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Yahoo Sports Olympics AM: You can't outrun a dog
In today's edition: Quincy Hall's epic 400m finish, U.S. women's hoops advances, Jordan Larson spotlight, figure skaters finally get their gold medals, and more.
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Quincy Hall's got that dog in him
Team USA's Quincy Hall unleashed a stunning comeback on Wednesday to win 400m gold. If you haven't seen the epic finish, please go watch it now.
As good as it gets: The 400m is widely considered the most painful event in track because it's basically a really long sprint. You can go all out in the 200m, and the race is over in ~20 seconds. And in longer races, you can pace yourself. But in the 400m, you have to give everything you've got for a full lap, even as your body is screaming for you to stop.
As a result, the last 100 meters of this race is all heart and willpower. Your legs are giving out, your energy reserves are tapped, and the lactic acid buildup is burning. You're left with one simple question: "Do you got that dog in you?"
Hall, who entered the final stretch in fourth place, answered that question with a resounding yes. "You can't outrun a dog," he said after finishing in 43.40 seconds, the fourth-fastest time ever. "A dog is going to chase you forever."
From Yahoo Sports' Jeff Eisenberg:
Arms pumping, legs churning, face twisted in a grimace, Quincy Hall kept coming even when he appeared hopelessly far behind. Hall was a distant fourth place in the Olympic 400 meters final and he was running out of purple track between him and the finish line.
With 50 meters to go, he charged past fading former Olympic champion Kirani James. With 40 meters to go, he ran down Jereem Richards like the Trinidadian's shoes were made of cement. Only pre-race favorite Matthew Hudson-Smith of Great Britain remained ahead of him, and Hall was reeling him in too.
As Hall ran, he said to himself, "Get home, son." He thought about all those grueling practices running by himself. He thought about putting himself through junior college. He thought about his two brothers who died young, his mom and his two young daughters.
The bottom line: Sports are at their best when they provide a canvas for athletes to make a statement. Hall did just that at Stade de France, using those closing seconds on that track to tell the world, "This is who I am. This is what I'm made of. This is what I went through to get here."
"This is 18 years in the making, man," Hall's brother, Milton, told Fox 4 Kansas City. "Ms. Iecia [Quincy’s mom] and Quincy Hall been through it all to make it, man. God is good."
"He did it for his best friend, Brandon. He did it for his man, Rasheed. He did it for his uncle Tony. He did it for everybody, man. This is a blessing… Quincy, I love you!"
Want to see what pure joy looks like? Watch Milton's full interview.
Photos of the day
🏀 USA 88, Nigeria 74: Michael Phelps was among the many famous faces who had a front row seat to the U.S. women's basketball team's 59th straight Olympic victory. They'll face Australia in Friday's semifinals.
🇺🇸 The weight is over: Hampton Morris took bronze in the men's 61kg final, becoming the first American man to win an Olympic weightlifting medal since 1984.
🥇 Two in a row: Morocco's Soufiane El Bakkali became the first man since 1936 to win two straight golds in the 3,000m steeplechase, which saw Ethiopia's Lamecha Girma take a hard fall on the last lap. He was hospitalized but has since been discharged.
🩱 'Smooth Criminals' take silver: The U.S. artistic swimming team, which went viral earlier this week for their upside-down underwater moonwalk set to "Smooth Criminal," took silver for their first Olympic medal since 2004.
Day 12 recap: More from Wednesday
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Athlete spotlight: Jordan Larson wasn't supposed to return for a fourth Olympics. But after leading the U.S. to their first women's volleyball gold medal in Tokyo, the captain couldn't resist coming back for one last ride in Paris, where she'll play in today's semifinal.
Hat trick of medals: The Nebraska native won silver in London and bronze in Rio before finally breaking through with gold in Tokyo, where she hammered home the championship-winning point and was named MVP.
She retired from the national team after that milestone victory, but last spring decided to rejoin the squad for a gold medal defense.
At 37, Larson is the second-oldest women's volleyball player in U.S. Olympic history; but on the court she's second-to-none: "To my mind, Jordan is the best who's ever played for the USA women's team,” says coach Karch Kiraly.
Hometown hero: If Nebraska is the volleyball capital of America, then Larson is the closest thing the U.S. has to volleyball royalty. She was a three-time All-American and 2006 national champion with the Cornhuskers, returned there last fall as an assistant coach and is a founding athlete for LOVB Omaha, one of six teams in the new pro league launching soon.
More athletes in action:
👟 Grant Holloway: The Virginia native is the three-time defending 110m hurdles world champion and has the fastest time in the world this year. He settled for silver after getting upset in Tokyo, but hopes to win his first gold in today's final.
🌊 Carson Tyler: The 20-year-old diver is a rising senior at Indiana, where he's a three-time national champion. He's got his work cut out for him in today's 3m springboard final, where a pair of Chinese athletes appear to be heavy favorites.
Best of Team USA social: Biles reacts to Olympic medal moments … The high jump world record is insane
Team USA: News | Athletes | Shop
Follow along at TeamUSA.com and @TeamUSA on social media.
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Watchlist: Lyles goes for the double
Noah Lyles will try to etch his name in the history books today in the 200m final, where he could become the 10th man to achieve the Olympic 100m-200m golden double.
