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Happy Friday 🙌
The Sportsletter’s primary writer (Jeff) is out for the day, but Aaron and Marissa have the latest updates from Paris. We’ll sprint into Week 2 of Olympics action for the track and field events shortly, but we can't end Week 1 without giving U.S. Swimming their flowers. Our team is also putting together some feature stories (Underdogs!) for next week’s Olympic coverage. Stay tuned... ⬇️ Scroll to the bottom of today’s edition to see some of our readers’ favorite Olympic moments so far. Letter Rip! |
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*Accurate Through Midnight, Aug. 1 / Click Image for Updated Medal Count |
Others: 🇨🇦 Canada (8), 🇩🇪 Germany (6), 🇳🇱 Netherlands (6), 🇧🇷 Brazil (6) |
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Week 1 in Paris Belonged to USA Swimming 🇺🇸 |
Photo: Maddie Meyer / Getty Images |
20 Swimming Medals Have Told the Story Early for Team USA in the 2024 Olympic Games
As we start to wrap up Week 1 from Paris, the overall medal count looks more and more lopsided in favor of Team USA. Whether or not that 10-medal lead holds up remains to be seen, but the reason why the U.S. has dominated Week 1 is simple — the pool. The U.S. has secured four medals in gymnastics and at least one medal in nine other events, but 20 medals in swimming (4 gold, 10 silver, 6 bronze) is pure domination. Katie Ledecky and Kate Douglass added two to the total yesterday. This weekend, we'll make the switch from the pool to the track, and we’ll find out if Team USA can hold the overall medal lead on foot. Here's the latest from Paris:
🏊 WSWIM: Douglass Wins Gold in the 200M Breaststroke
The USA is finally starting to rack up some gold in the pool! One night after Katie Ledecky dominated in the 1500m freestyle, Kate Douglass edged South Africa's Tatjana Smith for gold in the 200m breaststroke. Meanwhile, Ledecky was back in action in the 4x200m freestyle relay, and she made some more history with the USA taking silver behind Australia. That was Ledecky's 13th all-time medal, breaking the record for most decorated woman in American swimming history.
🏊 WSWIM: Ledecky Adds Another Accolade To nobody’s surprise, Katie Ledecky added another piece of hardware to her collection after winning silver in the U.S. 4x200m freestyle relay. The latest silver medal is the 13th of her career, breaking the previous tie among herself, Jenny Thompson, Dara Torres and Emma McKeon, and earning her the well-deserved title of most decorated female Olympic swimmer of all time. 🏀 WBB: Team USA Pulls Away to Beat Belgium (87-74)
The 57th straight Olympic win for the USA women wasn't exactly a walk in the park. Despite only shooting 5-for-27 from beyond the arc, Belgium kept pace with the Americans in the second half. Consecutive three-point shots by Antonia Delaere cut USA's lead to seven with just six minutes to play, but Belgium would get no closer for the rest of the contest. Breanna Stewart led USA with 26 points, while A'ja Wilson finished with 23 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
🤸 WGYM: Biles Goes for Gold (Again)
If you were worried about Simone Biles returning to the Olympics this year, fear not. Yesterday, she secured her second all-around gold medal following another impressive floor routine. How’s that for a comeback? Biles topped her Brazilian rival Rebeca Andrade (silver) and her teammate Suni Lee (bronze) to maintain the American women’s all-around gold medal streak for the sixth Olympics in a row. Biles is now one of only three women in history to win the all-around gold twice and is the oldest to do so in over 70 years.
🚣 MROW: U.S. Men's Rowing Wins Big
Nick Mead, Justin Best, Michael Grady and Liam Corrigan claimed gold for the U.S. to end a 64-year gold medal drought in men’s four rowing. Their victory also marked the end of a drought for any medal in the event dating back to the 2016 Olympics. The four men beat New Zealand (silver) by a 0.85-second margin and Great Britain (bronze) by a three-second margin to top the podium. 🏐 MBVB: U.S. Men's Beach Volleyball Moves to Round of 16 The U.S. men’s beach volleyball duo earned a spot in the Round of 16 after defeating Brazil in three sets. Miles Partain and Andy Benesh were able to hold off Brazil in a back-and-forth match. Pertain and Benesh took the first set, while Brazil’s George and Andre took the second. The Americans came out on top in the third set, winning 15-8 to move to the Round of 16. |
🏅 Other Olympics Highlights & Stories |
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Post-Trade Week Power Rankings |
Photo: Orlando Ramirez / Getty Images |
Dodgers New No. 1 After Trade Deadline Moves While Padres & Mets Surge Into Top-10
There’s a new No. 1 in our MLB Power Rankings for the first time in a long time. The Phillies have been slipping while the Dodgers look the part of the NL's best team. Meanwhile, the AL ring-around continues to swirl between the O’s, Yankees and Guardians. After what we saw at the trade deadline, we gave our top-five teams a shakeup. We’re also seeing a few mid-tier NL teams hitting their next gears. Both the Padres and Mets join the new top-10. Here’s how we see the board after the trade deadline.
