USA Needs Comeback To Beat China In Gold Medal Count; Tom Cruise Set To Kickoff LA 2028 Countdown? (Olympics Day 19 Preview)
It all comes down to this, for the second straight Olympic Games.
UPDATED AS OF 9:00 AM EST ON AUGUST 11th
Three years ago, Team USA entered the final day of the Tokyo 2020 Games trailing China by two Gold Medals. Thanks to Golds by Women's Basketball, Women's Volleyball, and Jennifer Valente in the Cycling Omnium race, Team USA was able to eclipse China by one to win the Gold Medal Count.
Guess what… fast forward to 2024 and… look below…
UPDATE: As of 9:00 AM EST, Team USA, thanks to back-to-back Gold Medals by Jennifer Valente in the Women's Cycling Track Omnium, needs to win Women's Basketball Gold (for the eighth time in a row) in order to tie China at 40 Gold Medals apiece, and WIN THE GOLD MEDAL COUNT based on tiebreak (most Silver medals).
We should be good.
Team USA enters the final day of the Paris 2024 Olympics trailing China by one Gold Medal, with an expectation that the lead will increase to two after a probable Weightlifting Gold. After that, Team USA will need three of the four events to turn Gold in order to win the Gold Medal Count: Women's Basketball, Women's Volleyball, Jennifer Valente in the Cycling Omnium race, and Kennedy Blades in Women's Wrestling 76 kg.
DEJA VU! Can they pull it off again thought? Two of the events the United States is favored in (Women's Basketball is favored by a wide margin), and two of the events would be considered small upsets for the Americans. The good news about the two events they aren't favored in is the fact that they won Gold in both of them three years ago in Tokyo, as I stated above.
There have been a ton of close calls for Team USA across the board, and a few breaks here and there would have put this medal race out of reach for China. But, alas, the Americans need a bit of magic on the final day to win outright.
The last time Team USA lost the Gold Medal Count was to China at the Beijing 2008 Olympics. And the last time the United States lost the Gold Medal Count to a non-host nation was in 1992, when the Unified Team following the collapse of the U.S.S.R. was at the top of the table in Barcelona.
In terms of overall medals, Team USA is guaranteed 125, which will be the most for the Americans in a non-boycotted Olympics since they won 231 at the 1904 St. Louis Olympics. If they manage to get 126, it would be the second most total medals won in a non-boycotted game by any country since Team Great Britain won 146 at the London 1908 Olympics (U.S.S.R won 132 at Seoul 1988).
Before we look at tomorrow's events, I just want to once again show off this fucking insanity…
Truly one of the best experiences I've ever had watching basketball. I hope every single person who pissed & shit themselves over the Team USA Basketball exhibition games realizes how silly that was. Nothing mattered until the Olympics started, and the team found a way to get it done, both in blowout fashion, and in comeback fashion when they needed to flex their muscles and power their way to Gold. This team was a shit load of fun, and I hope everyone enjoyed them as much as I did.
Also, our hurdlers are the fucking best, but I'll have more on the USA Track & Field team tomorrow, and how…
…they were historically good at Paris 2024.
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WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: They should smash France. If they don't, I will be rather speechless. They are looking for their eighth straight Gold Medal, and hopefully it is the one that seals the deal as it is the last event once again before the Closing Ceremony.
WOMEN'S WRESTLING 76 kg: Kennedy Blades is the favorite, and the 20-year-old is looking to give the Women's Wrestling team a third Gold Medal. A big reason why the USA hasn't leaped over China is the fact the Men's team disappointed, as they failed to win Gold for the first time in nearly 60 years. It won't be an easy task for Blades, who will take on reigning World Champion Yuka Kagami of Japan.
WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL: Despite a rich history, Team USA Women's Volleyball had never won an Olympics Gold Medal until three years ago at Tokyo 2020. They now have a chance to double that total and go back-to-back. They're underdogs against Italy, but it's fairly close to a toss-up. Italy has only lost one set these entire Olympics, winning 15 in the process in route to a 5-0 record heading into the Gold Medal Match. Daunting? No, because Team USA just knocked off their rivals in the Brazilians, who entered the Semi-Finals 4-0, winning 12 sets, and losing none. They slayed Brazil, and I see no reason as to why they can't do the same against Italy. This would be a monster victory, and I do think out of the two "underdog" Gold Medal chances for Team USA, this one has the best at hitting.
WOMEN'S CYCLING OMNIUM: Until 2021, no Team USA woman had ever won Gold in an individual Cycling event on the Track. That changed when Jennifer Valente shocked the world and won the Omnium in a thrilling set of four races. She will need to make history again, and has a good shot, as she isn't that heavy of an underdog. Team USA Cycling has had a good Olympics as Kristen Faulkner won the Women's Individual Road Race Gold, and then joined Jennifer Valente, Chloe Dygert, & Lily Williams for a Gold in the Women's Team Pursuit on the Track. Valente copying Faulkner and grabbing a second Gold would go a long way in the United States beating China.
The longer explanation: the United States has a ton more opportunities to win Gold compared to China, but they cannot afford to lose many, or any, of the events they are favored to win Gold in. For Team USA, there is a chance they lose a few of those favored events, but China may as well enter their favored competitions already sitting atop the podium. What I am saying is, the magic number to win the Gold Medal count for Team USA is 41. I do not see any way, shape, or form that China has more than 40 medals, but I also do not think there is a remote chance they have less than 40.
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CLOSING CEREMONY: So, apparently Tom Cruise is part of the Closing Ceremony? Part of the ceremony to close a Games is the handover from the host city to the next host city which, this case, will be Los Angeles for the 2028 Olympics. That's pretty damn exciting that the United States gets an Olympics again, and we will have a major part of the Closing Ceremony. What will Tom Cruise do? People say a stunt, but what if he just recreates the 'Fallout' bathroom fight?
Now THAT would be fucking awesome. The countdown is on, though, with four years to go until Los Angeles 2028, with a home soil World Cup in between in 2026!
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That's all for now. Go Team USA. See you tomorrow.