Daily Edition – Day 14: Switch it up like Nintendo
From The GIST (hi@thegistsports.com)
Happy Friday!
And happy last weekend of Olympic action. We’re not ready to say goodbye just yet, so we’ll be in your inbox with one last Paris-focused newsletter on Monday.
- That newsletter will also include some of your favorite moments from the Games — reply to this email and let us know your highlights, then scroll on for all the deets on a golden grand finale.
Country | 🥇 | 🥈 | 🥉 | Total |
| 🇺🇸 USA | 30 | 38 | 35 | 103 |
| 🇨🇳 People’s Republic of China | 29 | 25 | 19 | 73 |
| 🇦🇺 Australia | 18 | 14 | 13 | 45 |
| 🇫🇷 France | 14 | 19 | 21 | 54 |
1️⃣ American Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone is unstoppable. She broke her own world record again en route to her second straight 400m hurdles Olympic gold yesterday, while compatriot Anna Cockrell earned silver and the Netherland’s Femke Bol claimed bronze.
🥈🥉 Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo stunned the field and won gold in the highly anticipated men’s 200m final. Americans Kenny Bednarek and Noah Lyles earned silver and bronze, respectively, with the latter revealing after the race that he competed despite testing positive for COVID-19.
🥇 The American golds keep on coming from Stade de France as Tara Davis-Woodhall leaped to the top of the women’s long jump podium and Grant Holloway conquered the men’s 110m hurdles.
- Meanwhile, distance runner Nikki Hiltz advanced to the 1500m final, becoming the first trans non-binary Olympian to make an individual final. History.
🏐 With a raucous crowd rooting against them, captain Jordan Larson and Team USA women’s volleyball used it as fuel in their tough five-set semifinal win over Brazil. Now it’s on to Sunday’s 7 a.m. ET gold medal game against Italy — hit it.
🤽 Team USA women’s water polo suffered heartbreak at the pool in a 14–13 penalty shootout semis loss to Australia, ending the red, white, and blue’s four-peat bid. The squad will face the Netherlands for bronze tomorrow at 4:35 a.m. ET.
⛳ There was a big shake up in the women’s golf leaderboard as Switzerland’s Morgane Metraux surged to the day 2 lead, with Ruoning Yin (People’s Republic of China) and two-time Olympic medalist Lydia Ko (New Zealand) rounding out the top three. Americans Nelly Korda and Rose Zhang are tied for 12th, while Lilia Vu sits in 14th.
⚡ Calling all B-Girls and B-Boys: Breaking makes its Olympic debut today. The B-Girls’ medals will be awarded at 3:19 p.m ET, and the B-Boys will dance their way to the podium tomorrow at the same time.
🥊 Against all odds and controversy, Algerian boxer Imane Khelif (66kg) will fight for gold against the People’s Republic of China’s Yang Liu today at 4:51 p.m. ET, and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting (57kg) faces Poland’s Julia Szeremeta in tomorrow’s 3:30 p.m. ET gold medal clash.
Women’s Basketball
🏀 And then there were four
The GIST: After the American men avoided what would’ve been one of the biggest upsets of the Games and advanced to the gold medal matchup yesterday, women’s basketball takes center stage today when the stacked semis tip off in a few hours. Hoop yeah.
Team USA vs. Australia — 11:30 a.m. ET: With 59 straight Olympic dubs in their wake, the Americans are favored to win it all, especially with superstars like two-time WNBA MVPs A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart and Las Vegas Aces teammates and breakout performers Jackie Young and Kelsey Plum on their roster.
- The red, white, and blue overcame a meh start and overpowered Nigeria in the quarter-finals (QFs), but they’ll have their hands full with Australia — especially if Jade Melbourne’s fiery run of form continues and veteran Lauren Jackson returns to the court. Crikey!
France vs. Belgium — 3 p.m. ET: Don’t count out the host nation. Typically known for their defense, France showed off its offensive depth in their QF win, topping powerhouse Germany 84–71 behind 24 points from the NY Liberty’s Marine “Magnifique” Johannes.
- As for Belgium, they’ll be competing in their first Olympic semi, but fearless leader Emma Meesseman has plenty of championship experience, winning a WNBA ’ship (and Finals MVP) in 2019. That said, will it be enough to overcome an injury-depleted roster?
Women’s Soccer
⚽ All that glitters
The GIST: A historic rivalry will add a new chapter when the No. 5 USWNT faces No. 9 Brazil in tomorrow’s 11 a.m. ET gold medal match. Brew a Triple Espresso, flip on today’s 9 a.m. ET bronze medal match between No. 1 Spain and No. 4 Germany as a warmup, then dive into the two major storylines heading into tomorrow’s kickoff.
USWNT reclaim signature grit and swagger: Head coach Emma Hayes made waves after the Americans’ 1–0 semis win over Germany, telling reporters she wanted the team to find inspiration in suffering. Well, she got her wish — this squad has been relentless and resilient, grinding out two straight extra-time knockout wins to compete for gold.
- American standouts include iconic centerback Naomi “brick wall” Girma, who’s held down the fort as the U.S.’ Big Three — Sophia Smith, Mallory Swanson, and Trinity Rodman — mold their offensive might.
- The midfield has cause for concern, but with two-thirds of the team clicking, a redemptive gold is certainly within reach.
Can Marta leave the game on top? Tomorrow’s match is Brazil’s last chance to win their first international championship with the Queen of Football, as she’s set to retire from the national team at the end of the year.
- But with all due respect to the GOAT, Brazil played their strongest soccer of the tournament without her on the pitch, stunning No. 2 France 1–0 in the quarter-finals and topping reigning world champion Spain 4–2 in the semis.
- Brazil will be playing with ultimate heart, but the four-time gold medalist U.S. will be hard to beat, even in the face of their opponent’s fast-paced, fun footy. TL;DR? You simply can not miss this match.
Together With Smalls
Like tough gymnastics judges, cats can be notoriously picky, but with Smalls, treating your feline friend to the best food of their nine lives is oh-so easy.
- Smalls’ recipes are positively scrumptious and produced with high-quality ingredients that help cats live their healthiest and happiest lives.
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Event | ⏰ (ET) | 👀 |
| 🥇💨 Women’s 4x100m relay final | Today at 1:30 p.m. | 🇺🇲 Team USA |
| 🥇🏃 Men’s 4x100m relay final | Today at 1:47 p.m. | 🇺🇲 Team USA |
| 🏅7️⃣ Women’s heptathlon 800m | Today at 2:25 p.m. | 🇺🇲 Anna Hall |
Here’s what passed The GIST squad’s vibe check this week:
🤢 Who’s sick of U.S. health care costs
Team USA athletes — they’re taking advantage of the Olympic Village’s completely free medical clinic, complete with a gynecologist, dentist, ophthalmologist, cardiologist, and more. Hopefully they have a GI specialist, too…
⏱️ What hasn’t changed much since 1924
The gold medal–winning time in the men’s 100m, despite massive advances in tech and training. Great Britain’s Harold Abrahams won with a 10.6-second finish in 1924, 0.81 seconds slower than Noah Lyles’ time last week. Wild.
⚽ Who’s empowering women
SoccerGrlProbs. Feel good and play good in their women’s empowerment collection with a special GISTer 20% discount using the code GIST20. Goals.
Today’s email was brought to you by 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.