A Golden Ending to The Paris Olympics

A Golden Ending to The Paris Olympic Games

What an Olympic run it has been for the US women athletes. The Paris Olympics brought so much positive attention to women’s sports. The Olympics is every athlete's time to shine. With media tides shifting it is even more important that we put our attention to the amazing female athletes that conquered it all. In fact, out of the total USA gold medal count 65% of them were won by Female athletes, meaning more than half of the USA's success was because of our female athletes. Here are just a few of the major female athlete storylines that shocked the world and also made history.

USWNT Back on Top

On Aug.10th the USWNT accomplished a task that has not been done in twelve years; Winning a GOLD MEDAL!!!! Yes, you read that right it has been twelve years since we last won a gold medal. Since then, players have retired and new players have surfaced all on the journey to get the gold. Going into the Olympics, the USWNT had all the odds stacked against them including getting a new head coach just two months prior. With having the youngest roster out of all the teams at the Olympics, and a lack of major tournament experience. Yet they managed to have the best group stage results going three for three including beating Germany 4-1, in what would be a stable game in showing people how capable this team was. As the knockout round began USWNT had to go down the path of beating multiple countries who have a history of winning gold. Japan and Germany were close and intense games with both needing extra time to determine a winner. Meanwhile, on the other side of the bracket, Brazil was causing chaos by beating the home team France 1-0 and moving on to beat the defending World Cup champions Spain 4-2 in the semi-finals. The final match-up between Brazil and USA was one with some history, a true rivalry indeed. The US and Brazil met each other in the gold medal match in both the 2004 and 2008 Olympics where the US emerged as victors both times. Going into the last game many fans were concerned about how much the US starting eleven had left in the tank. Fatigue was a worry considering that players like Smith, Rodman, and Swanson, or “Triple Espresso” as they have coined themselves played 70% of every game with little rest. Head coach Emma Hayes addressed the concerns by saying “I want them to suffer, I want to see who they are when it’s hard”. At first, it looked like things were backfiring because Brazil dominated in the first half, attacking our fatigued defensive line with their speedy forwards and wingers. Goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher was called into action many times with having to make a couple of goal-line saves. As the second half started it was easy to say that this game was a tale of two halves because the USA started on the front foot and never looked back, while Brazil struggled to find their previous rhythm. In the 56th minute midfielder Korbin Albert sent a pass that split the Brazil backline and gave Swanson a chance to run onto. With just two touches Swanson slotted the ball past the outreached hands of the Brazilian Keeper. It seemed like time slowed down as everyone watched the ball fly into the back of the net putting the USA up 1-0 in the Gold medal match. This goal proved to be the game-winning goal as Brazil just was not able to score even though they had chances. It was a tough task to get past Naeher who was having the game of her life. The referee blew the final whistle and the US was once again a gold medalist after twelve years. In just ten games Emma Hayes was able to bring a gold medal to the US. This brings up the question if the USWNT officially are back to their winning ways. This team proved that the US has talent that just cannot be replicated and now the next stop is the 2027 Women’s World Cup which will be held in the great country of Brazil.

USA Women’s Basketball Gets their 8th Straight Gold Medal

Going into the Paris Olympics the women’s USA basketball team was under extreme pressure of winning gold. This was the team's chance to get 8 straight gold medals but everyone knew it was not going to be easy. On Sunday Aug. 11th USA faced France in what would be a game to remember. France being the home team had a whole stadium of support and used that as fuel as they led the USA for a good portion of the game. In the 4th quarter, USA turned around and dug deep to take the lead with under a minute to go. Within that last minute USA tried time and time again to get a lead but France star Gabby Williams wouldn’t let that happen. Things came down to the wire with USA up 67-64 after two made free throws by Kahleah Copper. Frances Gabby Williams got the ball from the inbound got past half-court and pulled up to hit a buzzer-beating bank shot. The shot went under review as French supporters looked on in the hope of seeing her toe behind the line for a three. But it was determined her foot was on the line making it only a two and giving USA the gold medal with a final score of 67-66. With this win, USA continued the streak and got their 8th straight gold medal. Also making history was Diana Taurasi who set a record for most gold medals by a basketball player with her 6th gold medal. With the Olympics ending, it is a quick turnaround to the start of the WNBA season where these players will go back to their respective teams and battle it out for a championship ring. Make sure to tune in on ESPN, PrimeVideo, and Ion to watch all the remaining games for what is sure to be a fiery end to the season

USA TRACK AND FIELD SOARS TO GREAT HEIGHTS

Not to be forgotten, the USA track and field women’s had a successful campaign winning medaling in more than half of the track events like the 4×400, 4×100m, 400m hurdles, 200m, and 110m hurdles just to name a few. Track stars Sha’Carri Richardson, Gabby Thomas, and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone excelled in their events and each walked away with a gold to show for it. Sha’carri unfortunately, came in second in the 100m sprint. She made up for it in the women’s 4×100m anchoring the women’s team and sprinting them to a gold medal, her first ever. Gabby Thomas who is a Harvard Graduate dominated the 200m sprint and finished with the gold after making it look easy. Last but not least Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone put on a show for all to see. In her races, it seemed like there was no one else because of how far of a lead she had on her opponents. In the 400m hurdles which is her specialty race, she set a record running 50.37 seconds. She now holds the top six fastest times in the 400m hurdles. With such a young field of athletes, it’s safe to say that women’s track and field is in good hands for the upcoming 2028 LA Olympics.