Oh, I love this badminton right here, this is a great rally right here between China and the U.S. right here. As you see it don’t stop till the casket drop—they rockin’ and rollin’, back and forth, gimme that, no I need that, nope: over here, nope: over there, what about over there?, nope!, what about there?, nope!, gimme that, I need that, that, too, nope: sit down somewhere, get down, wait a minute hold it—way up in the sky!—now down, back up, over there, now over here, get out the way!, move!, I told you: we need that! – Snoop Dogg
On the Fortieth Anniversary of her ground-breaking Gold Medal triumph at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, you would have reasonably expected Joan Benoit to be the Official Starter of the Women’s Marathon in Paris. But no.
When Kara Goucher announced the Official Starter was “The First Woman Finisher of the Boston Marathon,” I was expecting to see Bobbi Gibb finally get the recognition she deserves. But no.
LA2028, you can do better.
Like tell us again why the USA Track & Field Olympic Trials can’t be held in Los Angeles?
Former President Donald Trump claimed credit for securing Los Angeles as the host city for the 2028 Olympics, in a late-night Truth Social post.
“As President-Elect, I worked with the Olympic Organizing Committee of Los Angeles in getting the 2028 Olympics to come to the United States. There was tremendous competition from other countries,” he wrote.
Trump concluded by writing that, if elected as president in November, he would bring the same approach to deal-making that secured the Olympics to making the country successful.
“I gave them what they wanted to hear, and got the job done!” he said. “It was my great honor to do so. Hopefully I will be President, and our Country will have reached new (and record!) levels of success. SEE YOU IN 2028. Thank you!”
Tie Or Jump Off?
Two gold medalists or one winner, one loser? You be the judge. Because everybody is.
“Being in Tokyo and seeing Barshim and Tamberi share theirs [gold medals] was such a special moment,” Kerr said.
“But I think that, you know, as competitors and as people who want to continue the sports history and legacy, both me and Shelby decided that it would be cool to see what happens if we actually try to play it out. So that’s what we did.
“It was an amazing competition. And I’m pretty happy that it ended when it did, because we were getting pretty tired. But, at the same time, it was just such a special moment.”
McEwen, meanwhile, was gracious in defeat, and did not appear to have any regrets about not splitting the gold when he had the chance.
“If it was meant to be, it would’ve been. Shout out to Hamish for coming up to me, accepting a jump-off and I accepted it and I was all for it,” said the 28-year-old.
“I mean, hey, he got the gold and I got the silver. At the end of the day, like he said, it’s a sport.
“I mean, I represent my country, just like he’s representing his. I’m representing my family just like he’s representing his,
“At the end of the day we all want to be champions and the only respectful thing to do is walk away with one champion.” (Source: Eurosport)
Meanwhile, live tweeting on Xitter is underway.
Tweeting this right after Team USA’s jumper turned down the opportunity to share gold medals and has missed every jump in the tiebreaker so far x.com/olympics/statu…
Sheesh. We chose to share the gold last year, and we were called cowards, weak, etc. This year an athlete chooses to jump-off and they’re shamed for it as well. Let this be a note to all athletes: do whatever you feel in your heart is best for you, because you will never make everyone happy, even while bringing home medals for your country.
I think those are two different sets of critics. What Barshim and Tamberi did was awesome and only the truly unhinged would begrudge it.
Katie Moon
Unfortunately many people didn’t seem to find it as awesome when Nina and I did it last year.
Sha’Carri Olympic Gold Medalist
Well the USA needed this Gold medal to win the Gold medal Count Katie! Now that’s in jeopardy due to a poor selfish decision from Shelby! Yes he deserves all the criticism!
Katie Moon
Tell you what. I only won a silver this year, you can blame me instead of him!
I get mail.
As to your reference to the 2016 Rio women’s 800 podium, it was an extreme scenario, for sure. All three medalists were on this list of Differences of Sex Development (DSD). By 2018 the IAAF had stronger policies in place which provides an albeit narrow career path for these 46 XY DSD individuals.
The ‘Appearance Test’ is no test at all. Sometimes the eye does not deceive.
Many times we are blind.
