She took bronze in both the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters, and on the final day of competition she capped it off by winning the 26.2-marathon…in a sprint finish. That, by the way, was on a course widely thought to be exceedingly difficult thanks to all the hills and heat, yet she ran a time of 2:22:55, a new Olympic record (that’s a 5:27 per mile pace, BTW).
11. “Triple Espresso” powered women’s soccer back to gold.
Under the helm of new head coach Emma Hayes, the US National Women’s Team is back to its winning ways. And there’s a new trio of young superstar forwards—Trinity Rodman, 22, Sophia Smith, 24, and Mallory Swanson, 26—leading the way, scoring 9 of the 10 goals that got Team USA to the final on Saturday, where they defeated Brazil 1-0 thanks to a goal scored by Swanson.
LYON, FRANCE – AUGUST 6: Sophia Smith of the United States celebrates her goal with teammates Mallory Swanson, Sam Coffey, Lynn Williams and Trinity Rodman during the Women’s semifinal match between United States of America and Germany during the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Stade de Lyon on August 6, 2024 in Lyon, France. (Photo by Daniela Porcelli/ISI Photos/Getty Images)Daniela Porcelli/ISI Photos/Getty Images
Announcers had given them nicknames—like Trident and Holy Trinity—but on the Today show on August 8, they shared their preferred term: Triple Espresso. “We’re going to put that out into the air and let people run with that, because we like that,” Rodman said. We’d order one of those, for sure!
12. And American basketball reigned supreme.
It was a bit of a nail-biter, but after a buzzer shot by France’s Gabby Williams was ruled a two-pointer rather than a three, Team USA won an unprecedented eighth-straight gold medal in hoops. (And oh yeah, the guys also beat France to win gold, making five straight Olympic championships on the men’s side.)
13. Weightlifter Olivia Reeves did some heavy lifting to end a US medal drought.
Olivia Reeves, a 21-year-old sociology major at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, focused on history instead on Friday when she set an Olympic record of 117 kilograms—that’s about 258 pounds—in the snatch. She followed that with a clean and jerk of 145 kilograms (320 pounds) to hoist a total of 262 kilograms and win Team USA’s first gold in weightlifting since 2000.