I have a confession: I was looking forward to the 2024 Summer Olympics. And then, the French screwed everything up, flooding the opening ceremony with a singing beheaded Marie Antoinette, drag queens all over the place, and a mockery of Christianity that even had non-believers aghast. It’s no shock there’s been a backlash, dotted by explainers from the organizers. When you’re explaining, you’re losing. Yet, one event was classy, maybe even redeeming for the games. It captured what the Olympics are all about.
Swimmer Torri Huske is a gold medalist, beating her teammate Gretchen Walsh, who came in second, in the women's 100m butterfly. It was a great moment for Huske who missed medaling in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo by 0.01 seconds. It was heartbreak then, but she’s now triumphant (via WaPo):
USA 1-2 FINISH 🇺🇸
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) July 29, 2024
The reactions after Torri Huske and Gretchen Walsh won Gold and Silver is EVERYTHING! 🥹
📺 #ParisOlympics on NBC and Peacock pic.twitter.com/l3x6jzrjwj
USA TAKES GOLD AND SILVER IN WOMEN'S 100M FLY 🇺🇸
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) July 28, 2024
🥇Torri Huske
🥈 Gretchen Walsh
INCREDIBLE performances 👏 pic.twitter.com/6SOE3DLcVk
“I didn’t know how to process it,” said Huske, a 21-year-old from Arlington, Va. “It’s just very overwhelming when you’ve been dreaming of this moment for so long.”
Huske edged U.S. teammate Gretchen Walsh, the world record holder, at the wall on a memorable night at the pool that was filled with pageantry, fireworks and joyful tears. With Leon Marchand swimming his first final of the Games, it felt as if all of France had crammed into the arena for the men’s 400 individual medley. The swim meet morphed into a boisterous, patriotic party when he won gold in 4:02.95, nearly six seconds better than Japan’s Tomoyuki Matsushita (4:08.62) and American Carson Foster (4:08.66), who took bronze.
There was no shortage of highlights: American swimmers bagged four medals as chief rival Australia failed to find the podium. Nic Fink, a 31-year-old engineer from New Jersey, won silver in the men’s 100-meter breaststroke; he tied Britain’s Adam Peaty, the two-time Olympic champion, in 59.05 seconds, just 0.02 behind Italy’s Nicolò Martinenghi.
At the medal ceremony, Huske invited her teammate Walsh, who nabbed silver in the competition, to stand with her at the top of the podium as the Star-Spangled Banner played.
Torri Huske invites silver medalist Gretchen Walsh up onto the gold medal podium ahead of the national anthem. You love to see it pic.twitter.com/jo9EPGQYlk
— Kendall Baker (@kendallbaker) July 28, 2024
This is what it's about! 👏
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) July 29, 2024
After winning Olympic gold in the women's 100m fly, Torri Huske invited her teammate Gretchen Walsh, who got silver, on top of the podium for the U.S. national anthem. #ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/HVfqznWjp7
After missing the podium in Tokyo, Torri Huske takes GOLD in the women's 100m butterfly at the #ParisOlympics! 🤩 pic.twitter.com/bTVBwsMhKm
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) July 28, 2024
That’s what it’s all about, folks. But still, the Olympics deserves to be scorched over that opening ceremony, where they also raised the Olympic flag backward and introduced the South Korean Olympic team as being from North Korea. Total disaster, so let’s hope there are better moments like this ahead, though lord knows what the closing ceremony will be like.
