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The 2024 Paris Olympics started on July 26th and lasted until August 11th, 2024. The United States of America and China tied for the most gold medals (40), and the U.S. came home with the most medals in total, via AP News.
by Sports Team (Drew Caraway, Justin Andrio, Kweku Assan, Sean Clift, Kaden Cragin, AJ Diaz)
U.S.A. vs. China: The Race for Gold
Since day one of the Olympics, the U.S. and China have been fighting tooth and nail to have the most gold medals. The U.S. excelled in basketball, winning gold for men and women, track and field, swimming, cycling, and many more. China did well in diving, gymnastics, wrestling, shooting, and table tennis. Although they had the same amount of golds, the U.S. prevailed by a large amount in total medals, coming in at a whopping 126 total medals with China coming in at 91.
Medal Count (NBC Olympics)
While the U.S. and China tied for the most golds, Great Britain came in third place with only 65 total medals, proving to be not much competition for China and the U.S. Although they had home field advantage, France still placed 4th in total medals, and Australia came in 5th place at 53. Here is the official top five: 
Men and Women’s Basketball (Olympics / Olympics)
The Team USA Men's Basketball team won gold versus France, winning their fifth straight gold medal in the Olympics. The Women's Basketball team also won gold versus France, and they won their eighth straight gold. The U.S. Men’s beat France in an intense game, winning 98-87, with Steph Curry dropping 24 pts., 1 reb., 5 ast. and 2 steals, carrying the U.S team to a victory over France. For the Women’s, they also beat France in a much closer game, winning 67-66, pulling out the victory in the final minutes. The win for the women's team also gave the U.S the gold medal to tie China for the most gold medals in the Paris Olympics. A'ja Wilson led the team in average scoring during the Olympics at 18.7 PPG., and also played well in the gold game, dropping a crucial double-double, with 21 points and 13 rebounds, to help Team USA secure gold.
Head Basketball Coach Dennis Whitley had some things to say about the U.S basketball performance. “Curry being on the court, even if he is not making shots, is crucial because [the] defense has to pay attention to him, so he creates space and opportunities for others.” He also stated his opinion on the best Olympic basketball player ever. “Best Olympic basketball player is Carmelo Anthony. His game translates really well, but in this Olympics, Curry was really good in the last two games. On the other hand, through the whole Olympics, Lebron was really the driving force whenever they needed a play.”
Track&Field (NBC Olympics)
Although track is more of an individual sport, the Team USA Track Team did exceptionally well, winning 34 total medals, 14 of them being Gold, 11 were Silver, and 9 were bronze. Noah Lyles is one of the many track athletes that helped the U.S. on their winnings for track and field. Although he ran with Covid, he showed why he is such a good track runner. His time shocked many people worldwide. His gold medal winning time was 9.79 sec in the 100m race. He won the gold medal by beating Thompson Kishane by .006 seconds, just barely winning. On the other hand, people are surprised on how he won, even though he was sick. Emmanuel Soley, a student here, said that he “...had him winning.” Another student Ahmard Middlebrooks even talked about him running with Covid. “The dude just won gold and he had Covid.” Sha’Carri Richardson was also another major track presence for the US track and field medals. She ran pretty good times managing to get silver. Her time in the women's 100m final was 10.87 sec. Although she didn't win the gold medal, her time was 10.87 seconds. She was only 0.17 seconds away from the gold medal winner Julien Alfred from Saint Lucia. Students at WGHS are proud of how she did. Her performance allowed them to compare her to Noah Lyles. A student here, Lily Hortman (9th), felt like “Noah Lyles did pretty good, he did alright, but Sha’carri will always be better.”
 (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
The Addition of Breaking (Olympics)
The Olympic Committee implemented two new sports this year, but one mainly caught everyone’s eyes: Breaking, also known as breakdancing. The Breaking criteria consists of how athletes use power moves in rhythm to a beat that a DJ creates. The introduction of this new sport sparked different opinions on whether it should be a sport in the Olympics or if it should’ve been “left off the ballot.” Lily Hortman enjoyed Breaking and noted “I liked their dances.” Mrs. Baker, a teacher here at Walnut Grove, thought breaking “wasn't necessary.” But, she didn’t dislike the sport. “I didn't hate it or love it.” However, Mrs. Baker did love the sport of Surfing, which was added in the 2020/2021 Tokyo Olympics. She says, “...I surfed when I was growing up. To me, it is the coolest sport ever.” Japan and Canada ended up getting gold medals in Breaking, and Lithuania and France took home silver. The People’s Republic of China and the U.S. both took home Bronze. Unfortunately, the sport of “Breaking” will not return in 2028, per People.com, making Japan's and Canada’s Gold medals even more special.  (May Bailey/Getty Images)
Swimming (Olympics)
This year, in the swimming section there were a variety of countries that took home gold medals. China took home the gold in the men’s 100 meter freestyle in the swimming section. Pan Zhanle held the lead throughout the whole race. He had a world record time of 46.40 seconds. He broke the world record set by the Romanian swimming star, David Popovici, who had a world record time of 46.80 seconds in 2022. Zhanle had both the Australian swimming star, Kyle Chambers, and Romanian swimming star, David Popovici, on his tail throughout the whole race. This year for the women's section of the swimming competition, USA’s Katie Ledecky won gold for the 1500 meter freestyle race. Coach Conner, the Walnut Grove High School swimming coach said about Katie Ledecky, “It was amazing.” She continued, “She has definitely crafted her sport and knows exactly what she’s doing. It was funny because [Conner and her daughter] just had a discussion. My daughter swam for me here at Walnut Grove, and she was the “Queen of No Kicking” and she did everything through pull, and that’s exactly what [LeDecky] did when she swam. The gold medal that Katie Ledecky won was one of four golds that day, which helped close in on China’s lead in the gold medal race.  (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
Gymnastics (NBC Olympics)
The United States performed in a remarkable way and proved to still be the best at gymnastics in the Olympics. The United States placed first in Gymnastics with nine total medals and three gold. Simone Biles took home gold for both All-Around Gymnast and the vault. Simone has proven to be a vital part of the Gymnastics Olympics by earning eleven medals, seven gold, throughout her Olympic career. Coach Conner, a coach at Walnut Grove, said “...when you talk about competitive cheer you’re talking about [gymnastics], so Simone Biles is definitely extremely talented.” Suni Lee was also extraordinary in this Olympics. She won two bronze medals and helped the U.S. Women’s Team win Gold in the Women’s Team Final. Jade Carey and Jordan Chiles also pushed the U.S. to victory. Jade Carey won bronze on the vault and Jordan won a bronze medal on Floor Routine, but it was stripped away due to Romania challenging her score. The 2024 Olympics are over. Statistically, this Olympics was one of the greatest of all time, due to the U.S. and China’s Gold medal tie, and the crazy-big medal count from the U.S. However, the 2028 Olympics will be held in Los Angeles, California, so this time, the United States will have home field advantage, and hopefully they can keep up their success from this year’s Olympics. Tags:
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