Notre Dame fencing fans have plenty to cheer for during the 2024 Olympics. In fact, four of the 10 current or former Notre Dame athletes competing in Paris are fencers. But Irish fencers are representing more than one country, and that already has paid off.
[autotag]Eszter Muhari[/autotag] skipped her sophomore season with the Irish to train for Hungary’s Olympic team. On the first full day of competition, she earned a bronze medal in the individual epee with a 15-14 overtime victory over Nelli Differt of Estonia. She trailed, 12-10, during the third period before pulling off a come-from-behind victory in a match that lasted 19 minutes, 35 seconds.
Taking the gold in the event was Vivian Kong of Hong Kong with a victory over France’s Auriane Mallo, who defeated Muhari in the semifinals. Muhari’s medal was the first for Hungary in these Olympics, and it came in what has historically has been the country’s best Olympic sport by far.
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The France national rugby sevens team knows how to party.
The France national rugby sevens team won the gold on home turf on Saturday, as the team topped Fiji 28-7 to take the field.
You could tell how ecstatic the team was to take home the gold in Paris, as it’s just such a cool accomplishment to win at the Olympics with the home crowd roaring for you as you celebrate with your teammates.
The French rugby players were so happy with how Saturday’s match went that the team did a choreographed dance for the Stade de France crowd, reportedly to Will Smith’s beloved 1990s pop hit “Miami.”
Hey, if you take the gold, you dance the night away. Those are the rules.
LeBron James’ Team USA is the favorite. But these strong countries can challenge the Americans.
For those of us conditioned to American basketball on this side of the pond, jumping into international waters every Olympics can be quite an experience. The Olympics — particularly on the men’s side of the proceedings — facilitate more of a free-flowing, team-oriented style of play that can open up the field for everyone.
Over the next few weeks, we’ll see whether the American men can capture a fifth-straight gold medal in a highly anticipated Olympic basketball run. Team USA features some of the game’s greatest modern legends — such as James, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, among others — who are likely playing in their last Olympics. That adds a bittersweet tinge of motivation to finish on top one last time.
The issue is that the rest of the world has kind of caught up to the Americans’ unofficial All-Star team. Let’s break down the three countries that are the biggest threats to another American men’s basketball gold medal.
1. Team Canada
Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Call me a fool if you want, but I love how this Canadian roster has shaped up.
Leading the way is NBA MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, a wiry and crafty scorer at guard. His sidekick is the savvy point guard Jamal Murray, who is already accustomed to shining as a No. 2 option on the Denver Nuggets. Then you have your quality two-way wings, perimeter defenders and forwards like RJ Barrett, Lu Dort, Andrew Wiggins and Trey Lyles.
There’s not a lot of size on the Canadian roster, and it could be exploited by bigger non-USA teams. Still, expect them to pick up the space with a lovely brand of all-around small ball that should give the rest of the field headaches.
Jokic is the best player in the world, a guy who can elevate his teammates’ play in any setting. He’s the rightful centerpiece of a Serbian grand plan that expects to make a deep run in these Olympics. It helps that Jokic has Bogdanovic, a lights-out 3-point shooter, a steady point guard in Vasilije Micic, a promising stretch-four power forward in Nikola Jovic and a roster with four approximate seven-footers (!).
The Serbians aren’t stacked with sheer star power like the Americans. But they play together in concert and have enough top-end talent to make anyone sweat. Overlook them at your own risk.
3. Team France
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
The next generation of French basketball has won the lottery. As long as super phenom Victor Wembanyama is healthy, France will likely always be considered a prime gold medal threat. Wembanyama is just that dominant, and he should only get better.
In the here and now, though, Wembanyama still has a solid supporting cast. He’s flanked by four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert, while playmaking/connecting forwards Nicolas Batum and Bilal Coulibaly bring exactly the style of play you need in Olympic basketball.
Wembanyama alone would’ve been intriguing enough. The rest of the big names on France’s roster give it a real shot at standing on top of the podium.
Make that five women’s basketball players with Notre Dame connections in the 2024 Olympics. [autotag]Lauren Ebo[/autotag], who finished her collegiate career with the Irish during the 2022-23 season, has been named to the final roster for Nigeria for the upcoming competition. Ebo took to social media after the announcement and appears to be a little shocked to even have this honor
Ebo just played for a professional team in Turkey and recently signed with another team in Poland. Now, she’ll try to help the Nigerians capture their first Olympic medal in basketball, men or women. She joins a women’s basketball competition already featuring [autotag]Jackie Young[/autotag] and [autotag]Jewell Loyd[/autotag] for the U.S. and [autotag]Natalie Achonwa[/autotag] and [autotag]Cassandre Prosper[/autotag] for Canada.
Ebo and Prosper were teammates with the Irish during the aforementioned season with Ebo transferring in and Prosper enrolling at Notre Dame early. They’ll play against each other when Nigeria and Canada wrap up group play Aug. 4. Rounding out that group are Australia and host country France.
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Everyone should listen to Giorgio Chiellini’s beautiful speech.
As sports fans, we occasionally get lucky with a new TV analyst who brings terrific depth, insight, and color to their work during broadcasts. For Fox’s Euro 2024 coverage, this person is undoubtedly Italian soccer legend Giorgio Chiellini.
