Olympics newsletter: Crash during 5,000 qualifying stirs emotions

Team USA celebrates the silver medal during the artistic swimming competition.

By John CherwaSpecial Contributor

Aug. 8, 2024 3 AM PT

Welcome to your daily Olympic newsletter. I’m your tour guide John Cherwa as we get ready for another big day in track and field.

This is the spot where we talk about some people winning medals, or not winning medals. But perhaps the most interesting things on Wednesday were during track and field qualifying. One of the great mysteries is why people buy tickets to see qualifying, unless that’s the only ticket available. U.S. sports teams blackmail (not extortion, that’s the IOC) season-ticket holders to buy exhibition game tickets in order to get regular-season tickets.

Sorry, let’s get to the point. In the first of two heats of the 5,000 meters there was a pileup of four runners when Britain’s George Mills and France’s Hugo Hay did a little roller derby action and traded elbows. Mills went down causing three others to also fall. Hays did not go down.

“He took me out,” Mills told the Associated Press. After the race, Mills put his finger in Hays’ face and Hays responded with a push. Did someone forget to call off the jam? (Just move on if you don’t know roller derby.)

The referee ruled that the runners — Mills, Dominic Lokinyomo Lobalu of the Refugee Olympic Team, Mike Foppen of the Netherland and Thierry Ndikumwenayo of Spain — were disadvantaged by the contact and were advanced to Saturday’s final. And they did that without an injury attorney.

As for Hays, he finished seventh, qualifying him for the final.

The other highlight was in the second heat of the 5,000 when a cameraman just wandered onto the track and ended up in the path of the runners, who were able to switch their position to avoid a collision or fall. Here’s hoping the IOC pulls his credential.

Readers chastised me when I previewed the 10,000 with a yawn and it turned out to be a fantastic finish. Guess those long distance races can be interesting. In words never uttered by Leigh Diffey, “I’m sorry, I apologize.”

Here are more high and low points:

Quincy Hall edges Matthew Hudson-Smith of Britain to win gold.

—Quincy Hall became the latest track star for the U.S., winning the 400 meters with a late surge to beat Matthew Hudson-Smith of Britain. The U.S. also picked up a couple of silvers with Katie Moon in the women’s pole vault and Kenneth Rooks in the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase.

—Business as usual for the U.S. women’s basketball team as it beat Nigeria, 88-74, in the quarters. The U.S. has now won 59 straight games. The U.S. will next play Australia on Friday in the semis. Our Thuc Nhi Nguyen tells us about it here.

—The U.S. artistic swimming (formerly known as synchro) team won its third ever team medal, and first in 20 years when it took silver. It finished second in the acrobatic part of the competition, behind China, which won all three disciplines and took the gold. Our David Wharton has all the details here.

—Beach volleyball was once owned by the U.S., but at Paris it couldn’t even get a team out of the quarterfinals, the only team left after three teams lost in the round of 16. Miles Partain and Andy Benesh lost to a duo from Qatar.

—The U.S. women’s pursuit team won the gold medal when it was faster than New Zealand in the final. The team was made up of Kristen Faulkner, road race winner, Chloe Dygert, time trial bronze medalist, Jennifer Valente and Lilly Williams. The pursuit is cycling’s version of NASCAR, where drafting is the key to more speed with less resistance.

Tom Schaar of the United States competes during the men's skateboarding park finals.

—Australia’s Keegan Palmer won his second straight Olympic medal in men’s skateboard. Tom Schaar of the U.S. got the silver. In attendance were Tony Hawk and Snoop Dogg. It begs the same question that existed with the late singer Meat Loaf, in formal settings is he Mr. Dogg.

—In a heartbreaking and heart-stopping men’s volleyball match, the U.S. lost to Poland, 3 sets to 2. Four of the sets ended in deuce (have to win by two points). The U.S. will play Italy in the bronze as Poland plays France for the gold.

—It was a nailbiter but the U.S. men’s water polo team scored with 32 seconds left, forcing a penalty shootout with Australia, which it won 4-3, making the final score, 11-10. The U.S. now plays Serbia on Friday with the winner going to the gold-medal match.

Hampton Morris of the U.S. competes in weightlifting Wednesday.

—The U.S. men’s weightlifting program has been on, what do we call it, a break. On Wednesday, Hampton Morris broke a 40-year men’s streak wining bronze in the 61-kilogram (134.5 pounds) division.

—Sarah Hildebrandt won the gold over Cuba’s Yusneylis Guzman Lopez in the women’s 50-kilogram (110 pounds) wrestling final. The thing that made it interesting is that Hildebrandt thought she was wrestling India’s Vinesh Phogat, who was a fifth of a pound over weight, was disqualified. Guzman Lopez lost to Phogat in the semi but got moved up to the gold match.

‘Today’ show leaves early

Dodger fans get a lot of guff (what am I, 100-years-old using a word like that?) for leaving games early. But most of the NBC’s “Today” show crew left the Olympics and were back in New York for the Wednesday show. What is that all about? Did NBC need get back to its “Shop this List” segment, where once reputable journalists are forced to play like hosts on the Home Shopping Network, so that it can get its commission on products sold. (NBC isn’t the only one that stoops to this.)

Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb and Al Roker were back in Studio 1A on Wednesday, leaving Craig Melvin in Paris, so he could host some daytime coverage. And how can you open the “Today” show calling it a special Paris edition of the show essentially from New York?

There has been considerable criticism of NBC for its coverage of the Games, but it’s difficult to cover an event that big. But, there is one thing NBC got right: Snoop Dogg. (Mr. Dogg?) As we said before, he’s been a delight and impossible to dislike.

Which sports do you want to get rid of?

This is final day of our poll on which Olympics sports do you want to get rid of. A lot of you haven’t voted yet, so what are you waiting for? We want to hear your opinion. And as I said yesterday, one of the leaders is a bit of a surprise and the one I thought was slam dunk is low on the list of throw outs. Shows there remains a big gulf between what you think you know and what you actually know.

You can vote here.

What to watch for today

—The big story on Thursday is track and field. You’ve got 100 winner Noah Lyles in the 200, which is his preferred event. And Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone of the U.S. going against world champion Femke Bol of the Netherlands in the women’s 400 hurdles. What made the 200 more interesting is that Lyles finished second in his heat on Wednesday. It may not mean anything as he could have been saving himself for Thursday’s final. Or maybe it does mean something. The 200 is at 11:30 a.m. PDT and the hurdles at 12:25 p.m. PDT.

—The U.S. men’s basketball team plays in the semifinals against Serbia. Tipoff should be at noon PDT.

—The U.S. women’s volleyball team plays Brazil in the semis at 7 a.m. PDT and the U.S. women’s water polo team plays Australia in the quarters at 10:35 a.m. PDT.

Must-read links

Let’s catch up on some stories you might have missed but shouldn’t have:

Your TV guide

How can you watch the Games today? Check out Thursday’s Olympic TV listings.

Until next time...

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

The Sports Report Olympics edition: Roller derby or track and field?