Daily Edition – Day 12: Take that, patriarchy
From The GIST (hi@thegistsports.com)
Happy Hump Day!
There’s still plenty of Games left, but, with so many memorable moments already in the books, we want to know: What’s been your favorite moment from Paris (so far)? Reply to this email with your highlights — you might just see your response featured in a future newsletter.
Country | 🥇 | 🥈 | 🥉 | Total |
| 🇺🇸 USA | 24 | 31 | 31 | 86 |
| 🇨🇳 People’s Republic of China | 22 | 21 | 16 | 59 |
| 🇦🇺 Australia | 14 | 12 | 10 | 36 |
| 🇫🇷 France | 13 | 16 | 19 | 48 |
⚽ Thanks to another dazzling Sophia Smith strike, the women’s soccer gold medal game will feature a fearless USWNT squad (their first Olympic final since 2012) against the legendary Marta’s Brazil, who upset world No. 1 Spain in yesterday’s semis. Is it Saturday yet?
🥇🥉 American runner Cole Hocker shocked the world by crossing the finish line first and setting an Olympic record in the men’s 1500m, while teammate Yared Nuguse set a personal best to take the bronze. What a race.
🥇🥈🥉 On the women’s side, Gabby Thomas added a gold medal to her already epic resume with a dominant 200m finish, making her the first American to win the event since her idol, Allyson Felix, brought home gold in 2012. Thomas’ compatriot, Brittany Brown, raced to the bronze.
- Annette Nneka Echikunwoke earned hammer throw silver, the first American woman to reach the podium in the event.
- And last but certainly not least, world record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone blew by the competition in the semis to reach tomorrow’s 400m hurdles final. Too easy.
🤼 Twenty-year-old wrestler Amit Elor made history as the youngest American to win wrestling gold after defeating Kyrgyzstan's Meerin Zhumanazarova in the 68kg weight class. She’s only just begun.
🏀 Kevin Durant became Team USA’s all-time Olympic leading scorer and helped the red, white, and blue rout Brazil 122–87 to secure their spot in the men’s basketball semis, where they’ll face three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokić and Serbia.
🏐 Team USA women’s volleyball brought out the brooms and took care of Poland in straight sets, sending them through to tomorrow’s 10 a.m. ET semi against Brazil. Diggin’ it.
🤽 Defense was the name of the game for U.S. women’s water polo, who held off Hungary in a 5–4 quarter-final win, setting up a semis clash with Australia tomorrow at 1:35 p.m. ET. Yeah boyee, indeed.
🏖️🏐 Top-ranked American women’s beach volleyball duo Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes suffered a heartbreaking straight-set upset to Switzerland, marking the first time since 2000 a U.S. women’s team won’t medal in the sport.
⛳ Women’s golf is officially underway at Le Golf National, with Americans Nelly Korda, Lilia Vu, and Rose Zhang swinging for the podium as the tourney runs through Saturday. Tee-rific.
Women’s Boxing
🥊 Cutting through the noise
The GIST: Algerian boxer Imane Khelif will fight for a gold medal on Friday after winning yesterday’s 66kg semifinal, a moment of should-be celebration that’s been marred by unwarranted controversy due to a swarm of misinformation surrounding her gender.
The details: It all began with Khelif’s first Olympic fight last Thursday, which her opponent, Italy’s Angela Carini, quit after just 46 seconds. Carini refused to shake Khelif’s hand after the bout and later said she’d “never been hit so hard in [her] life.”
- The quick ending and Carini’s post-fight comments led to increased scrutiny, with many falsely claiming that Khelif, a cis woman, was either a man or transgender.
- The reason? Khelif and Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting were both abruptly disqualified from the International Boxing Association’s (IBA’s) world championship last year, with the Russian-backed governing body claiming both women failed unspecified gender tests.
Zooming in: Citing issues with the IBA’s integrity, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) banned the organization from the Olympics in 2023. The IBA is also no longer recognized as the sport’s governing body.
- Plus, as discussed on the latest episode of The GIST of It, the IBA has refused to specify the “gender tests” Khelif and Lin failed and has changed its story at least twice since Khelif’s initial Olympics win.
- The IOC, on the other hand, released a statement in full support of both Khelif and Lin, as both boxers have provided national documentation confirming their gender and were medically cleared to fight.
What’s next: Carini, the Italian boxer who quit the opening fight vs. Khelif, has since apologized for her part in sparking the controversy, saying she has “nothing against Khelif” and would “give her a hug” if they met again.
- As mentioned, Khelif will fight for the gold on Friday, while Lin competes in her 57kg semi bout today at 3:30 p.m. ET. Eyes on the prize.
Women’s Basketball
🏀 On top of the world
The GIST: The 5x5 women’s basketball knockout stage is underway as you read this: The quarter-finals tipped off at 5 a.m. ET and will culminate with seven-time defending gold medalists Team USA vs. Nigeria at 3:30 p.m. ET. Here’s a look at the hoopin’ by the numbers.
79: Belgium’s Emma Meeseman shines in Olympic play, having already scored 79 points in these Games (the most of all players), including a team-high 24-point effort against the USA. Can she help her squad pull off an upset against Spain today at 8:30 a.m. ET?
24: Led by two-time WNBA All-Star Satou Sabally, Team Germany is raining three-pointers, draining 24 treys so far to mark the highest three-point field goal percentage in the field. Watch them let it fly in a can’t-miss 12 p.m. ET matchup with defensive powerhouse France.
58: The Team USA women have won 58 straight Olympic games, a streak dating back to the 1992 Barcelona Games. Dominant doesn’t even begin to cover it.
20.3: That’s how many points red, white, and blue superstars A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart are averaging individually in France, the first duo to do so through the first three games of a single Olympics.
1: Nigeria is the Cinderella story of this tourney, defeating both Australia and Canada in group stage play to become the first African team (women’s or men’s) to make it to the knockout stage.
Event | ⏰ (ET) | 👀 |
| 🏐 Men’s volleyball semifinal | Today at 10 a.m. | 🇺🇲 USA vs. 🇵🇱 Poland |
| 🤽 Men’s water polo quarter-final | Today at 1 p.m. | 🇺🇲 USA vs. 🇦🇺 Australia |
| 🏅🏊 Artistic swimming team acrobat routine | Today at 1:30 p.m. | 🇺🇲 Team USA |
| 🏃 Men’s 200m semifinal | Today at 2:02 p.m. | 🇺🇲 Noah Lyles, Kenny Bednarek, and Erriyon Knighton |
Here’s what has The GIST team currently hyped:
💪 How to extend your lead
With Aflac. Just like a team adds insurance points or runs to secure a win, you can help protect your finances with Aflac’s supplemental health insurance. Nothing but that added (safety) net.*
🖥️ What’s about to take up your whole day
Google’s Most Searched Playground: Paris 2024, a Where’s Waldo–style hunt for the 20 most searched sports and other moments from the Games. Beautifully illustrated and straight-up addicting.
📖 What to dive deep on
How college football, which once powered the NCAA-to-Olympics pipeline, now puts it in jeopardy. The ground is shifting in the NCAA — watch this space.
🍩 Who’s bringing positive vibes
The Positive DONUT community. Add some sunshine to your life with wellness and mindfulness tips, not to mention cute animal photos. Count us in.
P.S. This is a sponsored post. Quack quack.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.