Category: Olympics

Simone Biles shows up at Bears vs. Bengals to watch her husband in the NFL preseason

With a walking boot on her left foot, the seven-time gold medalist was in the building to watch her husband, Jonathan Owens.

Fresh off dazzling crowds, creating meme-able moments and piling up more medals at the Summer Olympics, superb gymnast Simone Biles was spotted on Saturday taking in some NFL preseason action.

The seven-time Olympic gold medalist was in the house for the Chicago Bears’ exhibition game against the Cincinnati Bengals, obviously to watch husband Jonathan Owens pile up tackles for the Bears.

Biles strolled the sidelines before the game, waving to fans and sporting a walking boot on her left foot from a calf injury she endured at the Olympics. She also wore a hat, sunglasses, and oversized jacket with images of Owens playing printed on it.

Aug 17, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; United States gymnast Simone Biles, right, enters the field before the game between the Chicago Bears and the Cincinnati Bengals at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Bartel-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 17, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; United States gymnast Simone Biles, right, enters the field before the game between the Chicago Bears and the Cincinnati Bengals at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Bartel-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 17, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; United States gymnast Simone Biles, right, stands on the sideline before the game between the Chicago Bears and the Cincinnati Bengals at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Bartel-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 17, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; United States gymnast Simone Biles, right, stands on the sideline before the game between the Chicago Bears and the Cincinnati Bengals at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Bartel-USA TODAY Sports

It’s a new era for the Bears, who signed Owens, a safety, to a two-year deal in March and then drafted USC quarterback Caleb Williams No. 1 overall in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Sabrina Ionescu hit the Olympic Turkish shooter celebration during a Liberty blowout win

Hitting this pose, while up 37, is diabolical, Sabrina. WE LOVE IT.

Sabrina Ionescu hit a fantastic Yusuf Dikec celebration during a matchup with the Sparks, and we love to see it.

The Turkish shooter’s Olympic reign continues and isn’t showing any signs of slowing. Yusuf’s iconic one-arm shooting stance appears to be the thing to do after you absolutely nail something, and Sabrina brought the fun to a Sparks game. (We had it had to be you, Los Angeles.)

After Ionescu drained her third 3-pointer of the game — extending the lead to a paltry 37 points — she caught the attention of Brenna Stewart to celebrate. Sabrina then dropped a filthy, winking Yusuf sharpshooter celly and immediately let off a diabolical laugh. Fantastic stuff.

@espn

Wait for it 😂 #wnba #basketball

♬ original sound – ESPN

Part of feature image courtesy of ESPN.

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Rapinoe: Current USWNT ‘by far’ most talented group in program history

The USWNT legend said the group’s legacy will ultimately be defined by trophies

Megan Rapinoe has said that the U.S. women’s national team currently features the most talented group of players in program history.

The USWNT legend was in the stands on Saturday as the U.S. defeated Brazil 1-0 in the Olympic gold medal game, securing the team’s first major title since the 2019 World Cup.

Even with some recent stumbles, the USWNT is easily the most successful women’s program in history. The gold medal was the USWNT’s fifth, to go along with four World Cups. As Opta pointed out after the gold medal game, that total of nine major titles is more than every other country combined.

Even with such a storied history, Rapinoe believes that the current group is easily the most talented the USWNT has ever seen.

“I think this is by far the most talented group of players that we’ve ever had,” Rapinoe said on her podcast “A Touch More.”

The 39-year-old, who retired last year after a storied career that saw her win one gold medal and two World Cups, added that talent alone won’t see the current group go down as the greatest the USWNT has ever seen.

“I think they’re the most talented group, but their legacy will be defined by them and how many championships they win,” Rapinoe added. “That’s how you define your legacy. But this is an amazing first step and they all did it basically under 25, that core group.”

Of the 11 players who started against Brazil, six were age 25 or younger, with another two — Emily Fox and Mallory Swanson — age 26.

