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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Update on 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games; Medal Counts & Major Sports Finales

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By: Marvin Azrak

 

Unlike the Rio 2016 Olympics, the USA hasn’t been exactly “blowing away” the competition, as although they have exceeded expectations in sports such as swimming, where they took home 30 Medals (11Golds 10 Silver, 9 bronze), and have recorded some unexpected wins including in Shooting(3 Gold, 6 overall) Fencing(1) , Tae kwondo(1) Wrestling (2 gold, 5 overall) , Gymnastics (2 gold, 6 overall), Canoeing, and Gymnastics due to the fact that Team USA were mostly without Simone Biles in these Olympic games.

 

The “Overall Medal count” lead is hanging in the balance, with the USA also shockingly trailing China 34-29 in the Gold Medal count which is how the IOC(International Olympic committee) decides who wins the overall Tokyo 2020 Olympic Gold Medal at the closing ceremonies on August 13th. However, the USA men’s and women’s basketball teams, Women’s beach volleyball team, Women’s Volleyball team, USA baseball team, and Women’s Water Polo team chasing their own Gold Medals, that can soon change.

 

Before we go further, here is a live look at the “Medal standings” after 13 days of action,

OVERALL MEDAL COUNT:

 

  1. USA: 91(29 Gold, 35 Silver, 27 Bronze) 186 pts
  2. China: 74(34 Gold, 24 Silver, 16 Bronze) 166pts
  3. ROC: 58(16 Gold, 22 Silver, 20 Bronze) 128pts
  4. Japan: 46 (22 gold, 10 Silver, 14 Bronze) 100 Pts
  5. Australia: 41( 17 Gold, 5 Silver, 19 Bronze) 80pts

 

As you can see, the USA are leading the overall medal count because even in competitions where they’re unable to take home the gold medal such as women’s Soccer (Bronze), and Track & Field(Silver) they still  manage to make the podium, courtesy of a Silver or Bronze medal. However, there’s a reason why the IOC exclusively looks at the “Gold Medal count”, because not only does that celebrate the “Winner” of each event, but over there you will see perspective-changing storylines and just how hard it is for a country to be the best when all is set and done at these Summer Olympic Games.

 

GOLD MEDAL COUNT:

  1. China: 34
  2. USA: 29
  3. Japan: 22
  4. Australia: 17
  5. ROC: 16

 

Besides noticing that China is ahead of the USA in this category, it’s also noteworthy that the ROC, third in the overall medal count are fifth behind Japan and Australia, and if the Olympics ended today, they wouldn’t be labeled the “Overall Olympic Bronze medalists” by the International Olympic Committee.

 

So of course the question would be “Why?” Why have the USA gotten to this point where they’re “Underperforming”  in Gold Medals with just four days remaining in these Olympic Games? Well, the reason for that is mainly due to the absence of Simon Biles in  multiple Gymnastic medal events due to “Mental health” issues, that whether you support her decision or not, undoubtedly dashed hopes of at least a couple more USA gold medals. Another reason would be the Women’s soccer team shockingly notching Bronze, and falling short for Gold in a 1-0  semifinal loss to team Canada. Finally on the track, the Amrecians didn’t even qualify for a chance at a medal, a chance at a medal finishing sixth the first round of the  competition  in the 4×100 relay two spots shy of a berth in the final. In addition to that  disappointment, Grant Holloway was  upset for Gome in the waning seconds of the mens -110 hurdle, settling for Silver.

 

So yes, while the USA have been incredibly consistent at reaching the podium across these  Olympics, they haven’t exactly been the most successful at taking home the Gold, which is something they did in 2016, fending off China 46-37 in Gold Medals(121-67 overall), to capture Summer sports supremacy once more. What we can infer from here isn’t that China has been “ overperforming” in its Gold Medal count, rather the USA have been the ones not taking full advantage of the opportunity to rack up this victories.

 

However, that may change very soon, as over the last couple days, the USA Men’s basketball team rallied past Australia to book over in the Gold Medal game, the USA baseball team trounced Korea for a highly anticipated rematch with Japan, the Beach Volleyball duo of April Ross, and Alix Klinmen are headed back to the final against Australia, and the two-time defending champions from women’s Water polo in the Americans have a date with Spain for all the marbles.

 

In addition to that, the USA women’s basketball team, winners of 54 straight games, battles with Serbia in a contested semifinal affair, while the Women’s Volleyball team has their own semifinal bout with Serbia, looking to advance to a Gold Medal game of their own.

 

Looking at the medal count again, the Americans would need to come away victorious in at least five of the six events in order to have any chance of defeating their rival China for the overall gold medal once again.

 

So realistically, can it happen? Well, let’s dive into each team and find out!

 

USA MEN’S BASKETBALL: 

 

While this group wasn’t expected to be the “Dream Team”, it was still expected to not have any hiccups en route to a Gold Medal. However, exhibition defeats at the hands of Nigeria and Australia brought skepticism to this particular US team led by coach Greg Popovich and Brooklyn Nets superstar Kevin Durant. Wins over Argentina, and Spain brought back some hope to the nation, before an opening group stage 83-76 loss to France created a flux of panic, with Team USA suddenly being one loss away from elimination.

 

But since that shocker, the US has never been better rebounding with middle- class blowout wins over Iran(120-66) and the Czech Republic( 119-84) to advance to the knockout stage, before fending off the number two ranked team in Spain 87-69 in the quarterfinals setting up a semi final rematch with the Aussies.

