A look at Team USA's golden run at the Olympics in Paris

The Paris Olympics will come to a close on Sunday and Team USA is eyeing a strong finish to an already golden games. For more on the ups and downs of the Olympics, Amna Nawaz spoke with Christine Brennan of USA Today.

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Geoff Bennett: The Paris Olympics will come to a close on Sunday, and Team USA is eying a strong finish to these already golden Games.

Amna Nawaz: Earlier tonight — and there are some spoilers here — rain poured down at the Stade de France, but a slick track didn’t slow down Sha’Carri Richardson, who anchored the U.S. women in the 4×100 meter relay and earned her first gold.

Geoff Bennett: Later, Rai Benjamin leapt to gold in the 400-meter hurdles, making it an American sweep after Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s win in the same event yesterday.

And weight lifter Olivia Reeves made history,taking home the first weight lifting gold for the U.S. since Sydney back in 2000.

Amna Nawaz: The 14th day ended with the U.S. once again leading the field with 111 overall medals.

For more on the U.S. — ups and downs, rather, of the Olympic Games, I’m joined now by Christine Brennan of USA Today, who joins us from Paris. and these Games.

Christine, always great to see you.

Let’s start with Noah Lyles, please. He earlier won gold, of course, in that incredible 100-meter race, had to be wheeled off the track, though, after getting bronze in the 200-meter, later revealing he had a COVID diagnosis. Let’s just start with, what do we know about how he’s doing?

Christine Brennan, USA Today: Amna, we believe he’s doing OK. I mean, he’s going to be fine.

But who would have ever thought that, after two straight COVID Olympics, Tokyo Summer Games three years ago, Beijing 2.5 years ago, the Winter Olympics, that we would be talking about COVID here in Paris, something that people did not expect?

But he did come to the stadium with a mask on. He then, of course, took it off and raced and he won the bronze medal, and then, of course, collapsed. And we all found out very quickly what had happened and what was transpiring with him and his medical condition. He did not then run in the U.S. men’s 4×100 relay. You mentioned Sha’Carri Richardson leading the U.S. women to gold.

The U.S. men once again made a huge mistake. This seems to be a problem with the United States. The best sprinters in the world, the best men’s sprinters in the world, and the U.S. has not won a medal in the 4×100 relay since the 2004 Athens Games, so 20 years now of mistakes, dropping the baton, not passing it within the time frame that they have to, just a comedy of errors.

So, without Noah Lyles, the U.S. men failed to win a medal in that relay, and Noah Lyles’ Olympics is finished in obviously a very strange situation with the gold in the 100, as you said, but with that COVID diagnosis and certainly not performing as he had hoped in the 200.

Amna Nawaz: Big hopes, meanwhile, for the U.S. women’s basketball team, which beat Australia in the semifinals, will now play France in a gold medal game. What are their chances of winning an eighth straight gold medal?

Christine Brennan: I think they’re really good. I was there. I was at that game earlier today on the Australia-U.S. Game.

I will say this. The French, they know how to cheer, and they’re loud and they have a great time doing it. I was at the swimming venue with Leon Marchand winning his four gold medals and I don’t think I have ever heard an arena so loud. So I think the U.S. has got — the women of their hands full in terms of the French crowd and having to fight that.

But the U.S. women should win this game on Sunday, but I do think it’s going to be tough with that incredible home crowd of the French.

Amna Nawaz: When you look, Christine, sort of more broadly, there have been some really outstanding female athletes for Team USA these Games, Katie Ledecky, the swimmer, Simone Biles, of course, the greatest gymnast of all time, Sha’Carri Richardson, you mentioned,.

What do we know about their futures? Are we going to see them compete again?

Christine Brennan: Katie Ledecky, yes. Simone Biles, maybe, Sha’Carri Richardson, I would think so, although she kind of just stared off at the journalists when we asked about that tonight at the stadium. Richardson is 24. Ledecky and Biles are 27. So Katie Ledecky would be 31 in L.A. Guaranteed, if she’s healthy, she’s competing at the L.A. Olympics.

Simone Biles, she said, “We will see.” I think everyone, the allure of competing on home soil in Los Angeles is going to drive a lot of these athletes to stick around. And, of course, the U.S. women, as we are talking about here, have won 58 percent of U.S. medals.

So, once again, for the fourth straight Olympics, the U.S. women will win more medals than the U.S. men, which is, of course, a total result of Title IX.

Amna Nawaz: Women leading the way there.

Christine, indulge me if you can for just a moment in my sport of choice, field hockey, which we don’t get to talk about a lot here. But not only did the Dutch men’s team take gold in an incredible, dramatic game that came down to a penalty shoot-out. The Dutch women’s team today also took gold in another penalty shoot-out.

I just want to ask, you must be seeing a sea of orange-clad supporters cheering for them. Is that what you’re saying in Paris?

Christine Brennan: Along the Champs Elysees, I have seen a lot of orange. And I was wondering why until I realized what the Dutch were doing. They’re great. I mean, they celebrate, obviously, as any nation does, a smaller nation, right?

And field hockey, a sport I played in high school as well, different sport now, but absolutely. For a nation to do that and win both, that’s extraordinary. And when those countries, as you know — U.S. wins a lot of medals. China wins a lot of medals. But for some of these nations, there’s one or two, three golds is their entire Olympics, which makes it all the more fun.

And I bet you, if I opened my window, I’d hear them screaming out there right now in Paris in late evening after midnight.

Amna Nawaz: Christine, in the minute or so we have left, are there any big surprises, things that have stood out to you from these Games?

Christine Brennan: You know, I think beach volleyball, which I think most Americans associate with the women’s team especially as winning the gold, both of our U.S. teams did not make it to the medals.

And so that surprised me. I was there watching that, especially a sport that is now an NCAA sport. And then Americans have come to realize and know that the U.S. women are terrific in it. So, shut out there, I think that’s a surprise. And Simone Biles, as great as she was, with all of her wonderful performances, not being able to medal, falling off the balance beam, and then not winning the gold in the floor exercise.

Again, a terrific Olympics for Simone Biles, but a little bit of disappointment on that final day.

Amna Nawaz: Christine Brennan of USA Today joining us once again from Paris covering these Olympic Games.

Christine, always great to speak with you. Thank you so much.

Christine Brennan: Amna, my pleasure. Thank you.