Daily Edition – Day 13: Challenge accepted
From The GIST (hi@thegistsports.com)
Hello, hello!
Or should we say oui oui — that was the response for French steeplechaser Alice Finot, who proposed to her boyfriend immediately after breaking the European steeplechase record yesterday. Check it out, then say “I do” to today’s news.
Country | 🥇 | 🥈 | 🥉 | Total |
| 🇺🇲 USA | 27 | 35 | 32 | 94 |
| 🇨🇳 People’s Republic of China | 25 | 23 | 17 | 65 |
| 🇦🇺 Australia | 18 | 13 | 11 | 42 |
| 🇨🇦 Canada (11th) | 6 | 4 | 9 | 19 |
🥉 Pole vaulter Alysha Newman has that red lip classic and a bronze medal to her name after setting a national record and becoming the first Canadian woman to reach the podium in the event yesterday. She’ll never go out of style.
😞 Reigning 200m gold medalist Andre De Grasse will not defend his title after finishing third in his semis heat and failing to qualify for the final. Fellow Canadians Aaron Brown and Brendon Rodney also missed the cut.
- And in more heartbreaking news, distance runner and Tokyo 2020 silver medalist Mohammed Ahmed fell in his chaotic 5000m heat and will not advance to the final.
👟 On the bright side, the reigning 800m world champ, Canada’s Marco Arop, advanced to the event’s semis after finishing second in his heat. Onward.
⛳ French golfer Céline Boutier is feeling right at home at Le Golf National, leading the field after the first round of play with a score of -7. Canadians Alena Sharp (-1) and Brooke Henderson (+2) are in the mix, but have some work to do to climb the leaderboard.
🏖️🏐 Semis, here they come — Canadian beach volleyball duo Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson have guaranteed the red and white’s best-ever result in the sport thanks to their straight-set quarter-final win over Spain. Up next, Switzerland today at 11 a.m. ET.
🥊 Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting blocked out the noise and won her third straight fight of the Games and is through to Saturday’s gold medal match against Poland’s Julia Szeremeta. Glovin’ it.
🏋️ Canadian weightlifter and Opening Ceremony flag bearer Maude Charron started her campaign in the 59kg event this morning. Charron won gold in the 64kg weight class in Tokyo, but the IOC reduced the program to five classes, forcing her to adjust. Challenge accepted.
Men’s Basketball
🏀 It’s showtime
The GIST: A whopping 25 NBAers are suiting up across the four remaining countries, so expect action aplenty in today’s men’s basketball semis, with winners advancing to Saturday’s gold medal game.
France vs. Germany — 11:30 a.m. ET: Tokyo 2020 silver medalists France are finally finding their groove with their best game yet in Tuesday’s quarter-final — an 82–73 upset of top contenders Canada.
- And that dub came without much help from four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert, who’s dealing with an unspecified injury, leaving the team’s defense in young Victor Wembanyama’s very large hands.
- Meanwhile, Germany is competing in their first-ever Olympic semi but hasn’t dropped a game in Paris, most recently ousting Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Greece on Tuesday. Can Brooklyn Net Dennis Schröder keep the streak going?
USA vs. Serbia — 3 p.m. ET: Team USA head coach Steve Kerr thinks three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokić has been playing the long game by tricking the Americans into believing Serbia is a sleepy squad after the red, white, and blue’s 26-point win in group stage play.
- But The Joker should never be underestimated, and if he’s on the floor for all 40 minutes tomorrow (like he was in Serbia’s most recent Olympic win), the Americans will have their hands full as they chase their 17th (!!!) program gold.
- Plus, American big Joel Embiid might be out due to ankle soreness, leaving Captain America Kevin Durant to continue his epic scoring spree and Bam Adebayo to step up in Embiid’s potential absence.
Together With Peoples Jewellers
💎 Shine bright like a (conflict-free) diamond
Don’t you just love love? Our pals at Peoples celebrate love in all forms with gifts for:
- Your family and your chosen family: A girl’s best friend for your best friend? Perfect.
- Your partner. Whether it’s time to take the next step or simply celebrate your boo, Peoples has the goods.
- Yourself. Go ahead, you deserve it.
- The planet. All of Peoples’ diamonds are conflict-free and their jewelry is sustainably made with high-quality materials. Want something that’ll last? Purchase from Peoples.
Canada’s #1 diamond store is a one-stop shop to spoil the ones you love. Devotion never looked so glamorous.
Women’s 400m Hurdles
👟 Catch her if you can
The GIST: Clear your cal for 3:25 p.m. ET, because an epic showdown is about to hit the purple track of Stade de France — American hurdler and world record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone will take on her rival, Femke Bol of the Netherlands, in one of the Games’ most difficult races. On your mark, get set, let’s go.
McLaughlin-Levrone’s dominance is nearly unmatched: The 24-year-old holds four of the five fastest times in the 400m hurdles, most recently breaking her own world record at the 2024 U.S. Olympic trials with a 50.65s finish.
- That time was faster than all of McLaughlin-Levrone’s semis competitors’ 400m personal records — ran without hurdles. Her speed, stride, and execution are practically untouchable.
But Bol is coming for the American legend: McLaughlin-Levrone and Bol have only raced against each other twice: Once at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and then at the 2022 world championships, with McLaughlin-Levrone winning both times.
- However, Bol has only improved in recent years, winning the 2023 world championship in the event (a race McLaughlin-Levrone notably did not compete in).
- For some added fire, these two are the only women to ever run sub-51 seconds in the 400m hurdles after Bol clocked in at 50.95 last month.
- As McLaughlin-Levrone recently said, “iron sharpens iron” — records will almost certainly fall when the two best women hurdlers in the world meet later today. History is happening here.
Event | ⏰ (ET) | 👀 |
| 🤽 Women’s water polo classification | Today at 7 a.m. | 🇨🇦 Canada vs. 🇮🇹 Italy |
| 🏖️🏐 Women’s beach volleyball semifinal | Today at 11 a.m. | 🇨🇦 Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson |
| 🏅👟Women’s 400m hurdles final | Today at 3:25 p.m. | 🇨🇦 Savannah Sutherland |
Together With BMO
The summer of soccer is coming to a close, but BMO’s investment in the game is just getting started.
- Nearly two decades of supporting 1M youth players isn’t enough for the “Bank of Soccer.” They’re on a mission to grow the game, one goal at a time, which is why they’re investing big in grassroots initiatives across Canada. A true golazo.
Peep our squad’s MVPs (Most Valuable Picks):
🥇 Who finally got their golden moment
The 2022 U.S. Olympic figure skating team, who won silver at the Beijing Games but had it bumped up to gold following the Russian doping scandal heard ’round the world. Two years late but still triumphant.
🥍 Who has her eyes on LA 2028
AU Pro Lacrosse star Charlotte North, who’s red-hot heading into the final series of the season — and into the program-building period before lacrosse rejoins the Olympics in LA.
🏖️ Where to live if you want to be an Olympian
Long Beach, California, apparently. An alum from the city’s Woodrow Wilson Classical High School has competed at every summer Games since 1952. Unreal.
🍁 What to watch
This moving video essay from CBC’s Shireen Ahmed on CanWNT’s resilience in the face of adversity. So much love for this gutsy squad.
Today’s email was brought to you by Alessandra Puccio, Marga Sison, and Katie Kehoe Foster. Fact-checking by Parul Kanwar. Ops by Briana Ekanem and Marga Sison. Ads by Katie Kehoe Foster and Alessandra Puccio. Managing edits by Lauren Tuiskula. Head of content Ellen Hyslop.