Tag: Paris

Notre Dame guard talks Olympic experience with former Irish player

Great to hear a present Irish player laud a past one.

[autotag]Cassandre Prosper[/autotag] missed most of her first full season with Notre Dame with an injury. However, making Canada’s Olympic women’s basketball team was a nice consolation prize. Even better, she was teammates with [autotag]Natalie Achonwa[/autotag], another name familiar to anyone who’s followed the Irish over the past 15 years.

Prosper sat down with Crina Mustafa of Her Hoop Stats to talk about a variety of topics, but her Olympic experience with Achonwa was a real highlight of the interview. Prosper specifically talked about how much she was blown away by Achonwa not only as a leader and mentor to the younger players on the team but also as a mother.

After Canada went winless in three Olympic contests, Achonwa retired as a player and was hired at Michigan as its assistant coach for player development. Clearly, Achonwa was preparing for this next chapter in her life while in Paris.

You can view Prosper’s entire interview here starting at 16:39:

With the Olympics finished, all Irish fans will be anxious to see how Prosper contributes to a team with national championship aspirations. Only time will tell.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on X: @gfclark89

Notre Dame suspends men’s swimming program for at least one year

Tough day for the athletic department.

In late June, Notre Dame announced it was looking at issues within its men’s swimming and diving program. Fresh off [autotag]Chris Guiliano[/autotag] winning a gold medal and a silver medal at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, the investigation has been completed.

It was discovered that there was a rampant gambling culture within the men’s swimming program that did not abide by NCAA rules. Concluding that the culture did not reflect Notre Dame’s values and to prevent this from happening again, athletic director [autotag]Pete Bevacqua[/autotag] has announced that the men’s swimming program will be suspended for at least one academic year.

The coaches were exonerated after the investigation revealed that the team members concealed their activities from them. The decision also will not affect the women’s swimming team or either diving team.

The timing of this announcement gives team members wishing to transfer before the start of the school year the ability to do so. However, those who took part in the gambling would be subject to any eligibility penalties handed down to them regardless of whether they transfer.

This is a crushing blow for a program that just had a terrific season, placing in the top 10 at the national championships, not to mention Guiliano’s Olympic success. However, the law had to be laid down. Hopefully, a program with much higher integrity will emerge and ultimately be successful in the distant future.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Saints could play a regular season game in Paris as soon as 2025

The Saints could play a regular season game in Paris as soon as 2025. The black and gold have held exclusive marketing rights in France since 2023:

New Orleans Saints fans supporting their team from overseas may have another opportunity to see the black and gold in person coming up soon. The Saints have held exclusive marketing rights in France since 2023, and plans are beginning to take shape that could have them kicking off a regular season from Paris in the near future.

Per WDSU sports director Fletcher Mackel, it could be in the works for as soon as 2025, though Mackel says “probably 2026” is more likely. NFL rules won’t force the Saints to give up a home game until 2030, but it’s possible the team could volunteer for this unique opportunity. Still, you’d like to see them keep all of their home games in New Orleans to show off the extensively remodeled Caesars Superdome.

So where could they be playing that game in France? Mackel points to the 81,000-seat Stade de France as an obvious fit, having recently hosted the closing ceremonies of the 2024 Paris Olympics, but there are a number of venues the NFL could choose.

The league office is scheduling more and more games to be played abroad as the NFL seeks to expand its international influence with several matchups this year kicking off from London, Munich, and São Paulo in Brazil. Another European game is planned for 2025 from Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, so it could make sense to schedule a Saints game across the board in France to go along with it. Stay tuned.

[lawrence-auto-related count=5]

Photos of former Notre Dame women’s basketball players winning gold

Make that two golds each for the two.

The 2024 Olympics in Paris had only one event left in which to give out medals. That was the women’s basketball competition, and the U.S. was a heavy favorite for its eighth straight gold medal. It turned out winning the gold was easier said than done as the U.S. squeaked by France, 67-66, in a game that nearly went into overtime but for a foot on the 3-point line on the final basket.

Though two former Notre Dame standouts were on the U.S. roster, only one played in the final game. That was [autotag]Jackie Young[/autotag], who made a single basket on seven field-goal attempts. [autotag]Jewell Loyd[/autotag] was left on the bench. However, both will leave Paris with their second Olympic gold medals each.

In six Olympic contests, Young averaged 9.5 points, 2.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.5 steals a game. Over five games, Loyd had averages of 3.2 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.6 assists.

Here’s how these two Irish legends enjoyed their latest moment of Olympic glory:

Photos of former Notre Dame fencer Lee Kiefer winning team foil gold

Congrats again, Kiefer!

At the Tokyo Olympics, [autotag]Lee Kiefer[/autotag] became the first U.S. fencer to win a gold medal in an individual foil event. Now at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, Kiefer, who once fenced at Notre Dame, has made more history. This time, she’s done it with her fellow Americans.

