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Day 14 of the Paris Olympics provided another collection of memories with triumph and frustration for the U.S. on the track, France winning a thriller to advance to the women’s basketball gold medal game, and the Olympic debut of breaking (or breakdancing). No other Olympic Games has had a giant boombox as a backdrop in a venue and may never do so again.
Here are the top five stories of the day:
Sha’Carri Richardson wins first gold in women’s 4×100 relay
After missing out on individual gold medals in Paris and Tokyo, Sha’Carri Richardson won her first Olympic gold medal with the USA women’s 4×100 relay team. Melissa Jefferson, Twanisha Terry, Gabby Thomas and Richardson finished with a time of 41.78, beating Great Britain (41.85) and Germany (41.97). Thomas won her second Olympic gold with the result.
Rainy conditions and some extra caution with the baton pass left Team USA a bit behind on the race’s final leg. But Richardson as the anchor provided the final burst and provided a memorable image as she looked back at the competition with the confidence of someone who knows she has won.
USA’s Rai Benjamin wins gold in men’s 400-meter hurdles
Rai Benjamin finally broke through — and broke away — to win gold in the men’s 400-meter hurdles on Friday after earning silver at the 2020 Tokyo Games and 2022 World Championships, and bronze at the 2023 World championships.
In what could be viewed as rematches, Benjamin defeated Norway’s Karsten Warholm (who won gold at the 2020 Tokyo Games and 2023 World Championships) to seize his elusive gold with a winning time of 46.46.
Benjamin experienced a scare when he awkwardly landed after the seventh hurdle. Yet he didn’t fall despite his stride pattern being disrupted. Following the 10th hurdle, Benjamin knew he had gold when he saw no one beside him.
Team USA women’s basketball advances to gold medal game
The United States women’s basketball team earned a dominant 85-64 win over Australia in the semifinals. The victory was the latest step on the quest for an eighth straight Olympic gold medal, and Team USA took the challenge in stride.
The U.S. played well on offense, with Breanna Stewart and Jackie Young leading the team with 16 and 14 points, respectively, and with the team going 7-of-16 on 3-pointers. The American defense was particularly strong, with 10 steals and five blocks and 19 points off turnovers. The U.S. also operated well at a quicker pace, scoring 26 fast-break points.
Team USA extended its win streak to 60 games, with the streak stretching back to 1992. The United States will now face France, who defeated Belgium in the semifinals, in the gold medal matchup on Sunday.
Team USA disqualified from men’s 4×100 relay with botched handoff
The U.S. men’s 4×100 relay team was already at a disadvantage with Noah Lyles unable to run after contracting COVID-19. Yet a familiar problem ultimately resulted in Team USA being disqualified.
Between the relay’s first and second leg, Kenny Bednarek started too early and slowed down to try and avoid disqualification. Christian Coleman ended up running into Bednarek because of the slow down. When they finally passed the baton, the two were outside the exchange zone. The U.S. finished seventh, but that didn’t matter because of the disqualification.
Canada won the gold in 37.50 seconds, while South Africa took silver and Great Britain earned bronze.
For Team USA, this was the latest instance of botched handoffs costing it significantly. Issues with passing the baton kept the Americans from qualifying for the 4×100 relay final during the 2008 and 2020 Games, and the U.S. was disqualified in 2016 because of a pass outside the designated zone.
Track legend Carl Lewis says major changes need to be made in the USA track and field system after this latest mishap.
It is time to blow up the system. This continues to be completely unacceptable. It is clear that EVERYONE at @usatf is more concerned with relationships than winning. No athlete should step on the track and run another relay until this program is changed from top to bottom. https://t.co/Re6THj8QTm
— Carl Lewis (@Carl_Lewis) August 9, 2024
Breaking makes its Olympic debut
With just days left in the Olympics, Friday brought the much-anticipated debut for breaking, the formal name for Olympic breakdancing. In an entertaining, eventful and often-viral competition, 17 B-girls entered the women’s side for a chance to compete for the sport’s first gold medal.
In the end, B-girl Ami of Japan took gold, defeating Lithuanian B-girl Nicka — the gold medal favorite heading into the Olympics — in a head-to-head competition. Ami won all three rounds, beating Nicka by a score of 16 to 11. Nicka took silver as a result, while China’s B-girl 671 took bronze after winning 19-8 over the Netherlands’ B-girl India.
Team USA medals
Highlight of the day
Following the spectacular clutch shotmaking between the U.S. and Serbia in Thursday’s men’s basketball semifinal, France and Belgium provided another thriller on the women’s side. Belgium ultimately lost, 81-75, but the biggest shot came from Emma Meesseman, who forced overtime with her late 3-pointer.
One more thing
With breaking making its debut, there was one competitor who particularly stood out: Rachael Gunn of Australia, known as B-girl Raygun, whose “unique” moves quickly captured the internet’s attention.
Another notable aspect was her clothing: While other B-girls wore baggy pants, crop-tops, tracksuits, durags and other classic hip-hop drip, Gunn wore a standard Australian uniform with her shirt tucked in. “I didn’t get the memo,” Gunn told Yahoo Sports.
Gunn, a 36-year-old college professor who studies dance and breakdancing culture, qualified for the Olympics as the best in Oceania, which is not exactly a hip-hop hub. She leaned into some of her “unique style”: flopping like a fish, doing a crab walk, hitting a not-quite vertical handstand, plus a few other moves that weren’t half bad, but not quite up to the standard of her other competitors.
She didn’t score a point in competition, losing all three round-robin battles 18-0. But Gunn was smiling afterward.
“It was amazing. Such an amazing experience,” she told Yahoo Sports.
