Thursday, August 8, 2024

Noah: 2. COVID: 19.

And despite that score, Lyles is still the winner.

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• Men's basketball! It's Team USA playing against Serbia. So basically, the NBA vs. Nikola Jokic. The NBA wins and advances to the gold medal game.
• To the track we go for the women's 4x100m relay semifinals. Team USA is in the first heat. Both Gabby Thomas and Sha'Carri Richardson are on this team, so they'll be tough to beat. They had a slight problem with the second baton pass, but they still won. Great Britain wins the second heat.
• We've seen the women, now let's see the men! The US men are running the 4x100m. They haven't even had a official Olympic finish since 2004. Surely this year someone will have coached them in what to do. Wow. They smoked the competition in this one. Heat two goes to… China? Well, that's surprising. Both Canada and Jamaica were fast, but they had some problems on the last baton handoff. China, on the other hand, had perfect handoffs. Wow. Jamaica is out! Their botched handoff cost them.
• Speaking of Chinese precision, it's time for the men's 3m springboard finals. The US has Carson Tyler hoping to capture bronze behind the two Chinese divers Xie Siyi and Wang Zongyuan, who will win gold and silver in some order. I mean, it's possible one of them won't finish first or second. It's possible that the Chicago White Sox will come back from their 21-game losing streak and win the World Series, too, but I think we know that possible doesn't mean likely. After round three, Carson is fifth. The Chinese are one-two. After round four, there's no change. NBC shows us a replay. Xie and Wang finished one-two in Tokyo, too. They could have just replayed footage from the Tokyo Olympics and saved themselves the time and expense of setting up this competition. China finishes gold-silver, Tyler finishes fourth.
• Americans in Paris! Katie Ledecky and rower Nick Mead will be the flag bearers for the closing ceremonies. In women's volleyball, the US beat Brazil to move on to the gold medal match. Water polo! The US women lost to Australia, so they're eliminated. In wrestling, Spencer Lee advanced to the gold medal match. Sport climbing! Sam Watson only got bronze, but he set a world record doing it.
• Welcome to Paris, Anna Hall. She's a heptathlete and she's in this fluff segment with Emily (and Anna) in Paris. Actress Lily Collins doesn't break character in her portrayal of a social media coordinator. Anna judges her running. Not too good, she says. They race to see who can open a bottle of champagne the fastest. Anna loses. Fluff!
• Anna raced in the hurdles, high jump, and shot put before we get to see her in the last portion of today's heptathlon, the 200-meters. After day one, she's in third place. She'll finish up tomorrow.
• The women's 1500m semifinals is next. Elle St. Pierre is the American in the first heat. Kenya Faith Kipyegon won gold the other day in the 5000m, but because she was throwing elbows, she now has a yellow card, meaning she can't cause any more trouble or she's out. Kipyegon wins this heat, and St. Pierre qualifies for the final.
• Tara Davis-Woodhall is up in the women's long jump. She's in first place right now. We only get to see one jump because we had to spend time earlier with Emily.
• Back at the 1500m semis, Nikki Hiltz is up along with Emily Mackay for Team USA. Hiltz finishes third and advances. Mackay does not.
• Today in Paris! Women's boxing! Women's golf! Men's basketball! France beat Germany, so that's who the US will be playing for gold. Men's field hockey! The Netherlands beats Germany for gold. Is it just me, or does Gold Zone look more interesting than what NBC is showing?
• It's Event of the Night time, and really it's several different events. First up is… fluff!
• Noah Lyles believes in himself. There's not any more to this segment than that. Unless you count lots of slow-motion replays. Those are here, too.
• Let's meet the racers of the men's 200m final! For Team USA, Noah is there, along with Erriyon Knighton and Kenny Bendarek. So is Noah's mom, Keisha. I haven't seen Snoop here, yet, but I'm assuming he's here. I'm kind of surprised NBC didn't focus on him. Let's race! It's fast, but not a lot of drama. Letsile Tebogo of Botswana leads wire-to-wire. Bendarek gets silver and Lyles gets bronze. Is Lyles okay? He looks shaken after the race and not just because he lost. He does have a history of asthma. The medical team is even checking him out. Noah is being wheeled out by medical in a wheelchair. Lewis Johnson interviews him afterwards. Apparently he tested positive for COVID two days ago. So, Noah Lyles just won a bronze medal in the Olympics 200m WHILE having COVID? Dang.
• The women's 400m hurdles final is delayed because Tara Davis-Woodhall has one more long jump. She wins gold! Jasmine Moore of the USA wins bronze. That's a good showing for Team USA!
• Now we get to introduce the runners. For the US, Sydney McLauchlin-Levrone, Anna Cockrell, and Jasmine Jones will line up. Femke Bol of the Netherlands is the other big name here, but Sydney is the favorite. Let's race! Sydney sets a new world record and gets gold! Cockrell gets silver and Bol bronze. It looked close for the first two-thirds of the race, but then Sydney just left everyone behind. There's an interesting dynamic happening on the sideline. Sydney's family and friends are in the front row right next to Bol's family. Sydney is celebrating and Femke is crying. That's a little awkward. You would think the IOC would try to keep families apart.
• More racing! Let's meet the runners for the men's 110m hurdles final. Freddie Crittenden, Daniel Roberts, and Grant Holloway are running for Team USA. This will be a fast one. Let's go, USA! Grant Holloway flies! His dad is thrilled! Grant gets gold by a large margin. There's a photo finish for second. And it's Daniel Roberts, who dove across the line to beat out Jamaica's Rasheed Broadbell for the silver medal! Exciting!
• Lewis interviews Tara Davis-Woodhall afterwards. She's obviously excited about her own medal, but she also gets in a plug for the Paralympics. Her husband Hunter will be running there, so she tells everyone to tune in in two weeks to watch him. Awwww. Sweet!
• Snooping Around Paris. He and Mike are talking about the next Olympics in LA. They're also talking about how Snoop will be on The Voice. He loved being a part of the Olympics and celebrating with the families. I have to say that I've really enjoyed Snoop as a commentator. I just wish that NBC was using him better. I feel like they've been editing him down to fit into a time slot instead of letting him have a little freedom. I'll look forward to seeing him in 2028.
• Sydney is in the studio talking to Mike. She calls Paris her first real Olympics. In Rio she was too young, and in Tokyo there was no crowd. Mike asks her why she's so good on the biggest stage and she credits her faith in God. Now she has to get rested for her spot in the relay!

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Seriously, how amazing of an athlete is Noah Lyles if he can almost pull off an Olympic double while he has COVID? When I had it all I wanted to do was nap, not run 200 meters. That's an amazing performance by him and we're sorry to see his Olympics are over. But it sure was fun while it lasted.

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