Tasha’s Epic Quadrennial Olympics Analysis
Day 16
Okay, I decided there is just too much to unpack there so I’m going to separate the closing ceremony into its own post. So without further ado, here is my recap of the last day and a half of Olympic competition.
- Over at La Concorde, the final round for men’s breakdancing got underway. The men’s competition was lightyears better than the women’s competition. I’m not saying that the two are related but I couldn’t help but to notice that the men’s competition was…um…qu’est-ce que…more diverse than the women’s competition.
- Just an aside: I need to correct the announcers. The home of breakdancing isn’t the USA, it’s the Bronx. This is a subtle but very important distinction.
- Just another aside: I think I figured it out. I believe that Team Australia had absolutely no intention of submitting an entry for women’s breakdancing, but B-Girl Raygun (and yes, that’s what she calls herself) offered to pay her own way if she could go and compete on the country’s behalf. That’s the only way I can fathom how she ended up in the competition.
- Unrelated, I’m still amazed by how many of these athletes are self-funded. It just goes to show you, everyone isn’t having the same Olympic experience.
- Just another another aside: B-Girl Raygun is a professor. I can’t imagine a scenario where my students wouldn’t completely clown me for the rest of my life had I competed like she did. I’d be looking for another vocation to save myself from that ridicule. Y’all know Gen Z is relentless. The roasting would never end.
- I hung out at the Aquatics Centre to catch the final round of the artistic swimming duet. Just so you know, 80 percent of the artistic swimmers’ 2 minute 20 second routines are underwater. One of the announcers explained it like this: imagine running a five-mile race where you intermittently sprint while holding your breath and smiling.
- I don’t know why this brought me so much joy but two of the three teams that medaled in this event were twins. I always wanted to be a twin but just knowing that having a twin could’ve helped me achieve my inner Esther Williams really gives me a profound sense of loss.
- Team China’s YUAN Cao’s fourth straight back-to-back gold medal in the 10m platform tied him with the record that Team USA’s Greg Louganis (who was in the audience watching) set in 1988. And yes, I was triggered again by seeing Greg sitting there.
- It was a sweep. Coa’s win gave Team China its eighth (out of
gold medal in diving during these Olympic games. - Team Japan’s TAMAI Rikuto’s silver medal finish gave his country its first Olympic diving medal ever.
- At Bercy Arena, Steph Curry decided that he wasn’t going home without that gold medal. His four three-pointers in the last three minutes of the gold medal game against Team France led Team USA to its fifth consecutive gold medal in this event.
- Just some more aside: Now that we saw Wemby take Team France to the Olympic finals I’m going to need him to come back and fix these Spurs.
- Speaking of Team USA basketball gold medal games against Team France, it was a close one for the women, but in the end, Team USA won its eighth consecutive gold medal (the only basketball team, male or female, in Olympics history to do so) and will leave Paris undefeated since 1992.
- In a major upset (at least it was majorly upsetting for me) Team USA’s women’s water polo team didn’t medal at all, the first time since 2000. Team USA came in heavily favored and was chasing an historic fourth consecutive gold medal in this event.
- Perhaps the most upsetting, though, was the Court of Arbitration for Sport deciding that the inquiry that allowed Team USA’s Jordan Chiles to win the bronze medal in the artistic gymnastics floor exercise came in 4 seconds after the one-minute time limit for submitting an inquiry. Team USA will comply with the decision and Team Romania will be awarded the bronze medal in this event.
- Again an aside. Here’s how you know I have bad sportsmanship; you would be prying that bronze medal from my cold dead hands.
- In happier news, Team USA’s women’s soccer team won its first gold medal since 2012.
- The Olympics saved the best for last over at the Stade de France.
- Team USA’s men set the tone for the afternoon in the 4x400m relay by winning the gold medal and setting a new Olympic record. This is Team USA’s third consecutive gold medal in this event. Team USA has also won this event 8 out of the last 10 Olympics. Although he ran in the prelim and not in the final of this event, 16-year-old Quincy Wilson will be returning to high school in two weeks as the youngest ever U.S. male Olympic gold medalist in track and field.
- For the women’s 4x400m relay, I got two words for you…Syd! Ney! She took off during the second leg of the relay and didn’t look back. Team USA finished more than 4 seconds ahead of the silver medalists, set a new U.S. record, and won its eighth straight Olympic gold medal in this event. Now you see why the 4x400m is my jam!
- In middle distance and distance running, Team USA’s Grant Fisher’s bronze medals in the 5,000 and 10,000m made him the first member of Team USA to medal in both of those events in a single Olympics.
- Sifan Hassan from Team Netherlands won the women’s marathon and set a new Olympic record. She also won two bronze medals in the 5,000m and 10,000m during these same Olympic games.
- Some trivia for you, this year’s women’s marathon followed the same route as the Women’s March on Versailles during the French Revolution.
- Faith Kipyegon from Team Kenya is the only female runner to win three Olympic gold medals back-to-back in the 1500m. Her win in this race set a new Olympic record. Incidentally, this happened the day after she won an Olympic silver medal in the 5,000m.
- One last aside: I found myself a new Olympics job that I think I’m qualified to do. I shall pin the race bibs on the backs of the runners before they compete.