With the Olympics concluded and the USA ending the 2024 Paris version of the competition with 40 gold medals, here’s a look at the best performances by Americans in this edition of the Trojan Top Picks.
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone
There’s a lot of speed on this USA team, with track and field racking up a majority of the team’s medals, but McLaughlin-Levrone might just be the most impressive of them all.
She set the world record in the 2022 World Championships for the 400m hurdles, broke her own world record in the Olympic Trials and finally broke it again in the Olympics, running a 50.37. Going into the race, McLaughlin-Levrone faced a strong field, with Dutch runner Femke Bol leading the pack of challengers. However, McLaughlin-Levrone made history in dominant fashion, making the rest of the runners look like amateurs en route to her second-straight gold medal in the event.
Oh, and she also had a dominant leg in the fourth fastest women’s 4×400 relay ever. Another gold, and another dominant olympics by Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone
Simone Biles
The conversation surrounding Biles going into the Olympics was definitely not the most positive as the 4’ 11” gymnast entered Paris, with speculation on her calf injury and a continued magnifying glass on her mental health since the Tokyo Olympics dominating the narrative. That narrative would soon change, however, with a spectacular performance in her opening floor routine to net a team gold medal. She then added to that tally with jaw-dropping gold medal performances in the women’s vault and individual all-round, before capping it all off with a silver medal in floor.
If Biles could do this all with a hurt calf, it’s scary to think about what she could do when healthy.
Steph Curry
LeBron James. Kevin Durant. Joel Embiid. Devin Booker. Anthony Davis.
The biggest talents in the NBA. Dominant. Unstoppable. “The Avengers,” Lebron James said.
Yet, with all the talent on the court, team USA found themselves in a hole late in the semi-finals against Serbia. But when things went sideways, they needed their Captain America to bail them out, and Curry did just that.
Bam. Bam. Bam. Draining threes, sinking daggers into Serbian hearts, Curry led the USA to another Olympics finals berth, against the upstart French team, who had home-field advantage and Victor Wembanyama, the 7’ 4” young superstar looking to upset the USA.
Perhaps they could have, had Curry not been on the court. He drained eight threes, including a late one against a double team that sent French hearts sinking as the USA got the gold medal they deserved, all thanks to the smallest guy on the court.
Cole Hocker
Is it going to be Jakob or Josh? Ingebrigtsen, or Kerr?
Going into the men’s 1500m final, the conversation surrounded one of the greatest rivalries in the current mid-distance canvas, with both participants making their case as to why they were going to win the race.
With 100 meters left to go, it certainly seemed like either Ingebrigsten or Kerr was going to win it. But there was Cole Hocker, the Indiana native, carrying the American flag on his chest and a million and possibly more dreams on his back, climbing the ranks. He got blocked by Ingebrigtsen at the 100m mark, but, undeterred, he tried passing the Norwegian again, this time carrying teammate Yared Nuguse with him.
With only Josh Kerr to beat, Hocker dug in. Everybody in that race knew, and everybody in that stadium knew, that this could be the upset of the ages, and it was. Gritting his teeth, Hocker soared past Kerr, using his world class finish to secure a gold medal and shatter the Olympic record, completing one of the wildest finishes to an Olympic 1500m race in a while.
Alyssa Naeher
Following their round of 16 exit in the Women’s World Cup, everyone wrote off USA women’s soccer going into the Olympics. Spain was the dominant team, with Germany and Canada being last Olympics’ finalists, so the Americans came in with a chip on their shoulder.
With new coach Emma Hayes and a ferocious attack dubbed “Triple Espresso,” the USA was poised to have a goal-scoring impact on the tournament, but the question marks were on the defense, with Naomi Girma the only solid starter on the back four.
The defense held strong during the group stage, and the attack scored many goals as well, but in the knockout rounds, when the goals dried up and the defense looked shaky, Naeher came to the rescue.
The goalkeeper was heroic in all three of the Americans’ knockout games, which they all won 1-0 thanks to Naeher’s spectacular saves, the most spectacular coming in their final against Brazil, where she saved a surefire goal by clawing away the ball at the last second.
Bonus:
Kristen Faulkner
Maybe the viral sensation Stephen Nedoroscik, also known as pommel horse guy, could have made this list, but for now we’re going to focus on Faulkner and her miraculous quest for gold in the women’s cycling road race.
She wasn’t even supposed to be in the Olympics, and she was only called up because the original participant of the race, Taylor Knibb, had to drop out.
Her gold medal wasn’t any fluke, either. After staying in a pack for most of the race, Faulkner tore away on a dominant home stretch that saw her finish almost a whole minute in front of second and third place.
Not bad for someone who was planning on watching the Olympics just two months prior.
