The Olympics are closer to ending than they are to beginning.
The big events of gymnastics, swimming and track and field are mostly over. We’ve already seen most of the athletes we recognize by name: Biles, Ledecky, Lyles, Marchand. There’s still tension in the finals of basketball, soccer and the remaining track and field events, including Thursday’s 200 meters, but now is a good time to take stock and summarize.
So that’s exactly what we’re trying to do.
Here are the biggest Olympic winners to date:
Noah Lyles
Below are some of the things Lyles has said publicly over the past year.
“When you watch the NBA Finals, they have ‘World Champions’ written over their heads. World champions of what? America? … We [track and field] “The world…there are no flags in the NBA.”
“I truly believe this moment is not more important than me. This moment was made for me.”
“Everyone has their own vibe. I’m the showman.”
And after missing out on the 100-meter heat in Paris, Lyles told NBC: “I think I’m even more excited because I didn’t win that heat. Now I’m worried about everyone else.”
In other words, just one-fifth of a second was the difference between Lyles becoming an American Olympic legend or one of the greatest laughing stocks of all time.
That’s the margin of victory that ultimately won Lyles in the 100-meter final, arguably the greatest Olympic moment of all time: a photo finish in the biggest event of the Olympics. Lyles still has to run the 200-meter final on Thursday, a slightly less well-known event in which he is the overwhelming favorite to win.
It’s the first time in 20 years that the U.S. has won the 100 meters. Justin Gatlin won the men’s event, but his subsequent drug suspension made his victory in Athens tough to celebrate. Lyles is expected to win the 200 meters, which would make him the first American man to win two gold medals since Carl Lewis in 1984.
Not only has Lyles been able to put himself in the company, he has established himself as a brand name who can back up everything that comes out of his mouth.
Leon Marchand
It’s rare for a non-American athlete to become must-watch TV at the Olympics, and for the past 20 years or so, at least until Marchand came along, the list pretty much started and ended with Usain Bolt.
The Toulouse native, who swam at Arizona State University in college, won gold medals in all four individual events in front of a rapturous hometown crowd that was a jaw-dropping sight on television, with the crowd chanting as Marchand’s head broke the water during his breaststroke swim in a way that will remain in the memory of the Games crowd.
En route to two gold medals in one day, in the 200m butterfly and 200m breaststroke, Marchand outran Hungary’s Kristof Milak in the final 50 meters to win the butterfly, cheered on by Michael Phelps, creating some of the Olympics’ greatest drama and best television.
(On a related note, U.S. men’s swimming was one of the teams that suffered major defeats at the Olympics, with Phelps saying he was “pretty disappointed” with only one individual gold medal.)
The U.S. produced some moments in the women’s event and the swimming relay, winning the most gold medals of the Games despite trailing almost throughout, but it was Marchand who provided the most entertainment.
Simone Biles
Speaking of Phelps as the greatest swimmer of all time, the comparison to Biles, the greatest gymnast of all time, feels apt.
Biles has carried the baton for the U.S. Olympic team since 2016, just as Phelps did in Beijing and London. Even in her third Olympics and after going off the rails for her in Tokyo three years ago, every event Biles competed in felt must-watch. And the redemptive trajectory that may have been pre-written by ChatGPT came true as Biles won three gold medals and one silver.
Biles should have won her fourth gold medal on the floor exercise but unfortunately settled for silver, but she and Jordan Chiles bowed out to Brazil’s Rebecca Andrade and won in a display of sportsmanship that fulfilled all the Olympic cliches.
For the 27-year-old Biles, this will likely be her last Olympic appearance (but not necessarily), and she made it count.
Paris
Over the past decade, the IOC has made a habit of hosting the Olympics in far-flung countries with dictatorial regimes.
Since London 2012, the Olympics have been held in Sochi, Rio de Janeiro, Pyeongchang, Tokyo and Beijing. If you want to know why the Olympics don’t attract as many American audiences, start there. (So, what are the tourist attractions in Pyeongchang? Do you know anyone who’s been there? Then answer the same question about Paris.)
Watching the Olympics with a 10-12 hour time difference from the East Coast is difficult, and the stories of Zika and athletes being stranded in China if they test positive for COVID-19 are unsettling. The pandemic and resulting lack of attendance has only made the situation worse.
The Paris time zone is ideal for U.S. audiences, allowing people to wake up and watch the Olympics all day long. In an era when streaming and social media have made tape delay difficult, the European time zone allows NBC to broadcast the Olympics as a live event and in primetime with tape delay, giving them the best of both worlds.
Having famous landmarks like the Eiffel Tower as part of the Olympics makes the Olympics feel bigger and more accessible, as does having American celebrities like Snoop Dogg and Flavor Flav as Olympic characters, which is directly related to the Olympics being held in Paris instead of in less attractive locations.