That group didn’t include four other under-25 players on the Olympic squad who look set to feature regularly in the coming years: Jenna Nighswonger, Croix Bethune, Hal Hershfelt and Jaedyn Shaw.

Rapinoe was also quick to highlight the contributions of some of the veteran players on the Olympic roster as well.

“Throw in veterans, obviously Lindsey Horan captaining the team to a win, Rose [Lavelle] has been there, [Emily] Sonnett has been there, Tierna [Davidson] even through she’s young, she’s been there a bunch of times.

“Crystal Dunn, also. Can we talk about Crystal Dunn? … She’s such an unsung hero. And obviously as a left back, you’re not always going to get the shine, but does she [ever] deserve it.”

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Raygun the Australian breakdancer delivers heartbreaking Instagram statement over ‘devastating’ hate she received

It’s time to stop the hate.

Raygun — Dr. Rachel Gunn — gave us so much at the 2024 Paris Olympics in breaking, including some jokes and memes about her performance, and we loved seeing the hero’s welcome she got from her fellow Australian athletes.

But she’s also received a ton of hate, from the criticism to questions about her qualifications for the Olympics, with the Australian Olympic Committee needing to step in and defend a petition about Gunn that was full of “falsehoods” and “amounts to bullying and harassment, per chief exec Matt Carroll.

Gunn herself stepped in on Instagram to speak to the world, and she thanked people for support, but also said that the hate has been “devastating” and she asked the press to stop harassing family, friends and others.

Watch the whole thing:

https://www.instagram.com/p/C-sDDtfokE4/

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Florida Gators take home 11 medals at Paris Olympics

The Olympics have come to a close after 16 days of world class competition. Here’s how every Florida Gator performed at the 2024 Paris Games.

The University of Florida sent more than 40 current and former Gators to the Paris Olympics this summer, and the Orange and Blue claimed 11 medals in total — four gold, four silver and three bronze.

American swimming legend [autotag]Caeleb Dressel[/autotag] took home gold in two team events, the 4×100 free relay and 4×100 mixed medley relay. Dressel also claimed silver in the 4×100 medley relay; although, the Americans were favorites to take gold in the event.

Florida’s two other golds came from swimmer [autotag]Bobby Finke[/autotag] in the 1,500-meter freestyle and track star [autotag]Grant Holloway[/autotag] in the 110-meter hurdles. Finke set a world record with a time 14:30.67 while defending his 2020 gold from Tokyo and added a silver in the 800-meter free.

The other silver medals come from the pool as well. [autotag]Josh Liendo[/autotag] finished second in the 100-meter butterfly, swimming for Team Canada, and [autotag]Kieran Smith[/autotag] was a member of the 4×200 relay team that placed second.

[autotag]Emma Weyant[/autotag] earned bronze in the 400-meter individual medley, and [autotag]Jasmine Moore[/autotag] placed third in both the long jump and triple jump.

If the University of Florida were its own country, the Gators would have finished tied for 16th with Sweden, which also ended the Games with four gold, four silver and three bronze medals.

Other Gators Results at the Olympics

Swimming and Diving

  • Caeleb Dressel (USA) — 6th in 50-meter freestyle, 13th in 100-meter butterfly
  • [autotag]Luke Whitlock[/autotag] (USA) — 15th in 900-meter freestyle
  • Julie Brousseau (Canada) — 4th in 4×200-meter freestyle relay
  • Josh Liendo (Canada) — 4th in 50-meter freestyle, 6th in 4×100-meter freestyle relay, 11th in 100-meter freestyle
  • Maha Amer (Egypt) — 24th in women’s 3-meter springboard prelimnaries
  • Nicole Maier (Germany) — 5th in 4×200-meter freestyle relay
  • Amro Al-Wir (Jordan) — 23rd in 200-meter breaststroke
  • Aleksas Savickas (Lithuania) — 19th in 200-meter breaststroke
  • Jonny Marshall (UK) — 14th in 100-meter backstroke
  • Alberto Mestre(Venezuela) — 21st in 50-meter freestyle, 37th in 100-meter freestyle
  • Alfonso Mestre (Venezuela) — 19th in 400-meter freestyle, 29th in 800-meter freestyle

