The Summer Olympics have dominated social media timelines, discourses, and headlines lately, most of the time due to the athletic excellence displayed on the world’s biggest stage.
Triple Espresso, Triple Trouble, or the Triple Express—Trinity Rodman (daughter of NBA great Dennis Rodman), Sophia Smith, and Mallory Swanson—of the U.S. women’s Olympic Soccer Team created havoc in opponent’s defensive sides . Swanson’s goal in the gold medal game against Brazil sealed a redemption arc for the United States Women’s National Team and made the decision to bring in Chelsea boss Emma Hayes look like a brilliant move.
In addition to the big three, Naomi Girma cemented her status as the best defensive player in the world with her performances in the tournament. The U.S. women’s soccer program is back on top after a brief lag that created questions about whether or not the rest of the world had caught up to the Americans.
On the basketball court, both the men and the women’s basketball squads reigned supreme. Anchored by LeBron James and A’ja Wilson, respectively, both teams took the best shots of international basketball teams and outlasted the host country in the gold medal game.
The women’s gold medal game was an outright dogfight , tied at 25 at halftime before Team USA rallied to win 67-66, led by Wilson and Kahleah Copper’s brilliant fourth quarter performance.
On the men’s side, Stephen Curry, who stands 6’2″ provided fireworks and an unbelievable shot over France’s 7’4″ Victor Wembanyama, which immediately went viral. Like the women’s team, the men had to overcome physical play and turnovers, but once Curry got cooking, the gold medal was all but secured in a 98-87 victory.
In women’s gymnastics, the history-making floor exercise podium of Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade, and the American tandem of Simone Biles, and Jordan Chiles received some revision after the Romanian team challenged the bronze medal awarded to Chiles after a challenge to the judges was posed by the Americans. After the Romanians appealed to an arbitrator, their challenge was accepted on the basis that the American coaches’ challenge came in four seconds too late.
Although the IOC wants Chiles to surrender her medal, USA Gymnastics and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee will appeal the decision on the grounds that there were “critical errors” in both FIG’s original scoring process and the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s appeal.
Masai Russell’s electric performance in her Olympic debut in the 100m hurdles solidified exactly how deep the American track and field program is. For the most part, the world was well aware of favorites Sha’Carri Richardson, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, and Gabby Thomas heading into the Olympics.
But Russell electrified the crowd in one of the closest finishes at the Olympics, winning her gold by .01 seconds. “I’m the fourth-fastest woman ever in this event, so it wasn’t about knowing if I could or couldn’t,” Russell told The Athletic. “It was really just about remaining focused on what I could do and honestly, just getting through those 10 hurdles and getting to the line first.
“So many people were saying so many crazy things about me, as they always do when you’re not doing what they believe you’re capable of. But I just continued to shut out the noise and focus on what I can control…It was truly a dream come true.”
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