Alvaro Martin Claims Bronze in Men’s 20KM Walk at 2024 Paris Games

Posted on August 1, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Alvaro Martin is celebrating a medal-earning performance…

The 30-year-old Spanish race walker has claimed his first Olympic medal, taking home the bronze in the Men’s 20KM Walk at the 2024 Paris Games on Thursday.

Martin just barely missed the podium in the same event at the 2020 Tokyo Games, coming in a heartbreaking fourth place.

Martin finished the race with a time of 1:19:11. Ecuador’s Brian Daniel Pintado claimed the gold with a time of 1:18;55, followed by Caio Bonfim with a time of 1:19:09.

At the 2016 Rio Games, Martin finished the race in the same event in 22^nd place.

José Torres Gil Records Stunning Initial Score to Claim Gold in Men’s BMX Park at 2024 Paris Games

Posted on July 31, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

José Torres Gil is riding high!

The Argentine rider wowed his way to a gold medal with a stunning initial score of 94.82 at the 20024 Paris Games in the Men’s BMX Park final on Wednesday.

With the victor, Torres Gil not only claimed Argentina’s first medal of the 2024 Summer Games, he also won his country’s first individual gold medal in a cycling discipline.

“I couldn’t understand it, total craziness, it brought tears to my eyes,” was how Torres Gil explained hearing that he would be crowned Olympic champion at the Place de la Concorde, the temporary home of the Urban Sports Park.

Great Britain’s Keiran Reilly took silver after packing trick after trick into his second run, hauling himself above France’s Anthony Jeanjean with the final act of the competition. As he threw his bike across the boarded floor and dropped to his knees in exhaustion, you knew he had given all he could.

“It was probably the best final that we’ve ever seen on the international stage,” said Jeanjean, whose score of 93.76 was enough to win gold at the 2020 Tokyo Games three years ago.

A rider is scored out of 100 based on the best of their two 60-second runs in an Olympic final, this the second time the freestyle format has appeared at the Olympic Games, and points are awarded based on several criteria, including the difficulty, variety, creativity and execution of their tricks.

Torres Gil’s gold medal was the first for a South American nation at these Games and, in his first Olympics, he added to the Pan American Games title he won last year.

He was unfancied going into the final having qualified in seventh place with an average score of 86.66. That was behind Reilly, who qualified first, and the American duo of Marcus Christopher and Justin Dowell in second and fourth.

Martin occupied the third qualifying spot and Jeanjean the fifth, but it was Torres Gil who rose to the occasion with a high-scoring first run, which would stand as the benchmark for most of the competition.

Perhaps, though, that is part and parcel of the Olympics: where the unexpected can happen and the unfancied can become eternal.

“The level was extraordinary,” he said in his press conference. “The best athletes of the planet were here in Paris. I competed against the best of the world and I felt incredible; I feel part of this incredible universe.”

Prisca Awiti Alcaraz Earns Mexico’s Ever Olympic Medal in Judo with 2024 Paris Games Performance

Posted on July 30, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Prisca Awiti Alcaraz has earned Mexico’s first-ever Olympic medal in judo…

The 28-year-old Mexican judoka claimed the silver medal in the women’s 63kg judo competition after losing to Slovenia’s Andreja Leski in the finals at the 2024 Paris Games.

Awiti Alcaraz, an outsider in the main draw who has competed internationally with Mexico since 2017, was defeated by an Ippon, although she had already achieved a Waza-Ari, in one minute and 44 seconds of combat.

Awiti Alcaraz, who was born and raised in London, began representing Mexico since 2017 because her mother is Mexican.

The judoka, whose father is of Kenyan origin, will face Andreja Leski in the Final on the tatami of the Campo de Marte.

Awiti Alcaraz is competing in her second Olympics after the 2020 Tokyo Games.

Awiti, who was thisclose to leaving judo after two serious injuries, has demonstrated to herself and the world why it was all worth the effort to stay in the sport with her historic Olympic medal.

Rebeca Andrade & Brazil Women’s Gymnastics Team Earn Historic Bronze at 2024 Paris Games

Posted on July 30, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Rebeca Andrade and her women’s gymnastics teammates have vaulted into the Brazilian sports history books.

The 25-year-old Brazilian artistic gymnast, who claimed an Olympics gold medal in the vault and a silver medal in the all-around at the 2020 Tokyo Games, dazzled at Bercy Arena on Tuesday to help lead her team to a historic bronze medal in the women’s artistic team all-around event at the 2024 Paris Games.

It’s the nation’s first-ever team medal in women’s gymnastics.

Andrade, who has advanced to the women’s artistic individual all-around following her performance during Sunday’s qualification round, scored a 15.100 on the vault, a 14.533 in the uneven bars, a 14.133 on the balance beam and a 14.200 on the floor exercise.

Andrade’s teammate, Flávia Saraiva, went viral after suffering an accident that left her bandaged and bruised.

During warm-ups for Brazil’s uneven bars rotation on the day of the team finals, Saraiva injured herself after taking a frightening fall from the elevated bars, leaving her with a split-open eye that became a pseudo symbol for the Brazilian team’s impressive showing.

