Daily Edition – Day 7: Life’s a climb, but the view is great
From The GIST (hi@thegistsports.com)
Happy Friday!
Lace up your sneaks, because we’re running right into another epic Olympic weekend, highlighted by a jam-packed Athletics events schedule.
Country | 🥇 | 🥈 | 🥉 | Total |
| 🇨🇳 People’s Republic of China | 12 | 7 | 7 | 26 |
| 🇺🇲 USA | 9 | 16 | 13 | 38 |
| 🇫🇷 France | 8 | 11 | 8 | 27 |
| 🇦🇺 Australia | 8 | 6 | 4 | 18 |
🏊 One of one, indeed — Team USA legend Katie Ledecky officially stands alone as the most decorated U.S. female Olympian after her team nabbed silver in the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay yesterday, giving Ledecky her 13th Olympic medal.
- And there’s more hardware where that came from. Teammate Regan Smith took silver and set an American record in women’s 200m butterfly, while Kate Douglass raced to the gold in women’s 200m breaststroke.
🥊 Amid controversy surrounding women’s boxing world champions Imane Khelif (Algeria) and Lin Yu-ting (Taiwan) due to failed gender eligibility tests at last year’s world championships, the IOC issued a statement confirming that both boxers comply with all regulations.
🚣 For the first time in 64 years, Team USA’s men’s rowing four team (composed of Justin Best, Nick Mead, Michael Grady, and Liam Corrigan) won the gold medal, finishing ahead of New Zealand and Great Britain. Simply oar-some.
🤺 Team USA women’s fencing captured its first-ever team gold medal in foil by defeating Italy 45–39 thanks to Lee Kiefer (now a three-time gold medalist), Lauren Scruggs, Jacqueline Dubrovich, and Maia Weintraub. Parry on.
🏀 Behind monster performances from Breanna Stewart (26 points) and A’ja Wilson (23 points), Team USA women’s basketball held off Belgium (and a rowdy crowd) with a gutsy 87–74 win, the team’s 57th straight Olympic victory.
🎾 American Tommy Paul’s medal dreams were dashed with his quarter-final singles loss to reigning Olympic champ Carlos Alcaraz of Spain. Luckily, Paul is moving on to the men’s doubles semis with partner Taylor Fritz after ending Great Britain’s Andy Murray’s pro career.
- Elsewhere, China’s Zheng Qinwen snapped Poland’s Iga Świątek’s 25-match Roland Garros win streak in a singles semis upset.
3️⃣🏀 After dropping a third straight pool play game, Team USA 3x3 women’s basketball finally found the win column with a 17–11 victory over Spain. Here’s hoping the defending champs can keep it going against France today at 7 a.m. ET before facing Canada at 12 p.m. ET.
🏌️ Following one day of men’s golf play, Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama led the field with an eight-under-par score, while defending gold medalist Xander Schauffele sits in second place. That said, anything can happen as play continues today through Sunday.
Women’s Artistic Gymnastics
🤸 Life’s a climb, but the view is great
The GIST: The one and only Simone Biles landed back on top of the Olympic all-around podium yesterday, winning her sixth gold medal following a tight competition against Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade (silver) and her Team USA compatriot, Sunisa Lee (bronze).
- With countless stars in attendance and numerous records broken, let’s look at the flippin’ epic final by the numbers before the individual events begin tomorrow.
6: An American woman has won the all-around for six straight Games, beginning with Carly Patterson in 2004. Legends on legends on legends.
1: How is Biles one of one? Let us count the ways: She’s the first woman in 56 years to win multiple all-around titles, the sole competitor to ever win non-consecutive golds in the event, and the only Black gymnast to win two all-around Olympic titles. GOAT is right.
0: The number of all-around competitions Biles has lost since 2013, aka the year she debuted as a senior gymnast. Undefeated.
3: Andrade tore her ACL three times and still returned to competitive gymnastics, becoming the first Brazilian woman to ever medal in the sport at the 2020 Tokyo Games.
1980: The last year a former all-around gold medalist returned to the podium at the next Games…that is, until Lee’s bronze medal triumph yesterday.
