USA Men's Soccer Looks To Shock World; Fast Day In Paris In Pool, On Track, And With BMX (Olympics Day 10 Preview)
Day 10 is here, and it is a fast paced, chaotic, incredible day of the Olympic Games. Will it be as good as Day 9 for Team USA? Let's look at the Medal Table…
UPDATED AS OF 10:00 AM EST ON AUGUST 2nd
Okay, okay, Team USA is heating up! Four Gold Medals on Day 9 helped put the United States further up the Medal Table and, more importantly, put them perfectly on pace with where they were at in Tokyo 2020. It's going to be a fight to win the medal count, especially with what has so far been a bit of a letdown in the pool, but the United States is in decent shape. The big day can be attributed to a surprising Gold Medal in Men's Rowing Fours, a historic Gold in Women's Fencing Team Foil (where Lee Kiefer became the greatest female American fencer of all time), Simone Biles winning her historic second Gold in the Women's Individual All-Around, and then another surprising Gold from Kate Douglass who swam to victory in the Women's 200m Breaststroke. There are still five Gold Medals that Team USA had won at this point in Tokyo that were done so in events that have yet to take place in Paris. But Day 7 in Tokyo resulted in zero Gold Medals for Team USA, so they have a chance to get ahead of the pace tomorrow with a few victories.
Let's take a look at the opportunities ahead for Team USA on Day 7 (technically Day 10)…
FASTEST SWIMMER, IN THE FASTEST RACE
While Team USA hasn't been as sharp as years past in the pool, at least in terms of Gold Medals, but Caeleb Dressel is not included in that. He's already won a Gold in the Men's 4x100m Relay, and will now look to go back-to-back in the chaotic Men's 50m Freestyle swim. It's a chaotic swim with water splashing so much you can barely see the swimmers, and quite possibly the most exciting event in the Olympics. The race has been run at the Games since 1988, and another Gold would make Dressel the fourth man to win the event two times, joining Aleksandr Popov of Russia, and Americans Gary Hall Jr. & Anthony Ervin.
Dressel will have a busy night, as he also has the Men's 100m Butterfly Semi-Finals after the 50m Freestyle finals. He won Gold in the 100m Butterfly at Tokyo 2020, setting a World Record in the process. It could very well be a monster finish to these Games for one of Team USA's biggest stars.
Other Team USA swimmers with Gold Medal chances on Friday include Regan Smith (who has won two Silver Medals), Phoebe Bacon, and Carson Foster (who has won Silver & Bronze Medals) in the Women's 200m Backstroke and Men's 200m Individual Medley, respectively.
All of the Americans are underdogs going into the night, with Dressel behind Cameron McEvoy of Australia, and Team GB's Ben Proud. Meanwhile, Australia powerhouse Kaylee McKeown will once again be the person Regan Smith is chasing, and "next Michael Phelps" candidate Leon Marchand is the heavy favorite to win the Men's 200m Individual Medley over Carson Foster.
BMX RACING: MUST-WATCH TV
In my blog yesterday, I mentioned how you need to tune into BMX Racing. After watching the first full day of the event, with a sick under-the-lights venue in Paris, I stand even firmer behind that statement.
The United States has three legit Gold Medal threats with Kamren Larsen & Cameron Wood on the men's side, and Alise Willoughby & Daleny Vaughn on the women's side. You can catch the Semi-Finals for BMX Racing around 2:00|1:00c in the afternoon, followed by the Finals, once again under the lights, at 3:35|2:35c.
Predicting these races is a crapshoot. Anything can happen at every single turn, with any pedal of the bike. For the men, three Frenchman are the favorites, but don't rule out a surprise win for the Americans. Alise Willoughby is a favorite on the women's side, and I just have a hunch she is going to finally break through and win that elusive Gold Medal.
Don't miss this event. Once you watch it, you'll be hooked, I promise.
AT LAST, TRACK & FIELD IS READY TO GO
You see this team? Get used to these faces, and get used to seeing Gold Medals around many of their necks.
Team USA hasn't won more than 13 Gold Medals in Athletics since Los Angeles 1984, when they won 16 total, and I think that streak ends at Paris 2024. Everywhere across the board from the Men's & Women's 100m to Hurdles events, and Shot Put, I see potential Gold lighting up for the United States.
All of that begins this afternoon, and the eyes of everyone will be on the Women's 100m. No medals will be handed out today, but we will get to see the first few rounds, before the Semi-Finals and Finals on Saturday.
The big star is, of course, Sha'Carri Richardson…
The reigning World Champion, who ran the fastest time in the world this year at the U.S. Track & Field Trials a few months ago, is looking for a Gold Medal, and revenge. It's hard to forget the fact the flashy Richardson qualified for Tokyo 2020, before she was kicked out for a positive marijuana test. A crime that she was taken out, but a event that probably helped make her as tough as she is in 2024.