Track and Field

  • [autotag]Anna Hall[/autotag] (USA) — 5th in women’s heptathlon
  • [autotag]Grace Stark[/autotag] (USA) — 5th in women’s 100-meter hurdles
  • [autotag]Parker Valby[/autotag] — 5th in women’s 10,000 meters
  • Genevieve Gregson (Australia) — 24th in women’s marathon
  • Wanya McCoy (Bahamas) — 18th in 200-meter semifinals, 41st in 100-meter heats
  • Lloydricia Cameron (Jamaica) — 8th in Group A in women’s shot put
  • Reheem Hayles (Jamaica) — fifth in men’s 4×400-meter relay
  • Jevaughn Powell (Jamaica) — 13th in men’s 400-meter semifinals
  • Hakim Sani Brown (Japan) — 5th in men’s 4×100-meter relay, 10th in men’s 100 meter
  • [autotag]Joseph Fahbulleh[/autotag](Liberia) — 7th in men’s 200-meter, 7th in men’s 4×100-meter relay
  • Alida van Daalen (Netherlands) — 13th in Group B in women’s shot put
  • Thomas Mardal (Norway) — 11th in men’s hammer throw
  • Eddie Garcia (Virgin Islands) — did not finish marathon

Basketball

  • Canyon Barry (USA) — 7th in men’s 3v3
  • Andrew Nembhard (Canada) — lost in quarterfinals; top 8
  • Nick Calathes (Greece) — lost in quarterfinals; top 8
  • Andrea Vilano (Spain) — lost in quarterfinals; top 8

Golf

  • Alejandro Tosti (Argentina) — tied for 18th in men’s tournament
  • Camilo Villegas (Venezuela) — 57th in men’s tournament
  • Sarah Schober (Austria) — tied for 47th in women’s tournament

Gymnastics

  • [autotag]Leanne Wong[/autotag] (USA) — traveled as a reserve

Soccer

  • Adriana Leon (Canada) — lost in quarterfinals; top 8 in women’s bracket
  • DeAnne Rose (Canada) — lost in quarterfinals; top 8 in women’s bracket

Tennis

  • Danielle Collins (USA) — lost in quarterfinals; top 8 in women’s bracket

Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

Antonie Nortje runs with dramatic finish at Summer Olympics

It was an exciting finish.

There was plenty of drama on Friday in the Men’s 4 x 400M relay. UCLA Bruins athlete Antonie Nortje got tied up on the track and fell, but was able to get up and finish the race. Despite that, they finished last place.

But, to add to the dramatics of the race, later, the officials ruled that South Africa would advance, and it’s on to Saturday’s final. The advancement was due to a lane infringement.

The teams in the final are Botswana, Great Britain, the United States, Japan, France, Belgium, Zambia, Italy, and of course the South African team. The battle for the gold will take place 8 pm on Saturday from Stade de France in Paris.

The 22-year-old was born and raised in South Africa. He won a bronze medal in the 400 back in 2021 at the World Championships U20. At the Pac-12 Championship, he was in second place in the 200, 4×100, and 4×400 events.

The best Team USA player in each Olympic tournament since 1992

HoopsHype uses Global Rating data to select the best Team USA player at each Olympics since 1992, starting with the Dream Team.

Team USA has won a gold medal in men’s basketball in every Olympic Tournament since 1992 outside of one, the disastrous 2004 bronze-medal showing in Athens. USA Basketball has now won five straight gold medals in and will look to make it six in a row at the Los Angeles Games in 2028.