Who is Imane Khelif?
Khelif is an Algerian boxer who has competed, as a woman, at the international level for years. She has always identified as a woman, and as a UNICEF ambassador has discussed the role that being a young girl in a tiny rural village has had on her development as a boxer:
When Imane Khelif, 24, one of Algeria’s top female boxers is asked what achievements she is most proud of, she says, “It’s being able to overcome the obstacles in my life.”
Imane recalls how at 16 she managed to excel in football in her rural village in Tiaret in western Algeria despite football not being seen as a game fit for girls. Moreover, the boys in her village felt threatened and picked fights with her. Ironically it was her ability to dodge the boys’ punches that got her into boxing. (Source: Snopes)
Now a Gold Medal Olympic Champion, she faced a torrent of abuse and threats on social media. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) condemned the harassment, and Khelif herself spoke out against the bullying, warning that it could destroy lives.
Kung Fu Kenny Took Off Too Soon
9.86…… ON A CURVE! This is the fastest first-leg split ever recorded in the history of athletics, leaving us to wonder just how fast Christian Coleman might have run had he competed in the open 100m. Usain Bolt’s fastest curve split is 9.92s from his 200m world record race in 2009. [Source: Jumper World]
I can’t be the only one who is delighted and amused but also, on a deep level, totally baffled—like a museumgoer at an early exhibition of Surrealist art—by the constant televisual presence of Snoop Dogg at the Olympics. It seems like every time you turn on NBC or one of its affiliates, there he is, dressed up, for instance, in full equestrian gear with his hair pulled back, playing twinsies with his TV work wife—seriously, why are they always together?—Martha Stewart. Their helmets matched and their high boots gleamed. Snoop sounded out the term for the maneuver called “passage,” riding that final vowel sound like a fleet horse, and—probably for the first time in history—the word sounded not only snooty but sleek, plus truly hilarious. “That’s a hell of a crip walk,” he said after a particularly nice horsy move.
That’s the opening paragraph of an excellent essay in The New Yorker (August 9, 2024).
Okay, one more.
Even beyond the presence of Snoop, NBC’s coverage of the Olympics—radically U.S.-centric unless you happen to pay for the inexhaustible open fire hose of NBC’s streaming service, Peacock—has been a survey of American archetypes. There’s the braggadocious divo sprinter Noah Lyles, who seems to have decided that the way to keep track and field relevant is to display an ego large enough to blanket the whole country, sea to sea. He talks shit constantly, almost every time he’s anywhere near a mike. His nerdy, whining voice, bright eyes, and big, protrusive teeth seem to have been designed for the sole purpose of getting across the message that he’s the best. NBC’s soft-focus coverage reminds us that he was a sick kid, suffering terribly from asthma and other ailments, but the cameras tell the real story: they’re always catching him gabbing away. When he won the hundred-metre dash by a handful of thousandths of a second—an endlessly rewatchable race and result—he pulled off his nametag and waved the name “LYLES” in the air for all to see. On Thursday, he ran the two hundred and came in third, good for bronze, and then collapsed so troublingly that he needed medical attention. When he’d recovered, Lyles revealed that he’d been diagnosed with COVID two days before. “I’ve never been more proud of myself for being able to come out here,” he said. That’s the America I know: heedlessly insistent on carrying on, germs be damned.
A Champion in all of us! 
Bhutan’s marathon runner, Kinzang Lhamo gets standing ovation for finishing last in the women’s marathon #ParisOlympics2024 She finished the race in 03:52:59 in one of the greatest stories of defying odds, indefatigable, never-say-die and fight-to-the-end spirit.
“My country did not send me 5,000 miles to start the race; they sent me 5,000 miles to finish the race.”
Kinzing Lhamo has entered history books has one who will be spoken of alongside the legendary John Stephen Akhwari, who finished dead-last in the 1968 Mexico Olympics Marathon.
She has inspired multitudes around the world and if you’re out there holding back because you’re afraid you’re not fast enough think about her, think about an honorary support she got.
The Running /Sports Community is Amazing!
https://www.nbcolympics.com/news/clayton-young-fueled-family-friendship-and-faith-paris-olympics