The 24-year-old veteran of the sport went straight into her routine following a quick med check, clinching crucial points for the all-around podium spot.

The Brazilian team — which also includes Jade Barbosa, Lorrane Oliveira and Julia Soares — ended with a total score of 164.497, around 6 points behind the gold-winning U.S. team led by Simone Biles.

Saraiva, marking her third Olympic showing, beamed as she received the bronze.

Hezly Rivera & U.S. Women’s Gymnastics Team Claim Gold at 2024 Paris Games

Posted on July 30, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

She’s only 16 years old, but Hezly Rivera is an Olympic gold medalist.

The Dominican American artistic gymnast and her Team USA women’s gymnastics team mates earned the gold during the 2024 Paris Games team finals on Tuesday at Bercy Arena.

Powered by a brilliant performance by Simone Biles, the U.S. women’s gymnastics program returned to the top of the sport after finishing in second at the 2020 Tokyo Games

It’s the ninth straight time the U.S. team has reached the podium and its first Olympic championship since the 2016 Summer Games.

Rivera was not selected for an event in the team finals but competed in the qualification rounds on Sunday in the uneven bars and balance beam.

She’s the youngest of nearly 600 American athletes at this year’s Olympics and the lone rookie on the U.S. women’s gymnastics team – joining Biles, Jade Carey, Jordan Chiles and Suni Lee.

The United States finished the team finals with 171.296 points to hold off Italy in second (165.494) and Brazil in third (164.497).

Biles closed out the night with a floor routine en route to her eighth Olympic medal, passing Shannon Miller for the most by an American gymnast.

Brazil’s Rayssa Leal Claims Bronze in Women’s Street Skateboarding at 2024 Paris Games

Posted on July 28, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Rayssa Leal has skated her way to another Olympic medal…

The 16-year-old Brazilian professional skateboarder, considered one of the sport’s brightest stars, claimed a bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Games in the women’s street skateboarding competition.

While it may have been a bronze, it was celebrated in the stands like it was a gold.

When Leal stuck her all-important final trick of the women’s street skateboarding final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, a deafening roar went up from the many green-and-gold-clad fans watching on.

In that moment, Leal – an undeniably popular figure back home in Brazil with huge support in Paris to prove it – jumped from fifth to third, capitalizing on her final hope of securing a second Olympic medal.

Out in front were the Japanese duo of Coco Yoshizawa, who took gold thanks to a massive score on her fourth trick, and Liz Akama, who’d led for much of the competition.

Just as with this event in Tokyo, the entire podium was made up of teenagers: Yoshizawa is 14, Kama 15, and Leal – who became Brazil’s youngest ever Olympic medalist when she won silver three years ago – 16.

Although she wasn’t able to upgrade her silver from the 2020 Tokyo Games, Leal, along with her huge number of supporters, would have been equally joyous and relieved to win bronze in dramatic fashion, scoring 88.83 with her final act of the competition to climb ahead of China’s Cui Chenxi on the leaderboard.

“It was like a gold medal because … she had to make it,” Brazilian fan Michelle Arruda, who bought tickets for the women’s street skateboarding to watch Leal a year ago, told CNN Sport. “It was a lot of emotion and felt like the Olympic spirit – you have to be here to understand what it is.

“You get so nervous, it’s like you are there with them … We were literally praying, holding hands. It was like: ‘She’s going to make it.’ I don’t know how, but I really believed that she was going to make it.”

Leal first catapulted to fame when a video of her skateboarding aged seven, dressed in a blue fairy princess costume, went viral. It was shared by skateboarding icon Tony Hawk, who tipped his hat to the “fairytale heelflip.”

Known as the fadinha do skate – Portuguese for “skate fairy” – from then on, Leal’s popularity has continued to grow. She has acquired a number of sponsors, including Nike and Monster Energy, and boasts 7 million followers on Instagram, all while her skateboarding has continued to take an upward trajectory.

The highlight of her performance at Paris’ Urban Park, a temporary facility erected on the Place de la Concorde, was scoring 92.88 for the first of her two successful tricks – the second-highest score of the final.

“When I was very young, I dreamed of becoming a skateboard athlete,” Leal told reporters. “And here I am, with a second Olympic medal from the Games. Once again, thanks God I won a medal. I’m very happy to be here.”

Brazil’s Larissa Pimenta Wins Bronze in Women’s 52kg Judo Event a 2024 Paris Games

Posted on July 28, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Larissa Pimenta is official an Olympic medalist…

The 25-year-old Brazilian judo practitioner defeated Italy’s Odette Giuffrada in the women’s 52kg judo event at the 2024 Paris Games to claim the bronze medal, the first medal of the 2024 Summer Olympics for Brazil.

Uzbekistan’s Diyora Keldiyorova defeated Distria Krasniqi of Kosovo to claim the gold. The second bronze of the competition went to Amandine Buchard of France.

Pimenta is a five-time gold medalist in her event at the Pan American Judo Championships.

She previously represented Brazil at the 2020 Tokyo Games.

