Page 32 - bon-dia-aruba-20210810

A32 sports
Diamars 10 augustus 2021

Fewer medals, more heart for US at a most unusual Olympics

sign that the USOPC has agents who deal with Olym-
made some headway, then In the end, COVID-19 pic clients.
Simone Biles gets credit for knocked out only four of the
making sure the message 600-plus athletes officially And the USOPC is still in-
stayed front-and-center de- named to the team, a remark- volved in a number of law-
spite the hectic, pandemic- able logistical challenge in a suits stemming from abuse
tainted run-up to an Olym- pandemic that came with its cases — so expect more
pics. share of stumbles and cri- negative headlines about the
tiques. Some athletes who organization for months and
The willingness of the high- worked all their lives to get years to come.
est-profile athlete at the to this point were bitter that
Games to step away because they couldn’t share the trip The federation also must
it didn’t feel right, and to with friends, family or fans. figure out how to keep its
place her personal welfare NCAA pipeline rolling, and
over victory for herself and That was largely a decision determine whether new rules
country, was startling at first. by local organizers that left that allow college athletes to
the USOPC with limited op- make money off their names
(AP) — Kara Winger is the however, eight fewer than Much more than costing tions. and likenesses will hurt or
American record-hold- what they won five years ago medals, what Biles did was help the Olympic operation.
er in the javelin throw in a Rio de Janeiro Olympics re-center the focus. As the Still, Hirshland and the rest
who just wrapped up her with fewer events. Olympics moved into their of the federation leaders are And, like it or not, the medal
fourth Olympics. She has second week, all but the most bound to hear their fair share count did fall by 6%, even
never finished higher than When the athletes voted for cynical observers started cel- of critiques — if not about though there were more
sixth place. Winger to represent them, ebrating athletes for winning Tokyo, then about what lies sports and more medals to be
they tapped into the core bronze — or nothing — even ahead. won. If it happens again three
When she got the call over message resonating inside if they were picked to win years from now in Paris, with
the weekend telling her she a fractured, fractious U.S. gold. The Beijing Games start a the Los Angeles Olympics on
would be carrying the flag Olympic family over the scant 180 days from Sunday’s deck, it stands to reason not
Sunday for the United States last few years: The medals “These are not the USOPC’s closing act in Tokyo. Much as everyone will be so sanguine.
at the closing ceremony of shouldn’t matter more than medals, these are the athletes’ the USOPC was forced into
the Tokyo Games, her first the athletes who win them. medals,” Hirshland explained playing a lead role in chang- And yet, there’s a reason
reaction was “shock.” Or sometimes not matter at as the Biles decision was still ing the outlook on the IOC’s Winger got the nod to carry
all. reverberating. rule banning demonstrations, the flag Sunday night.
“I expected tweets with it will be pressed by some to
people saying ‘What has she “We spent a ton of energy That was part of what Hirsh- boycott those Games as a sign Her fellow Olympians ap-
done?’” Winger said. on creating an environment land pitched as a new outlook of protest of China’s much- preciated the story of an ath-
where people could be heard, for the USOPC. criticized human-rights re- lete who devoted her life to
Turns out, an awful lot over and feel safe to be heard,” cord. The federation almost throwing the javelin — “A
a career that has spanned two said Sarah Hirshland, who Leading up to the Games, certainly won’t go down that lot of us are in weird sports,”
decades. That the American came on as the CEO of the the USOPC introduced road, but the questions will Winger acknowledged
athletes chose her as flagbear- U.S. Olympic and Paralym- new mental-health offerings persist. — knowing the rewards
er is a fitting lens through pic Committee in 2018. and created a new athlete- wouldn’t all be hanging from
which to view the U.S. ac- service division — first as a So will doubts about its ef- her neck in the end.
complishments at these She was tasked with repair- nod to the fallout from the fectiveness in putting ath-
Games. ing the damage from sexual- sex-abuse cases, then as a re- letes first. A snapshot: One “An absolute joy,” Winger
abuse cases that led athletes source to help athletes cope program designed to funnel said. “I don’t know what the
The Americans won 113 to wonder if they were valued with a yearlong delay and the more money into athletes’ medals feel like, but I don’t
medals, which, for the fifth for more than simply what COVID pandemic. pockets through sponsor- think I’ll ever top this honor.
straight Summer Games, was they won. ship deals has been lauded by And for me, that’s totally, to-
double-digits more than the Their offices stayed busy some, but criticized by others tally fine.”
nearest competition. It was, If Winger as flagbearer is one over the 17 days in Tokyo. in the tightly knit world of

Messi's arrival at PSG would give coach tactical headache

(AP) — If Lionel Messi does be- cash-rich Qatari owners QSI took League trophies with Barcelona, a to use Di Maria in a four-man attack
come the latest star to help Paris over the club 10 years ago. record 91 goals in a calendar year for at the risk of unbalancing midfield.
Saint-Germain’s quest to win the club and country, and a Copa Ameri- PSG showed last season — and in
elusive Champions League, coach Messi’s arrival would surpass even ca title with Argentina. the way it conceded a soft goal from a
Mauricio Pochettino must work the fanfare of Neymar’s world-record corner against Troyes — that it needs
out the best way to accommodate signing for 222 million euros ($261 Even Messi’s age — he’s 34 — will protection at the back.
him in a top-heavy attack. million) from Barcelona in 2017, or have little impact on the huge antici-
Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s brazenly self- pation that his arrival would generate
Messi bid a tearful farewell to Bar- promoting presentation by the Eiffel within French soccer and beyond.
celona on Sunday. At the same time, Tower in 2012.
PSG was in talks with his team try- But where is Pochettino, a fellow Ar-
ing to finalize a deal to sign him amid They never won a Ballon d’Or, let gentine, going to play him in attack
reports Messi had flown to Paris on alone the record six Messi has. which includes Neymar, France’s
Sunday for a meeting. World Cup star Kylian Mbappe, Copa
The soccer great’s staggering tally of America match-winner Angel Di Ma-
Talk of Messi’s imminent arrival led 672 goals for Barca includes an ex- ria and sharpshooter Mauro Icardi?
several hundred PSG fans to wait traordinary 50-goal season in 2012;
outside Le Bourget airport, to the 96 league goals and a remarkable 133 Icardi looks certain to fall behind in
north of Paris, which is often used by overall across 2012 and 2013; eight the pecking order and could even be
PSG and the national team. Spanish league and six Champions sold or loaned to take some weight
League scoring titles. off the club’s huge wage bill.
Messi would become the biggest star
to arrive at Parc des Princes since Not to mention four Champions Pochettino needs to decide whether