Arguably the biggest story of the 2024 Olympics has continued to follow a script that Hollywood would envy. The greatest gymnast in history, Simone Biles, has almost completed her redemption arc as she and Team USA won gold once again on Tuesday. It had been over 1,000 days since her memorable battle with the “twisties” in Tokyo that took her out of competition and resulted in Team USA taking silver. Biles spoke openly on how she worked with a therapist, took some time away from the sport, and overcame this mind-body disconnect that robbed the world of her usual jaw-dropping greatness in the last Olympic Games. At 27 years old, her significance to gymnastics and the summer Olympics as a whole can’t be overstated; and we should savor what could be her final appearance.
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Simone Biles vs Suni Lee
Biles, along with teammates Suni Lee, Jade Carey, Jordan Chiles and Hezly Rivera, obliterated the competition with an aggregate score of 171.296 to grab gold. Italy took silver with a score of -5.802 and Brazil took home the bronze medal with a -6.799.
The decorated Olympian’s run in Paris is not yet finished as she still has the individual competition on Thursday. To add further intrigue to this already gripping story, she will be competing against USA teammate Suni Lee in a first-time Olympic occurrence. Each gymnast has won gold in individual competition in the last two Olympic Games; Biles in 2016, Lee in 2020. An American has won gold in each of the last five Olympics. During her qualifying round last weekend, Biles claimed the top score in both the floor exercise and vault- while taking Second on the balance beam and Ninth on uneven bars.
The four-foot-eight giant has already won more Olympic medals than anyone in her sport with eight. Five of those medals are gold. This surely will be appointment television.
USA Dominate In Basketball
The USA Men’s basketball team is now 2-0 in the group stage of their 2024 Olympic run as they defeated South Sudan in a rematch on Wednesday, 103-86. South Sudan was expected to be a threat as they had just upset Puerto Rico and nearly defeated USA in a recent exhibition warm-up game where they led by as many as 16 points. The Americans proved why they are a force to be reckoned with as four players scored in double digits, led by Bam Adebayo’s 18 points. USA now has a +43 point differential in the group stage through just two games. The heavy favorites to win gold look unstoppable, joyful, and determined.
The other undefeated squads through Wednesday are Germany and France in Group B and Canada in Group A. USA faces 0-2 Puerto Rico on Saturday.
The USA Women’s Basketball team continues to steamroll Olympic competition, having won their 56th straight game with a win over Japan on Tuesday. This streak goes all the way back to the 1992 Barcelona Games. The WNBA MVP tandem of A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart led their team with a combined 46 points and 21 rebounds. Japan had success shooting from beyond the arc, logging 15 three pointers made. They look to continue that hot shooting when they face 1-0 Germany on Thursday.
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Ledecky On The Brink Of History
Over to the swimming pool, United States swimmer Katie Ledecky set a new Olympic record in the 1500-meter freestyle en route to earning her eighth gold medal. That record was her own-one that she set in the Tokyo games in 2020. Ledecky is now tied with Jenny Thompson for the most gold medals by an American woman, another record that she could possibly break later this week. Ledecky still has to compete in the 4×200-meter freestyle and 800-meter freestyle; both of which she holds the world record.