As Chiellini said goodbye to L.A. and the United States — he is heading to Berlin to cover the Euro Final on location and will eventually move back to Italy after living stateside for two years — he delivered a surprising speech about the beauty of soccer. More importantly, he pleaded with American soccer fans to continue investing in the game and helping it grow.
You genuinely almost get tears watching moments like this:
"Thanks to all you fans, because we shared a beautiful month together. A lot of emotions, and we really enjoyed this fantastic tournament." 🥹
I couldn’t have said it any better myself. Here’s the critical part of Chiellini’s on-air request in full:
“I want to ask you something. Please continue to watch soccer everyday. Please continue to play soccer. Please continue to live soccer everyday … please help us to continue making it better and better.”
Chiellini’s comments put American soccer in a spotlight it soon won’t be able to escape. The 2026 World Cup will be partly hosted by the United States, with the Final being played in the New York Giants and New York Jets’ home stadium. If that tournament really resonates with American fans, the sky will be the limit.
Seeing soccer thrive on this side of the pond in the coming years would be tremendous. Kudos to Chiellini for understanding the stakes.
Making up non-existent critics for extra motivation. Once someone reaches this mental stage as an athlete, you know they’ve made it.
Ahead of Spain’s titanic matchup with the French, Yamal posted a bizarre Instagram story seemingly warning his enemies (?) that’s he watching their every move in measured silence:
Look, I’m not going to tell an athlete how they should approach their own life. Everyone has their own needed process. But I’m really struggling to consider how a 16-year-old electric talent like Yamal has any enemies or detractors at this extremely early stage of his career. Who, in their right mind, hates this kid? I’d venture to guess most people didn’t even know his name until a few weeks ago!
Now, if Yamal reaches his tremendous potential, I have no doubt he will eventually have a group of dedicated haters, especially online. Unfortunately, that’s just how it works. But this idea that people are already incessantly blathering about him and what he can or can’t do is just silly.
Well, at least this lets us know he’s on the right track toward stardom.
UPDATE: It appears Yamal took this motivation, seemingly inspired by France’s Adrien Rabot, and channeled it into becoming the youngest-ever goal-scorer at the European Championships.
If that was the end of Cristiano Ronaldo’s Euro career, it couldn’t have come in more heartbreaking fashion.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s career at the Euro in all likelihood came to an end on Friday in the quarterfinals against France, and if it really was the end, the legend went out in heartbreaking fashion.
With the match still scoreless in the 93rd minute during added time, Ronaldo was served up an excellent opportunity to break the shutout with what almost certainly would have been a game-winner for Portugal.
Instead, Ronaldo’s shot sailed sky-high, and the match went to extra time, where it remained scoreless and necessitated a penalty shootout. Ronaldo did his part, leading Portugal off with a make, but it wasn’t enough as France would make all five of its shots and win the shootout 5-4 to advance to the semifinals.
Ronaldo is 39, and while it would be far from surprising to see him try to push his career until he’s 43, there’s a very good chance Friday’s match was the last we’ll see of him at the Euro.
He made history this year by appearing in a record sixth Euro, but after a Round of 16 finish in 2020, he once again fell short in his quest to lead Portugal to another European championship after he helped the team win its first in 2016.
And barring something surprising, Portugal will have to continue on its quest for another title without its captain.
Mbappe has had pretty decent luck since the injury, avoiding any major aggravations. But that potentially changed during Friday’s quarterfinal match against Portugal, in which Mbappe took a header to the face at point-blank range.
While the ball didn’t hit his nose directly, it did cause the mask to hit into his nose, as the announcers noted.
Mbappe was visibly shaken and in pain as he lay on the ground after the hit, but he was able to brush it off and remain in the game.
While his streak of avoiding hits to the face ended on Friday, it seems he avoided causing further damage. Still, it will be something to watch if France can advance to the Euro semifinal for the first time since 2016, when it ultimately finished as the runner-up. Les Bleus are looking to win their first Euro since 2000.
The extreme weather event, showcasing the raw power of an electrical storm, occurred Saturday in western France.
A towering tree that had undoubtedly stood for generations was demolished instantaneously by a lightning bolt Saturday in France.
Nahel Belgherze, an extreme weather enthusiast, posted video of the spectacular display via X, stating:
“Incredible footage of a lightning bolt hitting and decimating a large tree in Augé, western France earlier today.”
⚡️Incredible footage of a lightning bolt hitting and decimating a large tree in Augé, western France earlier today. Credit: Benjamin Estrade pic.twitter.com/XazDFbR78l
Victor Wembanyama loved seeing three French players go so high in the 2024 NBA Draft.
San Antonio Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama seemed very proud to see his fellow French players get drafted so high during the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft.
Zaccharie Risacher (Atlanta Hawks), Alex Sarr (Washington Wizards) and Tidjane Salaün (Charlotte Hornets) all went within the first six picks of this year’s draft on Thursday night, making that three players from France taken that high.
Risacher followed in Wembanyama’s footsteps in being taken first overall in the draft out of France, which in part sparked the latter to tweet “C’est la France frère” from his Twitter (X) account and followed it with three French flag emojis.
That translates in English to “It’s France brother.”
We’ll see how these young French basketball players translate to the league once they make their debuts, as following in Wembanyama’s footsteps is a tall task for any player in the league, much less all the other great French players to make it in the NBA.
However, Wembanyama will undoubtedly welcome them once they arrive out of country pride.