Paris hasn’t been perfect — using the Seine for the triathlon seems like a bad gamble, for example, and the city’s residents have legitimate complaints about the level of security that came with integrating so many temporary venues into a tourist area — but compared to host cities of the past decade, Paris stands out in a league of its own.
NBC
Of course, all of the above hype helps NBC, which has been racking up its highest Olympic ratings in quite some time thanks in part to its hosting of the Olympics in Paris.
But NBC did something right with these Olympics and deserves credit for that.
Mike Tirico has established himself as a unique studio host, and having Phelps on the show was every bit as successful as it looked on paper.
Gold Zone continues to provide great programming every day, giving even people who aren’t huge fans of the Premier League or “The Office” a reason to subscribe to Peacock.
Without a doubt, it was the right decision to forgo the delay in recording and maintain primetime programming that gives casual fans an opportunity to watch the Olympics.
If there’s one complaint, it’s that it should be easier to see online the daily schedule, what’s on at any given moment, what the scores are for each live event, etc. This has always been an issue with the Olympics, since there are often so many events that it’s hard to keep them all in one place, but as the rights holder, NBC will be leading that effort for 2026.
Kristen Faulkner
There are 50 other Olympic stories that deserve more coverage, of course, but Faulkner’s might be at the top of the list.
Faulkner, 31, who grew up in Homer, Alaska, started cycling as a hobby after moving to New York in 2017. He eventually quit his job as a venture capitalist to turn professional and competed in the Olympics after being hit by a car and breaking his tibia last year.
Having already qualified for the team pursuit cycling event, she was given the opportunity to compete in the women’s road race following the decision of Taylor Knibb to step down to focus on time trials and triathlons.
Faulkner then won gold in the road race by about a minute, becoming the first American woman to do so since 1984.
On Wednesday, she helped the United States win the gold medal in the team pursuit, joining a very small list of athletes to win gold medals in what are technically two different Olympic sports: road cycling and track cycling.
This is the kind of story that should be made into a film, and if you pitched it, it would be laughed out of the room as implausible and trite. Nothing better has been staged in Paris.
Today’s back cover
Are you ready for some soccer?
Will two steamy joint practices actually provide energy for the Giants’ preseason opener against the Lions on Thursday (7 p.m. ET, FOX)?
Hmm, probably not.
Historically, the words “juice” and “preseason” are rarely used together in a sentence. It’s also worth noting that scrimmages typically featured players who were guaranteed a spot on their respective rosters — in other words, not players who would be on the field for, say, the third quarter of a preseason game.
The preseason opener is a good milestone to hit, as it means real football is on the way.
But the basic rules are the same as with training camp: You’re excited until it actually starts, and then you start to get anxious about the regular season.
A very welcome return
The news coming out of Port St. Lucie on Wednesday seemed all positive for Starling Marte, who didn’t play defensively but did get three hits as a designated hitter, going 1-for-3 with one stolen base.
The Mets have seemed to have found some balance recently between abysmal early-season performances and a resurgence thanks to Grimas, but they’ll need to get closer to the latter if they want to make the playoffs, let alone do anything once they’re there.
The possibility of Marte returning soon should be enticing to this lineup, especially now in the midst of a long road trip that has seen the team sit at a disappointing 3-3 after Wednesday’s close 5-3 win over the Rockies.
Marte struggled in 2023 but was in the midst of a resurgence, posting a 113 OPS+ before his injury.
After the trade deadline came and went with Jesse Winker as the only addition to the roster, Marte embodies the classic adage that the best players to acquire at the trade deadline are those returning from injury.
Today’s Outlook
Zach Messinger continued his strong form on the mound. The Yankees right-hander pitched seven scoreless innings and struck out four at Double-A Somerset on Wednesday.
Messinger, who pitched seven innings in his last start, has not pitched more than five innings since June 21. His ERA is 3.40, his worst since his first start of the year.
— Andrew Battifarano
What we’re reading 👀
⚾ “The Yankees are the Yankees again,” Post reporter Mike Vaccaro declared after the Yankees tied for first place in the American League standings in a doubleheader in the Bronx. Two things to note: The Yankees held back Marcus Stroman “to get some issues sorted,” and what about the lineup swap with Juan Soto and Aaron Judge?
🏈 Xavier Gipson is no longer a sure thing on the Jets roster, as he looks to establish himself as a starting-caliber slot receiver in Year 2.
🏀 Kevin Durant, who Jim Boeheim regards as the greatest international player of all time, and Team USA will face Nikola Jokic’s Serbia in the Olympic semifinals on Thursday (3 p.m. ET, USA Network).
🏀 The Las Vegas Aces, er, Team USA Women also made it to the semifinals.
⚾ Little League drama! Staten Island wins and advances to a rematch against Morristown, New Jersey for a spot in the World Series.
🥇 Quincy Hall is the legend of this 400 meter comeback.
⛸ A gold medal was awarded in figure skating at the Summer Olympics. Yes, that’s right.
🎾 Rafael Nadal will not play in the US Open. No way!.