Jessica Bouzas Maneiro Defeats Wimbledon Defending Champion Marketa Vondrousova to Reach Second Round

Posted on July 2, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Jessica Bouzas Maneiro has taken down a champion…

The 21-year-old Spanish professional tennis player, currently ranked No. 83 in the world, defeated Wimbledon defending champion Marketa Vondrousova 6-4, 6-2 at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on Tuesday.

In the process, Vondrousova became the first defending women’s champion at Wimbledon to lose in the first round the next year since 1994.

Vondrousova was a surprise title winner at the All England Club 12 months ago, the first unseeded woman to claim the trophy at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament.

Now she enters the books in another — and less desirable — historic way. The only other time

2019 in the sport’s Open era, which dates to 1968, that a woman went from a championship at Wimbledon to an immediate exit a year later was when Steffi Graf was defeated by Lori McNeil 30 years ago.

Vondrousova was seeded No. 6 this time, but the left-hander, who also was the runner-up at the French Open and a silver medalist at the 2020 Tokyo Games three years ago, was never at her best Tuesday. She appeared to still be suffering after-effects from a fall during a tune-up tournament on grass in Berlin last month that hurt her hip.

Bouzas Maneiro, meantime, has reached the second round at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in her career.

In March, Bouzas Maneiro won her maiden WTA 125 title at the Antalya Challenger. The following month, she reached the final of the Zaragoza Open, but lost to Moyuka Uchijima.

Diana Taurasi Expected to Compete in Historic Sixth Olympics at 2024 Paris Games

Posted on June 9, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Diana Taurasi is headed to the 2024 Paris Games.

The United States is expected to take the 41-year-old Argentine American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury, a five-time Olympic champion, for a sixth Olympics.

Taurasi will break the record for most Olympics played in the sport of basketball.

Five players, including former Taurasi teammate Sue Bird, have competed in five.

Taurasi, who will turn 42 on Tuesday, will be joined by her Mercury teammate Brittney Griner.

This will be Griner’s first time playing internationally since she was detained in a Russian prison for 10 months in 2022. She said she’ll play abroad only with USA Basketball.

Joining the pair will be Olympic veterans Breanna Stewart, A’ja Wilson, Napheesa Collier, Jewell Loyd and Chelsea Gray.

Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young, who helped the U.S. win the inaugural 3×3 gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Games in 2021, will also be on the team.

First-time Olympians are Alyssa Thomas, Sabrina Ionescu and Kahleah Copper.

All three played on the American team that won the World Cup in Australia in 2022.

The U.S. women have won every gold medal in women’s basketball since the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

The U.S. team will get together to train for a few days in Phoenix in July. Then it’s off to London for an exhibition game against Germany before heading to France.

The Americans will play Japan, Belgium and Germany in pool play at the Olympics.

The U.S. team will be coached by longtime Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve, who has extensive USA Basketball experience.

Reeve, like former Olympic coaches, was allowed to give feedback on team makeup but was not part of the group that picked players.

Diana Taurasi Named to U.S. National Team for Upcoming Pre-Olympic Qualifying Tournament

Posted on February 5, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Diana Taurasi is getting back in the international game…

The 41-year-old Argentine American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury, a five-time Olympic champion considered one of the greatest players in WNBA history, has been selected as part of the U.S. national team that will play in a pre-Olympic qualifying tournament in Belgium this week.

Taurasi is one of seven former Olympians on the roster.

She’s joined by Ariel Atkins, Napheesa Collier, Jewell Loyd, Kelsey Plum, Breanna Stewart and Jackie Young.

Additionally, 2022 World Cup champions Kahleah Copper, Sabrina Ionescu and Alyssa Thomas will be part of the team.

Aliyah Boston and Rhyne Howard round out the squad. Both players will be making their debuts with the senior national team.

Former Olympians A’ja Wilson, Brittney Griner and Chelsea Gray are unavailable to play in Belgium this week.

The U.S., which has already qualified for the Olympics thanks to a gold-medal finish at the 2022 World Cup, will open play against host Belgium on Thursday. More than 14,000 tickets have been sold for that game, and coach Cheryl Reeve expects a loud crowd that will be rooting for the home team.

“We’re expecting to go over there and be in a really tough environment,” the U.S. coach said on Sunday at the end of a three-day training camp in New York. “There’ll be 14,000 people rooting against us. It’s obviously a really good team as we open it, open the tournament. I’m hoping to experience that adversity in a way that helps prepare us for the next step.”

Reeve also feels potential adversity will help the team get ready for the Paris Olympics, where the U.S. will be trying for an eighth consecutive gold medal.

“It’ll be illuminating as far as maybe what we need to do as a coaching staff. How we can better utilize players,” she said. “Those challenges are what we are looking forward to.”

The Americans will also face Nigeria and Senegal. The top two teams other than the Americans will qualify for the Paris Games.

There are three other qualifying tournaments in Brazil, China and Hungary being played at the same time to help round out the 12-team Olympics field. France also has already qualified as the host nation.

The Americans will have another training camp at the Final Four in Cleveland in April before getting together right before the Olympics in Phoenix for a few days.

is getting back in the international game…