Daily Edition – Day 6: Salt air, and the rust on your door
From The GIST (hi@thegistsports.com)
Say cheese!
Can’t stop, won’t stop thinking about Italian gymnast (and Paris Team All-Around silver medalist) Giorgia Villa’s endorsement deal with parmesan cheese…yes, way. Feeling, ahem, grate heading into today’s newsletter.
Country | 🥇 | 🥈 | 🥉 | Total |
| 🇨🇳 People’s Republic of China | 10 | 7 | 3 | 20 |
| 🇫🇷 France | 8 | 10 | 8 | 26 |
| 🇯🇵 Japan | 8 | 3 | 4 | 15 |
| 🇺🇲 USA (7th) | 5 | 13 | 12 | 30 |
🏊 Before we celebrate the legendary Katie Ledecky below, three cheers for Torri Huske, who stunned on the way to silver during yesterday’s thrilling women’s 100m freestyle final, Huske’s third medal in Paris. Polishing up real nice.
- As for the men, French superstar Léon Marchand continued his historic hometown run, picking up gold in the 200m butterfly and 200m breaststroke to bring his total to three golds. Trés bien.
🚲 Team USA BMX rider Perris Benegas surged to silver in the women’s BMX freestyle, an incredible feat after suffering a devastating knee injury just a year ago. It was all meant to be.
🛶 Twenty-year-old Evy Leibfarth earned bronze in the women’s canoe slalom single final, marking the first time in 20 years that Team USA medaled in the event.
🏐 Middle blocker Chiaka Ogbogu hosted a block party, lifting Team USA to a gritty five-set win over the reigning world champions, Serbia, for the red, white, and blue’s first victory of the Games. Now that’s how you bounce back.
🏀 After a too-close-for-comfort exhibition match against South Sudan earlier this month, Team USA men’s basketball dominated the youngest country in the world as captain LeBron James dropped 23 points in the 103–86 win. So far, so good.
🏊🚴🏃 The women’s and men’s triathlon finals finally went ahead after concerns surrounding the polluted Seine River, with France’s Cassandre Beaugrand taking the gold and making the home crowd proud. Great Britain’s Alex Yee came out on top in the men’s race.
🎾 Coco Gauff’s Paris campaign is over after losses in women’s and mixed doubles. As for the men, Tommy Paul is the lone American left in singles, and he’ll also compete in men’s doubles with Taylor Fritz, facing Great Britain’s Andy Murray and Dan Evans today.
- Elsewhere, the Spanish duo of Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz fell in their quarter-final match against Americans Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram, ending the Spaniards’ medal hopes while the U.S. men advance to today’s semi.
3️⃣🏀 The women’s and men’s U.S. 3x3 basketball teams continue to struggle in Paris as both squads fell for the second straight game, with the women losing 20–17 to Azerbaijan and the men 19–17 to Poland. Sacre bleu.
Women’s soccer
⚽ On to the next one
The GIST: The Olympic women’s soccer quarter-finals (QF) are set — and you can get in on the action by joining our 100% free bracket. Sign up and scroll on, the fun has just begun.
Who’s through: The No. 5 USWNT and No. 8 CanWNT are both through to the knockouts, with the Americans winning Group B after taking down No. 12 Australia 2–1 yesterday and the defending gold medalist Canadians overcoming FIFA’s six-point deduction, topping No. 22 Colombia 1–0 to finish second in Group A.
- Joining them in the knockouts are No. 1 Spain, No. 2 France, No. 4 Germany, No. 7 Japan, No. 9 Brazil, and Colombia.
- Unfortunately for Brazil, they’ll be without their fearless leader Marta for Saturday’s QF match against France after the soon-to-be-retiring captain was issued a red card yesterday, rendering her ineligible for the next game.
USWNT chemistry builds in final group stage game: Even with a quarter-final spot locked in before kickoff, head coach Emma Hayes opted for a nearly identical starting lineup for the third consecutive match, focusing on fostering team flow given the fast pace of the Olympic tourney.
- Forward Trinity Rodman opened the scoring in the 43rd minute, and midfielder Korbin Albert netted the game-winner (her first international goal), a moment of celebration for the 20-year-old who’s rebuilding her relationship with her teammates after sharing anti-LGBTQIA+ posts on social media earlier this year.
- The red, white, and blue are clicking at exactly the right time, but they sadly will be without defensive midfielder Sam Coffey for Saturday’s 9 a.m. ET QF against Japan due to yellow card accumulation.
Giveaway Alert
⚽ Get ready for kick off with The GIST's Women’s Summer Soccer Bracket Challenge!
This year, we're bringing you an epic women's soccer tournament experience. Join fellow GISTers and show off your soccer smarts for a chance to win major prizes and bragging rights.
Prizes: The winner will receive an iPhone 15, second place will win an iPad, and third place will win an Apple Watch SE.
How to play: Sign up for free and we’ll remind you to lock in your picks before the women's soccer quarter-finals start. It’s that easy!
Women’s swimming
🏊 One of one, she’s number one
The GIST: Thirty laps? That’s nothing for Team USA icon Katie Ledecky, who dominantly defended her 1500m freestyle Olympic title yesterday, setting an Olympic record on the way to her first gold in Paris. Here’s a look at the GOAT’s performance, by the numbers.
12: The number of Olympic medals Ledecky has won across four Olympics, tying her with legends Jenny Thompson, Dara Torres, and Natalie Coughlin for most swimming medals by an American woman. The only person who has more medals in Team USA history? Michael Phelps, with 28.
8: The number of Ledecky’s medals that are shiny, shiny gold. Bling, bling.
15 minutes, 30.02 seconds: That’s how fast Ledecky swam the 1500m free yesterday, giving her a new Olympic record…and breaking the one that she previously set in 2021. In fact, the top 20 fastest times in the event are all hers. Incroyable.
2: The 27-year-old still has two events left in Paris — the 4x200m freestyle relay today at 4:03 p.m. ET and the 800m freestyle, with the semis set for tomorrow at 5:52 a.m. ET. Just keep swimming, literally.
Event | ⏰ (ET) | 👀 |
| 🎾 Tennis men’s singles quarter-finals | Today starting at 6 a.m. | 🇺🇲 Tommy Paul |
| 🏅🤸 Women’s gymnastics all-around final | 12:15 p.m. | 🇺🇲 Simone Biles and Suni Lee |
| 🏀 Women’s basketball group play | 3 p.m. | 🇺🇲 USA vs. 🇧🇪 Belgium |
| 3️⃣🏀 3x3 women’s basketball group play | 3:30 p.m. | 🇺🇲 USA vs. 🇪🇸 Spain |
Together With INDIVISA
INDIVISA is your favorite women’s soccer account’s favorite women’s soccer account. INDIVISA is an inclusive space to showcase, explore, and celebrate every corner of the women’s game. Speaking our language.
- Curated on-pitch content? Check. Iconic players, fans, and creators? Check. Untold cultural stories? Check. Run, don’t walk, and follow INDIVISA today.
Peep our squad’s MVPs (Most Valuable Picks):
👀 Why you shouldn't throw shade
Because it could come back to bite you, like it did for former U.S. gymnast Mykayla Skinner. She found out, no doubt about it.
🧁 Where the muffin man lives
Drury Lane Norway, apparently. Norway swimmer and TikTok star Henrik Christiansen’s obsession with the Olympic Village chocolate muffins is our new obsession.
😊 Who's just here to have fun
Team USA golfer Scottie Scheffler. With the tourney swinging into action today, he's really just here for the vibes.
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.