Of course Leon Marchand is now a national hero of France. But there were others totally capturing the imagination of their home country.For the USA, Simone Biles, Katie Ledecky and Ryan Crouser have long been heroes.
- Crouser? Sure, he won his third straight Olympic gold medal in the shot put.
- Cole Hocker, winner of the 1500 meters in Olympic record time deserves special mention, and so does the bronze medal Womens' Rugby team.
- As does Noah Lyles who, won a gold in the 100 meter race, but also got bronze for the 200 meter event while suffering from COVID-19. A gold is better than a bronze, but there are certain circumstances, such as those, where the color is besides the point.
Israeli athletes won a best-ever seven medals, including Tom Reuveny’s gold in men’s iQFoil sailing, despite some antisemitic protests at events where Israelis competed.
- This was Pakistan's first gold medal in 40 years. Their last medal was bronze in 1992.
- He once trained with eucalyptus branches.
- Victory was especially rewarding, for the silver medalist was Neeraj Chopra (right) of India, who won the gold at the Tokyo 2021 Olympics.
- Went home through Lahore to the rural village of Mian Channu. Here with his mother.
- He also was rewarded with $897,000 worth of gifts, including a new car with license plate PAK 92.97, his throw in meters, breaking the Olympic record. His coach got $18,000.
- Dominica is a nation of 70,000 people.
- 90% of the homes were damaged by Hurricane Maria and 31 died. This would be the equivalent of 148,357 being killed by a deadly hurricane in the U.S.
- They had one female representative, Thea LaFond. She won a gold medal in the triple jump, the first medal ever for the country.
- Actually, she left the Dominica (note, not the Dominican Republic) at the age of 5, in time competed for the University of Maryland, and is still living there.
- Competed in the Rio Olympics, where she met Aaron Gadson, who became her coach, then husband. He changed her jumping technique. Maybe as important, he learned that a storm was soon to come, so he told her to go for it in her second jump, which won the gold for her birth nation, as the wet ground later made it impossible for competitors. Helped that world-record holder and Tokyo Olympics champion Yulimar Rojas of Venezuela was injured.
- Her gold brought cheers to the Navy football preseason practice session, where her younger brother Chreign is a defensive end for the Midshipmen.
- And speaking of the Dominican Republic, 27-year old Marileidy Paulino won the gold in the 400 meters to become the first woman from that country to win an Olympic gold, breaking the Olympic record. She won two silvers in Tokyo 2021.
- Julien Alfred of St. Lucia (180,000 population) got the gold in the 100 meter dash.
- On the night when LaFond won, Alfred's was also the first medal ever for the country.
- She also won the silver medal in the 200 meter dash.
- She graduated from the University Texas and had a sterling NCAA track career.
- There are no track and field facilities for the island. Much of her early training was running barefeet. She hopes that her win will result in something. A track for sure, but someday, maybe prime minister?
Probably the best photo of the Games came from Tahiti when Brazil's Gabriel Medina was caught in this pose with his board.
You will see this photo again and again, as follows.
- Here is one version of the six worse moments of the Paris Summer Olympics.
- Another of the top moments.
- What about a few viral moments?
- Top ten memes.
- What is a meme? Something that goes viral.
- Comes from the Greek mimema, meaning something that has been imitated.
- From Richard Dawkins' book, The Selfish Gene.
- Here are the 27 most impressive photos. This is worth 8 minutes of your life. Finally, in 20 minutes, the top 20 unforgettable athletes of Paris 2024.
- Now, on to Los Angles 2028.
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