This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here’s Charles Curtis.
GOOOOOOD MORNING WINNERS!
Simone Biles continues to win at, well, everything. From gymnastics to life, she’s shown that she’s a champion, whether it’s coming back from the Twisties that plagued her at the last Olympics to deflecting criticism of her relationship with NFL player Jonathan Owens.
And now, you can add one more gold medal to the pile that continues to grow: winning a beef with former teammate MyKayla Skinner (who isn’t McKayla Maroney), who decided recently to say that the “talent and depth just isn’t what it used to be” when it came to the Team USA gymnastics squad. She added that “the girls just don’t have the work ethic.”
After Biles and her team won gold, she may have called out Skinner with a caption on social media, and then may have had a laugh about Skinner blocking her on social media.
This is how you win beefs. You can do it with Not Like Us, or you can wait until you’ve won a team gold and then save your response for just the right moment. Heck. YEAH.
We love to see it.
Hey, why do they wear those big jackets before swimming? We have an answer!
Our Michelle Martinelli continues to cover swimming over in Paris! Here’s her latest story to share!
NANTERRE, France — Bonjour, les gagnants! If you’ve been watching Olympic swimming, you may have noticed something about the swimmers that seems a little peculiar … many of them are dressed in big puffy parkas like they’re about to conquer the arctic tundra before they race.
If you’re wondering why — especially when indoor pools are famously hot and stuffy — it’s because for those jumping in and out of the cold water, it’s not exactly hot and stuffy. So they bundle up to keep their muscles warm between warming up and competing.
“Immediately when I get out of the pool, I put the parka on because I just get really cold,” Team USA’s Kate Douglass said.
But sometimes it’s about style points too, like American Regan Smith and her bright pink mittens, along with a parka.“In swimming, you can’t really express yourself that much,” Smith said. “You can’t do anything fun with your hair, you can’t really wear makeup. So I like incorporating fun little cute things.”
Read my full story over at USA TODAY Sports.
Quick hits: More Olympics goodness … August movies to watch … and more
— Nikola Jovic botched a possible Nikola Jokic triple-double. Robert Zeglinski has more.
— You must watch Ilona Maher’s speech after winning bronze with the Team USA rugby team.
— The chocolate muffins in the Olympic Village are apparently amazing. Just ask this Norwegian swimmer.
— 10 movies to watch in August, from Cory Woodroof.
— Meet Yusuf Dikec, the Turkish shooter at the Olympics who won silver without much equipment.