MLB Power Rankings 1. Dodgers (63-46) ↑2
2. Guardians (66-42) ↑2 3. Phillies (65-43) ↓2 4. Orioles (65-45) ↓2
5. Yankees (65-45) — 6. Brewers (61-47) — 7. Royals (61-49) —
8. Twins (59-48) — 9. Padres (59-51) ↑6 10. Mets (57-51) ↑4 Teams 11-20: 11. Braves (59-49), 12. Mariners (57-53), 13. Red Sox (57-50), 14. Diamondbacks (58-51), 15. Astros (56-52), 16. Pirates (55-53), 17. Cardinals (56-53), 18. Rays (55-53), 19. Rangers (52-57), 20. Giants (54-56)
Teams 21-30: 21. Reds (52-56), 22. Tigers (52-58), 23. Cubs (51-58), 24. Nationals (49-60), 25. Blue Jays (50-59), 26. Angels (47-62), 27. Athletics (45-65), 28. Marlins (40-69), 29. Rockies (40-70), 30. White Sox (27-84)
Read More FOX Sports: MLB’s Biggest Winners & Losers From the Trade Deadline B/R: The 7 MLB Teams That Blew It at the 2024 Trade Deadline |
Orioles def. Guardians (10-3)
In a collision of American League pennant hopefuls, Cleveland came out on top thanks to multi-run home runs drilled by David Fry, Jose Ramirez, and Bo Naylor. Left-handed starter Trevor Rogers was making his debut with the Orioles after getting picked up at the trade deadline from Miami, and he did not impress with five runs allowed in fewer than five innings. Cleveland, on the other hand, got a pair of doubles from its trade deadline acquisition Lane Thomas.
Royals def. Tigers (7-1)
Seth Lugo continued his underdog Cy Young campaign with eight innings of one-run ball while MVP hopeful Bobby Witt Jr. drove in a pair with a home run and a double to lift Kansas City to a road win in Detroit. The Royals led from the jump thanks to Vinnie Pasquantino's three-run bomb in the first inning, and he added a solo shot to help put the game away in the eighth. Kansas City has three more games in Detroit this weekend, including a showdown with Tarik Skubal on Friday night.
Cubs def. Cardinals (5-4)
Shota Imanaga was winning his pitcher's duel with Sonny Gray, but Masyn Winn's two-run home run off of the Chicago southpaw changed all that in the top of the seventh. Winn's blast turned a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead for the Cardinals, but the Cubs took the lead back on the final play of the game. Mike Tauchman capped a three-run ninth-inning rally off of St. Louis closer Ryan Helsley with a walk-off double down the left field line.
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The Olympic Weekend Watch List |
🏅 Olympics ⚽️ MSOC: 🇺🇸 USA vs. 🇲🇦 Morocco (Fri. 9:00 am) ⚽️ WSOC: 🇺🇸 USA vs. 🇯🇵 Japan (Sat. 9:00 am)
🏀 MBB: 🇺🇸 USA vs. 🇵🇷 Puerto Rico (Sat. 11:15 am) 🏀 WBB: 🇺🇸 USA vs. 🇩🇪 Germany (Sun. 11:15 am) ⛳️ MGOLF: Rounds 2-4 (Friday-Sunday) 🤸 GYM: Men’s & Women’s Events (Friday-Sunday) 🏊 SWIM: Men’s & Women’s Events (Friday-Sunday)
🎾 TENNIS: Men’s & Women’s Finals (Friday-Sunday) 👟 Track & Field Events Begin This Weekend Other Sports: Archery, Badminton, 3x3 Basketball, Beach Volleyball, Boxing, Canoeing, Cycling, Equestrian, Fencing, Field Hockey, Handball, Judo, Rowing, Sailing, Shooting, Table Tennis, Trampoline, Volleyball, Water Polo |
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Yesterday, we asked you to share some of your favorite Olympic moments so far. Thank you to everyone who replied. Our staff really enjoys interacting with you all — our team! Unfortunately, there were too many responses to list or reply to them all. We did rank them: Gold, Silver & Bronze. The dominating performances from Katie Ledecky and Simone Biles were the most common replies. Enjoy Week 2 at the Olympics! 🥇🥈🥉 |
🥇 Watching Katie Ledecky dominate the women’s 1500m Freestyle continues to amaze me. That young girl’s reaction to Katie waving at her after the race may have been the coolest moment though. Something she will never forget! — Colby C. 🥇 Watching the USA women’s gymnastic team “Redemption Tour.” That was AWESOME! — Monica Y.
🥈 Watching the USA women's rugby team getting the bronze medal in the final seconds of their match. — David D.
🥈 Canadian women's soccer swept their table after being penalized 6 points by FIFA and qualified for next round! — Mike H.
🥉 My favorite moments didn’t even involve sports (although they have been great). It was the GOJIRA performance in the opening ceremony (big metal fan) followed by Snoop Dogg’s commentary / overall presence. — Sean M. 🥉 I've seen events that I would never have watched being aired and I really enjoyed them in conjunction with the normally televised events. — Theresa B. |
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