She will enter as the favorite to win Gold, but Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia, and the legendary (two-time Gold Medalist)
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce will be right on her heels. Melissa Jefferson of the United States will also have something to say about the podium, and you can't count out the third member of the team, Twanisha Terry. Another Jamaican, Shericka Jackson, pulled out of this race, and was going to be a real threat to Richardson. She will however run against Richardson in the 200m, which is the better of her two events.
The lone Gold Medal being handed out in the evening session of Athletics tomorrow is the Men's 10,000m, which the United States is not expected to medal in. Carson Foster has an outside shot, but Team USA has only landed on the podium in this event three times: Silver by Galen Rupp (in a legendary electric race I actually attended) at London 2012, Gold by Billy Mills at Tokyo 1964, and Silver at Stockholm 1912.
USA MEN'S SOCCER CAN SORT OF SHOCK THE WORLD?
Look, things aren't great for USA Soccer right now, at least on the men's side. They fired GREGGGGGG Berhalter, after firing him once before, following a disastrous Copa America showing. It's lead to questions about the United States Men's National Team just two years out of the World Cup being on home soil. The under-23 team however has made the knockout stage in the Olympic Games for the first time since Beijing 2008!
Morocco is the favorite, but the Team USA men have been rolling in their last two matches. Could these young lads breathe some life into USA Soccer (again, on the men's side, as the women are rolling right now).
USA 3x3 BASKETBALL STILL SINKS, BUT SLIGHTLY LESS
UPDATE: The women beat France… and they have life!!!!
The men remain a disaster, sitting at 0-4 and, while not technically out of it, are for sure close to being donezo.
As for the women, the finally picked up a win, and enter a massive Friday at 1-3.
With a total of seven games in group play, and head-to-head as the first tie-breaker (total points scored being the second), the women will be in great shape if they take down at least France. They'd jump them in the standings, and setup a pivotal game against Canada. The Canadians are good, but we shouldn't rule out the women's team, which won Gold with a different squad at Tokyo 2020, just yet. They did have chemistry concerns entering Paris 2024 following the injury of Cameron Brink, so maybe they're just getting things going.
OTHER NOTABLE EVENTS
- Basketball: There are some great Men's Basketball games on Friday afternoon, starting with Patty Mills, Josh Giddey, & Australia vs. Rui Hachimura & Japan at 7:30|6:30c in the morning. After that it's 2-0 Canada, a contender to take on the United States for Gold, led by Jamal Murray, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, & Dillon Brooks, taking on a 1-1 Spain team looking to stay alive for the knockout round (tip-off is 11:15|10:15c). Then, in the evening, it's an insane matchup of 2-0 teams as Victory Wembanyama & host country France take on the Wagner brothers and Germany at 3:00|2:00c in the afternoon.
- Golf: Hideki Matsuyama got off to a blazing start in Men's Golf, shooting -8 in Round 1, but the Americans aren't far behind. Xander Schauffele, defending Gold Medalist, is at -6, and the ever-dangerous Scottie Scheffler is at -4 going into Round 2. The golf coverage begins late at night (3:00|2:00c in the morning), so expect to wake up to some results.
- Archery: The Mixed United States team has a real shot to take home an Archery medal on Friday, led by three-time medalist Brady Ellison. They are the 3-seed in the knockout stage as they open up with Uzbekistan at 5:24|4:24c in the morning. After that, they'll try and progress through the bracket until the medal matches around 10:30|9:30c in the morning. This event is only two Olympics old, and Team USA did not medal in the event at Tokyo 2020.
UPDATED: As of 10:00AM EST, the United States is knotted up with Germany for a chance to go to the Gold Medal match|| UPDATED: Stunning choke by the Americans who had multiple chances to essentially close out Germany; they'll play for the Broze… bummer - Beach Volleyball: The beach has been pretty good for the United States and a few teams are in action tomorrow. Former NBA player & Arizona Wildcat Chase Budinger is back out there with his partner Miles Evans as they sit at 1-1 and take on Spain at 9:00|8:00c in the morning. Later in the day, Sarah Hughes & Kelly Cheng, sitting at 2-0, will take on Germany at 4:00|3:00c from under the Eiffel Tower.
- Volleyball: Both American teams are off to a strong start in indoor volleyball. The women dropped an early match, but are still poised to defend their Gold Medal. On the other hand, the men are 2-0 and cruising into a match with Japan at 3:00|2:00c. Men's Volleyball is a sickening sport in terms of athleticism and skill and it baffles me how they ever return a spike or serve.
- Tennis: Tommy Paul & Taylor Fritz are looking to guarantee a Gold & Silver finish for the United States in Tennis Men's Doubles. They take on Australia's Matthew Eden & John Peers early in the morning. Waiting for them are Austin Krajicek & Rajeev Ram, who already advanced. The United States didn't win a medal in Tennis at Tokyo 2020, and are guaranteed at least Silver, and a shot at Bronze.
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That's all for now. Go Team USA. See you tomorrow.