By Will Stark
I love the United States stereotype. According to the rest of the world, Americans are loud, obnoxious, and narcissistic. I call that patriotism. And honestly, they’re just haters. It’s not difficult to imagine why, seeing as we smoked everyone else in the Olympics.
Team USA had an incredible performance in Paris this summer. They destroyed the medal count, with an astonishing 126 medals. Runner-ups China and Japan were only able to snag 91 and 45 medals respectively. Even by individual athletes, the United States dominated, with 11 athletes getting at least 3 medals. Across the podiums of various and diverse sports, the Stars and Stripes could be spotted. There’s a lot of ground to cover in a recap of our excellence, but I’ll stick to a few highlights.
As one of the oldest sports in the Olympics, swimming has always garnered a significant amount of attention from the public and, as usual, the Americans won, with a significant margin of 10 medals. Individually, our athletes had an outstanding performance as well. Among the most notable is Katie Ledecky, who this summer in Paris became the most decorated female athlete, not just in swimming, the USA, or even the world. She is now the most decorated female athlete of all time. She holds claim to a whopping fourteen medals, nine of which are gold. The best part is, she’s not done yet. Ledecky says she still hopes to compete in Los Angeles in 2028. Other outstanding athletes include Torri Huske and Gretchen Walsh who placed first and second respectively in the 100m Butterfly, as well as Kate Douglass who medaled in the 200m Breaststroke and 200m Medley. If this wasn’t enough to cement United States swimming dominance, there was also a video posted of the Olympic team singing Carly Rae Jepson’s “Call Me Maybe” on YouTube. Take a look.
The United States was also very successful in gymnastics, where Team USA took its obvious place atop the podium. The team was led by gymnastic powerhouse Simone Biles, and with her on the mat were Jade Carrey, Hezly Rivera, Jordan Chiles, and Sunisa Lee. After winning gold as the greatest all around team, Simone Biles took gold in all around individual gymnast and vault, as well as silver in the floor routine. Suni Lee also was able to earn a bronze in the all around individuals. Jordan Chiles also won a bronze, but it was stripped from her based on a technicality which made her claim invalid. Stupid rules. The Men’s Gymnastics team also put forth a strong showing, breaking a sixteen year medal drought with a bronze medal in the all around team that consisted of Asher Hong, Paul Juda, Brody Malone, Stephen Nedoroscik, and Frederick Richard. Stephen Nedoroscik, the USA pommel horse hero, scored a bronze in his event, despite having to do it without looking. Nedoroscik has strabismus, a rare condition that forces extreme crossing of the eyes. Overall, both teams put forth an appropriately jaw-dropping performance.
The Olympics is probably the only time most of us watch track and field, but when we do, it’s very popular. You’re definitely sick of hearing this, but yeah, the USA smoked everyone (except the men’s 4×100 relay, shhhh). Both the mens’ and womens’ teams put forth fantastic showings on both sides. The most familiar names are likely Sha’Carri Richardson, Noah Lyles, Gabby Thomas, Rai Benjamin, Ryan Crouser, and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. Sha’Carri Richardson, arguably the team’s fastest sprinter, won gold in the women’s 4x100m relay. She was the favorite to win the 100m finals, however, finished second to Julien Alfred. The only reason I bring this up is because it was genuinely inspiring.
Julien Alfred is one of the four athletes from the delegation of Saint Lucia, a small island nation in a chain near Barbados. On August 3rd, in the women’s 100m finals, Alfred became the first to win a medal for her country. Just think about the context here. She is about as much of an underdog as you can get, running against Sha’Carri Richardson, a powerhouse in track with a World Championship under her belt, running for the track titan that is the United States. Not only was this Saint Lucia’s first medal, it was the first and only gold medal ever, in any event, for both men and women. I, personally, cannot wait to tell my kids that I saw this race live when the sports movie about Julien Alfred comes out.
Noah Lyles is arguably now a household name. He is now the fastest man in the world, after winning gold in the 100m dash. He also placed third in his usual event, the 200m. After all of Team USA’s awesomeness, this should seem somewhat subpar. Well, the thing is, Noah Lyles ran the third fastest 200m at the Olympics with COVID-19. I’ll never be able to call in sick for anything ever again. Noah Lyles is a really interesting character. He paints his nails and runs with a lucky Yu-Gi-Oh card. The craziest part is, he may not be the fastest American. Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill has famously claimed to be faster than Noah Lyles, although with Tyreek Hill’s 10.19 second personal record in the 100m dash, he wouldn’t have been able to qualify for the final medal race. Draw your own conclusions.
Other notable athletes include Rai Benjamin with a gold in the 400m. Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, America’s star hurdler, delivered with a gold medal in the 400m hurdles and a world record, which she has shattered six times. Gabby Thomas, a Harvard graduate, grabbed an incredible three gold medals, each in a wide range of distances, which is impressive in and of itself. She collected them like Pokémon cards, medaling in the 200m, 4×100, and 4×400. I haven’t forgotten about the field events either. Shot Put thrower Ryan Crouser is an absolute giant in the sport, winning an unprecedented three gold medals in the past three Olympic Games, the first of his sport to accomplish such a feat.
Over the summer, the USA was able to impose some much needed humility onto the rest of the world. Although this was the case, the Olympics are a chance for unity, camaraderie, and peace. They are a spectacle the whole world can enjoy and root for. They truly are special. Or something like that. All I know is that the broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight, were very, very gallantly streaming.