 

This is the farthest Australia had ever gone in this event, and had prepared specifically for this potential game against the USA all tournament, and entered last night looking to make a statement to the world of basketball that they could accomplish the impossible for real this time. That quest looked swell early, as the Americans fell behind by 15 points in the first half, before slowly stringing together mini-runs that cut the deficit to three. All of that set up the game-changing 20-0 run by the USA spanning through late in the second quarter and much of the third, with Kevin Durant and his game-high 23 points all coming before the final frame even began, for the 32-10 rip put the Americans up comfortably 74-55, as they would cost comfortably from there to a 97-78 victory.

 

Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker added 20 on the game, with the USA needing an encore from him as well, if they’re going to avenge their earlier defeat to Rudy Gobert(Utah Jazz) , Evan Fournier(New York Knicks), and team France, in the Gold Medal game.

 

Basketball Gold medal game 

 

Where: Saitama Super Arena in Japan

Tokyo Time: Saturday, Aug. 7, at 11:30 a.m. JST

U.S. Time: Friday, Aug. 6, at 10:30 p.m. ET

 

USA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL:

 

Going for their 7th straight Gold Medal, few believed this team could make it this far without their Olympic winning streak now at 54 games coming to an end. Yet, here they are, and after taking care of business against Nigeria(81-72),  Japan(86-69), and France (93-82) in Group play, the USA played their best game of the tournament thus far in the quarterfinals, thumping Australia 79-55, setting up a semifinal date with Serbia Friday(8/6) at 12:40 AM ET. A win would place the Americans in the final against either Japan or France, both teams in which the USA beat by double-digits.

 

USA BASEBALL:

 

With the sport returning to the Olympics for the first time since 2008, the United States have made the best of their opportunity. The campaign began with an 8-1 victory over Israel, (Who  were making their first Olympic appearance, and ultimately finished fifth in the competition, defeating Mexico 12-5  for their first ever victory, before falling 7-6 to the Dominican Republic, finishing 1-4 and being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs), before hanging on against a feisty Korea team  4-2.

 

But against Japan, the USA hit a roadblock blowing a 6-3 lead, falling 7-6 in extras to a Japan team that was now the only one undefeated, and  a group the Americans knew they needed to get past if they want to bring home the Gold. But before that could happen, the Americans first needed to win their two elimination games, and did just that, defeating the Dominican Republic 3-1, and Korea once again, this time 7-2 setting up a revenge date with Japan for all the glory. Former Yankees pitcher , Masahiro Tanaka will start for Japan, against MLB prospect Shane Baez of the USA. This game is expected to be one for the ages.

 

Baseball gold medal game Matchup: Japan (4-0) vs. United States (3-1)

 

Date: Saturday, Aug. 7

 

Start Time: 6 a.m. ET

 

USA WOMEN’S WATER POLO TEAM:

The two-time reigning champions started out play in record fashion, taking out the host nation in Japan 25-4, before defeating China 12-7 to move to 2-0 In divisional play. A shocking 10-9  loss to Hungary did put the USA in a win or go home scenario against the ROC, but they came through 18-5 to advance to the knockout stage. From there, the Americans took out there rival in Canada 16-5, before once again fending off the ROC 15-11, for a spot in Saturday’s 3:30AM Et Gold Medal match against Spain, where they will go for the 3-peat.

 

USA BEACH VOLLEYBALL:

Looking to rebound after a Bronze Medal showing in Rio, the legendary duo of April Ross and Alex Klineman began their quest for Gold, with a straight sets win over China (21-17, 21-9), and Spain (21-13, 21-16), before a comeback three set win over the  Netherlands(20-22, 21-17, 15-5), sent them to the knockout stage undefeated. The duo then hooked up again to sweep Cuba(21-17, 21-15), and Germany(21-19, 21-19) to advance to the medal round. Against Switzerland, the Ross/Klineman pair proved too much sweeping Switzerland aside in straight sets(21-12, 21-11), and will now face Taliqua Casey and Mariafe Artacho del Solar of Australia for the Gold Medal tonight at 10:30PM ET.

 

USA WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL:

Looking to rebound from their semifinal loss in 2016, team USA got to work embarking on their Tokyo campaign with  straight sets wins  over Argentina (25-20, 25-19, 25-20) and China(29-27, 25-22, 25-21), before finally being tested against Turkey. The Americans began that group stage match like they had done in their previous two matches by taking the first two sets, but Turkey would rally back and claim two sets of their own to force a decider.

 

It was nip and tuck, before the USA pulled it out for an exhilarating (25-19, 25-20, 17-25, 20-25, 15-12) five set victory to remain undefeated in Pool play. But if you thought that was tough, the regular season finale against Italy would prove to be even tougher, as the USA found themselves down 2 sets to 1, before rallying back for another thrilling five set victory(21-25, 25–16, 25-27, 25-16, 15-12) against a very formidable Italy team who almost knocked the US off of their throne .

 

In the quarters, the Americans got back to winning easily taking down the Dominican Republic in straights(25-11, 25-20, 25-19), which leads them to Thursday’s midnight semifinal clash against Serbia for a spot in the a gold Medal game against Brazil or Korea.

 

OVERALL:

 

So can the USA go for 6 for 6 here? Absolutely they can, and the only ones that concern me are the baseball and basketball championships, but based on how both teams have played as of late, it wouldn’t shock me if not only them two, but all six of these elite squads, bring home the gold and restore order and prosperity to the Gold Medal count at these Summer Olympics.

 

Marvin Azrak is a member of the Jewish Voice student journalists initiative program. He specializes in sports writing

 

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