Of course, some all-time greats have suited up and played for Team USA at the Olympics, including the Top 2 in just about everyone’s GOAT rankings – Michael Jordan and LeBron James – and various other all-timers like Kobe Bryant, Stephen Curry, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett and the borderline unquestioned Team USA GOAT, Kevin Durant, as well as so many other icons of the sport.

Today, we’re going to take a look at the best Team USA player in each Olympics since 1992 using our own Global Rating metric to determine the top American at each summer tournament. There are some surprises in here so be ready.

Spoiler alert: Durant and James dominate this list. Oh, and a role player was the best American at the 2020 Olympics, which was one of the weaker Team USA Olympic squads since NBA players started being allowed to participate for the U.S.

Olympic distance runner Rose Harvey reveals she ran the marathon in Paris on a broken leg

HOW?

This is is just horrifying and wild at the same time.

Rose Harvey of Great Britain finished 78th in the 2024 Paris Olympics women’s marathon event with a time of 2:51:03, but it turned out there was a reason she wasn’t a contender, and it’s the best reason you can have.

It turns out she ran on a broken leg. Seriously.

In an Instagram post, she had this to say: “A couple of miles in, I quickly realised that wasn’t going to happen. The next 24 miles were a painful battle. It turns out I had stress fractured my femur.”

Why did she continue? Because it was the Olympics:

In any other race, I would have stopped and there were so many moments when I thought I couldn’t take another step. The downhills were hell.

But despite that most of my race goals having slipped away, there was still a tiny part of my Olympic dream that I could hang onto – and that was finishing the Olympic marathon.

I couldn’t give up.

Here’s the full post:

https://www.instagram.com/p/C-nmHm_NnoG/

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Rai Benjamin grabs a pair of Gold Medal at 2024 Summer Olympics

Rai Benjamin, former UCLA Bruins track star won the Gold Medal in 400m Hurdles in Paris, and also the 4 x 400m.

Former UCLA Bruins hurdler Rai Benjamin has finally done it! The 27-year-old is an Olympic gold medal winner! After many years of winning silver and bronze medals, Benjamin beat Karsten Warholm of Norway and Alison dos Santos of Brazil to win the men’s 400-meter hurdles.

His winning time was 46.46, which is just a few tenths of a second slower than his final in Tokyo back in 2023. During that race, both he and Warhold beat the world record, but Warholm came across just ahead of Benjamin.

After winning the gold, Benjamin had this to say about his accomplishment:

“It has eluded me for so long, this color medal. To get it done here, in this fashion, at the Olympic Games in front of my friends and family, it just means so much to me.”

Benjamin was with the UCLA Bruins in 2016 and 2017 and finished his collegiate career at USC in 2018. Before his time at UCLA, he was a three-time New York State Public High School Athletic Association champion in the hurdles.

But, that was not all for Benjamin. Later, on Saturday, he was the anchor for the men’s 4x400m relay. He was able to hold off a runner from Botswana to help the US the gold medal.

Jonathan Owens teased a Simone Biles-inspired celebration this season on Hard Knocks

Jonathan Owens wants to use the Bears to honor Simone Biles.

At the Paris Olympics, Simone Biles further cemented herself as the greatest American gymnast of all time, taking home three gold medals and another silver. Biles’ success understandably brought about a lot of pride from her husband, Chicago Bears safety Jonathan Owens, who traveled to Paris to support Biles during the early portions of the 2024 Olympics.

With the Olympics over, Owens is firmly focused on the upcoming Bears’ season. As a new teaser from Hard Knocks shows, he’s already thinking about creative ways he can celebrate his incredibly talented wife after he gets an interception during the season.

As the partner of an all-time great athlete, these are the things you absolutely have to have a plan for in advance:

Honestly? A little backflip and salute from Owens if he gets a pick is perfect. No notes. Everyone will know he’s referencing Biles’ greatness right away. And given the nature of unfortunate injuries in the NFL, don’t be surprised if he gets the opportunity.