beach volleyball wins; The United States team in action



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Wednesday was filled with glory for the American team on the track, and Thursday will be a pivotal day for the United States in team sports at the Tokyo Olympics, as many teams will be in action in the hopes of position for gold.

The day started well for the United States as the beach volleyball duo “A Team” of April Ross and Alix Klineman took care of Switzerland in straight sets for a place in the medal match. Golden.

Despite a devastating loss to Canada in the semi-finals, the USWNT still has a chance to leave Tokyo with a medal as they face Australia in the bronze medal game at 4 a.m. ET.

One of the many teams still hoping for gold will be the US Men’s Basketball Team. After an impressive second half in their 95-81 win over Spain in the quarter-finals on Tuesday, the United States will face Australia, who beat them in an exhibition game the month last, at 12:15 am ET for a spot in the gold medal. Game.

Other teams in action include the U.S. baseball team that faces Korea in hopes of a rematch against Japan in the gold medal game, while the women’s water polo team faces off against the ROC in the semi-finals.

The men’s US track and field team will be looking for their first gold of the Games as they have favorites Ryan Crouser in the shot put and Grant Holloway in the 110-meter hurdles.

WEDNESDAY SUMMARY: Sydney McLaughlin breaks women’s hurdles world record

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TOKYO – American beach volleyball duo April Ross and Alix Klineman head to the gold medal game after beating Switzerland’s Anouk Verge-Depre and Joana Heidrich 2-0 in the semi-finals.

The pair did a quick job on the Swiss, beating them 21-12, 21-11. They went on a 7-1 streak at the end of the first set to win and a 5-1 streak at the end of the second. Ross finished with 15 attack points while Klineman contributed nine attack points and four blocking points.

Ross and Klineman will play in the final on Friday August 6 against the winner of the semi-final between Australia’s Mariafe Artacho del Solar / Taliqua Clancy and Latvian Tina Graudina / Anastasija Kravcenoka.

The U.S. team has been twinned since 2018 and placed No.2 in the world ahead of the Tokyo Olympics. Ross and Klineman have won once and have finished third twice on the round the world trip in 2021. Together they have six FIVB victories.

Ross has competed in two previous Olympics – she won silver in 2012 with Jen Kessy and bronze in 2016 with Kerri Walsh Jennings. With her third place finish in 2016, she became the fourth beach volleyball player of any gender to win multiple Olympic medals in the sport (Walsh Jennings, Misty May-Treanor and Karch Kiraly are the others).

-Olivia Reiner

Ahead of their semi-final match against Switzerland, the American beach volleyball duo of April Ross and Alix Klineman, known as “A Team”, received support from another member of the team. A-Team, MT

Ross and Klineman will face Swiss duo Anouk Verge-Depre and Joana Heidrich at 8 p.m. ET for a spot in the gold medal game, as they appear to be the first Americans since Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings in 2012 to win gold in beach volleyball.

– Jordan Mendoza

STAMFORD, Connecticut – In 2011, NBC, while searching for a place to settle for its sports department, stumbled upon a Clairol shampoo warehouse in this quaint eastern Connecticut town, about 40 miles south of the border. northeast of New York. No one had imagined he would play a pivotal role in the network’s vast array of sports properties.

Ten years later, this warehouse space was converted into a full floor of several control rooms and studios, with an existing loading dock so that TV trucks had a place to operate.

Although there are nearly 1,600 NBC Olympics employees on site in Tokyo, most of the behind-the-scenes work is done in Stamford, including the aforementioned production trucks that help viewers watch volleyball, golf , basketball and swimming events.

“The biggest part is how impressive and large the operation is and continues to grow in the United States and it is just a product of technological change and the importance of finding a simple system to create television. “Sam Flood, executive producer and president, Production, NBC & NBC Sports Network, told USA TODAY Sports.

– Scooby Axson

TOKYO – Winning an Olympic medal is extremely difficult. Winning an Olympic gold medal is extraordinarily difficult, especially in individual sports like track and field. The gold medalist really has to be the best in the world. To put it in perspective, the world’s population is approaching 7.9 billion, according to Worldometer.

What happened in athletics for the US men’s team sums it up exactly.

“It’s really hard. All the training, all the lifting, all the running and all the miles that we put on our body,” said Kenny Bednarek moments after winning a silver medal in the men’s 200 meters. . “It’s just a lot of hard, hard work. It’s not easy. You have to make sure you drink water, rehydrate every day, stretch every day, and use all of it. equipment you have. It’s not easy, but you can do it if you work hard.

Unfortunately for the US men’s team, none of them were able to achieve their golden dreams.

After six days of competition, the US men’s team won five medals in total – four silvers and one bronze. Zero gold medals. The men’s track and field from the United States continues to lead all participating countries in medal total with five. However, at the close of the sixth Olympic day in athletics, 10 countries have at least one gold in athletics, with Germany and Italy leading with two each.

The good news for the US men’s team is that their gold medal drought is unlikely to last too long. World record holder and reigning Olympic champion Ryan Crouser is the big favorite in the men’s shot put final on Thursday. On the track Thursday, Grant Holloway embarks on the final race in the 110-meter hurdles. 1 in the world and in better shape than any of its competitors. There could be two gold medals to come, and maybe more, in a matter of hours. But that doesn’t take away from the incredible challenge of being the best in the world in an individual event.

KASHIMA, Japan – Bronze medal games aren’t exactly America’s women’s thing.

Oh, they’re good for the other teams. For the marquee team in the game, however, it has always been gold or the bust. They have won the last two World Cups and were finalists in the tournament before that. In the first five Olympic tournaments, they won gold or silver.

But when the choice is bronze or bust, well, a bronze doesn’t look so bad.

“We’re lucky to be here to play,” USWNT goaltender Adrianna Franch said Wednesday. “And we are competitors. We are here to win. We are here to win a medal. Everyone is trying to win a medal. We didn’t manage to get gold or silver, but bronze is just as important (because) that’s what we have to fight for.

Despite all of the USWNT’s success, this is the second consecutive Olympic Games where the World No.1 team failed to win the gold medal match. Playing Australia on Thursday for bronze is actually an improvement over 2016, when the Americans were out in the quarterfinals.

After winning the World Cup in 2019 and getting an extra year to recover from the celebrations that followed, the Americans appeared to be the favorites for gold in Tokyo. But they never looked quite right, being routed by Sweden in their opener and held scoreless in two of their three group matches.

They needed a shootout to beat the Netherlands in the quarter-finals, then lost to Canada – for the first time in 20 years, no less – after the Canadians converted a penalty in the 74th.

It could also be the last game for some of the team’s biggest stars, and they don’t want to come away with a loss.

A bronze medal will never be good enough for the USWNT. But, in this case, it is better than the alternative.

– Nancy armor



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