Kiefer, who already has defended her individual foil gold in these Olympics, became the most decorated fencer in U.S. history when she won the third gold of her Olympic career in the team foil event with teammates Lauren Scruggs, whom she beat for that individual foil gold, Jacqueline Dubrovich and Maia Mei Weintraub.

Kiefer and the others earned the first gold for the U.S. in the team foil event with a 45-39 victory over Italy, which came after Japan defeated Canada for the bronze. The U.S. previously won a silver in this event in 2008.

If you want to see the latest in a series of big moments for Kiefer, check out the photos below:

Former Notre Dame midfielder gets deciding goal for USWNT in Olympics

Way to score, Korbin!

Former Notre Dame midfielder [autotag]Korbin Albert[/autotag] hasn’t been with the U.S. Women’s National Team for very long. So it shouldn’t have been a surprise that she entered the 2024 Olympics in Paris with no goals yet in international play. That all changed though in the Americans’ group-stage finale against Australia.

With the U.S. already up, 1-0, on Trinity Rodman’s second goal of the tournament late in the first half, Albert entered as a substitute during the 65th minute, which also saw Rodman’s departure. Albert picked up a yellow card during her time on the field, but she won’t remember that. Instead, she’ll remember her first international goal, which she scored in the 77th minute:

The goal proved to be critical as Australia’s Alanna Kennedy had her second tournament tally in the 91st minute. That made it a 2-1 final score in favor of the U.S., which will begin the knockout stage when it faces Japan in Saturday’s quarterfinal match.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Olympics: Gui Santos plays 29 minutes off bench in Brazil’s loss vs. Germany in Group B

The young Golden State forward notched eight points off the bench against Germany on Tuesday.

While Steph Curry and Steve Kerr are busy in Group C of the Olympic Games, another player is representing the Golden State Warriors in Group B in Paris. On Tuesday, Gui Santos played his second Olympic game for Brazil.

After meeting France in the opening game of the group stage, Brazil met another tough opponent for game two — Germany.  The German team features multiple NBA players led by Dennis Schroder, Franz Wagner, Mo Wagner and Daniel Theis.

While Brazil battled for two quarters, Germany secured the lead in the third quarter and never looked back. Schroder led all scorers with 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field with six assists in Germany’s 86-73 win in Group B.

After scoring nine points against France in his Olympic debut, Santos scored eight points in 29 minutes off the bench against Germany. Santos added five boards and an assist for Brazil. Santos shot the ball well, hitting back-to-back 3-pointers in the second quarter.

Via @worldhoopsfan on Twitter:

With two losses and only two points in the group, Brazil will have one final chance to secure a win in the group stage on Friday against Japan.

This post originally appeared on Warriors Wire! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Former Notre Dame fencer Nick Itkin wins Olympic bronze in foil

Way to go, Nick!

Both current and former Notre Dame fencers have made quite an impact on the 2024 Olympics in Paris. [autotag]Lee Kiefer[/autotag] won her second straight gold medal in the women’s individual foil, and [autotag]Eszter Muhari[/autotag] took bronze in the women’s individual epee for Hungary. Now, we can add [autotag]Nick Itkin[/autotag] to the medal count.

Itkin, who won a bronze medal with the U.S. for the team foil during the pandemic-delayed 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, has his first individual Olympic medal. He claimed the bronze with a 15-12 defeat of Japan’s Kazuki Iimura in the men’s individual foil. That made him the first American to medal in the event since Alexander Massialas won silver at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Cheung Ka Long of Hong Kong successfully defended his gold medal in this event, defeating 2016 gold medalist Daniele Garozzo of Italy. Meanwhile, [autotag]Gerek Meinhardt[/autotag], another former Irish fencer in the event and Kiefer’s husband, bowed out in the round of 16, 15-10, to Enzo Lefort of France.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Photos of former Notre Dame fencer Lee Kiefer winning second gold

Back-to-back for Lee!

[autotag]Lee Kiefer[/autotag] made history at the pandemic-delayed 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. She became the first U.S. fencer, male or female, to win a gold medal in the individual foil. A few years later at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, she’s proven she’s not ready to give that gold medal up.

Kiefer won her second individual foil gold medal in as many Olympics. The former Notre Dame fencer did so by defeating fellow U.S. fencer Lauren Scruggs, 15-6. Scruggs is the first U.S. fencer to win a silver in this event. The bronze went to Canada’s Eleanor Harvey.

Kiefer became the second U.S. fencer to win two individual Olympic golds, joining two-time sabre gold medalist Mariel Zagunis. And she did in front of husband and fellow former Notre Dame fencer [autotag]Gerek Meinhardt[/autotag] 24 hours ahead of his own quest for an individual foil medal.

If you missed Kiefer’s historic day, take a look at these photos:

Notre Dame fencer Eszter Muhari wins Olympic bronze for Hungary

Congrats, Eszter!

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.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89