Olympics newsletter: U.S. men overcome 17 point deficit to beat Serbia.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone wins the women's 400 hurdles in world record time.

By John CherwaSpecial Contributor

Aug. 9, 2024 3 AM PT

Welcome to your daily Olympic newsletter. I’m your tour guide John Cherwa and I haven’t cared about Olympic basketball these Games until Thursday.

Did you really have any doubt? (Well, yeah.) The U.S. men’s basketball team was down by 17 in the first half and 11 with about seven minutes to play against Serbia. Yes, Serbia. The basketball world was coming to an end.

But, like the clicked light switch being turned on, the U.S. took over to win 95-91 and advance to the gold medal match against France on Saturday. The U.S. only led 3 minutes, 25 seconds.

In the end, though, you always knew Lassie would find Timmy in the well, even though he never fell in the well. (Those under 60, check the internet.) And that’s the kind of faith we needed with the men’s basketball team.

Stephen Curry scored 36 points with Joel Embiid getting 19 and LeBron James adding 16. That counts for 75% of the scoring. Our Thuc Nhi Nguyen was at the game and you can read her report here.

The U.S. is perilously holding on to its gold-medal advantage (the standard everywhere but in the U.S.) over China, 30-29. But there are lots of medals left to go including two almost certain golds in basketball, at least we thought that until Thursday.

Now until this almost upset, the big story was expected to be track and field.

On Thursday, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone won the women’s 400 meter hurdles and broke her own world record in the process. She defended the title she earned in Tokyo three years ago. She won by about 10 meters. Anna Cockrell of the U.S. got silver.

In one of the more puzzling developments, Noah Lyles missed out on the 100-200 double when he finished third in the 200. After the race, Lyles collapsed to the track and was in a wheelchair as he left the track. He then revealed he had tested positive for COVID two days earlier. He wasn’t even the top U.S. finisher as he finished behind silver medalist Kenneth Bedarick, who was beaten by Letslie Tebogo of Botswana.

Tara Davis-Woodhall competes in the women's long jump final.

The U.S. got a gold in the women’s long jump with Tara Davis-Woodhall. Jasmine Moore picked up the bronze. Grant Holloway of the U.S. won the men’s 110-meter hurdles while Daniel Roberts got the silver. Our David Wharton was at the track and you can see his thoughts here.

Here are some other high and low points:

—Talk about a bittersweet moment. U.S. sport climber Sam Watson, the heavy favorite, was beaten in the semifinals by Wu Peng of China, putting him in the bronze medal match. Then he goes out and sets a world record (4.74 seconds) in that match. Leonardo Veddriq of Indonesia won the gold.

Sam Watson competes in the men's speed climb.

—It took five sets but the U.S. women’s volleyball team beat a tough Brazil team to move to the gold medal match against Italy. Thursday was a rematch of the final in Tokyo, which was won by the U.S.

—The U.S. women’s water polo team couldn’t hold a 5-2 halftime lead and lost to Australia, 14-13, in a penalty shootout situation. Regulation play was tied, 8-8. The U.S. was trying to win its fourth straight gold medal, now it will play the Netherlands in the bronze medal match.

Photo you never want to see

United States' Sarah Bacon and Kassidy Cook bite their silver medal.

It’s a dirty little secret of journalism that photographers have it a lot tougher than reporters. If they miss the shot, they can’t reproduce it, except of course the famous Iwo Jima flag raising shot, which was the second time it was done, this time with a bigger flag.

If a reporter happens to go to the bathroom (yes, we go like everyone else) and misses the moment, they can re-create it through video and interviews. So, we start this item with reverence to all the hard-working photographers out there (except the cameraman who wandered into the heat of the men’s 5,000 heat), especially our own Wally Skalij, who is as good as it gets. If not better.

OK, photogs, would you stop asking for the medal athletes to pretend to bite their medals. Please. Our uncredited co-author Mr. Google researched why these photos exist and the No. 1 answer is because photographers ask for it.

Urban legend (is there such a thing as rural legend?) has it that the practice goes back to see if the metal used is genuine. Gold, surprisingly enough, is one of the softer medals and if you bite into it, it shows. The opposite of diamonds being able to cut glass and fake diamonds just scratching. Not recommended at home.

But none of that plays today since everyone gets basically a silver medal, meaning a medal has to be at least 92.5% silver. The rest of is gold or bronze plating. Them’s the rules. (Forgive colloquialism.)

So, much like the fake shots of action, a staple of college football preview magazines, it’s time to retire the biting of the medal shot. Again, please. Or as Leigh Diffey might say, “Everyone loves the medal biting pictures.” (If he had only corrected himself on air, I wouldn’t be on his case.)

Poll results

We asked you what Olympic sport you would like to eliminate, and in a shocker, it was 3-on-3 basketball getting 42% of the votes. It was what we would call a low turnout election with only 900 respondents. You were allowed to vote to for two sports.

Mihailo Vasic of Serbia jumps to score against Jimmer Fredette of the U.S. in men's 3-on-3 basketball.

Here is the breakdown:

3-on-3 basketball 42%

Rhythmic gymnastics 39%

Trampoline 31%

Golf 30%

Artistic swimming (synchro) 28%

Modern pentathlon 18%

Boxing 17%

Something else 14%

Tennis 12%

Basketball 5%

LA28 fast forward

It’s been forever since we’ve looked at venues in Los Angeles. So, let’s take a look. The triathlon, which has been the subject of much controversy in Paris because of water quality of the Seine, will be contested along the Long Beach waterfront. Long Beach will be a bigger player in these Games than they were in 1984. One more. The golf in 2028 will be held at the historic Riviera Country Club. There are more exclusive courses in L.A., there are more expensive ones, but Riv is first class. And don’t forget about the sixth hole, which has a bunker in, yes in, the green.

What to watch for today

—Track is going to dominate the rest of the Games — only three days, can you believe it? — and Friday has a slew of finals headlined by the men’s and women’s 4 X 100 relays. Sha’Carri Richardson and Gabby Thomas will lead the women’s relay team. Other finals are the men’s 400 hurdles, women’s 400, women’s 10,000 meters, women’s shot put, men’s triple jump and women’s heptathlon. The finals start around 10:30 a.m. PDT and end around 12:45 p.m. PDT.

—The U.S. women’s basketball team hopes to avoid the letdown the men experienced on Thursday when they play Australia in the semis. Tipoff is about 10:30 a.m. PDT.

—The men’s water polo team plays Serbia in the semis at 5:35 a.m. PDT and the men’s volleyball team plays Italy in the bronze medal game at 7:00 a.m. PDT.

—Friday marks the debut of breaking, a sport whose enthusiasts do not like it when you call it break dancing because they say the term is outdated and refers to a more limited version of the competition. (Does this mean if ballroom dancing makes it to the Olympics it will be called ballrooming?) It starts at 7 a.m. PDT and ends around 12:29 p.m. PDT.

Must-read links

Let’s catch up on some stories you might have missed but shouldn’t have:

Your TV guide

How can you watch the Games today? Check out Friday’s Olympic TV listings.

Until next time...

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at john.cherwa@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.

The Sports Report Olympics edition: Unbelievable comeback from U.S. men’s basketball