Daily Edition – Day 13: Challenge accepted
From The GIST (hi@thegistsports.com)
Hello, hello!
Or should we say oui oui — that was the response for French steeplechaser Alice Finot, who proposed to her boyfriend immediately after breaking the European steeplechase record yesterday. Check it out, then say “I do” to today’s news.
Country | 🥇 | 🥈 | 🥉 | Total |
| 🇺🇸 USA | 27 | 35 | 32 | 94 |
| 🇨🇳 People’s Republic of China | 25 | 23 | 17 | 65 |
| 🇦🇺 Australia | 18 | 13 | 11 | 42 |
| 🇫🇷 France | 13 | 17 | 21 | 51 |
🥇 U.S. runner Quincy Hall came out of nowhere and lunged to gold in the men’s 400m final yesterday, making him the first American in 16 years to win the event.
- Now, 100m Paris gold medalist Noah Lyles will look to add another in today’s men’s 200m final. Double or nothing.
🥈 Yesterday also saw some Team USA silver stunners, including pole vaulter Katie Moon’s second-place finish in women’s pole vault and Kenneth Rooks’ inspired run in the men’s 3000m steeplechase.
- Plus, Team USA artistic swimming moonwalked to silver, the red, white, and blue’s first medal in the event in 20 years. Groovy.
🤼 Wrestler and Tokyo 2020 bronze medalist Sarah Hildebrandt found herself at the top of the podium this time around after defeating Cuba’s Yusneylys Guzmán in the 50kg final and giving the Americans their second wrestling gold medal in as many days.
🏋️ Hampton Morris, you are an Olympic bronze medalist. The 20-year-old weightlifter ended the 40-year American men’s medal drought after lifting a combined 298 kilograms (about 650 pounds). Casual.
🏀 With GOATs in attendance, Team USA women’s basketball took care of business in their 88–74 quarter-final win over a gritty Nigerian squad. The red, white, and blue extended their Olympic win streak to 59 games and will look to make it 60 when they face Australia in tomorrow’s 11:30 a.m. ET semi.
⛳ French golfer Céline Boutier is feeling right at home at Le Golf National, leading the field after the first round of play with a score of -7. Americans Lilia Vu (-2), Tokyo 2020 gold medalist Nelly Korda (even par), and Rose Zhang (even par) are in the mix, but have some work to do to climb the leaderboard.
🤽 U.S. men’s water polo goalie Adrian Weinberg literally used his head to save the day as the squad took down Australia 11–10 in a quarter-final shootout and advanced to the semis for the first time since 2008.
🥊 Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting blocked out the noise and won her third straight fight of the Games and is through to Saturday’s gold medal match against Poland’s Julia Szeremeta. Glovin’ it.
🏐 Team USA men’s volleyball sadly fell to Poland in a five-set semis battle. The Americans will face Italy for bronze tomorrow at 10 a.m. ET.
- Unfortunately, the results on the sand weren’t any better as Miles Partain and Andy Benesh lost in their quarter-final tilt with Qatar, meaning no U.S. beach volleyball team will medal at the Olympics for the first time ever.
Men’s Basketball
🏀 It’s showtime
The GIST: A whopping 25 NBAers are suiting up across the four remaining countries, so expect action aplenty in today’s men’s basketball semis, with winners advancing to Saturday’s gold medal game.
France vs. Germany — 11:30 a.m. ET: Tokyo 2020 silver medalists France are finally finding their groove with their best game yet in Tuesday’s quarter-final — an 82–73 upset of top contenders Canada.
- And that dub came without much help from four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert, who’s dealing with an unspecified injury, leaving the team’s defense in young Victor Wembanyama’s very large hands.
- Meanwhile, Germany is competing in their first-ever Olympic semi but hasn’t dropped a game in Paris, most recently ousting Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Greece on Tuesday. Can Brooklyn Net Dennis Schröder keep the streak going?
USA vs. Serbia — 3 p.m. ET: Team USA head coach Steve Kerr thinks three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokić has been playing the long game by tricking the Americans into believing Serbia is a sleepy squad after the red, white, and blue’s 26-point win in group stage play.
- But The Joker should never be underestimated, and if he’s on the floor for all 40 minutes tomorrow (like he was in Serbia’s most recent Olympic win), the Americans will have their hands full as they chase their 17th (!!!) program gold.
- Plus, American big Joel Embiid might be out due to ankle soreness, leaving Captain America Kevin Durant to continue his epic scoring spree and Bam Adebayo to step up in Embiid’s potential absence.
Women’s 400m Hurdles
👟 Catch her if you can
The GIST: Clear your cal for 3:25 p.m. ET, because an epic showdown is about to hit the purple track of Stade de France — American hurdler and world record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone will take on her rival, Femke Bol of the Netherlands, in one of the Games’ most difficult races. On your mark, get set, let’s go.
McLaughlin-Levrone’s dominance is nearly unmatched: The 24-year-old holds four of the five fastest times in the 400m hurdles, most recently breaking her own world record at the 2024 U.S. Olympic trials with a 50.65s finish.
- That time was faster than all of McLaughlin-Levrone’s semis competitors’ 400m personal records — ran without hurdles. Her speed, stride, and execution are practically untouchable.
But Bol is coming for the American legend: McLaughlin-Levrone and Bol have only raced against each other twice: Once at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and then at the 2022 world championships, with McLaughlin-Levrone winning both times.
- However, Bol has only improved in recent years, winning the 2023 world championship in the event (a race McLaughlin-Levrone notably did not compete in).
- For some added fire, these two are the only women to ever run sub-51 seconds in the 400m hurdles after Bol clocked in at 50.95 last month.
- As McLaughlin-Levrone recently said, “iron sharpens iron” — records will almost certainly fall when the two best women hurdlers in the world meet later today. History is happening here.
Event | ⏰ (ET) | 👀 |
| 🏐 Women’s volleyball semifinal | Today at 10 a.m. | 🇺🇲 USA vs. 🇧🇷 Brazil |
| 🤽 Women’s water polo semifinal | Today at 1:35 p.m. | 🇺🇲 USA vs. 🇦🇺 Australia |
| 🏅👟 Men’s 200m final | Today at 2:30 p.m | 🇺🇲 Noah Lyles, Kenny Bednarek, Erriyon Knighton |
Peep our squad’s MVPs (Most Valuable Picks):
🥇 Who finally got their golden moment
The 2022 U.S. Olympic figure skating team, who won silver at the Beijing Games but had it bumped up to gold following the Russian doping scandal heard ’round the world. Two years late but still triumphant.
🥍 Who has her eyes on LA 2028
AU Pro Lacrosse star Charlotte North, who’s red-hot heading into the final series of the season — and into the program-building period before lacrosse rejoins the Olympics in LA.
🏖️ Where to live if you want to be an Olympian
Long Beach, California, apparently. An alum from the city’s Woodrow Wilson Classical High School has competed at every summer Games since 1952. Unreal.
🎈 How the Games happen
Thanks to vital behind-the-scenes workers, like the Olympic lifeguard, block builder, camera cleaner, and balloon brandisher. Not all heroes wear capes.
⚽ Where to shop
At SoccerGrlProbs. Feel good in their women belong tee and the rest of the women’s empowerment collection with a special 20% off GISTer discount using the code GIST20.
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.