2024 was yet another great year for American athletes in the Olympics, this time competing in Paris, France. The 2024 Olympic 1500m was a highly anticipated race by track fans. Races of this length are all about careful pacing and staying with a pack. A bitter rivalry between 2 world champions, Josh Kerr and Jakob Ingebrigtsen, had drawn lots of attention before the race. However, the race result ended up shocking all who had seen it. In the final lap of the race, Cole Hocker, an Indianapolis native, surged forward from his position in 5th to pass all 4 athletes in front of him. Hocker had stayed in a middle position the whole race, but then had an amazing finishing curve and straight on the track. Grabbing a gold for the United States, Hocker also set an Olympic record for the race with a time of 3:27.65, breaking the previous record by 57 hundredths of a second. Placing second was Kerr of Great Britain, and a Notre Dame alum Yared Nuguse surprisingly grabbed the bronze medal, shocking Ingebrigtsen and leaving him empty handed.
The 3-time olympian Blake Pieroni, a Chesterton native and CHS alum, won a silver medal to add to his collection which already had 3 gold medals. Pieroni earned his spot on the team when he placed 6th at the US Olympic Trials which took place in Indianapolis. The US placed 2nd in the 4x200m Freestyle Relay, with Pieroni being an alternate. The American team had a time of 7:00.78, just behind the British relay team.
United States Basketball brought the result that fans hoped for, and also had expected. Gold won by the men, and gold won by the women. The USA men featured a lineup that everyone would expect to blow through the competition, the usual fare for the USA men. Featuring a lineup of NBA stars, it included names such as Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis, Anthony Edwards, and Lebron James. Playing 6 games and losing none, the US team did have a couple of close finishes, but Lebron James would often spur the team back to take the game. A leader on the team, winning the Olympic gold is not new territory for the Lakers captain.
The USA Women’s team won the gold medal match 67-66, snagging the gold from the home team of France. In a nail-biting finish with many points scored in the final minute, the French team found themselves down by 3 with 3.8 seconds left. They had time for one play, threw up a desperate shot near the 3-point line, and it banked in. However they ruled the shot a 2-pointer and confirmed this after review. A’Ja Wilson led the team in the game for both points, with 21, and minutes played, with 33:19. This Olympics was another showing of the dominance the United States has on the Olympic basketball court, with the men winning 5 straight golds in a row and the women winning 8.
The performances this summer from Hoosiers and all Americans were impressive. The USA led the total medal count, with 125 medals. For more results, look at NBC to find the other medalists.
