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. Then there are those from places of war: 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. Ukraine won 11 medals including golds in fencing (women’s team saber), track (Yaroslav