27: Biles is 27 years young, making her the oldest all-around gymnastics champion since 1952. Now the question is: Will she return for LA 2028?
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 Soccer
⚽ All systems go(lazos)
The GIST: Don’t let the drone use denials distract you — tomorrow is all about the on-field footy action, with an epic day of quarter-final clashes ahead. Check out this game-by-game preview, then pick your champion before kickoff. Who knows, you might just be a winner yourself.
No. 5 USWNT vs. No. 7 Japan at 9 a.m. ET: The day is starting off with a bang, because this opener promises fireworks. Much like the recently-jelling American squad, the Japanese move the ball quickly, which could pose a problem for a USWNT defense that’s considerably less solid heading into this one.
- Defensive midfielder Sam Coffey is ineligible to play due to yellow card accumulation, and injured center back Tierna Davidson may not be ready to return to the pitch, making it all the more important for the red, white, and blue’s Big Three to strike early (and often).
No. 1 Spain vs. No. 22 Colombia at 11 a.m. ET: This match is a classic powerhouse vs. underdog showdown: Spain, the defending FIFA Women’s World Cup champs, are dazzling in their Olympic debut, while up-and-coming Colombia has had a quiet campaign. Case in point? Star Colombian striker Linda Caicedo has failed to score in the tourney, but there’s no time like the present to shine.
No. 8 CanWNT vs. No. 4 Germany at 1 p.m. ET: Defending gold medalist CanWNT is all fired up following their unlikely group stage triumph, successfully led by captain Jessie Fleming’s two assists and one goal.
- Germany’s offense is known for causing problems, but if rookie defender Jade Rose keeps up the good work and defender Vanessa Gilles continues to find the back of the net, Canada just might soar into the semis.
No. 2 France vs. No. 9 Brazil at 3 p.m. ET: With the legendary Marta suspended from tomorrow’s game, Brazil has a steep hill to climb against hosts France, who boast forward Marie-Antoinette Katoto and her five goals this tourney. But if anything can energize As Canarinhas, it’s the chance to give the Queen of Football one last run on the Olympic pitch.
Event | ⏰ (ET) | 👀 |
| 🏀 Men’s basketball group play | Tomorrow at 11:15 a.m. | 🇺🇲 USA vs. 🇵🇷 Puerto Rico |
| 🏅🤸 Men’s pommel horse final | Tomorrow at 11:16 a.m. | 🇺🇲 Stephen Nedoroscik |
| 🏅🏊 Women’s 800m freestyle final | Tomorrow at 3:08 p.m. | 🇺🇲 Katie Ledecky |
| 🏅👟 Women’s 100m final | Tomorrow at 3:20 p.m. | 🇺🇲 Sha’Carri Richardson |
Together With Heineken Silver
Already making epic summer 2025 plans? Our pals at Heineken are here to help by giving one winner two tickets to a US Open finals match at New York’s iconic Arthur Ashe Stadium next year. Talk about a Grand Slam prize.
- Enter the contest today for a shot at some of the best seats in the house — plus exclusive BTS access — all courtesy of Heineken. And if you’re really lucky, you could instantly win a Heineken US Open hat. What do you have to lose?
Here’s what passed The GIST squad’s vibe check this week:
🥎 Where the guard is changing
The Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball diamond. All four of this week’s captains are first-timers in the role, including two rookies: pitcher Lexi Kilfoyl and infielder Skylar Wallace. The kids are alright.
🤑 Who’s securing the bag (and her pro future)
UConn women’s basketball star Paige Bueckers, who signed an NIL deal with new pro women’s league Unrivaled yesterday. She’s now the first NCAA athlete to receive ownership equity in a pro league — a year before she can even go pro herself.
💑 What to read
This interview with the girlfriend of U.S. gymnast Stephen Nedoroscik, aka the Pommel Horse King. Who hasn’t thought about what it would be like to date an Olympian over the past week?
🤕 Who needs to get well soon
LA Angels superstar Mike Trout, who’s officially out for the rest of the MLB season with another meniscus tear. Ouch.
Question of the Day
Just over a week into the Games, we want to know: which of these Olympic events are you most interested in trying?
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.