USA Track Could Break 36 Year 100m Record; Biles & Ledecky Could Add More Gold (Olympics Day 11 Preview)

Let's look at where we stand with the Medal Table going into Day 11 of the Paris 2024 Olympics…

UPDATED AS OF 12:00 AM EST ON AUGUST 3rd

While the United States is ahead of expectations in the over medal count, the number of Gold Medals won so far is a bit disappointing. They are on pace to where they were at for Tokyo 2020, but the 9 Gold Medal just isn't where everyone expected Team USA to be at entering the second weekend. A big reason for that is swimming, which has been a bit of a nightmare at times for Team USA in Paris…

While the rest of the world was expected to grab a ton of medals, and the United States doesn't exactly have a Michael Phelps this go-round, it's tough to see just 4 Gold Medals on the board, with like only 5 or 6 at the end of things. Caeleb Dressel leads the way after a brutal Friday which saw him lose out on defending his 50m Freestyle Gold (he missed the podium), and then doing the same in the 100m Butterfly where he didn't even make the finals. It looks like the track (& field) athletes are going to have to pick up some slack for Team USA…

How about we chat about Day 11?

36 YEARS IN THE MAKING…

It has been 36 years since someone set the World Record in the Women's 100m (and 200m).

These records were set by the late Flo-Jo have stood since 1988, when she set the 100m at the Olympic Trials, and then the 200m at Seoul 1988. While the 100m record has largely been disputed at wind-aided, with poor wind readings helping validate a record that shouldn't still be standing, she owns them both, as well as an impressive 200m time that hasn't been touched.

Fast forward to 2024 and we have more than one candidate capable of possibly breaking the 10.49 record set by Flo-Jo.

Assuming all goes well in the Semi-Finals tomorrow afternoon around 1:30|12:30c, Sha'carri Richardson, the reigning World Champion, will have her sights set on Gold, and the World Record. The field is expected to be stacked with the Jamaican legend Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce, Saint Lucia's Julien Alfred, and potentially two other Americans in Melissa Jefferson, and TeeTee Terry all behind the favorite Richardson. I mentioned in a blog yesterday that Jamaican sprinter Shericka Jackson, who took Bronze at Tokyo 2020, dropped out of the 100m to focus on the 200m due to an injury that threw everything off for her.

It's going to be a wild race with Team USA looking for its first Gold Medal in the Women's 100m since Gail Devers went back-to-back in 1992 & 1996. Technically Marion Jones won at Sydney 2000, but, you know… steroids.

I think she breaks the record, I really do. Someone has to eventually, right?!

The final for the Women's 100m is expected to go off in the afternoon at 3:20|2:20c. Don't miss it, any time the 100m is run at an Olympics is a special moment. 

BILES & LEDECKY CAN ADD TO THEIR LEGEND

Remember this from the other day when Katie Ledecky won Gold in the Women's 1500m Freestyle?

Guess what… get ready to see that shit again, because she owns the 15 (FIFTEEN!!!!!) fastest times in the Women's 800m Freestyle, a race she will swim on Saturday evening in Paris. The expectations is, once again, that she will win Gold in the event, which would end up being her fourth consecutive Gold Medal in the event. No woman has ever won more than twice in this event, and she's likely going to double that up. 

With a win in the Women's 800m Freestyle, Katie Ledecky would do some notable things: 1) she would tie Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina as the only women with 9 Gold Medals in Olympics history (across both Games, and all sports) and 2) she would tie Latynina, Paavo Nurmi, Mark Spitz, & Carl Lewis with 9 total Gold Medals, second most to only Michael Phelps (who has fucking 23 lmao).

As for Simone Biles, she has a shot to also tie Larisa Latynina at 9 Gold Medals, second most all-time & tied for most by a woman, and that run begins with the Vault finals in Women's Gymnastics.

Due to her high difficulty, so long as she's solid on the vault, Biles should take home another Gold Medal at these games. Then, from there, she will have the Floor finals, as well as the Beam finals. The same goes for those events, as Biles will be the heavy favorite. If she pulls off three more Gold Medals, it would be utter insanity, but if anyone can do it (in her third Olympics by the way, which is crazy), it's Simone Biles.

