From the fiery arrow that ignited the Olympic torch on opening night to Steph Curry putting Paris to bed at the end of the Games, the 2024 Paris Olympics was a spectacle worthy of the world’s attention. It was also a ringing success for Team USA, which took home a sizable chunk of the Eiffel Tower with 125 medals, each containing a fragment of the iconic Parisian structure. Despite controversial cardboard beds for Olympians, and Russia and Belarus’s Ukraine-related absence, the Paris Olympics featured several memorable moments.
Noah Lyles’ 100 M Gold: In 2023, Noah Lyles said that NBA winners are “World champions of what? The United States?” This angered many in professional sports, including Kevin Durant and Tyreek Hill. However, in Paris, Lyles became the ultimate world champion by winning the 100 M dash at the Olympics, out-leaning Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson by 0.005 seconds. In a photo finish for the ages, he gave Team USA its first gold in the event in 20 years. But even Lyles’ win could not silence the noise. First, Durant and Team USA captured gold on the court, proving their world champion status. Then, Hill went on the record saying, “I would beat Noah Lyles” in a 50 M race, to which Lyles responded that he would only race Hill in 100 M, without “gimmicks.”
USA Women’s Gymnastics: At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Team USA continued to fill out the record books, capturing eight medals in the continuation of the golden age of gymnastics in the United States. After the Simone Biles-less 2020 Olympics in which the USA could only muster silver in the team all-around, Biles’ return tipped the scales for USA, with her dominance in the team competition propelling them to the team all-around gold. In addition to the team victory, Biles captured three other individual medals, including two gold, making her the most decorated gymnast in U.S. history.
“Nuit Nuit”- Stephen Curry: In Paris, Team USA cruised into the semifinals game against Serbia undefeated and unchallenged, but barely edged out the Jokic All-Stars, 95-91, to set up a matchup with France and Victor Wembanyama in the championship game. In the gold-medal match, USA Men’s Basketball started off strong, and held a steady but surmountable advantage throughout most of the game. Then, in the fourth quarter, France went on a run capped by a Wembanyama putback dunk to his own miss, cutting the lead to three. France’s comeback, however, did nothing except to preheat the skillet for Chef Curry’s late game masterclass. The very next play, Stephen Curry hit a side step three, following that up in the next play with a step back triple, extending the US lead to nine. With only 50 seconds left to play, Curry dribbled down the court, passed to KD, got it back, “danced on Batum,” and drained the long shot over two defenders, the cherry on top of his unbelievable gold-medal clinching performance. Slowly running back, Steph reenacted his famous “Night Night” celebration (nuit nuit in French). Curry has trademarked this phrase, and he really did crush that nuit.
This article also appears in our September 2024 edition.
