The Sport Superlatives - Issue No. 31

August 2, 2024

🏆 The Superlatives 🏆

The Coolest Olympian: Kim Yeji

South Korean Olympian sharpshooter, Kim Yeji, is the definition of cool. Looking like she stepped off of a matrix-inspired runway, Kim’s picture has taken over social media—even though she doesn’t have IG. After being featured in one of The Games’ most memorable photos, the 31-year-old won silver at the 10-meter air pistol event on Sunday. Don’t be surprised if you see an uptick of women walking around wearing a similar fit… futuristic glasses included.

The Most Viral Olympian: Ilona Maher

Ilona Maher has captured the internet’s attention with her funny and relatable content. 27-year-old Ilona plays center for the US Rugby Olympic team. Maher has used her platform to promote body positivity and awareness of women's rugby by being authentically herself. The team’s bronze medal (after a spectacular comeback against Australia) and undoubtedly the attention that Ilona garnered through her content helped the women’s rugby team secure the bag to help further the sport in the US. 

USA! USA! USA! Is anyone else feeling way more patriotic as of late? 

🥇 FAAFO: The US Women’s Gymnastics Team took home gold medals in the team all-around competition and completed their redemption tour. In the 2020 (actually 2021) Olympic team competition, Simone Biles famously withdrew, citing mental health concerns, and the team came away with a silver medal. 

This year, Biles and Co. were dominant and hit [almost] all their routines to perfection…at least in the eyes of we, the laymen. When asked what their team name was, Simone and her teammates said F* Around and Find Out (FAAFO)...but later toned it down a bit and dubbed themselves the “Golden Girls” because they are the oldest US Women’s gymnastics team to compete at the Olympics…at the ripe old average age of 22.4. We like both names because all the haters and naysayers had to FAAFO that this year’s Olympic team is full of Golden Girls!

Two days later, Simone went on to win Gold (another one, thank you) in the Individual all-around. Her homie and compatriot, Suni Lee, took home the bronze. That’s two previous individual all-around champs, back on top. We love that they could overcome their individual struggles and return to the top of those podiums!

🥉 Pummeled It: You know we couldn’t forget about the US Men’s Gymnastics team who ended a 16-year drought (but that's more like four years in Olympic time) and brought home a bronze medal in the team all-around competition. The competition had everyone on the edges of their seats and came down to the final routine on the pommel horse by Stephen Nedoroscik. Nedoroscik, brought on the team specifically for pommel horse, nailed his routine and gave the US the edge over Great Britain. It’s almost like it was fate: he came, he took off his glasses and went beast mode, he conquered! Congrats to the US Men’s Team, who seemed happier with their bronze medals than China did with their silvers (overachievers, we can relate).

🏊‍♀️ Just Keep Swimming: Katie Ledecky won her 12th medal as an Olympic swimmer when she broke her own previously set record and took the gold in the 1500m women’s freestyle. Ledecky took a moment to reflect after she won… because she had the time since she finished the race a little over 10 seconds ahead of the second-place winner. She then won her 13th medal when the American women's 4x200m freestyle relay team took silver. The team consisting of American swimmers Ledecky, Claire Weinstein, Paige Madden, and Erin Gemmell placed second behind Australia. This makes Katie-girl the most decorated female Olympian in history. 

🇺🇸 So, What’s It Looking Like?:  ust to give an overview of all the winning the US is doing in the Olympics: The US is leading the medal count with a total of 38 medals, 9 of which are glistening gold. Congrats to all the athletes repping for this cray cray country. 

In addition to those named above, the athletes who took home gold (and a $37,500 come-up) thus far include Kate Douglass and Torri Huske in swimming, Women’s fencing team foil, Men’s coxless four (rowing), and Men’s 4x100m freestyle relay (swimming).

👎🏼 Living Life Like It's Golden: Former Olympic silver medalist Mykala Skinner had a lot to say when it came to critiquing the ladies representing Team USA women’s gymnastics. 

In a YouTube video that was posted and later deleted, she said that “...Besides Simone, I feel like the talent and the depth just isn’t what it used to be,” and that “...Obviously, a lot of girls don’t work as hard ... The girls just don’t have the work ethic.” She went on to joke about coming out of retirement to compete. But that’s just the thing, she’s retired. 

While we respect Mykayla’s accomplishments in the sport, we think the FOMO is getting to her, respectfully. Every single one of the Team USA women’s gymnastics team members deserves their flowers considering everything they have overcome to get to where they are today. Where are they, you ask? Standing on the podium in Paris collecting medals. After their team won the team all-around competition, Simone posted a picture with a caption that clapped back at Skinner’s comments. Guess Mykayla F’d around and found out… and didn’t like what she found since she has since blocked Biles on IG. 

🏀 Riding the Pine Pony: And we’re not talking about pommel horse. NBA all-star and Champion Jayson Tatum found himself being humbled as he rode the bench during the US Men’s team’s first game vs. Serbia. Even with the US dominating the game 110-84, Tatum saw not one solitary minute of court time. This, of course, had basketball fans buzzing: some in anger over the perceived embarrassment of an NBA star, and others in full-on hate-riddled excitement at the perceived embarrassment of the same NBA “star.” 

Coach Kerr said he felt “like an idiot” not playing Tatum, but it’s more of a curse of riches on their part. Not to worry; all was right in their second game against South Sudan, where Tatum started and Joel Embiid didn’t set a toe on the court…which is fine, cuz he might’ve injured said toe. He’s that fragile.

⚾ Batter Not Up: We are taking a break from the Olympic coverage to bring a bit of tea from the MLB. The Chicago Cubs traded third baseman Christopher Morel to the Tampa Bay Rays. Now you may be saying… trades happen all the time. Where is the tea, sis? The tea is… they traded him mid-game! 

Morel was chopping it up with his teammates in the dugout as they played the KC Royals and got the call that he had been traded. Morel was traded ahead of the deadline for Tampa Bay’s Isaac Paredes. This unfortunately isn’t the first time a player has been traded mid-game and likely will not be the last. But that has to suck, right?

Now back to the Olympics… 

Your sports term of the week is: medley

IRL Example: Let’s take a stroll down memory lane and watch the GOAT Michael Phelps in the 2012 London Olympics 200m Individual Medley.

Ok, when Bey dropped that Team USA video we definitely were fangirling over her and all of the amazing Team USA athletes… but can we talk about the outfit she posted? If you didn’t believe us the other 5 million times we put white tennis skirts in here as the hot summer trend… Bey is here to let you know why you need to go get one ASAP. The evidence:

This Beach Riot skirt gives us the same vibes with the red and blue accents. 

Queen Bey paired hers with this JACQUEMUS White Le Chouchou 'Le T-Shirt Baci' top, which has us reviewing our budget to see if we can justify buying… because we kind of love it! Remember the Ralph Lauren Team USA closing ceremony jacket and hat we talked about last week? Bey may have us changing our minds about it... It may be kinda cute. 

Did we just find your next all-white party ensemble? I think we did; you’re welcome! 

White not your thing? We also like the way Kendall Jenner is rocking the blue version of the Ralph Lauren jacket.  

Pharrell continues to show us why he was chosen as the creative director of Louis Vuitton. This fashion thing? He just gets it. He makes even a simple look pop:

We love his pairing of a slightly distressed wide leg with a tailored blazer topped with a baseball cap 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 I mean, come on, it’s so good!

If you want this effortlessly chic look, we’ve got you:

Do you love sports? Want to find a way to fit more sports into your week? We’ve got you. From keeping up with your work colleagues to impressing hot dates, our newsletter aims to keep you in the know regardless of your fandom level or the reason. That’s your business, sis!

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