Featured events:
👟 Track & Field: Men's 200m Final (2:30pm ET, NBC); Women's 400m Hurdles Final (3:25pm, NBC); Men's 110m Hurdles Final (3:45pm, NBC)
🏀 Men's Basketball: France vs. Germany (11:30am, USA); USA vs. Serbia (3pm, USA) … Semifinals.
🏐 Women's Volleyball: USA vs. Brazil (10am, NBC); Italy vs. Turkey (2pm, Peacock) … Semifinals.
🤽♀️ Women's Water Polo: Spain vs. Netherlands (8:30am, USA); USA vs. Australia (1:30pm, USA) … Semifinals.
Medal events:
🛶 Canoe Sprint: Men's and Women's Finals (7:30am, Peacock)
🌊 Diving: Men's 3m Springboard Final (9am, Peacock)
🏋️ Weightlifting: Women's 59kg (9am, Peacock); Men's 73kg (1:30pm, Peacock)
⛵️ Sailing: Men's Kite Final (10:40am, Peacock) and Women's Kite Final (11:40am, Peacock)
🏑 Men's Field Hockey: India vs. Spain for Bronze (8am, Peacock); Germany vs. Netherlands for Gold (1pm, Peacock)
⚽️ Men's Soccer: Egypt vs. Morocco for Bronze. (11am, Peacock)
🚴♂️ Track Cycling: Women's Keirin Final (1:11pm, Peacock); Men's Omnium Final (1:27pm, Peacock)
🤼 Wrestling: Men's 87kg Greco-Roman and Women's 53kg Freestyle (1:30pm, Peacock)
👟 Track & Field: Women's Long Jump Final (2pm, Peacock); Men's Javelin Final (2:25pm, Peacock)
🥋 Taekwondo: Men's 68kg and Women's 57kg Finals (1:30pm, Peacock)
🥊 Boxing: Men's Flyweight and Women's Bantamweight Finals (4:30pm, Peacock)
Non-medal events: Beach Volleyball, Golf, Handball, Modern Pentathlon, Rhythmic Gymnastics, Table Tennis, Water Polo.
Primetime (NBC): Men's 3m Springboard Final (8pm), Women's Long Jump, Men's 200m, Women's 400m Hurdles and Men's 110m Hurdles Finals (9pm).
For a complete schedule, click here. Every event streams live on Peacock. Sign up here.
The Olympics' most eclectic event
The Olympics' most eclectic event is underway in Paris, with 72 athletes beginning the modern pentathlon.
"The ideal, complete athlete": Inspired by its ancient counterpart, this event was meant to "[test] a man's moral qualities as much as his physical resources and skills, producing thereby the ideal, complete athlete," said modern Olympic founder Pierre de Coubertin.
The original event featured a foot race, javelin toss, discus throw, long jump and wrestling.
The modern version, introduced in 1912, features fencing, equestrian, swimming and a shooting-running hybrid contest called laser run.
How it works: Today is just fencing preliminaries, but tomorrow's semifinals will see the 36 men and 36 women compete in all five disciplines during a two-hour window.
Equestrian is the first and most challenging event, as competitors must navigate 15 jumps over 12 obstacles with a randomly-assigned horse. They have just 20 minutes to get acquainted with the horse, which is definitely not enough time.
Then comes fencing (one-touch épée bouts) and swimming (200m freestyle) before concluding with the laser run — a 3,000-meter race that includes four stops along the way in which athletes shoot at targets with laser pistols.
Looking ahead: If that equestrian portion sounds untenable, you're not alone: It's being replaced in 2028 with an obstacle course akin to what you see on "American Ninja Warrior."
Lightning round
⛸️ Figure skaters get their gold: Two years after competing in Beijing, nine American figure skaters finally got their gold medals following the disqualification of Team Russia for doping.
🇷🇴 Romania files appeal: Romania has appealed the results of the gymnastics floor routine on behalf of Sabrina Maneca-Voinea, who appears to have been incorrectly penalized for stepping out of bounds.
🚨 Detained, then released: Australian field hockey player Tom Craig was taken into custody in Paris for allegedly purchasing cocaine. He's since been released.
🛹 A win for the old guys: Most Olympic skateboarders are in their teens or 20s. Great Britain's Andy Macdonald is 51. "People were like, 'Are you going for the gold?'" he said after his run in prelims. "I'm like, if they give gold medals for having the most fun, I've got it wrapped up."
Daily trivia
Question: We've already covered the modern pentathlon today, but can you name all 10 events in the decathlon?
Hint: There are just four runs.
Answer at the bottom.
In non-Olympics news...
⚾️ MLB power rankings: With the trade deadline in the rearview and the stretch run on the horizon, where does your team sit in our latest power rankings?
Plus:
🏀 Lauri Markkanen signs 5-year, $238M extension, richest deal in Jazz history
🎓 NCAA issues suspension and show-cause penalty to Jim Harbaugh
🏈 QB competition brewing in Pittsburgh between Wilson and Fields
Trivia answer: 100m, 400m, 1500m, 110m hurdles, high jump, long jump, pole vault, shot put, discus, javelin
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