CLARK KENT AND THE HULK

Remember this Team USA gymnast who went viral the other day for the above photo, and this routine?

Well, he's back out there competing in the Pommel Horse finals, and has a shot to add more hardware to the Team All-Around Bronze he won the other day. He's already made his mark as one of the stars of the Paris 2024 Olympics, and now has a shot to truly be a gymnastics hero.

While Clark Kent is on the Pommel Horse, real-life Hulk Ryan Crouser is trying to do something truly mind-blowing: win three-straight Olympic Gold Medals in the Men's Shot Put. Nobody has ever won two, and Crouser is likely going to win his third. He is nearly unbeatable in the Shot Put and holds the World & Olympic Records.

The man is a FUCKING MACHINE!!!

For an even crazier thing, look at how Shot Put played out the last two Olympics: 

2016: Gold - Ryan Crouser (USA), Silver - Joe Kovacs (USA), Bronze - Tom Walsh (NZL)

2020: Gold - Ryan Crouser (USA), Silver - Joe Kovacs (USA), Bronze - Tom Walsh (NZL)

Could we see the same podium, AGAIN!?

HOW DO YOU TOP A WORLD RECORD?

The Team USA Mixed 4x400 Relay team got off to an explosive start on Friday by setting a damn World Record in the heats. They'll roll on into Saturday as the favorites in what could be a massive day for the Track & Field team for Team USA. With the way things have gone in the pool, a monster start on the track and in the field could give the United States a huge boost.

For the Mixed 4x400 team, the only question is, can they set another World Record?

OTHER NOTABLE EVENTS

• Basketball: Team USA Men's Basketball is clear and into the knockout stage, but first has one more game on Saturday afternoon against Jose Alvarado and Puerto Rico. You could argue that Puerto Rico is the worst team at the Olympics, so there's a good chance LeBron, Durant, and company beat the ever living shit out of them.
• Soccer: Mallory Swanson and the Team USA Women's Soccer team start their knockout tournament on Saturday with a game against Japan. They'll take on the winner of Canada vs. Germany if they advance to the Semi-Finals. It's been 12 years since they last won a Gold Medal, doing so at London 2012 against the same Japanese team they'll face in the Quarter-Finals.
• Golf: Xander Schauffele sits tied atop the Golf leaderboard for the men entering the 3rd Round with a -11 score also posted by Hideki Matsuyama, and Tommy Fleetwood. Jon Rahm is just two shots back, and you can't count out Scottie Scheffler having a big Saturday and closing his five shot deficit. What a year it would be if Schauffele can pair a back-to-back Gold Medal with his two Major Championships.
• Beach Volleyball: Three of the four American teams are through to the knockout round, but former NBA player Chase Budinger and his partner Mike Evans (no, not that one) will be in the Lucky Loser Playoffs with a chance to advance to the next round.
• 3x3 Basketball: Hey, guess what, we don't suck anymore! Both 3x3 teams went 2-0 for the United States yesterday with the Women safely in the knockout round at 3-3, and the men likely needing a win to move to 3-4 and advance themselves. Quite the turnaround as they were both looking lifeless and dead, and now both teams, ranked near the top entering the Olympics, have a real shot a medal.
• Tennis: The United States failed to medal in Tennis at Tokyo 2020, and now will have at least a Silver Medal. We will see a Gold Medal match in Men's Doubles between the Americans Krajicek/Ram and Australia's Ebden/Peers. As for the Broze Medal match, Americans Fritz/Paul will do battle with Czech Republic's Machac/Pavlasek.
• Shooting (Men's Skeet): Only seven Gold Medals have ever been handed out in Men's Skeet at the Olympics, and the United States' Vincent Hancock owns nearly half of them. With another Gold Medal added to the ones he won at Beijing 2008, London 2012, and Tokyo 2020, Hancock will literally have four of the eight Gold Medals handed out all time. With a Gold Medal, he'd also move into second for the most all-time Gold Medals across all Shooting events.
• Surfing: Another Gold Medal opportunity pops up for the United States tomorrow as Caroline Marks looks to win a second-straight Gold for Team USA. She is currently in the Semi-Finals for an even that has been postponed due to weather a million times. It's also taking place in Tahiti, not France.

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That's all for now. Go Team USA. See you tomorrow.