bev Priestman suspended, team docked six points: On Saturday, FIFA banned Priestman and two staffers allegedly involved in the spying scandal for one year and deducted six points (teams earn three for a win, one for a draw, zero for a loss) from CanWNT’s group stage total, making it extremely difficult (but not impossible) for the defending gold medalists to advance.
- Priestman publicly apologized to the players just before they took the field against No. 2 France, and the red and white powered through to eke out a gritty 2–1 stoppage time comeback win. Never, ever, ever quit.
No. 5 USWNT clinches quarter-final spot with commanding 4–1 win over powerhouse No. 4 Germany: The Americans put on their strongest offensive performance in years with a first-half brace from forward Sophia Smith, plus goals from winger Mallory Swanson and late sub Lynn Williams.
- One hiccup? Stalwart center back Tierna Davidson’s first-half injury, which appears to be a lower leg issue. Stay tuned for updates on her status ahead of Wednesday’s sure-to-be-epic group stage finale.
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Women’s Artistic Gymnastics
🤸 So ready for it
The GIST: Thanks to dominant performances from seven-time Olympic medalist Simone Biles (even through injury) and reigning all-around champ Sunisa Lee, Team USA women’s gymnastics leads all countries after yesterday’s team qualification. Nothing holding them back.
Biles pushes through calf twinge, competes with joy: The GOAT gave fans a scare when she tweaked her calf while warming up for the floor but, after briefly leaving the competition for medical attention, returned with a taped-up leg and confidently completed her all-around program.
- Though Biles appeared to limp slightly between events, she still shined, finishing with the top all-around score. Awe-inspiring.
- Something we didn’t see yesterday? The highly anticipated new unique skill from Biles on the uneven bars. If she completes it, it’ll become the sixth skill named after her.
Lee triumphs in Olympic return: Lee finished third among all all-around competitors yesterday behind Biles and Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade, dazzling on the uneven bars (her signature event) and the beam — a glorious performance, especially considering the multiple kidney issues that nearly kept Lee from competing in Paris.
- But before Biles and Lee go head-to-head in the all-around final on August 1st, they’ll combine forces once again in tomorrow’s 12:15 p.m. ET team final. Bring it on.
Event | ⏰ (ET) | 👀 |
| 🎾 Men’s Singles second round | Today starting at 6 a.m. | 🇪🇸 Rafael Nadal vs. 🇷🇸 Novak Djokovic |
| 🤽 Women’s Water Polo group play | Today at 9:35 a.m. | 🇺🇲 USA vs. 🇪🇸 Spain |
| 🏐 Women’s Volleyball group play | Today at 11 a.m. | 🇺🇲 USA vs. 🇨🇳 People’s Republic of China |
| 🏀 Women’s Basketball group play | Today at 3 p.m. | 🇺🇲 USA vs. 🇯🇵 Japan |
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Here’s what has The GIST team currently hyped:
📚 What to read
This article about the 11 Chinese swimmers who are under intense scrutiny following a doping scandal that went unpunished at the Tokyo Games. The Chinese deny any wrongdoing and insist they’re clean, but competitors are still frustrated.
🥓 Who served up success
Cook ’N’ Bacon, aka synchronized diving teammates Kassidy Cook and Sarah Bacon, who won the U.S.’s first medal of the Games and proved that everything’s better when you do it with your bestie.
🛟 Who saved the day
The Olympic lifeguard who recovered a swim cap from the bottom of the pool, stealing hearts everywhere in the process. Who would’ve thought the world’s best swimmers need a lifeguard on duty?
⚽ What to subscribe to
The Women’s Game. Stay updated on the latest women’s soccer news by signing up for their free newsletter today. Goals.
Today’s email was brought to you by Lauren Tuiskula, Alessandra Puccio, Marga Sison, and Katie Kehoe Foster. Fact-checking by Parul Kanwar. Ops by Briana Ekanem and Marga Sison. Ads by Katie Kehoe Foster and Alessandra Puccio. Managing edits by Lauren Tuiskula. Head of content Ellen Hyslop.