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A32 sports
Dialuna 9 augustus 2021

Women send powerful message in Olympic track and field

in the 1,500. She closed the show Sat- But while most of the pre-Games letes get their all-too-short time in
urday with a gold-medal run in the buzz went to Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann the spotlight. The IOC, which after
10,000 — one in which her vision Fraser-Pryce (100) and American much debate and discussion over the
was so clouded by exhaustion that she Gabby Thomas (200), each of whom past two years still chose to ban such
admitted she could not see the finish briefly staked their claim as the sec- demonstrations, said it would look
line. ond-fastest women in history at their into it. Any probe was set aside when
respective distances, it was Thomp- Saunders’ mother died unexpectedly
“I’m so happy,” she said after the od- son-Herah who wound up there in only hours after she won the medal.
yssey — six races over eight nights the end.
covering 65 laps and 24 kilometers — And Felix closed the show.
— was finally complete “I’m relieved. After a slow start to the season be-
(AP) — They set records every- I’m finished. I can sleep.” cause of an Achilles injury, Thomp- For five Olympics spanning 16 —
one saw coming and others that son-Herah swept the 100 and 200 make that 17 — years, she was epito-
surprised the experts. Sydney McLaughlin, of the United sprints for the second straight time. me of class and speed. At 35 years old,
States, wins the women's 400-meter One more like that and she’ll match she called it a career, but not without
They suffered, and battled, and spoke hurdles final at the 2020 Summer Bolt. doing what she does better than any
their truth in ways that hadn’t been Olympics, Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021, runner alive: Winning medals.
heard before. in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Petr Da- She ran the 200 in 21.53 and set the
vid Josek) Olympic record in the 100: 10.61 sec- Her bronze in the 400 and gold in the
Over nine days at the near-empty Sydney McLaughlin, of the United onds. Though that record might not 4x400 relay gave her 11. She now has
Olympic Stadium, the women of States, wins the women's 400-meter be the most formidable of the marks more than any track athlete in history,
track and field delivered a memorable hurdles final at the 2020 Summer Florence Griffith Joyner set a genera- save a Finnish distance runner, Paavo
show, both inside the lines and out. Olympics. (AP Photo/Petr David Jo- tion ago, in 1988, it had been around Nurmi, who won 12 between 1920
sek) every bit as long. and 1928.
These are some of the athletes who — McLaughlin, whose back-and-
defined the meet in Tokyo: Ally- forth duals in the 400-meter hurdles Flo Jo’s world records of 10.49 and Felix has more to do. Since having
son Felix, Sydney McLaughlin, Si- with U.S. teammate Dalilah Mu- 21.34 still stand. But for how long? her baby, Cammy, in 2018 she has
fan Hassan, Raven Saunders, Elaine hammad reached a crescendo at the transformed herself into one of the
Thompson-Herah. Olympics. “By the Olympic finish, I’ll probably most outspoken advocates for wom-
see what I’ve done,” said Thompson- en in sports.
Theirs was a sport in need of a good It was a race that had been much- Herah, who at 29, assures us she is
boost, not only because of the year- anticipated and all but preordained to not done yet. “At this moment, I’m “I feel like it’s definitely been a jour-
long delay sparked by the virus, but again reset the world record that one just a normal girl.” ney for me to get to the point where
because no matter when they re- or the other had broken in three pre- I guess I had the courage to do so,”
turned, Usain Bolt would no lon- vious showdowns. — The story of Raven Saunders was Felix said.
ger draw eyes to the track simply by inspiration for anyone who has been
showing up. And they lived up to the hype. overlooked or left behind. The Black, She earned the platform with two
McLaughlin lowered her own mark gay American shot putter started decades of racing in which she won
The women delivered — not so much to 51.46 seconds. Just as impressively, wearing “Incredible Hulk” masks to some, and lost some, and kept on
with the feel-good, dance-a-minute Muhammad’s silver-medal time of the field — a way of projecting her coming back for more.
vibe that Bolt brought, but with a 51.58 would have been a world re- fierce competitive spirit, but also a
series of inspiring performances and cord, too. lighter side underneath. Now, it’s time to see who takes her
messages that showed the heart of place.
their sport was still beating strong. “I think it’s two athletes wanting to After she received her silver med-
be their best,” McLaughlin said, “and al, Saunders crossed her arms and Earlier in the meet, someone asked
Some highlights included: knowing there’s another great girl formed an “X” on the medals stand. Muhammad, the hurdler, what she
— Hassan and her unrelenting jour- who’s going to help you get there.” “The intersection of where all people thought about all this women’s dom-
ney toward three medals — two gold who are oppressed meet,” she ex- inance at the track - of America’s sev-
and one bronze — in three of the — The sprinters were fast through plained. en gold medals in track and field, they
longest races held on the track. the leadup to the Olympics, so it won five.
wasn’t all that surprising to see that It was the sort of message many be-
She started with gold in the 5,000 pace keep going in Tokyo. lieve should not only be tolerated, “Women do it better,” she quipped.
meters, then came back with bronze but embraced, when Olympic ath-

US rolls to women's hoops gold medal in Bird's last Olympics

(AP) — Sue Bird and Diana Tau- feeling and a great taste in my mouth have been a constant force for the
rasi walked off the basketball my senior year. That’s how it is with U.S., providing stability for the
court together, arm-in-arm, one USA Basketball.” She isn’t actually certain she’ll play, women’s program since the 2004
last time at the Tokyo Games. saying: “We’ll see.” Athens Games. They have won all 38
All she and Taurasi have done on the of the games at the Olympics they’ve
They started their journey together international stage is win and now the But, Bird threw a quick jab at her competed in.
five Olympics ago and ended it in the pair stands alone with five gold med- 39-year-old friend for even consider-
same fashion as always — with gold als — the first basketball players ever ing it. The names have changed around
medals hanging around their necks. to accomplish that feat. the pair, including greats Lisa Leslie,
“Hahaha, idiot,” Bird said laughing Sheryl Swoopes, Tina Thompson,
“All of what we’ve done for USA Bas- “It’s 20 years and people only get to while standing next to Taurasi and Tamika Catchings and Sylvia Fowles,
ketball, we’ve done together. It’s fit- see these moments,” Taurasi said. talking with The Associated Press. but the results haven’t.
ting,” Bird said after the 90-75 win “We’re on these trips every day to-
over Japan on Sunday. gether. every conversation. this The U.S. has now won the last sev- The Americans are on a 55-game
means a lot to us.” en Olympic gold medals matching Olympic winning streak dating back
And now it’s over — at least for the the country’s men’s program for the to the bronze medal game of the 1992
40-year-old Bird. While Bird is retiring from interna- most ever in a row. The men did it Barcelona Games.
tional basketball, Taurasi left the door from 1936-68.
“The best comparison is college since open after the game in her on-court The U.S. let Japan know that wasn’t
you know it’s the end,” Bird said. interview that she’ll play in Paris in With Bird orchestrating the flow of going to change on Sunday.
“Now I always have a wonderful 2024. games and Taurasi’s scoring, they